By Mark Cooper, CEO, IACC
In June I wrote about what the world’s meeting planners are searching for on our AI Venue Finder. The headline then was that planners had moved beyond “location plus headcount” and were searching for outcomes and experiences.
Three months and more than 130 new conversations later, something else is happening. Planners are no longer searching. They are briefing.
The search box has become a briefing document
The first message a planner types has become noticeably longer and richer. Since May almost one in four conversations has opened with a complete brief, more than double the share in the months before. Here is a typical opening message from August:
“Need 53 sleeping rooms in the Boston Seaport district for October 4–7, with meeting space for a main conference room for 65 people and two smaller breakout rooms. Will need in-house food and beverage and in-house managed audio visual.”
And another:
“I’m looking for a hotel in March 2028 with enough meeting space for 250 attendees. We have 3 concurrent breakout sessions. Room rate should be low 200s with an F&B spend of $55k. No more than 25 minutes from a major airport, with shops and restaurants within walking distance.”
These are not searches. They are RFPs typed straight into a conversation, with dates, room blocks, rates, catering spend and travel times all in the first message. Planners are treating AI the way they would treat a trusted colleague: tell it everything and let it do the filtering.
Planners are describing the room, not just the venue
Mentions of breakout space have doubled since the spring. Planners are increasingly specific about how the space must work:
- “A main meeting room 14 metres by 14 metres, capable of being divided in half with pipe and drape, four breakout rooms of around 5.3 by 5.3, and 35 sleeping rooms.”
- “Room set in pods of 4–6.”
- “Up to 700 people, running two tracks of presentations and conversations at the same time, with food and AV on site.”
One planner came back to the tool four times over two months with the same brief for a five-day residential negotiation workshop, trying Europe, Washington DC and Miami in turn. That is a planner using AI as a working partner across a sourcing process, not a one-off search.
For venues the lesson is clear. Floor plans, dimensions and flexible layouts need to be described in words that AI can read and match. If your website says “flexible meeting space” but not how big or how flexible, you will not be recommended.
Access is measured in minutes
Airport access now features in around one in eight conversations, nearly three times the rate earlier in the year. And it is rarely vague:
- “No more than 25 minutes from a major airport.”
- “Must be two hours from an airport, have unique meeting spaces and outdoor activities.”
- “Close to a BART station.”
- “Central, near an airport, because people will travel from both coasts.”
Planners are thinking about the attendee journey from door to door. Venues that state travel times plainly make that decision easy.
Retreats, wellness and the wider setting
The move towards experience-led events I wrote about in June has gathered pace. Around a third of recent conversations mention nature, the outdoors, wellness or a retreat setting, up from one in five. Some favourites from the summer:
- “A luxury property for a retreat where the property has its own farm.”
- “A relaxing place to stay that will allow us to meet and break out in a nature environment.”
- “A team-building strategy session for about 10 people. Two nights. Wellness focused, maybe with some spa or special outdoor classes. About 90 minutes’ drive from Toronto.”
- “An executive retreat for a leadership team to collaborate and set priorities for Q1, with creative spaces.”
Notice what is being asked for: small groups, high intent and a clear purpose. These are exactly the programmes where IACC venues shine.
Planning further ahead, and naming the benchmark
Two newer signals stood out.
First, planners are sourcing earlier. One in ten recent conversations was for an event in 2027 or 2028, compared with barely one in a hundred before. Spring 2028, March 2028 and late October 2028 all came up in the same month.
Second, planners are using venues they already know as the yardstick. One asked for “a 140-room property in Canada similar to Châteauform’s venues”. Another asked, “Have you heard about Ste. Anne’s Spa? Would it fit the brief?” A strong brand has become shorthand for a whole experience. The venues planners name are the ones that have made their story unmistakable.
A global and multilingual audience
Recent conversations came from planners looking at Warsaw, Bologna, Stockholm, Sydney, Taiwan, New Zealand and Azerbaijan. One planner simply wrote in French: “Je veux organiser un séminaire de 100 personnes” for June 2027 in France. AI search removes language as a barrier to discovery, which widens the market for every IACC venue.
What this means for IACC venues
- Write for the brief, not the keyword. Describe capacities, room dimensions, breakout counts, bedroom numbers and catering in plain language.
- State your access. Give travel times to airports and stations in minutes.
- Tell the experience story. Nature, wellness, food and the setting are now part of the search itself.
- Make your brand a benchmark. Planners are naming venues as reference points. Be the one they name.
- Be ready early. Enquiries for 2028 are already arriving.
In June I said the future of venue sales will belong to venues with clear storytelling, strong standards and the best matching capabilities. The last three months have made that more concrete. The planners have already moved from searching to briefing. The venues that win will be the ones ready to answer the whole brief.
Planning your next meeting? Tell our AI Venue Finder about it.
Mark Cooper, CEO, IACC
