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| Vintage 1960's ad from Steelcase |
Written by Kasey Sanders of Hamilton Park Hotel and Conference Center in Florham Park, NJ. Kasey is a sales manager and an active member of IACC's Emerging Trends Committee. Most recently, Kasey explored her curiosity for Steelcase and planned a company field trip to the manufacturer's NYC showroom. Discover what she found out during her trip...
Understanding your clients’ daily work environment will
provide insight into how they might perceive your conference center. After all,
companies influence their culture through the layout of the office space and
the way their employees interact. And when a company decides to host a meeting
or training at an offsite location, they need to be certain that the ideologies
of their culture are being reinforced.
My curiosity on the latest trends in office design led me to
the Steelcase showroom at Columbus Circle in Manhattan. I spent an afternoon
wandering the many floors of eye catching furniture, in search of new ideas and
a look at what is popular in office space infrastructure. And I did indeed
stumble upon a few resounding themes worth sharing.
Flexibility – I
was introduced to many furniture pieces that could adjust to the variety of
tasks completed in a single day. Take the Airtouch for example. “With a light
touch of a finger, workers can quickly, effortlessly, and quietly adjust their
worksurface to fit their personal, or task related needs. Be it seated,
standing, collaborative or solo.”
Collaboration – Engaging
with colleagues takes on new meaning when you have the personal space to work
on a project while still comfortably seated within a group. “Verb tables are
specifically designed to support different learning modes and encourage easy
shifts between lecture, discussion, and project work.”
Connection –
Video conferencing with colleagues at other offices and in other countries is
no longer novelty but mandatory. And fumbling with AV connections is a total
hindrance to communication and productivity.
Enter a product like media:scape with HD videoconferencing and the PUCK
(Personal User Control Key). “media:scape
was designed to provide a collaborative destination—one that is simple to use
and ready to host your digital tools in three easy steps: (connect, press and
share).”
Of course Steelcase is just one of many office furniture
design businesses with purpose built fixtures in offices
throughout the world. Explore the white pages and research papers of these
companies to learn what trends and ideas are helping to sculpt their designs
and the office spaces of your clients. And check out the winners from NeoCon
2012 for more innovative concepts in furniture and technology.
Which of these concepts seem to be a market trend at your property?
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