5 Ways you Can Elevate Hybrid Meetings

Hybrid meetings are here to stay.  Instead of getting flustered by planning them – it’s time to embrace, learn and execute them flawlessly.

Here are 5 ways you can elevate your hybrid meetings.

1. Not everyone will be able to make it in person, and that’s OK. You need to value your “virtual attendees” just as much as your in-person ones – to get the most out of your hybrid meeting, you need to account for that. Have your presenters speak into the camera just as much as they do to your in-person attendees, and maybe plan breakout rooms to include one of virtual attendees – mixing and matching virtual and in-person attendees in breakouts is guaranteed to be less effective.
2. Upgrade your audio and video game – don’t leave your virtual attendees out in the cold with video from a bad webcam and laptop microphone. There’s nothing less appealing than having to sit and listen to 2 hours of audio when you can only hear every third word – don’t do that to your coworkers or clients. Similarly, grainy, low resolution video is a killer – you want your guests to be able to tell who your guest speaker is, right?
3. Bigger is better. If you want to include your remote participants in the meeting as active participants, your in person guests need to actually be able to see them. When given an option for screen size, you can’t go wrong with the biggest you can find – otherwise your remote participants are going to be easily (and unconsciously!) ignored little boxes.
4. Leave the laptops at home. Nothing kills the in-person vibe of your meeting more than having every attendee use their laptop to join in the room. All that does is make your attendees think “I could have stayed in my PJ’s for this”. It will destroy any value you get out of hosting the meeting in person.
5. Choose the right venue. This is the most critical factor for the success of your hybrid meeting. The right venue will come equipped with a great tech package, experienced staff who know how to run hybrid meetings, and who know how to ensure that your meeting is a success, both in-person and virtually.

Choose Toronto Meetings for your next hybrid meeting, and learn the difference our experienced team makes.

We have the equipment, the staff, and the expertise that will make your next hybrid event a total success – with our 30+ years of hosting meetings, and 15+ years of making them hybrid, your event is in good hands at Toronto Meetings.

Get Your Team Together In a Team Space Rented By The Day

“Hey, can we jump on a Zoom call?”  “What’s the meeting password?”  “Okay, it looks like we’re all here, but where’s Dave?” “Jim, could you please mute, all we can hear is your dog barking.”  “Stacey, I think you’re frozen. Maybe jump on audio only?”

Sound familiar?

Zoom was a great tool to get everyone operating quickly when the COVID-19 pandemic suddenly altered our everyday lives. But, now 18 months later, the Zoom fatigue is beginning to set in.

Can you imagine looking at this busy screen all day?

Human interaction is an innate requirement in most human brains.  Having a relationship with our colleagues is half the excitement of going into work every day.

If the last 18 months have proven anything, we crave one another (albeit in managed doses).

I mean, who else are we going to talk with about our favourite shows, new restaurants, and most importantly, your work.

It’s time to get your team together again, in a team meeting space rented by the day.

This Inc.com Article outlines 10 Reasons Face to Face Meetings are More Important Than We Think.

However, going back, and going back safely are two different things.

Going back to your traditional meeting space, which has been sitting vacant since mid-March, may not be the best approach to slowly re-integrating your staff back into in-person meetings.

So, how can you ensure that they are returning to a safe environment?   Reserve an off-site team meeting space.

At The Rostie Group, we have the perfect team meeting spaces, which are equipped with state of the art technology, whiteboards, socially distanced workspaces and private breakout rooms.

With direct access to Union Station via the PATH network, our 20 Bay St location makes it easy for you and your guests to arrive at your meeting room without ever stepping outdoors.  Daily parking is also available for those choosing not to take public transit or who are coming from further areas in the GTA.

But, not to worry if a team member can’t make it in, these spaces are fully equipped with Video Meeting capabilities that support Zoom, WebEx, Microsoft Teams, Skype, GoToMeeting and all other online platforms.

With COVID-19 protocols such as daily disinfecting, 2-meter distance between attendees, reduced room capacities, optimized HVAC, and readily available disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizers, we’ve put ourselves at the forefront for the safe practice of off-site meetings.

It’s time to ditch the meeting room codes and bad internet connections and meet in person.

For more information about our meeting and training rooms, as well as securing your next space, feel free to call 416-214-1840 or email meetings@rostiegroup.com.

It’s time to get your team together again, but in a team meeting space rented by the day.

Interconnected meeting technology is the new future.

As many companies are quickly discovering, doing a Zoom call with multiple people can feel overwhelming. You have small screens, interruptions, and a number of tech issues which overall leads to a lot of wasted time.

Although it seemed like the quick and easy method of getting your team together while many of them are working from home, after 18 months of these common disturbances, companies are starting to track and put value on the lost time in their workdays.

Parlay that with the elimination of in-person conversations for nearly 2 years, and you’re on a fast track to a breakdown of communication.

So why not consider going back into the office for your meeting?

I know, I know; Covid-19. Let’s not try to ignore the elephant in the room.

It’s no secret that gathering limits and the risk of spreading the virus are forcing companies to re-think their in-person meetings.

But what if I was to tell you, there’s simple ways around it. Wouldn’t it be nice to have the best of both worlds?

An interconnected, in-person meeting where your employees can be in a safe place, with proper gathering limits and the full technology to able to have a productive meeting.

This RingCentral article titled 7 Essentials For Tomorrow’s Meeting Rooms, points out 7 key assets that a meeting room must have to be a cohesive and productive atmosphere. As pointed out, features such as large TV screens, video cameras, speakers and microphones, conference capabilities, power & video cables as well as white boards are all crucial to the meeting room post-COVID.

 

At TorontoMeetings.com, we can provide that experience.

Our state-of-the-art technology, including fully-integrated videoconference equipment, 80” LED TVs, multiple hookups for any device, and wall-to-wall whiteboards are what set us apart from our competition.

Let me give you a scenario.

You have a team of 20-30 people and want to get everyone together on-site for a meeting.

Or perhaps you are hosting exams in multiple rooms and want to monitor or have the ability to speak to all of the attendees at the same time.

What to do?  The answer is simple.

Get your team together at one location, separate them into COVID-friendly gathering groups, and connect each of the meeting rooms using the integrated video meeting technology.

Our meeting rooms provide this cohesive approach that allows for in-person synergy to be created, all the while connecting digitally on large TV’s with the remainder of your team, who are only a maximum of 20 feet away.

With on-site IT staff to assist, we relieve you and your team of any wasted time due to technology issues.

This futuristic approach to meetings provides the best features of both in-person and digital meetings.

With COVID-19 protocols such as daily disinfecting, 2-meter distance between attendees, reduced room capacities, optimized HVAC, and readily available disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizers, we’ve put ourselves at the forefront for the safe practice of on-site meetings.

For more information about our meeting and training rooms, as well as securing your next space, feel free to call 416-214-1840 or email meetings@rostiegroup.com.

Interconnected meeting technology is the new future.

It’s time to stop wasting valuable time and integrate yourself into the future of meetings.

Here at Toronto Meetings, we’ve been running meetings since the mid -90s, so it’s not too much of a leap to say that we’re experts at it. One thing we’ve found that we’re very good at is training sessions. We host a variety of universities and colleges, as well as sales and tech certification programs. We excel at coordinating and ensuring that everything you need to run a training session is done, and done well. We offer a multitude of small rooms, as well as board rooms; either works for your training room session, as they are flexible spaces.

However, where we really come into our own is within our dedicated training rooms. We have three of these dedicated rooms that are built specifically with training purposes in mind. Incredibly flexible, we can set them up in literally any configuration, and they sit 25, 35, and 60 people in the standard classroom layout- in a theater size with no tables, figure that number will double. We also have training room layouts that have pods- perfect for heavily collaborative settings- or a U-Shape, which presents a happy medium between presentation and collaboration-focused training sessions.

Additionally, because we have the experience to know what our customers need, we have our rooms set up properly for training sessions. That means that we have screens for presentation that are built in, plug and play, and that a microphone is never necessary because of the expertly designed rooms’ acoustics.

Toronto Meetings also offers full catering service: everything from full breakfasts and coffee to cedar-grilled salmon and steak. Get those creative juices flowing with our delicious, locally roasted coffee, and keep them flowing with an omega-3 rich lunch.

Rent training rooms from Toronto Meetings, and see the difference that experience, great staff, and an amazing atmosphere really makes.

Just like anything else, running a business meeting is an acquired skill. And just like any skill, it has to be learned, and practiced. But even the masters of their trade have a few shortcuts that they use. So here are our top tips for a successful meeting.

#1 – Goal

Know what the meeting is trying to accomplish, and what you want to accomplish with it. This will help you stay on track, and make sure the business meeting itself runs smoothly and is of value to all the attendees.

#2 – Business Summary

Write a summary of the meeting. Keep a copy for yourself, and distribute one to your attendees (as early as possible). This can help keep things on rails, and help people understand the topics and time constraints.

#3 – Stay on Topic

It can be VERY easy to stray from the main topic of the meeting. Just bring it back. You’re not being rude, you’re keeping things on track. It is respecting everyone’s time. Side conversations can be had later, or be the topic for the next meeting.

#4 – Don’t look down on the new hires

Don’t bypass the younger member, or the new hires. Hearing them out and asking them to pitch in will not only bring fresh ideas and point out potential issues. (If the new hire can spot an obvious issue, then something should probably be done about it). But it can also give younger members of staff the confidence they need to be both successful on the job, and in their careers.

#5 – 5 words or less

Can you summarize the meeting in 5 words or less? Then it was productive, and ultimately successful. The meeting stayed on track, and delivered the information that it needed to, as well as getting the input that was needed.

#6 – Finish it on schedule

Nothing is worse than the meeting that just won’t end. And some business meetings have a habit of running much further than intended. It isn’t always any one person’s fault, but if the meeting is in a large room filled with people, then it can be difficult when everyone wants to add their piece. (For a little more on this topic, check out another blog post of ours.)

 

To have the best business meeting, you need the best space and the best atmosphere. You can have all that and more here at Toronto Meetings. Choose the room that fits your meeting, and with our tips, and our rooms, you’ll have more productive meetings in no time.