Meeting Room & Events AV in restricted times

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This year the situation we find ourselves in is unprecedented.  We at CGA know that as a result, Hospitality venues have very little budget at present, so we thought that some ideas and tips on how to make the best of your current AV may be helpful. 

As the Covid situation changes, we all know that Government advice is constantly changing and varies throughout the UK.  Currently the general guidelines reflect the need for gatherings in small groups, (rule of six), no shouting or singing, and keeping your distance.  These rules pose challenges when it comes to delivering quality face to face meetings or important conference calls, but with carefully planned technology and AV, these difficulties are not insurmountable.

Facilitating better calls

Are your clients currently making business calls from their spare room, kitchen or lounge?  Do they feel their home is not delivering the correct ambience for meetings, or do they find themselves not in a ‘business state of mind,’ (as they still have their slippers on!)  Coming to your venue could help them to get into work mode, focus better and present the best version of themselves.  Wearing their business attire and presenting themselves in a meeting room that sounds great and has a better camera than their laptop, could increase their productivity.

All the design elements you have invested in; great decor, soft carpets, comfortable chairs and quality AV can come together to create an optimum environment for a video call.  The presence of soft furnishings helps to eliminate echo and reverberations, often too prevalent in kitchens and modern minimalist homes, which detract from the quality of sound in virtual meetings.

Ensuring delegates can be heard

To effectively get your message across in a room of socially distanced delegates, you need what is called a "Sound reinforcement system."  This is best done with multiple ceiling speakers spread through a room, as each speaker gently reinforces the sound of the delegate speaking and saves them from shouting, delivering even sound throughout a room without the aggression and front of room energy generated from a PA system. Many of your function rooms will already have ceiling speakers for background music, and with care, these can be retasked without decoration, to make a vocal reinforcement system to help your delegates deliver safe and effective presentations.

Delivering Hybrid meetings

Even if we are only allowed to have a small number of delegates in our rooms and they have to be socially distanced, it is still possible to enable them to successfully meet with distanced colleagues via a ‘call’ if you get the AV in the meeting room right.  Current AV allows your existing radio microphones to be linked to a call, or for a dedicated ceiling microphone to be deployed to cover a whole room to more effectively bring together delegates who are both at the meeting in person with those dialling in remotely.

Enabling large scale virtual events

Although it is no longer possible to gather everyone together into one room for key presentations in an old-style company conference, did you know that your lectern or radio mics can be linked to a ‘call’ with an HD camera to make a live stream to remote delegates, at the same time as presenting in your function room?  A small group of individuals can reveal the big-ticket items and key corporate messages to everyone in the company, without geographical bias, from your venue.

Whatever type of meeting you are facilitating, we are here to help.  If you would like to find out how your current AV system can be modified to address the issues we face in these current times, please give us a call, we’d be happy to help.

CGA Integration … Making hospitality sound great!

Now is the time

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As we move into a new decade, 2020 has brought with it new challenges for the Hospitality sector.  International forces such as the growing awareness of Global warming; epitomised by the Australian bush fires, new personal and political eco priorities, the impact of Covid 19 and potentially even Brexit have led to, and will probably continue to impact upon public gatherings, meetings and events.

It is unlikely that we will witness the growth of this area at least in the short term, especially as companies and potentially in time more governments, impose travel bans or recommend limiting social contact.  So what can we, as venues, do to address this change in circumstance?  Has the requirement for meetings and social contact actually gone away, or do we just need to get smarter about how we think about addressing a need that is still very much a reality?

The position we currently find ourselves in shouldn’t be seen as a time to reposition our meeting spaces. As I see it, the meeting’s business will just evolve.  Good business is always best done face to face and with so many social and personal benefits associated with gathering together, I believe it will still be essential for certain people to travel to at least some events.  But as we all address both travel risks and our own carbon footprint, I think there will always be individuals who may not be able to be there in the room, but who certainly will need to be part of the meeting, presentation or event.  Our challenge is to ensure that they are included.

So what can you do?  Cramming everyone around a laptop is just not a valid option and putting individuals on the projector screen via an Internet call does not fully include them in the meeting.

CGA can deliver a range of integrated Hospitality meeting room solutions that makes the process as interactive as possible in the absence of everyone actually being there. Technical solutions with the connection of one or two cables, will allow the whole room to be present through both sound & video, on any call from a clients device through Webex, Zoom, Fuze, Skype or Jabber to name a few key platforms.

Ceiling-mounted microphone panels can be installed and finished to a RAL colour.  When connected to a call, these will enable the whole room (24 + people, subject to ceiling height), to be heard clearly, and they can quickly disappear when the space is in use for other purposes.  In addition, the same ceiling speakers that spread quality music across your room for dining events can also be used to relay the sound from the remote parties.  Spreading ceiling speakers across the room prevents the ‘loud at the front and quiet at the back’ effect of older conferencing systems.

For clarity visuals as well as sound, an HD camera mounted around the main screen can be manipulated to zoom and pan around the room to catch all delegates, or multiple cameras can be used to show physical resources brought into the meeting.

Can you just make a conference call?  Sometimes this is an option, as staff or delegates often just need to connect voices quickly to bring a manager, key team member or contractor together to make a decision and ensure the meeting concludes efficiently.

To help you with this, CGA can offer a fully rechargeable audio conferencing solution that is fully portable.  It can be stored in a charging case or on trays in communal areas so that this system is always ready to go. This solution can be deployed anywhere inside or even outside your hotel, as once charged, all it needs is a client with a device to make the call (e.g. phone, laptop, or pc), so you can make that conference call from the beach bar, roof terrace or even nineteenth Tee!  You can connect a single call by Bluetooth, (using NFC pairing if enabled on your phone), USB or just an audio cable to mobile devices.  This system can connect 24 people ‘around a table’ to a remote caller with great two-way audio.  Further functionality can also be gained by joining multiple calls, (up to a maximum of three), one on each of Bluetooth, USB and audio jack, to join the three remote locations with the other people in the room.

Ask for a demo today as you will be surprised at how ‘joined-up’ these systems are and how you can start showing both your staff and your clients options to manage both their travel and carbon footprints.

CGA Integration … Making hospitality sound great!

Meeting Room Technology

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Technology is by its very nature a fast-moving industry.  As it constantly
evolves, so does how we interact with it, both at home and at work.  As
such the requirements for meeting rooms are changing quickly, with a
growing focus on much more visual and video content being demanded
across a wide spectrum of events & devices.

During meetings, delegates need to connect and collaborate on screen,
in real time and at the highest quality.  They need to be able to move
seamlessly across a range of AV and connectivity solutions, which in
turn need to be available in each, and sometimes multiple, meeting room
areas.

In addition to a main room, delegates need quality break out areas to
develop ideas from the main meeting.  These also need to be spaces
where they can relax and process new information or network and bond
with team members & their clients whilst still being supported by the AV
they need.

These meeting room requirements can be delivered by addressing six
main technological areas; HDMI, BYOD (bring your own device),
Connectivity, Video & Voice Conferencing, Speakers and Digital Control.

HDMI Connectivity

As we start seeing 4k TV’s at home, the minimum quality expected in
meeting rooms is now HD (1080p) resolution.  Most new laptops and
video devices are based on the HDMI connector that delivers digital
quality in high resolution.  Upgrading the connectivity in all meeting
rooms to HDMI is essential, although unfortunately VGA connectivity
is still required for legacy equipment.

BYOD

Delegates no longer just have a laptop which they wish to present from.
BYOD facilitates presentation on screen of content from iPads, iPhones,
Android devices, Chrome devices, Macbooks and laptops, all wirelessly,
from anywhere in the room.

With delegates regularly working in the Cloud and not actually having a
device that stores all their information, this does mean that the need for
a good or preferably impressive internet connection into meeting rooms
becomes essential.  

Delegates can then connect and present quickly and easily using
Chromecast and Airplay as they might at home, or through a useful app
quickly downloaded to their device.  BYOD also facilitates wirelessly
delivered screen sharing; enabling two or more users to present their
content on screen for comparison and review.

Connectivity; touch screens

We are all too familiar with the touch screen functionality of our portable
devices, phones and tablets.  Once delegates have their presentation or
image on screen in a meeting room, they want to be able to touch it and
move, explore, explode or manipulate what they are presenting.  All of
this is possible with a simple USB connection to the screen. Once this is
applied, suddenly the screen can be an extension of their Windows or
IOS operating experience, allowing full interaction on the screen.

Video & Voice Conferencing

Historically dedicated equipment was needed to launch a video
conference (VC) call, this needed to be used by all parties involved
and the telecoms provider needed to provide a solid connection or
bandwidth between all the locations.  But now VC has become ‘the
norm’, and Skype, webex and a range of other video and voice
conferencing facilities are now available in the Cloud.

This means that if a key delegate is unable to travel but wants to
attend a meeting and actively participate in discussions, it is possible
to use such services to bring remote delegates up onto the screen
and hear them clearly through speakers.  In addition, they can share
their desktop computer on the meeting room screen, as described in
BYOD above, enabling them to make a presentation and discuss this
with the other meeting delegates as if they were in the same room.
In a more advanced or larger conference suite it is also possible to
bring remote delegates up on a separate screen to the data, so that
you can see more of the individual, including their body language and
hand gestures.

The move to the Cloud makes it much easier for venues to offer VC
connectivity. A simple USB & video connection to the delegates
Windows laptop or Mac, connects the in-room speakers, microphone,
camera and screen to the delegates call on their VC software.  This
ensures that the delegates has the company IT security that they need,
with the ability to share the call with all in the meeting room. The same
can also be done with a voice call from a mobile phone and all delegates
can be heard, and hear, through the installed ceiling microphone and
speakers.

Installed Quality Speakers

With video content and conferencing, you need both the correct image,
and quality sound which can be heard throughout the room. Speakers
on a television or a sound bar underneath it, are often only enough for
a small room.  If content is to be heard throughout a room, there is a
requirement for quality ceiling mounted speakers throughout. If rooms
are also to be used as private dining spaces, quality speakers are
essential to deliver ambient sound at a quality that reflects the food &
service of the venue to all diners.

Digital Control

As mentioned above, we are all now familiar with touchscreen control.
Centralising the control of the meeting room functionality; screen,
source, lights, AC, VC, etc, can all be pulled back onto one control
platform.  This gives venues and their delegates a tailored, branded
controlled experience, which does not rely on ‘finding the remote
control’ or physically finding a button to press.

Most of the modern display technology and certainly the screen
sharing products all offer the ability to personalise the display of the
system.  This allows venues to add their own Branding and personalise
any login instructions for delegates, making their systems clear and
easy to use. When delegates enter a room the screen can show any
message, logo, room name and instructions on how the delegates
can connect their device to work in the space.

A digital control platform does require some IT backbone, but not
only does it offer the client a better experience, but enables the
venue’s AV integrator to connect and diagnose any problems in real
time and enables the system to proactively send out warnings and
alerts before any hardware fails.

Fly your way to more events business

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CGA met with an Events Manager at a London hotel recently and a worrying statistic
emerged; 30% of potential customers for large-scale functions declined to book their
venue after viewing the ballroom, as there were no flying points.

The actual number of ‘lost clients’ is probably even higher, as many events
companies having previously visited would already know that flying points were
not available, so would not even consider the venue as a potential option in the first
place.

So if you have a good size function space, one which can cater for over 200 guests,
with a good height ceiling and no flying points, then maybe you too are missing out
on a large portion of the available business.

So what is a flying point?
Flying points are in principal big hooks or fixing points fitted to the structure of your
roof or ceiling. They allow events companies to hang equipment without having to
build up from the ground with stands or scaffolding, therefore leaving your events
space looking more like a purpose-built function space. 
A flying point also has the added safety benefit of being rated and tested with a
loading which specifies the weight of equipment that events company can hang or
fly from it.

So why do I need flying points in my events space?
There is a growing trend that companies booking hospitality spaces to host large
scale events are either events companies themselves, or the company making the
booking will be employing an events company to manage the occasion.

The events company will want to bring in speakers, lighting, video screens and
lots of other technology to make the occasion special or even spectacular!  All
of this equipment needs to be mounted, often at a high level, to allow visibility
and sound dispersion throughout the function room to create the desired effects.

Is there anything else I should consider?
If you are considering adding flying points to your events space, you must work
with a structural engineer to ensure that your building is capable of taking the
weight required to be hung.  If this is confirmed, engage a reputable rigging
company to ensure that they correctly install flying equipment in the right place,
with the correct weight loading capability required.

To ensure minimal visual impact, you may also choose to work with an interior
designer to enable that these flying points ‘disappear’ when they are not in use.
Although please remember it is paramount to let the structural engineer & rigging
company agree the location of these points NOT the designer, to ensure the
safety and functionality of the points.

Plan to maintain flying points in your annual budgeting.  As they are essentially
lifting gear, they need to be regularly tested to ensure that they are safe and
compliant with industry standards.

If you are investing in flying points to enable events companies to fly lots of
technology, you equally need to consider power and cable management. Think
about how best to supply a suitable amount of power to the points, some in the
roof space, as well as how the power will be routed from the floor of the venue
up to these flying points without having unsightly bundles of cables swinging around.

If you would like to find out more about installing flying points then please give us
a call on 0845 058 4652, email or maybe take a look at refurbishing your events
space on the CGA website and we can advise you how to start the process to
maximise the effectiveness of your critical events space.

CGA … making hospitality sound Great!