ARAMARK Harrison Survey
Reveals Venue Plays Critical Role in Success of Meeting or Conference
PHILADELPHIA, PA, June 16, 2006. ARAMARK Harrison Lodging (AHL), a leader in the conference and corporate training centers industry, recently conducted a survey with Litchfield Research, an independent research firm based in Marietta, Ga., revealing that venue selection plays a critical role in the overall success of a meeting or conference.
According to the survey, 73 percent of respondents said that the actual training facility/conference center was "very important" in contributing to the overall success of a training or meeting session.
"A training room/conference center can make or break the training experience," noted one respondent. Another respondent said, "A great training environment adds to the experience, but a poor training environment can ruin the best training program."
"These responses clearly substantiate our strong belief that venue and conference facilities play a critical role in the perceived outcome or success of meetings and training sessions," said Jeff Weggeman, vice president of sales and marketing, ARAMARK Harrison Lodging.
Furthermore, participants also indicated that they proactively measure productivity benefits and/or success ratios as it relates to venue. The large majority of individuals measuring the benefits/success ratio do so by creating post meeting evaluation forms, surveys and questionnaires.
"The meeting industry wants less distractions and more focus on the learning process," says Weggeman. "And as the industry continues to focus on measurement, we predict that there will be an increased demand to provide methodologies for conducting studies on how venue selection can impact a meeting/training success rate."
Currently, ARAMARK Harrison Lodging is in the process of conducting a survey with PFK Consulting and will be later devising a system for companies to successfully measure venue ROI as well as return on objectives (ROO).
Editor's note: The survey was conducted by Litchfield Research, an independent research firm based in Marietta, Ga.
Responses were obtained by sending an e-mail invitation to 1,322 members of the 2006 Chief Learning Officer Magazine
Business Intelligence Board. A total of 334 respondents entered the survey, a 25 percent response rate.
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