Ahmed: It’s not going to be easy to please everyone, Kate. What are the most important things, do you think?
Kate: Actually, I’ve made a list of things we’ll need. Shall I go through it with you?
Ahmed: Yeah, go ahead.
Kate: Right, well, we’re looking for a hotel that’s good value for money. It’s a priority for us, because we’ve got to keep costs down. The conference centre must have a really big room for, say 100 people, because there will be some presentations that everyone must attend. And we’ll need at least four meeting rooms. We’re going to have quite a few workshops and training sessions, as we usually do.
Ahmed: Yes, and the meeting rooms will need to be quite big, Kate, with enough room for, say, 25 participants — even more if it’s a popular session.
Kate: Yeah. Good point. We have to think carefully about the location for the conference, if possible, it shouldn’t be too far away from an airport. Most people will be arriving by air. We don’t want them to have problems finding the hotel, like they did last year. A shuttle service from the airport to the hotel would be a plus, don’t you think?
Ahmed: Yeah, but not all hotels offer that facility.
Kate: True. One other thing, it’s important that the centre has good leisure facilities. We want staff to enjoy themselves as well as take part in work sessions. Don’t forget, they’re free on Friday and they could also have some free time early on Monday as well.
Ahmed: Right. We certainly don’t want them to go away complaining they didn’t enjoy themselves or have enough time to buy presents for friends and relatives.
Kate: Yeah. There’ll be a gala dinner on the Sunday evening. They should enjoy that. It’ll be an opportunity for everyone to relax, do some networking and meet colleagues from all over the world.

Ros Pomeroy has worked in business, in the UK, Mainland Europe and Asia Pacific in a variety of areas, including sales, business strategy, human resources and most recently workplace consultancy and change management. She has an MBA from the London Business School and is a trained executive coach.

Interviewer | Ros Pomeroy

Interviewer: Ros, what are the most important considerations when choosing a conference location?
Ros Pomeroy: There are three types of considerations for any conference organizer. Firstly, the practical, the venue itself, its quality and the service provided, the location, the distance to travel, the capacity of the venue, and, importantly, the cost. The second type of consideration is about whether the venue is a place that will allow the objectives of the conference to be met. So, in this example the conference objectives are to allow networking, to allow people to discuss the marketing strategy of the company, and a reward and «thank you» for the employees, for all their hard work. And the third type of consideration is what is it that the venue symbolizes. So, what message does it say about the company and its ambitions, what is it saying to its employees. So, as an example, if a company is looking to find ways of becoming more efficient or save costs, then staging a conference at a very luxurious and expensive hotel would symbolize the wrong things.
Interviewer: What do you think of each of the possible locations?
Ros Pomeroy: Well, starting with the SeaGreen Hotel in Florida, I think it goes well on practical factors, such as location, capacity, facilities and cost. And the fact that there is no airport shuttle, I think, can be easily overcome by arranging transport independently. The second possible venue, which is the Bamboo Conference Center in Macao, in South-East China, is also good on practical considerations. And Macao is part of an emerging market. Discussing new products and services in a market like this would be important for the company. The Hotel Port Ouvert in Monaco looks like a good place to reward and thank staff but the cost is right at the limit of the budget, which doesn’t allow for any extras. And the conference hall has a capacity of more than five hundred which is in fact too big for this event. And, finally, there is the Hotel Stefenburg in Sweden which has a very different feel to it. If the objective of the conference is to get away from it all, to provide time for relaxation and also to spend a lot of time discussing the business objectives and the marketing strategies of the company, then it could be a good option. If all the delegates are golfers then they will value the leisure facilities which might be enough to outweigh the big disadvantage of the distance from the airport.
Interviewer: Which location would you choose and why?
Ros Pomeroy: Well, I would choose the Bamboo Conference Center in Macao, and there are three sets of reasons for this. Firstly, the practical factors. The location is close to the airport, the cost per delegate is well within the budget, so there’s room for extras. And the conference hall itself is large, but not too large. The second set of reasons are to do with the objectives of the conference being met. So, the leisure and the shopping facilities are a good way of thanking participants for all their hard work. The dining hall will be available only for the delegates themselves, which gives them an opportunity to meet informally with their colleagues and to network. And there are a number of smaller seminar rooms which allows for group discussions to take place to discuss business strategy. And the third reason is about the location in China which is a fast growing economy and will be important for the company to consider when it discusses its product and marketing strategy.

1.
— David, have you met Elisa Vasconcelos?
— No. Hello, Elisa. Nice to meet you.

2.
— Jameel, do you know Sylvia?
— Yes, of course. Hi Sylvia, good to see you again.

3.
— How do you do? My name’s Ralph Karsten.
— Nice to meet you. Mine’s Brendan Lenihan.

4.
— How are things?
— Fine thanks. It’s good to be here.

5.
— Can I get you something to drink?
— That would be nice, thanks. I’ll have some fruit juice.