Making Over the Meeting Room

Sometimes it's not what you say, but how you say it that gets you the results you want.

And sometimes, it's also where you say it.

That's one reason why office conference spaces are taking on a whole new look. No longer is the sterile meeting room with a single long table surrounded by uncomfortable chairs the standard for companies designing spaces where clients and employees meet. These days, you're just as likely to find a conference room that looks like a cozy living room, with sofas and end tables, like at Chico's headquarters in Fort Myers. Or you might even find power and computer ports built into the conference table, videoconferencing capabilities and specially designed microphones for a speakerphone, as at the conference space at the Premier Executive Center in Naples.

State of the Art

The main trend in contemporary conference spaces is to accommodate the capabilities of current technology-and in many cases, to also allow for advances in the future. Many meeting rooms now feature large monitor screens with Internet access, often hooked up to the office network. That way, employees can illustrate presentations by accessing files or Web sites. In downtown Naples, Architectural Network features a wide Sony flat-screen monitor in its spare, yet elegant, conference space. Parklane Properties boasts a new Panasonic plasma screen that shows current listings and virtual tours, and is visible from the Fifth Avenue sidewalk outside.

"It's pretty common for a larger corporation that has outside clients," says Bill Knight, project manager for the new Fort Myers offices of FindWhat.com. "You need to have Internet access."

In keeping with that goal, conference spaces are designed with laptops in mind; many feature ample power outlets and computer hookups, often built right into the table, as at FindWhat.com. "All [a presenter] needs to do is bring a disk," says architect Bruce Gora.

Lighting, too, reflects the increasing focus on presentations. Gone are the days of cold fluorescent lights. Modern conference spaces feature adjustable lights that can be focused only where needed. Gora/McGahey Associates in Architecture designed the Fort Myers conference space of the Orthopedic Specialists of Southwest Florida with what Gora calls "rings of lighting," offering the choice of overall illumination, using lighting directly where needed or dimmed lighting for presentations.

Many companies rely more on natural light, as it's easier on the eyes. FindWhat.com's three conference spaces in Fort Myers' Colonial Bank Plaza each have two entire walls of glass, and Architectural Network's conference space has tall, narrow windows that emit enough light to work by even without electricity, though both spaces feature blinds to control the amount of light desired.

Videoconferencing hasn't taken off yet in Southwest Florida, though some companies are designing conference spaces that can accommodate the technology, anticipating its increasing usage. "Post 9-11, there was quite a large increase in videoconferencing usage as people slowed down on travel," says Buzz Victor, developer of Premier Executive Center. Though the trend has leveled off, Victor believes it will regain popularity as a less expensive alternative to travel, and he designed his building's communal conference space to allow for videoconferencing.

The system at Premier is advanced: The camera automatically tracks the speaker's movements, and it's possible to post other images onscreen for the recipient. Two TV monitors in the custom-built cabinet at one end of the space show the person at either end of the connection. The space and technology are not only available for businesses in the center, but also to the public on an hourly basis.

Another relatively recent advance has been in the time-honored whiteboard. A device called a "mimio," created by a Boston company, now can attach to the board and digitally record notes that can later be downloaded onto a PC or laptop using a specially designed stylus. Though still fairly uncommon locally, the technology is being used by certain firms, like AccuData America, a provider of marketing data solutions, in Fort Myers.

As high-tech goes higher, the costs of outfitting the modern conference room will follow. Where once upon a time a conference space might have cost around $100 per square foot, Architectural Network's David Corban says these days a company can expect to spend more like $200 or $300 per square foot. "It's where they spend most of the money," he says.

At Premier Executive Center, Victor estimates the cost of the room's equipment alone to be in the $25,000 to $30,000 range-especially striking in light of K2 Design Group architect Jenny Carter's estimate of $20,000 to $25,000 as the average cost of an entire conference space.

Appearances Count

Part of the reason why corporations are willing to drop serious cash on an impressive conference space is just that-to impress. When these rooms are used for meetings with clients and potential clients, many firms will spare no expense creating just the right image.

Witness a recent conference room designed by Carter in Naples. A money-management firm (Carter is contracted not to reveal the name) spent $65,000 for just one of two conference rooms. The room features custom carpet in a French Deco design, Italian leather chairs and a table made of marble, cherry wood and expensive coach leather. "This is about making well-heeled people feel comfortable," Carter says. "They walk into this place and understand these people are doing pretty darn well."

At Design Group West, an upscale interior design firm in Naples, a conference room greets clients with opulence and elegance. "This is show time," explains president Glenn Midnet. "This is where we get to show the client the creation of the client's dream home."

The room's wallpaper is 24-carat gold leaf. The marble over the fireplace is from Europe. Custom-built maple wood wine racks line two walls on either side of a 400-gallon saltwater aquarium. Midnet is proud of the room's effect, relating that a number of his clients have req-uested elements of the room in their homes and businesses. "We've never had anyone go quite as over-the-top as we have," he says with a smile.

Though most companies don't go as whole-hog as Design Group West, many find that appearances do count. "It's important that a conference room speak about a corporation's identity," says Corban. "It's probably the best opportunity to put a good foot forward for a company-no matter what your company does."

Form Follows Function

Not all innovations cater to technology or elegance. Many current trends in conference spaces are simply a product of practicality.

One relatively recent advance in meeting flexibility: movable furniture, or pieces that can be easily transported wherever needed, generally on casters. At FindWhat.com, two conference rooms feature modular interlocking tables on casters, which can be arranged together for one large confab or broken apart into different groupings. "The whole design I shot for here was not only workstations but all the office furniture to be modular in design-to allow the teams to create the formation they need to be as functional as possible," Knight explains. Special soundproofing and acoustics are also fast becoming de rigueur in the contemporary conference space. "It feels so luxurious because your voice is so clear and you don't have to shout-and you have the comfort of knowing no matter what you say, it doesn't leave the room," Carter says.

Architectural Network designs soundproofed rooms as a matter of course. In all their floor plans, the firm's architects also make sure the walls continue past the ceiling, which offers additional sound protection. "It's a small town and people like their privacy," Corban says with a laugh.

As Southwest Florida catches up to the rest of the corporate world, with more companies making their homes here; we may soon see other trends. The Wall Street Journal recently noted that General Mills installed a basketball hoop in one of its conference rooms in Minneapolis and a California ad agency created an indoor atrium with trees for its meeting room.

It may be a few years before Southwest Florida conference rooms feature amenities like that. But meanwhile, you can plug in your laptop, hook up to a videoconference, and enjoy the increased comfort and efficiency of the contemporary corporate conference space.