2020 Meeting Room of The Future Report

For the fifth year in a row, IACC is pleased to present a ground-breaking report that combines research and insights into the top issues facing the global meetings and conference industry. The 2020 IACC Meeting Room of the Future™ report brings together insights from meeting and conference venues, hotels and urban conference venues across 3 continents, as well as suppliers including global meeting space designers, architects, technology companies, furniture manufacturers and nutrition experts.

The report was conducted to gain insights from global venue operators, industry experts and suppliers, with the goal of understanding how they are responding to the changing expectations and needs of meeting planners, as identified in last year’s survey of venue operators.

2020 Meeting Room of the Future Report

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2020 Meeting Room of the Future Infographic

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“As the industry evolves and expands, just as meeting planners must continually evaluate all elements of the meeting experience, operators and suppliers must also ensure they are meeting and anticipating the changing needs of planners,” said IACC’s CEO, Mark Cooper.

“The survey was designed to highlight these growing needs; we looked specifically at experience creation, meeting room space and design, social responsibility, generational leadership balances and technology & internet capabilities as well as culinary trends.”

2020 Report Findings

This year’s report highlights several key findings:

Socially responsible and ethical operations are a top priority for venue operators this year, as they were for meeting planners last year.
Venue operators highlight the importance of creating a human nature connection in their spaces.
76% of venues either offer a virtual site inspection now or are planning to offer one in the next 12 months.
Cyber Security will become a bigger priority in the future as technology elements increase in meetings.
Millennials make up a significant percentage of the workforce, yet 79% of venues have less than 25% in positions of influence.

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About the Project

Predict. Create. Shape. IACC Meeting Room of The Future™ is an initiative led by IACC, sharing the association’s vision on what meeting rooms will look like in future. The annual report brings together research, trends and innovations with the single goal of predicting, creating and shaping the future of meeting environments.

The IACC Meeting Room of The Future™ initiative surveys the industry, including planners, meeting hosts, delegates, operators and suppliers, with the aim of understanding needs and predicting the potential to evolve.

Join the initiative

Opportunities to participate

IACC is offering key industry partners the opportunity to participate in the next IACC Meeting Room of The Future™ initiative. The initiative will include IACC members, supplier partners, Industry Associations and other bright minds with a passion for the meetings experience!

Become A Contributor / Research Partner

Companies and individuals who support this initiative will receive:

Appropriate recognition at IACC conferences, events and at other industry events where the results are presented
Pre-release copy of key survey findings
Opportunity to contribute to the research design
Opportunity to provide products, services, expertise and knowledge to design, equip and promote the IACC Meeting Room of The Future™ concept at IACC conferences and events
Quoted in at least 2 press releases and industry articles where IACC Meeting Room of The Future™ is featured, including press interviews
Supporter/Contributor recognition on the IACC Meeting Room of The Future™ web page on IACCmeetings.com and IACConline.org

For further information on how to become involved in the IACC Meeting Room of The Future™ initiative, email Kate Bacon kbacon@iacconline.org or call +44 2030 478 0274 or +1 312 224 2580 to reserve your partner status today.

Quotes

“I just read the IACC Spaces of the future report and want to congratulate IACC for a job well done. The report defines and highlights key expectations and changes we are all experiencing in the market place. Fantastic Job! It is such an exciting time to be involved in the hospitality market. I believe the industry is transitioning paradigms and IACC has a great grasp of what the future holds.”

– Heidi Nieson, Hospitality Sales Manager, SICO America, Inc.

“I shared the above report with our CEO and other executives at PSAV and all were very impressed. Everyone who’s seen and read it are very impressed and excited to see how we can get more involved.”

– Joe Santo, Vice President Business Development, PSAV

“We are very excited to partner with IACC on this project and congratulate all involved in creating this valuable research and report. We are excited about the possibility of digging deeper into the subject of evolving meeting spaces and studying the impact they have on meeting performance.”

– Jessie States, Manager professional Development, Meeting Professionals International

“We are in the middle of a £50m strategic repositioning and investment program for our meeting spaces in our UK venue portfolio and IACC’s study and research into this area will be of great value for us. It is like a ‘breath of fresh air’ to see research of this type.”

– UK member of conference venues