All indicators point to 2015 being a great year for hotels when it comes to meetings business: Group demand and rates are both trending up. “The focus is on yielding high-value customer profiles for high-demand dates, and then filling shoulder seasons and long-term demand—6-12 months out,” according to the Benchmark report.

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Facebook may still be more for keeping up with friends and family, but LinkedIn is now an important way planners and suppliers communicate meeting agendas and logistics. They also are using smartphone apps, Twitter, and Instagram to interact with participants before, during, and after an event.

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Conference planners’ demand for powerful and reliable Wi-Fi is only going to continue to grow as attendees now come with tablets, smartphones, and other devices. “A property that stumbles in this area risks losing the business next year, and unhappy commentary on social media,” according to Benchmark.

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Smartphones now are a critically important business tool for meeting planners and attendees alike. Planners use them to conduct virtual venue tours via FaceTime, and disseminate agendas and real-time meeting info to attendees through meetings apps, while attendees use them for everything from participating in a meeting-related contest, to planning what sessions to attend, to conducting business during breaks.  

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“Today the complete meeting package (CMP)—sacrosanct over the last four decades in the conference center business—essentially no longer exists,” according to Benchmark.  Instead of a set package, planners now expect to be able to customize the CMP to their exact needs and specifications. While in the end the package may still have many of the CMP components, they’ve configured it specifically to meet the needs of a particular meeting.

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While demand overall is looking strong for 2015, some segments stand out as significant volume contributors: education, association, financial and insurance, healthcare and pharmaceutical, energy-related, and technology.

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Chefs and F&B directors are joining the overall service team as some of today’s chief meeting influencers. Because attendees are more productive and learn better when they’re properly fueled, more planners are talking directly with chefs about how they can customize menus to provide energy-sustaining meals while also accommodating dietary preferences and food allergy issues. It’s also becoming very popular to ask a property’s chef to host unique culinary teambuilding programs.

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While they’re not right for every meeting, high-end boutique and personal luxury properties are coming back into vogue for high-level meetings.

Image credit: Cheyenne Mountain Resort, Colorado Springs, Colo., Benchmark Hospitality

For mid-level and traditional training meetings, facilities with a lot of indoor and outdoor meeting space are in high demand. Demand is on the rise for both a large number of breakout rooms and unusual spaces around the property’s grounds that can be used for small-group discussions.

Image credit: Snow King Hotel, Jackson Hole, Wyo., Benchmark Hospitality