How to choose your perfect meeting room
A meeting room is more than just an empty space with tables and chairs in it. You might think this is all you need to hold meetings both internally and with external contacts and clients. However, what you may not realise is that finding a space that meets the exact needs of your business, with the right facilities and in exactly the right location, could be the key to expanding your business and building a more professional image.
So, what’s important in a meeting space? Here are some crucial things to think about to help you find the perfect meeting room…
Image
Your meeting room, like everything else connected with your business, is all part of your professional image. It says a lot to potential clients and associates about your ethos as an organisation and crucially, the attention you pay to the details.
If it’s obvious that you care about projecting a professional image, by choosing a meeting space kitted out with the latest equipment and in a convenient location close to a big business hub such as Leeds or another major UK city, then it’s likely that you’ll put just as much care into your dealings with clients.
On the other hand, if you choose a crowded coffee shop or a room in a community centre as the venue to negotiate a crucial deal or discuss a high level issue, what does that say about your professionalism, not to mention your judgement, as a business?
It’s also important to impress clients, to choose a building with a grand, spacious, high-tech feel to it. It gives the impression that your business is doing well enough to afford such a space (even if it’s not actually very expensive to hire a meeting room) and that you care enough about their business to go to the extra expense.
Equipment and facilities
As we wrote in an earlier blog about the crucial things you need to know before you book a meeting room, one of the main things to bear in mind before booking a meeting room is exactly what you’ll need. From teleconferencing, projector and printing equipment to refreshments, reception services and breakout spaces (for those whole afternoon long meetings), make sure you know what facilities are available when choosing a meeting room.
At dedicated meeting centres like Carrwood Park, all of these facilities and more are conveniently on-hand in case you need them. However, it’s important to choose the right package, or you could end up paying for services you just don’t use.
Location
It can be tricky to find a meeting space to use regularly that’s in a convenient location for all the clients and associates you’ll want to meet with. This is why it makes sense to look for a meeting room situated near to a major city, where there are excellent transport links for both road, rail and airport travel. You can’t please everyone, but you can make it as easy as possible for delegates to access your meeting space. Carrwood Park, for example, has free parking for visitors, meaning anyone coming for a meeting at Carrwood can park with convenience and will not have to cop for parking charges.
Size and layout
No two meetings are ever really the same, and you might find yourself running out of space in your in-house meeting room. If you think you might need more space, even only on an occasional basis, head to a centre like Carrwood Park where there are rooms and configurations of all sizes to choose from – and you won’t be locked into a contract in one particular space if you find that you outgrow it. It’s the same with layout – if you think you might need to change the space around or use a room with a different layout (i.e. a change in seating from horseshoe to theatre-style layout), you’ll need the same degree of flexibility.
For more tips to help you find the perfect meeting room, subscribe to the Carrwood Park blog for regular advice, help and features from professional meeting space experts. You can also download our free brochure to find out more about our services.
