Marriott Hotels is launching Meetings Imagined, a concept that aims to reinvent how meetings are planned, making them more visual, social and purposeful. An online platform provides expert tips, the latest meeting trends, and hundreds of images designed to spark creativity. Using the website, customers can collaborate with hotels to design custom experiences or view signature experiences featured at the participating test hotels, as well as post images on social media sites.
Meetings Imagined is the result of research showing shifts in how the next-generation customer works collaboratively and uses technology, Marriott International said in a news release. After speaking with customers and analyzing the more than 40,000 meetings hosted at Marriott’s hotels yearly, seven purposes for meetings emerged: celebrate, decide, educate, ideate, network, produce and promote. Rather than focusing just on dates, rates and room layouts, Meetings Imagined takes a holistic approach, honing in on the specific purpose of the meeting to create and design a more engaging experience.
Five U.S. Marriott Hotels will be testing the Meetings Imagined concept: the Chicago Marriott O’Hare, Tysons Corner Marriott, Gaithersburg Marriott Washingtonian Center, Orlando World Center Marriott and the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. The concept is also available in Europe at the London Marriott Grosvenor Square, Paris Marriott Rive Gauche, Munich Marriott Hotel and the Amsterdam Marriott Hotel and will expand to more Marriott Hotels later this year.
“While others may focus on just meeting logistics, Marriott is reimagining the experience for the next generation with its innovative Meetings Imagined concept that infuses a more sophisticated approach based on objectives and outcomes,” said Paul Cahill, senior vice president of brand management, Marriott Hotels.