The 5G Revolution

It seems almost quaint to think it now, but there was a time when being able to send an email between and, let’s be honest here, during sessions at a meeting, away day or conference was revolutionary. We also thought it would make us more efficient and more productive. Instead, we took work home with us on our phone. But that’s another story.

Without wishing to overload you with jargon about ‘latency’ and ‘nodes’ the simple thing you need to know about 5G is it will change the way we experience events. On a simple level, it will mean we’ll never have to worry about slow connections because 5G can load data at a speed which is 1000 times faster than 4G without sucking all the life out of your phone.

For event and conference planners this means being able to live stream seamlessly from events to delegates around the world.

4G allowed companies like Uber to provide analytics and mapping which allows us to track their drivers and their drivers to reach customers at their homes quicker than any other cab service. 5G will provide smarter data that will allow event planners to learn more about how the delegates behave at an event and provide more in-depth anaylsis when it comes to debriefing clients.

It will take a few years to truly realise the potential of 5G, but 2020 is set to be year zero for the next great leap for tech.

Mental Health moves up the agenda

In a survey carried out earlier this year by the IoD as part of a Mental Health and Wellbeing at Work campaign, 60% of people who responded remarked that no mental health training is currently offered to management within their organisations. This is largely due to a lack of information, as well as budget and timing constraints, and more needs to be done to encourage the provision of specialist training for business leaders.

But businesses of all sizes are keen to put mental health and wellbeing higher up the agenda and make it a bigger priority.

Indeed, we've found from events that have been hosted at 116 Pall Mall, that wellness and mindfulness have increasingly become an integral part of a schedule or itinerary. This can include quiet zones for delegates, yoga sessions or arranging a pre-meeting or conference run around the local area, all of which help to boost both engagement and productivity. We thoroughly recommend taking advantage of our location right here in the heart of London by going for a light morning jog around St James's Park.

Also, our events are featuring more guest speakers and workshops around these issues to help companies become better educated and informed.

Indeed, two years ago we hosted the first SME Directors’ Mental Health Forum. This coincided with an IoD report titled ‘A Little More Conversation’, which called on Government to target SMEs and larger businesses with guidance on mental health and how to talk about it.

The IoD continue to provide the latest information and advice around mental health at work through the recent launch of the IoD’s Inclusive Business Hub.

VR OK

So far, Virtual Reality has seemed a bit ‘New Emperor’s Clothes’. Nothing more than a fancy gimmick with a headset that makes you look a bit ridiculous while you’re grasping at thin air. But it is anticipated that the arrival of 5G will bring VR into its own. One reason is that VR swallows up a lot a data but 5G can deliver data at high speed. It will significantly enhance the quality of the VR experience when it comes to doing demos of new products or doing virtual tours of retail and office space.

Of course, it is not always possible to give potential clients a tour of a venue, not least because of time constraints on both sides.

Where viewing times can be restricted, VR is a tool that has become increasingly indispensable for a sales team. There are now software packages that can allow venues to show how room layouts can change and be adapted from a conference to a charity lunch to a gala dinner.

Sustainability

Yes, the trend towards sustainability has been around for several years but if it’s not on your agenda and you cannot demonstrate the credentials of your venue or your caterers then quite simply clients will take their business elsewhere.

The expectations of delegates will continue to change and develop from year to year and we know how important it has become for planners and venues to be clear and transparent about where their F&B comes from.

To give just one example, we are seeing a clear move away from having red meat and we will continue to offer more plant-based options on our menus for next year.
 
You can find out more about how our catering team at Benugo has placed sustainability at the heart of our operation at 116.

Five ways to make your event more sustainable in 2020

Rooms for Improvement

Tired of spending a day at a conference looking at the back of somebody’s head?

In what is an ultra-competitive marketplace, planners have to think about how they can make events more interactive, entertaining and engaging for delegates.

116 Pall Mall recently hosted the Bread and Jam Festival. It’s the fourth year in a row that we’ve staged this two-day event, which brings together emerging and scaling food and drink brands, food and drink founders, media, innovators and investors.

Lectures, growth labs and opportunities for startups to pitch to potential backers were hosted in a variety of spaces across our second floor. Everything was aimed at encouraging attendees to explore each of our rooms, discover new products, talk to exhibitors and move around the building.

Reinventing Training Days

Increasingly, businesses are getting more creative when it comes to working with a venue and what they have at their disposal both indoors and outdoors.

This includes thinking about seating layouts that can encourage greater interaction between delegates and outdoor spaces for delegates to have one-to-ones or breakouts. At 116 we have rooms to accommodate anything from four to 400 people, but we also have our terrace and St James’s Park around the corner.

Given the choice between sitting in the same room all day for a company meeting or getting extra stimulation from a spot of fresh air, it seems like a bit of a no-brainer (weather permitting, of course!).

But it is also anticipated that in years to come 5G will revolutionise training or induction days, as well as board meetings.

A recently published report by Quartz states that “5G, and XR in particular, will make it possible to train workers anywhere, anytime, on a global scale, and with a degree of realism that will be indistinguishable from experiential learning on the job at the job site.”

Improving the Delegate Experience

For events on a large scale and bigger budget, technology improving the experience for delegates from the moment they arrive. Facial recognition makes the registration process faster. Apps can send push notifications with recommendations on which sessions you should attend based on your interests and your role to help you get the most from an event where there are multiple speakers across a host of sessions in different rooms...all happening at the same time.

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DID YOU KNOW YOU COULD HOLD YOUR MEETING, TRAINING COURSE OR CONFERENCE AT 116 PALL MALL?

Our Business Centre has 15 modern meeting rooms and last year, we launched the IoD Academy – a state-of-the-art training facility on the third floor, providing six additional rooms perfect for corporate hire in the heart of the capital.

To book or for more information, make an enquiry