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Video Conferencing – The Essentials of Looking Good

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Even if you are admittedly “old-school” and prefer face-to-face communication, chances are that you will one day have to turn to video conferencing to stay in touch with colleagues and clients.

You may think video conferencing doesn’t demand the same level of polish you would bring to an in-person interview or client meeting, but the visual impact is still very much the same.

We have come up with six top tips to help you make the best impression during a video-conference.

  1. Light it up : Lights and angles are just as essential in video conferencing as they are for photo shoots and selfies. As a general rule, avoid fluorescent lights as they can be harsh and cast unflattering shadows. Place your primary light source behind the camera, this way your light and your camera are both pointing in the same direction.
  2. Choose a neutral background: Whether you are conducting your video conference at home or in a formal office, make sure your background is always professional. Less is more. In other words, you may be fond of all those family pictures hanging on the wall but the person on the other side of the camera may find them distracting.
  3. Dressing for your videoconference: Choose solid, bold colors. Simple jewelry is best. Ladies, avoid earrings that dangle or any accessories that makes noise when you move. For most video conference calls, you can wear whatever you want from the waist down -unless you think you might need to stand up for some reason, though I feel if you’re going to rock a power suit on top, pj or tracksuit bottoms wont help you feel your at your most professional or empowered best.
  4. Maintain good eye contact: You will look like a complete novice if you are not looking directly at the camera during the video conference, always imagine the person is in the room with you. You wouldn’t keep looking at the floor or out the window if it was an actual face to face meeting would you?
  5. Get the best audio visual: If you do a lot of video conferences, consider investing in an external webcam with high definition capabilities. Depending on your surroundings, you may want to use a headset during your call. However, a video chat without headphones looks more natural, and in my opinion more professional.
  6. Keep your notes nearby: A top tip I once read was, if you ever need to look at some notes during your video conference, jot them down and tape them next to your camera so you’re not shuffling with pieces of paper during the meeting. It helps you stay on track also in case you get a little nervous and forget what you were going to say.

Even if you feel nervous about video conferencing, remember that practice makes perfect. Once you get the hang of being in front of the camera, you will have mastered yet another invaluable business skill-the art of the video conference.

And you can start right now by booking one of our meeting rooms. They are all equipped with full video conferencing equipment so you can start practicing for the big day!

Toronto Meetings Holiday Booking Ad

Book your Last Minute Holiday Party at Toronto Meetings!

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Rostie Group Christmas 2019 Holiday Party Bookings Ad

Oh baby, it’s cold outside!

The prices of Canada Goose coats, toques, cardigans, and ugly socks for dad have sky-rocketed over the past couple of weeks, going to the Eaton Centre is officially back on everyone’s weekend to-do list, and Instagram feeds nationwide are full of couple-photo’s at the local market. It’s Christmas all over again! It’s the time of year when people come in from the cold, sit beside the fire and celebrate each other over the holidays

Maybe with all the buzz and kerfuffle you’ve forgotten to find a venue for your office Christmas party! Don’t worry, at Toronto Meetings, we’re determined to host the perfect evening for you and your dedicated staff. With multiple spaces varying in square-footage, we have the rooms to accommodate companies from start-ups to international heavyweights.

Our catering team is on-site to ensure that all your food and drink desires are met. Take a look at our catering menu for all the tasty options on offer. If there is a particular type of food that you would like, perhaps a Christmas turkey and fruitcake, let us know. We are more than happy to order from a variety of other food suppliers that we have relationships with in Toronto.

What a great way to say thanks to your team for all their good work. After all, Christmas parties, or any staff parties, have benefits that might not be immediately obvious to you. Finish the year on a high, and when everyone gets back to the office from holiday, the talk amongst your group will be how fun that party was!

So, give us a call at 416-214-1840 or

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The October Scoop is Out!

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Offsite Meeting Toronto Meetings

Offsite Meetings – Top 3 Benefits

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Even having your own meeting space, booking an offsite meeting for your and your team can prove to be beneficial in ways beyond your expectation. These are the top 3 benefits of an offsite meeting:

Offsite Meeting Benefit 1 – Increased Attention

Booking a meeting in your own internal space can be seen as just “another meeting”. The usual groaning will come from your employees as they gather and spend time stressing and lamenting about all the other work they have to complete, and the time spent in more meetings. This isn’t to say that your employees won’t think it’s important to be there, they just wish they could be using their time in other ways.

An offsite meeting provides both a change of pace, and is a signifier that this meeting is of increased importance. It’s not just a usual meeting, you’ve expended the time and effort to find a great venue and you’ve spent the money to book it.

The simple fact that this meeting is being held offsite will inherently peak the interest of your employees. They’ll be more aware and chances are they’ll pay more attention to the matters discussed.

Offsite Meeting Benefit 2 – Available Technology

Your internal meeting space – if you have one – may be very well set up for you and your team to meet. But if you want to meet with external clients, or need to connect via video to someone else around the globe, then it may not be the best fit.

An offsite meeting room will have all the latest technology, to make sure that all your attendees, both those meeting locally and all others that dial in to a conference, will have the best experience.

Offsite Meeting Benefit 3 – Inspiration

The same change of pace that allows your employees to pay more attention to an offsite meeting, might just help their minds come up with new ideas. A new surrounding may help spark ideas that didn’t come to mind before, which is just what a meeting should be for.

Whether you are gathering your team for a brainstorming session to take advantage of your new surroundings, or just need a place for a few of you to dial in to clients from around the world, Toronto Meetings is the place for you. Experience all of the above benefits and more by booking an offsite meeting today! 

Coworking space etiquette

Coworking Etiquette

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Coworking locations are popping up everywhere. And while we think we have the best spot in town, there are some things that are equal across all of them. When moving to a new space like this, you may be unaware of some of the more delicate etiquette rules associated with coworking spaces. Many of these “rules” are pretty standard when it comes to any shared space. If you’ve had messy roommates, you may already be familiar with some of these. But let’s examine some more specific coworking rules:

Rule #1 – Be Scent Free

A standard rule in a lot of organizations, but doubly important in a shared coworking space. Not only should you be wary of allergies that scents may trigger, but also general comfort levels. Not everyone in your coworking space will come from the same background, or even the same city, and some scents may be more uncommon or more offensive to differing individuals. This includes not only perfumes and colognes, but personal hygiene items like after shave and body wash. It also extends to food. The scent of strong food may cause either displeasure at the scent… or just making everyone grumpy they’re sitting in a meeting at lunch time. Speaking of food…

Rule #2 – Clean up and Wash down

Some days you can step out for a long lunch. Other days, you need to eat at your desk and catch up on work. Either way, be aware that the food you introduce to the shared coworking environment will be shared by everyone. Not in terms of everyone having a piece, but in terms of scents floating in the air, and the mental images those smells may bring up. Vegans may be uncomfortable with the smell of meat. And certain cultural foods may taste delicious, but have offensive scents. (Cabbage anyone?). This doesn’t mean you can’t eat what you want, as long as you’re respectful, and more importantly, clean up your area after, to scrub away all potential lingering scents.

Rule #3 – It’s called “Coworking”

One of the major advantages of a coworking space is the savings that you get from sharing that space. Everyone will understand if a meeting runs long, but if you constantly run over time, and cause other company’s meetings to be delayed, you’ll quickly find yourself public enemy number 1. This is one of the easiest rules to follow, since starting and ending a meeting on time is actually a good thing. Your client is not more important than someone else’s.

It’s important to keep in mind that this place is shared. Everyday you’ll see new faces, and say goodbye to old ones. It’s just the way modern working… works. Here at Toronto Meetings, we have the ideal coworking space where you can practice all of these skills and more. Contact us today to see all of our available spaces! 

Rostie Group Coworking Desks

Meetings Membership with Toronto Meetings

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With the fall approaching, it’s apt that businesses, and the people that drive them, start exploring avenues to maximize profits as we head closer to 2020.

At Toronto Meetings, we tend to look at September 1st as a second New Year ’s Day. The kids are back in school and the weather allows people to settle back into their thriving work schedules.

September is one of the more exciting months of the business year as people are ready to hit the ground running, and keep running until they break in mid-December.

Over the summer, our team has been brainstorming ideas so that we can serve our clients even better than we have been. After weeks of collaboration, deliberation and a little bit of frustration, we’ve come up with a plan that is going to assist businesses, of any size, make more money.

Please allow me to introduce the Toronto Meetings Membership. Relying on feedback from our current clients, as well as input from almost every member in our team, we’ve devised a membership package that works for a variety of different businesses and people.

For 45 dollars each month, you, and your company, are provided discounts on all meeting rooms at Toronto Meetings, a full-day of coworking each month, invitation to all social gatherings hosted on site, and a Customer Services Portal Account.

If you want to use our meeting rooms regularly, or even infrequently, this membership makes immediate sense. After a couple of hours in one of our smaller meeting rooms, like the Baltic room, you would already start to see a return on your monthly investment. Now imagine if you wish to book one of our larger spaces, like the Rainy Lake room, the discount you would receive would dwarf the 45 dollars you spent at the beginning of that month.

It might seem like we’re selling you a bit of a ‘loop-hole’ with this membership and, between me and you, that’s almost exactly what we’re doing.

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The July/August Scoop is Out!

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Videoconferencing Toronto Meetings Atlantic Room

VideoConference Rooms

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Wouldn’t it be great if every office had videoconferencing capabilities?

The fact of the matter is, almost no offices in downtown Toronto have videoconference rooms available for use by the hour. Some companies do have videoconference rooms available to them for internal use but rarely allow outsiders in.

At Toronto Meetings, we’ve outfitted our meeting rooms, and offices, with videoconference equipment so our clients can conference with business associates no matter where they’re located.

Whether it’s interviewing a potential new hire in London, talking over figures with someone in China, or even checking in with your child who’s on their year-abroad in Australia, Toronto Meetings has all your video-conference desires covered. With tech support at your disposal 24/7, we can help you establish your connection to make sure everything goes off without a hitch.

Available for the full-day, half-day, and even by the hour, our meeting rooms are the most desirable place to conduct your videoconference. Lake views in the background in our Toronto Bay room; city views from our Caspian or Baltic rooms, whichever you choose will have the person on the other end of the screen wishing they were in your chair.

The camera’s and microphones have voice recognition software that allows them to focus in on individuals in the room. If someone in the room begins a long speech, the camera will allow them to be the focal point of the screen. The camera is also smart enough to recognize when a conversation is taking place, so if two people begin talking at length it will focus on them both.

Our goal is to make the lives, and businesses, that call our floor home easier. Whether you’ve been on our floor for a decade or it’s your first time, we are here for you. Outfitting a room at your office, or workspace, with videoconferencing technology can set a company back upwards of $40,000.

So come see our available room and set up your meeting today!