Oh my. How you ‘gonna keep her down on the farm after she’s seen Paree?
Considering all the years I’ve been speaking to groups and traveling I figure I’ve made at least 800 presentations throughout US, Canada and in Europe. I’ve stayed at some really fabulous places (and a few dives!) so I’ve seen a LOT and as a result I’ve set the bar pretty high for what constitutes a top-notch meeting hotel. However this past week, I had the ultimate meeting location experience. It can be summed up in 3 words: Sarasota Ritz Carlton.
I conducted a full day meeting there for a group of about 120 dental professionals. On arrival at the hotel, I was given a comp upgrade to their concierge level – apparently someone in the catering/meetings department made that arrangement. When the elevator doors opened to the penthouse concierge floor, I was amazed. It far exceeded any concierge hospitality room I’d ever seen. First of all it was huge and one entire long wall had french doors opening to verandahs overlooking the bay. Throughout my stay there was food nonstop in the room … fabulous, beautifully prepared displays of elegant dishes and finger foods. Wine selections and champagne were chilled and available along with all manner of soft and hard drinks. The 3 rooms were beautifully furnished and very comfortable. But if that’s not enough, the graciousness of the staff there was incomparable. They learned my name on arrival and I was greeted by name each time I saw any of them.
The night before the meeting I went downstairs to view the meeting room, talk with the setup crew about the room arrangements, talk with the A/V tech. Doing all this ahead of time is an ENORMOUS help in ensuring that things will go well in the morning. When I’m staying at a different facility than where the meeting will take place, this step is not possible. I definitely feel more confident in the morning when I enter a meeting room that’s already familiar to me!
The meeting room was spectacular and the catering department was superb. A/V department was in the room early on the morning of the meeting and was attentive to every detail. Needless to say, the mechanics of the meeting were flawless.
It struck me how all these little things come together to influence the speaker and the audience. No glitches. Everything ran smoothly. I felt confident and the evaluations at day’s end were excellent, I’m pleased to say. Does the facility make a difference in the meeting outcomes? Absolutely no doubt in my mind. I only wish that I could recreate this same experience everywhere I speak. No I don’t have to be on the concierge level! But being in a facility that pays this much attention to detail and backs up their promises is bound to give a meeting a great jump-start.
