F & B
will be a worthy deviation from a brainstorming session .
“ When it comes to these discussions , I try and put it in terms of an ROI on meeting value . We know , in our experience doing meetings , that breaks are very , very important in terms of the entire meeting ’ s success ,” Robertson says .
“ But what they get out of the meeting , having had ( the sushi rolling ), is an openness with each other and they end up getting a lot more out of the whole meeting ,” he continues . “ So that adds to the experience overall of interacting with their colleagues in a different way .”
And , Robertson says , Kimpton Donovan has used the sushi rolling opportunity to book meetings with groups that were new to the hotel or who might have been initially hesitant to commit to an entire spread built around Japanese food . The ROI has come , not just out of the cost of the added experience , but through booking more events at the hotel .
“ That was a surprising effect that it had . We thought it would be more of an add-on opportunity , but it ’ s actually driven conversion rate ,” Robertson says .
KEEN ON GREEN In September , Frankfurt-based Deutsche Hospitality ' s Steigenberger brand expanded its Green Meetings program to include all its hotels , following a 13-hotel pilot program .
The group ’ s commitment to being environmentally friendly during its meetings ranges from offering organic snacks produced by regional farmers and sustainable fair trade beverages , to using local , seasonable , and sustainable items whenever possible ( i . e ., local Belgian cheese and smoked salmon from sustainable Scottish fish stocks ).
Another focus is the green meetings ’ drinking water , which is filtered and prepared at Steigenberger ’ s own
A healthy “ nourishment hub ,” a group meeting offering from Dolce Hotels & Resorts
water-processing facilities and included in the cost of the green meeting conference package . The water is provided in reusable glass bottles and , in self-bottling , the group avoids the environmental waste of packing materials and transport emission .
Meetings have also been declared “ climate neutral ” in terms of CO2 emissions by the German-based , non-profit climate protection organization Atmosfair . Additionally , a number of Steigenberger hotels are accredited by the ISO 14001 environmental management system , which means even something as small as the napkins used at meetings must be free of chlorine and contain at least 30 % renewed paper .
But it ’ s not easy to go green overnight . Challenges have included substantial restructuring in addition to getting staff on board the green machine .
“ Concerning the employees , the green meeting topic is very complex , requiring continued communication and sales training ,” says Urban Denk , director culinary innovation and development .
Ultimately , Denk says he sees the meetings driving employees to be motivated by a good cause .
“ Every staff member needs to be able to tell his own little story about green meeting . It is a large project , which has to be supported and lived by all employees ,” Denk says .
46 hotelsmag . com May 2017