Radisson Hotel Group Provides High-Quality Hybrid Events Powered by Zoom Rooms

Virtual events and meetings have been crucial for keeping business professionals connected during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, home offices may not always have the privacy or professional look and feel that event speakers rely on for polished presentations, and virtual attendees may want a more immersive event experience than a home environment can offer.

Radisson Hotel Group has designed an innovative way to use Zoom to help event organizers rethink large-scale corporate meetings and conferences as hybrid events. Zoom Rooms provides a no-hassle, all-in-one video conference room system at Radisson Hotel Group’s meeting venues, allowing attendees to gather in smaller, socially distanced groups and connect by video to other satellite meeting locations with one click.

The benefits of hybrid events

Hybrid events offer a more convenient meeting solution that cuts down on the costs, risks, and environmental impacts of travel.

Rather than flying in attendees and speakers from around the world to a single site, organizers may opt to host smaller events at local venues and use video conferencing to broadcast the event to remote attendees and satellite locations.

“With travel restrictions limiting mobility for attendees, along with concerns about the viability of large gatherings, we are adapting our meetings and events solutions in order to continue to support event planners while ensuring the health and safety of their attendees,” said Gonzalo Carpintero, Radisson Hotel Group’s VP of operations and head of meeting and event transformation in EMEA. “We developed our hybrid meeting services in collaboration with leading technology brands such as Zoom to deliver engaging and highly interactive meetings.”

A few reasons Radisson Hotel Group is betting on this hybrid format for corporate events of the future:

• Reduced costs: Attendees spend less money on plane tickets, cab fare, and other associated costs of traveling
• Lower risk of coronavirus exposure: Attendees don’t need to put their health at risk by traveling on a plane or attending large in-person gatherings
• Reduced environmental impact: Eliminating the need for long-distance travel reduces carbon emissions
• Greater convenience: When attendees spend less time traveling, they have more time to relax, network, and enjoy event content
• Increased flexibility: Event planners aren’t as constrained by event size, location, or other logistics — which gives them a broader range of options for speakers, venues, etc.
• Human connection: Attendees have opportunities to interact face to face in smaller groups for a more intimate experience that might be lost by going completely virtual
• Multi-venue event support: Event organizers can put together a seamlessly coordinated event with a consistent guest experience across multiple venues
• Event experience: Attendees can have the experience of attending a professional event, with higher-quality audio and video than most home setups, catering, and other hospitality amenities

“What differentiates Radisson Hotel Group’s concepts are our robust offerings and technology across all participating properties in our portfolio. This helps ensure a consistent experience across all remote locations,” Carpintero added.

Why Zoom Rooms?

Zoom Rooms transforms any area into a modern, easy-to-use, and powerful collaborative workspace. Zoom’s suite of meeting room solutions allows you to bring integrated HD video, audio, wireless sharing, and interactive whiteboarding and annotation to any room, with robust security settings to ensure a disruption-free meeting. Deliver a consistent meeting room experience that allows in-person attendees to easily connect virtually with participants across mobile, desktop, and room systems.

Radisson Hotel Group will pilot the program in 50 select hotels, with the goal of expanding to over 450 properties across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Radisson Hotel Group’s hybrid meeting services also include:

• Logitech MeetUp, an all-in-one conference cam with an ultra-wide lens, 5x HD zoom and motorized pan, integrated audio, and other features
• High-quality display with easy to use connectivity or projector on request
• Reliable high-speed internet connection (dedicated broadband on request)
• Portable loudspeaker
• Wireless presentation clicker
• Chargers and adapters on request

Check out an overview of Radisson’s hybrid meeting experience, or learn more about using Zoom Rooms for your virtual events and hybrid meetings.