30 June, 2015

Marriott gets creative with meetings

Marriott’s new ‘Meetings Imagined’ pushes the envelope on what’s on offer for event planners.

Described as a digital innovation “unlike anything else in the industry”, Marriott International launched its new online platform, Meetings Imagined in Australia last week for meeting planners to “experience and inspire an innovative event”.

The website, modeled on Pinterest, is expected to give planners some creative flair to their run-of-the-mill meetings, helping them get inspired about what they can offer from a range of inspirational images.

According to the hotel group, it identified the purpose for meetings are to: celebrate, decide, educate, ideate, network, produce and promote ideas.

“Meetings Imagined allows meeting planners to design their meetings to meet specific needs. The website includes elements that make up the structure of a meeting from the setup, to the food and drink options, technology and supplies, and experiences,” Marriott said.

“Meetings Imagined provides expert tips on everything from networking activities and maximising social media exposure, to creating the optimal meeting environment and meeting trends.”

Along with its new website, event planners can collaborate on event creation with Marriott’s Meetings Imagined specialists across 11 Asia-Pacific markets.

Research from over 40,000 meetings hosted at Marriott’s hotels yearly provided the backbone to Meetings Imagined, according to the group.

“The most important findings were around how our next generations of customers work collaboratively, how they use technology, and how these factors affect meetings’ dynamics” Marriott chief sales and marketing officer, Asia Pacific, Peggy Fang Roe said.

“While others may focus on just meeting logistics, Marriott is reimagining the experience.”

“The Meetings Imagined website makes sure that regardless of the meeting, the user experience is extraordinary, and the objective achieved.”

Along with the website, Marriott also launched a Meeting Services App which includes a chat function enabling MICE organisers to connect with Marriott’s event team before and during any event in order to allow the hotel group to immediately respond to any issues or requests, and to inform the planner of how the request is being handled.

The app will be available to meeting planners who use facilities at Marriott Hotels, JW Marriott, Renaissance, Ritz-Carlton, Autograph Collection and Courtyard by Marriott.

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Event Planners Marriott Marriott International Meetings Imagined PCO