Staying connected is more important than ever given face-to-face time is limited at the moment, and all over the world people have had to get creative on how they communicate with their communities, teams, and clients.
With business meetings and events having a limit of up to 30 people in person, Laurie Nicol, Chief Operating Officer at De Vere, looks how De Vere is getting ahead of the game by investing in new technology to ensure businesses can easily remain connected with colleagues and clients across the globe.
Safety first
Meetings of up to 30 people indoors are allowed in permitted venues, if physical distancing can be maintained and the venue can demonstrate it has followed COVID-19 guidance.
Our specially designed Wellbeing at Heart programme puts the health and safety of our guests and meeting delegates first, and ensures a safe working environment for our team members. With the support of ChemEco, De Vere has carefully crafted a range of new measures, from enhancing the already meticulous deep cleaning of meeting and event spaces, bars, restaurants and bedrooms, to thoughtful physical distancing measures inside and outside the hotels. This includes regularly sanitising public areas using jet action ‘misting’ technology which uses hard acting yet environmentally friendly solutions from ChemEco.
Our properties provide pre-arrival contact with conference organisers to confirm all delegates are symptom free. While at the property there are sanitising stations, well-considered refreshment arrangements, staggered breakouts, well-organised zones for each group, and plenty of outdoor working space for delegates to take advantage of. Event organisers can also use our infra-red thermometers to temperature check delegates throughout.
Our hotels offer large meeting rooms allowing delegates to have plenty of space to observe physical distance guidelines and our meeting rooms offer new ‘individual workspace’ furniture where every participant has an individual desk reducing contact of shared surfaces. Due to the large size of our properties, we’re also able to implement dedicated ‘zoning’ to reduce cross contact between groups.
We’re well connected
As an event organiser it’s important to consider how your delegates will get to the event, especially if they don’t want to use public transport. Whilst De Vere properties are surrounded by acres of green space, parkland and beautiful countryside, they’re also impeccably connected for travelling by road, benefitting from plenty of on-site parking, and we even have electric charging points at some of our properties.
Food for thought
We know how important food and beverage is for a successful meeting and we’ve adapted our food and beverage offer with your delegates wellbeing in mind. While we still offer a range of healthy and tasty food menus and can cater for a range of dietary requirements, we now offer delicious ‘grab and go’ lunches and individual refreshment zones accessible to your delegates only.
Smart meetings packages
We appreciate that some delegates may not be able to travel due to local restrictions or if they are shielding, so to ensure your teams remain connected, we have launched a series of meetings packages designed to ensure our guests have access to all the technology they need to ensure a smooth and effective meting or event. From fully encrypted video calling to multi-room virtual meetings which can connect to syndicate events elsewhere in the country, we can provide a slick and seamless service no matter what our guests need.
Those visiting the properties will also be able to take advantage of De Vere’s market leading Smart Space meetings concept, which comprises nine service features designed to offer a highly responsive, personalised meetings and events service. The service includes everything from a live availability booking service to truly tech-savvy support, with up to 1GB super-fast Wi-Fi, interactive displays and an on-site team of friendly experts to help overcome any tech issues a client may face with strict distancing measures in place to ensure a safe and productive environment for everyone.
