The single most important factor?

The sun has finally got his hat on, hurrah!  Its wonderful to see our guests at the three Sundial Venues opening windows and doors and taking advantage of the wonderful setting, enjoying the fresh air, sunshine and outdoor spaces.  Seeing people energised like this put me in mind of one of my favourite LinkedIn groups, The Brain Friendly Learning Group, which recently carried an excellent discussion with the title 'The one most important thing about physical learning environment?'. I was fascinated that in these days of presentation technology and connectivity the consensus focussed on natural light and access to the outdoors. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.

Stella Collins posted a link to a Neuroscience News article, Let there be light: it's good for our brains, well worth a read.The fact seems to be that there is no substitute for the quality and intensity of natural daylight.  Caroline Lewis added that having to work in a basement was just too depressing and Delia Fletcher is certainly one for the outdoors, encouraging the breaks at her events to hit the exit.

Obviously we don't have a monopoly on meeting spaces with plenty of natural light and easy access to relaxed outdoor space.  However, I will certainly be reminding our teams to highlight the benefits when in discussion with event planners who might also be considering urban venues or letting themselves get pushed into inappropriate spaces such as basements or other rooms without windows.

Meetings Technology to replace Face to Face?

Several publications including Events, Our Industry, Meetings & Incentive Travel and Conference News have covered a recent piece by Zibrant's Fay Sharpe on the 'rocketing use of meetings technology'.

It might be easy to read her claims that ‘up to 20% of ‘ritual’ face to face meetings will be replaced by virtual meetings’ and feel deeply concerned for the events and meetings sector.

However, I believe that trying to attribute specific outcomes to the rapid march of technology is a risky pastime. The combination of mind-blowing advances in technology and financial austerity will indeed cause fundamental changes in the way people work, communicate, share and create knowledge, but not necessarily with the most obvious outcomes.

The broader technology driven picture is that organisational structures are being re-invented. Teams are replacing hierarchies; projects are replacing routine administration and access to data is ubiquitous.

Sundial Group has hosted ‘management training’ for almost 50 years but I have been amazed at how rapidly this is changing. Corporate learning and development was dominated by ‘chalk and talk’. The information age with its immediate access to the world’s data has made most of this classroom learning redundant. This could have spelt the end of management centres but it hasn’t, there have never been so many dedicated venues!

Nowadays corporate development is all about the creation rather than learning of knowledge. Communication is the lifeblood of this way of working. Traditional teaching has been replaced by skills development, team working, creativity and experiential learning.

Strangely one of civilizations oldest events, due to take place this summer in London is helping to accelerate another organisational change. The anticipated disruption to commuters is driving the already established trend of remote working. Some of the most traditional industries and professions have realised that the day has arrived when they don’t need everyone in the office every day. Leading consultancies such as Corpra are developing and testing strategies for this summer that will drive irreversible change.

So what might be the bigger picture for venues and the future for face to face meetings? I believe that organisations will move away from the day to day office based environment but instead will look to bring people together as and when there is a need. They won’t want to maintain expensive HQ buildings capable of housing all office staff at once but they will want to use the most conducive environment, tailor-made for a project to be launched, reviewed or shared and for team face time to accelerate innovation and create knowledge.

Technology is indeed changing how we work but I firmly believe that the human need for physical proximity as an adjunct to the communication experience will be with us for a long time. There may indeed be growth in remote meetings but at Sundial we are focused on how the future will drive a need for the best face to face meeting environment because we believe the need has never been greater.”

The evolution of dedicated venues

The ongoing economic crisis of the past 4 years has driven the most rapid business evolution ever seen. Never before has it been so critical for organisations to embrace change. The challenge is to understand what to change and why.

Speaking as a past Global President of The International Association of Conference Centres (IACC) I have been especially interested to see how our particular niche of the conference centre concept would evolve. IACC members operate in the small to medium sized meetings market (outside the UK larger conference centres are called convention centres). Their bread and butter events are about strategy and communication, management training and in-house conferences, product launches, and motivational get togethers.

It is a long-held belief of the niche providers to this sector (and many of their clients) that a dedicated and focused environment is a better fit for these activities than a hotel or other location that regard meetings business as ancillary.

So how do you test this difference? Hotels focus on selling bedrooms, they regard meetings as a great way to sell a block of bedrooms and have developed meetings facilities and services to enhance their ability to sell bedrooms. The core business of Conference Centres, however, is selling meetings. Their management approach is driven by the needs of the meeting planner. Facilities, operations, staffing and training respond to their understanding of how to add value to meetings.

An interesting industry debate developed exactly along these lines as the availability of broadband connectivity and WiFi became key requirements for meeting attendees. The traditional hotel approach was to identify this need as a revenue opportunity whilst conference centres had no hesitation to install the necessary infrastructure and provide the resource at no charge. In the current highly competitive, over supplied marketplace Hoteliers have had to back down, but I don’t believe this has changed their underlying attitude.

On the other hand, a consequence of more choice for customers has also resulted in conference centre management having to sit up and take notice of the generally superior individual guest facilities encountered at good hotels.

At a superficial level it may seem that the once clear blue water that existed between conference centres and hotels has narrowed or even disappeared. Yes conference centres have upped their game with investment in accommodation and amenities and hotels have listened to their meetings clients’ bug-bears about charging extra for key ingredients.

It has indeed become much more difficult to tell at first glance if a venue is a hotel or a conference centre, even the name over the door might be misleading. Hotels have sectioned off some of their space and labelled it Conference Centre, whilst some traditional conference centres have earned themselves the chance to rebrand as conference hotels, where they are offering dedicated meeting space with high quality accommodation.

To add to this confusion some operators who traditionally ran dedicated meeting venues have lost sight of their priorities and re-organised with a drive to sell bedrooms (even offering loss-leading single overnight specials to the detriment to their focussed environment) whilst hotel brands have taken their meeting planners more seriously and changed their priorities for operations, facilities, staffing and training in response.

However I would argue that ultimately, under the surface of any venue my definition of the dedicated meeting environment differentiator still remains. Does your chosen venue sell meetings or bedrooms?

Fortunately other recent developments make it easier to ask that question and get a truthful answer. Our increasingly connected and transparent world is giving rise of the ‘Thank You Economy’ and is re-establishing the power of recommendation, washing away the principle of blind brand loyalty.

I believe that it is only a matter of time before hotel booking agents and corporate procurement controllers tap into the knowledge that is out there and join the experienced meeting planners who have always been more influenced by the environment and outcomes than the venue / hotel marketing spiel.

At a time when buyers have the upper hand in the supply / demand relationship the dedicated venues have a distinct advantage. They work at understanding how they add value and seek to control the overall environment they provide so that the focus is on the needs of the organisation hosting the meeting.

If you have read the recent Steve Jobs biography you may, like me, see an analogy here with Apple Corporations’ desire to take responsibility for the overall, end to end customer experience. You might even find dedicated venues with Apples’ drive to make that experience the best it can be – if you ask the right questions.

Welcome to the 'Thank You Economy'

Sometimes you hear of a book that piques your interest and as you get into it you realise that the author is on your wavelength. Mick MacKenzie (an inspiring and stimulating guy in his own right) recommended Gary Vaynerchuk's book 'The Thank You Economy' to me. Gary has become a top business speaker in the US but he also translates pretty well into English.

Gary made his name on Twitter as an authority on wine who was happy to comment and recommend without pushing his own business (he is a wine merchant). He understood the difference between 'broadcast' and 'communicate' and the value of content. Take a look at him on CNN and read 'Crush It!'.

In his second book, 'The Thank You Economy' he expands his thinking further - I recommend the audio book version to get the full benefit of his passion.

His phrase, ‘The Thank You Economy’ expresses the opportunity being created for authentic, long-term companies like Sundial Group by the rapid development of the internet. Ironically the impact comes from the one thing that has never changed – human nature. Technology is allowing us to go back to a more natural way of doing business.

It is human nature to build relationships and friendships based on communication and trust. Our world is now connected as never before and we seem to be going back to the ways of our Grandparents and their ancestors when we make our choices. Anyone wanting to sell a product or service today does so in the traditional environment of the small town marketplace.

This new/old world is bringing back the value of reputation. In my view the absolute key to success is in creating advocates and fans; people who value the fact that Sundial Group can be trusted to care about them and their events.

The wonderful thing about our new connected world is that their views are being shared and that, on a one to one basis, they carry so much more weight than the mega budget advertising and marketing people. That 'one to one' small town connection has now become global.

We have always known that Sundial's culture and reputation are our most valuable assets. We have developed our values of Professionalism, Experience, Respect and Quality to guide us in our day to day interactions and decision making. We genuinely want the Sundial Experience for our guests to be great and think that profit is the reward for getting it right not the reason for doing it. This is the essence of The Thank You Economy.

Our obsession with our direct guest feedback systems and willing engagement with powerful influencers such as Trip Advisor for Barnett Hill, Highgate House and Woodside are the tip of the iceberg. Listening to Gary has made me realise how much more there is to do. Thankfully I have total faith in my colleagues at Sundial Group to continue to delight our customers. The trick now is to enable our advocates to spread the word and for us to demonstrate our listening and caring skills in the new/old world.

Thanks Gary (and Mick)

The Chudbus on Tour

What has a retired London bus got to do with a conference centre group?

Sundial Group own and run 3 award winning specialist country house conference hotels and operate in the meeting venue market. Whilst many of our clients book direct we know that we need to establish our presence and reputation with the Hotel Booking Agents (HBA’s) responsible for venue selection and meetings management for many companies.

The bulk of agency business ends up with the major hotel brands but good intermediaries also need niche suppliers to demonstrate their in-depth knowledge of the market and offer variety from the repetitive chain hotel environment.

At Sundial we have worked with agency bookers for many years but we still appreciate that we must stand out from the crowd and establish our credentials to earn their trust. Our reputation for quality is backed up by multiple awards but we also need to be unique and memorable to ensure conscious recall and front of mind awareness when bookers are sifting multiple options, often on a tight timetable.

When designing an agency promotion we needed to be innovative, relevant and memorable. We made it quirky and fun by invoking a special story from the family history of the owners of the group (me and my family).

Telling people about the big Chudley Family, their adventure to America and the national newsreel that inspired the 1963 Cliff Richard film, Summer Holiday created massive enegagement and allowed a picture to be built of a business with history and a real identity and story. Having the present day Chudbus driven by a member of the family who was 2 years old in the newsreel (me!) enabled the development of the story into the present day Sundial Group characteristic of stewardship as a values driven brand. I expanded this background with the spirit of empathy, quality and attention to detail, all pivotal to a business with industry benchmark low staff turnover and high customer loyalty. Visitors gained a real insight into Sundial Group.

Following a screening of the 1959 newsreel that inspired the Summer Holiday film the bus’s on-board plasma screen ran a slide show of today’s superb meeting venue facilities, accommodation, technology, leisure facilities and the fabulous settings of our historic properties.

Members of the Sundial sales teams engaged with our on-board guests to find out about the needs of their own clients, building a rapport which was further cemented through a fun caption competition with – you’ve guest it – prize of a summer holiday!

Whilst all this was going on Jerry Toth, Sundial Executive Chef was outside the bus cooking up authentic Paella, the smells from which ensured every agency team member wanted to come out and find out what was going on. All a bit different from the average hotel sales rep visit to give a PowerPoint talk and hand out brochures.

Each visit was trailed on Twitter (#chudbus), a Facebook page provided photo, news and a channel to continue the engagement; whilst blogs ensured maximum coverage. The announcement of the winner of the summer holiday at the end of the campaign will provide long-term ROI. The story of the Chudbus Summer Holiday has already picked up media coverage from M&IT, Conference News and Venue Directory and more agents are asking to be included on the tour.

Is Hospitality about to be redefined as bribery?

I'm starting to see increasing references to meetings and hospitality in reports of the Bribery Act 2010 which comes into force in April 2011 and wondering if this represents an opportunity or a threat for Sundial.

Publications in sectors such as pharma and financial services are warning companies to consider the need for hospitality audits as a recent article in the Daily Telegraph newspaper also suggested.

The difficulty stems from the interpretation of the act because an offence (both giver and recipient are liable to prosecution) is committed if "intended to obtain or retain business or a business advantage". One might reasonably assume that all corporate hospitality fits this description so could fall within the bribery definition.

However, a House of Lords clarification (?) says “most routine and inexpensive hospitality would be unlikely to lead to a reasonable expectation of improper conduct”.

I get the feeling that this will hang in the air until there is a relevant prosecution. In the meantime my guess is that the wise will be a little more cautious of the high profile golf resort hotel for their meetings and education events. My advice (as you might guess) is to stick to high quality, good value dedicated venues like Sundial.

How has Learning & Development changed?

At Sundial Group we have been asking ourselves how L&D will change following the global financial crisis.

A friend in IACC (International Association of Conference Centres) pointed me in the direction of an excellent piece of research by Duke Corporate Education, 'Learning and Development in 2011, A Focus on the Future'.

The report points to a general reassessment of business strategy to drive efficiency and management focus. The researchers found;

• Values and goals of the business will drive the L&D activities more than ever
• Focus on the capabilities required to succeed
• L&D joining forces with HR and talent development
• Investment targeted at groups who are strategically connected to the company's goals
• Preparing leaders for a more connected and challenging world.

At the same time all business costs are under the microscope and Learning & Development is not immune. Budget cuts require L&D to be done with significantly fewer resources. Travel restrictions contribute additional impetus to finding new ways to enable employees to learn. Improvements in technology, for so long an unfulfilled promise, seem to be offering new, cost-effective methods of achieving learning.

However, the strategic shift from individual competency to organisational capabilities has resulted in a team centred approach which is hard to fit into the new, lower costs, less travel, more technology drivers.

The "Perfect Storm" of 2008/2009 will be remembered as a difficult and challenging time. The results will be long-lasting and the L&D profession will not go back to the old patterns and habits. To quote from the Duke study -

"These difficulties may have done L&D a great favour by focusing us on organisational capabilities that matter, by clarifying how and when we demonstrate value, by re-energising our search for achieving learning in the workplace, by opening our eyes to what learning technology can accomplish today, and by demanding so much more of how we think about our strategies and the learning activities that they produce."

So how might this affect Sundial?

Team working is already with us. Many organisations are capitalising on the technology that enables remote working, knowledge sharing and talent pooling. The rules of behaviour, sharing of values and goals and development of team spirit will be key competencies of successful teams - real or virtual. Organisations will need to develop leadership at every level as we move away from the traditional structures of management and control.

In my view only some of the technology can be used for team based learning and leadership development because human nature demands 'real' interaction to cement experience and build trust.

When team based learning and leadership development does take place there will be heightened awareness of the effect of the learning environment. The ability of a venue to add value will be critical and organisations will demand a far deeper level of understanding from their host. I believe we are ready to rise to this challenge.

Sundial Group is also responding to these changes by developing a division to deliver cost effective experiential learning which enables successful team dynamics and leadership using our well established Teamscapes activities. Indeed for one of our key clients we will be delivering Teamscapes away from our own venues for the first time as part of their national team and leadership development. Its exciting times.

Please do contact me if you would like more information. I would also welcome your comments.