This was an interesting space to make work as a networking and conference space combined. The brief – it must be in the office, it can’t be a boring conference room, we want space to hold a speed networking session as well.
With the brief in mind there was only one space available, the executive lounge directly next to the entrance. My first challenge was a very heavy middle seating section that was immovable, this meant we had to include this in any seating options. My second issue was as it is next to the entrance as much signage as you like doesn’t stop noisy people walking through! So we built a circle of speakers pointing into the audience to ensure any background noise was minimum. This also helped as the grand ceiling made for awful acoustics if we didn’t have so many speakers. Finally we needed to create an area for speed networking which with the help of the venues fast and silent turn around we were able to achieve whilst the main session was going on at the front of the room.
The end result was a huge success and I really enjoyed making an awkward space look like an impressive conference room!
