Meetings are a fact of life in the business world, and finding an appropriate D.C. meeting room may well be one of the best investments your company can make. Despite astonishing advances in technology that allow many business conversations and dealings to be accomplished via video, telephone, and even Internet conferencing, sometimes an old-fashioned, face-to-face meeting is necessary to get the job done. Selecting a D.C. Meeting room as your site can make the event both easy and enjoyable. In order to get the most out of your meeting, there are three important factors that you should consider prior to planning your visit.
Room Setup:
First of all, it is important to consider the size of the room , and the type of room setup that will best suit your needs for the event you plan to hold. Obviously, a large part of the room setup will be dictated by the number of participants. If you are bringing in a guest speaker, or planning to train a large group of people, you will need the room to be designed in either a theater or lecture-hall arrangement, to allow maximum visibility and hearing. A smaller group would dictate a setting that would enable the attendees to easily communicate among themselves, while still being able to see and hear the facilitator. Be sure that there is adequate space for participants to comfortably move around without bumping into each other, chairs and tables, or other pieces of equipment.
Equipment and Technology:
In addition to the physical layout, be certain that you take into account the equipment and technology needed to make the meeting as successful as possible, both before and after the meeting. Again, this will be dictated by the type of meeting that is being planned, but Metro Office's D.C. meeting rooms come fully equipped with a wide range of technological necessities, including:
· The ability to reserve your room online, along with a support group whose sole function is to assist those attending the meeting with the details that accompany registering for such an event.
- Full color copiers, scanners and printers, and computers wireless internet connections, as well as an administrative support team located at the site of your meeting, so there's no need to call in a temporary assistant or rush around trying to handle innumerable details before the meeting starts.
- A range of presentation necessities: flip charts and white boards, Audio/Visual equipment for presentations, and video recording accessories, so that training can continue once the meting has concluded. A variety of projectors are also at your disposable, as are Polycom telephones with speakers, so that employees and executives unable to physical attend the meeting can still benefit from what’s going on back at the home office.
Refreshments:
A full day of business discussions or training is bound to work up an appetite, so be sure to incorporate some type of food and beverage service into the utilization of your D.C. Meeting room. Since the rooms can be customized to suit almost any need, you have a number of options available to you and your group. If the meetings are scheduled to last a full day or beyond, you might consider a Continental breakfast or a light brunch style menu, which is easy to eat and doesn't require full table settings, and yet is relatively filling, followed by a box lunch later in the day.
For shorter meetings or training events, pastries and coffee, as well as juice and water would probably be sufficient to keep your attendees’ minds off their empty stomachs, and on your presentation. It is always advisable to provide several pitchers of water, regardless of the duration of an event, along with a few dishes of hard candy as light refreshment.
For more information on DC Meeting Rooms, Telework, Executive Office Spaces, FlexDesk and other cost-effective business solutions visit Metro Offices online at www.metroffice.com.
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Kathlene Buchanan is the president and founder of Metro Offices, one of the premiere, women-owned, executive office centers in the Washington, D.C. Metro area. With presence in 8 different locations throughout the capital area, Metro Offices offers a full range of innovative business solutions and advanced technologies to help businesses compete in today’s transitioning business environment. Buchanan has been in the industry since 1979, and Metro Offices has been operating since 1989 with locations in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.