A Significance of Meetings from Various Aspects of Life

The modern social and business worlds demand that meetings are held regularly. The role of such meetings can never be underestimated when measuring the scope of goals aimed to be achieved. Therefore, as there increases the demand for meetings from various aspects of life, there has been borne a career in which people are employed as meeting architects. Meeting architects work to ensure that meetings and events go as effectively as projected by those aiming to conduct such meetings. Before venturing further into the roles of a meeting architect, it is important to first of all ensure that the main reasons as to why a meeting or an event needs to be held must first be understood.

Meetings and events form an important part of social and business live. In most cases, meetings and events are held in order to determine achievements from the past, to make and curate future projections, to celebrate certain landmarks or to strategize on how to overcome crises and challenges in whatever context of social and business life that is being practiced. Upon an elaborate analysis of such and more functions of meetings, it is clear that meetings are important undertakings in social and business lives. Given their importance, there is no question that meetings and events require thorough planning that will reflect the importance of the meetings and events being attended. This is where the role of the meeting architect comes up.

Before starting on the roles of a meeting architect, it is imperative that a proper definition is assigned that will highlight their role in facilitating the success of meetings. The most basic definition of a meeting architect is; an individual or entity that is charged with the responsibility of ensuring that professional and/or social events and gatherings are effectively coordinated and executed to facilitate the meeting of the goals and aspirations that such meeting are aimed to be attained through such gatherings (Vanneste, 2009). As can be understood, this definition is so broad when reflecting on how complex the role of a meeting architect is in their bid to effectively plan and organize meetings and events with various objectives. The upcoming section outlines some of the roles of the meeting architect and the basic skills that persons or entities working as meeting architects must possess.

There are several reasons that call for the organization of events or meetings. A meeting architect is primarily required to understand such reasons and ensure that they effectively plan to meet the aims that such meetings and events may be intertwined with (Allen, 2002). There are three major reasons that call for the organization of events and meetings. First, meetings are organized as a result of business demands. Business participants often organize various strategic and meetings. Secondly, meetings can be organized for social reasons. Weddings, graduation ceremonies and funeral ceremonies all outline some of the examples of social events and meetings. Thirdly, meetings can be organized for recreational purposes. Sporting events and entertainment gigs are some of the best examples that define recreational meetings and events.

First of their roles is to ensure that the venue and location of the meeting resonate well with the content of the meeting. However, meeting architects do not play any role when it comes to the content of the meeting or event. They can only rely on and use their creativity to ensure that the location and venue of the meeting complements the goals and aspirations of meetings. Meeting and event goals and objectives greatly vary and it is the role of the meeting architect to ensure that all such goals and objectives are included in the planning of the event and meeting (Toh, 2005). In this regard, it should be understood that meeting and event attendees have various requirements which must be met by the meeting architect charged with the responsibility of planning an event or a meeting. Usually, the success of events and meetings largely depend on how effectively attendee requirements are reflected in the planning and execution of the meeting or event.

A meeting architect should understand that meetings and events are often inclusive of various demands. For instance, if the meeting or event is to be successful, it must meet security demands, logistical demands and hospitality demands for all planned attendees (Doyle, 2011). It is the role of a meeting architect to ensure that all these demands are fully met so as to enhance the experience of those attending the meetings or events. Meeting all these demands can be complex which requires that the meeting architect coordinates with service providers in those fields. A meeting planner is like the main contractor who will subcontract the identified demands to service providers in those areas. However, it is the responsibility of the meeting architect to ensure that all those subcontracted service providers meet the set standards of practice that will enhance the experiences of the attendees of a meeting or an event.

A meeting architect must play a part during the execution of the meeting or event that they organized on behalf of the event/meeting owner. However, their role is usually played in the background of the main activities of the event and meeting. The main purpose of working in the background of the main activity is to ensure that no hitches are met in the way of executing the event and meeting as planned. Hitches are always costly and it is a demand that meeting and event architects devise ways to fully avoid them during the execution of the meeting/event. Meeting architects have to plan for worst case scenarios and must have other contingency plans that will ensure that no stalling of the meeting or event occurs during the execution of the meeting and event that they have the responsibility of planning.

A meeting architect is responsible for the coordination of the entire meeting. It is the meeting architect who acts as the link between the owners of the meeting and the activities that are scheduled to be undertaken during the meeting (Allen et al., 2005). Meeting architects shield meeting owners from all issues that may hinder the full performance of their meetings. Similarly, a meeting architect is required to ensure that they put in the best mechanism that will ensure that all failings of the activities scheduled to be undertaken in a meeting are fully avoided. In the end, it is the meeting architect who is answerable regarding to any success or misgiving that arises from the meeting. Therefore, it is very clear that meeting architects must adhere to a strict code of practice aiming at protecting meeting owners and ensuring that meeting failures are fully eliminated during the execution of the meeting and event.

The meeting architect is required to make assessments and reports once after the meeting or event that they organized are completed. The assessments and reports should be aimed at ensuring that all positives and negatives that resulted from the organized meeting are accounted for. It is the accountability that eventually determines whether the event or meeting was a success or a failure. Therefore, as their duty, meeting architects should make up follow up exercises aimed at addressing any issue that may regard to the event owner or any other stakeholder who may have taken part in the facilitation of the meeting/event that they organized (Allen et al., 2005). In order to enhance the general success of the event/meeting that they organized, meeting architects should be able to include in the reports the real events that took place during the meeting that practically portray the strengths and weaknesses of the event. It is through such assessment reports that event owners and meeting architects themselves can effectively learn on how to manage their future events and meetings in case they plan to hold any.

From the above discussion, it is clear that the roles of a meeting architect are very complex and challenging. As such, they require a set of skills in order to effectively deliver on such roles. So, the current section will outline some of the skills that every meeting architect should be endowed with if they are to meet the roles and demands of planning meetings and events. The current paper is of the position that such skills can be attained through learning and through experience. Given the growing importance and popularity of meetings and events in the modern world, some educational institutions have crafted courses aiming to train the skills of proficient meeting architects. In addition, experience in organizing meetings and events allow individuals to develop the skills that will guarantee proficiency in meeting planning, designing and execution.

A proficient meeting architect must be a team player. As can be deduced from the above discussion, meeting and event planning dictates maximum cooperation among various factions of players whose full participation is required in order to guarantee a successful meeting/event (Allen, 2002). The factions range from the meeting owners, meeting attendees and other stakeholders that the meeting architect may cooperate with in their quest to ensure that the meeting is a success. Meeting have demands that range from logistics, hospitality and security. Unless the meeting architect is a skilled team player, there is no question that efforts to implement a successful event or meeting may remain perpetually unattainable. Team playing implies that the meeting architect should be an effective communicator who decisively passes messages to others and receives messages from other players in an easy to understand way.

A meeting architect must be endowed with proper resource management skills. In their duties, meeting architects will be required to manage a wide variety of resources. Top among these resources are human resources. Human resource management is one of the priority areas that meeting architects must effectively manage to ensure that there is a complete attainment of the goals and aspirations of meetings and events that they are to plan and coordinate its execution (Robin and Lynn, 2006). Another area that requires the attention of meeting architects is financial management. In most cases, meeting architects will be working under tight budgets. In such cases, success is dependant on the effectiveness of financial management strategies that meeting architects will practice. The end point is that meeting architects have to effectively manage all resources in a way that avoids wastage and maintains efficiency in the delivery of the purposes and goals of meetings and events.

In most cases, meeting are often have constraints that have to be addressed in order to see out an effective meeting in terms of goal attainment and enhancing attendee experience. First of such constraints is time. Time as a constraint in meeting planning implies that meeting architects have to work in short and strict deadlines and ensure that the meetings they plan meets all the aspired goals and outcomes (Toh, 2005). Another constraint is quality and it is a demand that the success of meeting is often measured as per to how its quality ratings reflect on attendees and other stakeholders. The most important constraint in meeting planning and for meeting architects is the meeting design itself. The meeting design usually involves the venue, the attendees, the content of the meeting, its format and its effects on various issues related to the meeting. In this regard, the current paper holds that the meeting design largely influences the food and beverage operations that play out during the execution of a meeting.

The practicalities of the meeting and event design imply the various factors that determine how a meeting or an event should be run. These practicalities include the content and format of the meeting, the attendees of the meeting, the venue of the meeting and the time the meeting is being held (Goldblatt, 2013). The content and format of the meeting refer to the main message and theme of the meeting. In regard to the attendees, it should be considered the number, the type and the ranks of attendees that will grace the meeting. The venue of the meeting refers to the place and location where the meeting ought to be held. The time of the meeting imply to the period/season of the year when the meeting is being held and the amount of time that will be allocated to the different schedules of the meeting. Therefore, as can be discerned all these factor of the meeting design will automatically dictate the food and drink operations that such a meeting will take.

The meeting design implies to the general flow of events that characterize the demands of the meeting being executed. In this context, the meeting design must first of all bring to the fore its content and format. Meeting content refers to the themes and various points are aimed to be discussed by the meeting attendees. In most cases, meeting owners are the conveners of meetings and usually may take part in explaining the content of the meeting to the attendees (Vanneste, 2009). However, meeting architects have little or nothing to do with the content of the meeting they may be planning. But they must understand such content so that they can effectively plan on how to initiate food and drink operations. The attendees also dictate the design of the meeting. Food and drink operations tend to be dictated by the number of meeting attendees. Similarly, attendee ranks as may be the context of the meeting also affects the general design of the meeting consequently the food and drink operations that are to be used in such meetings.

Meeting designs tend to follow up on the type of meeting being implemented. From an earlier section of the current paper, there were identified three major types of meetings; business meetings, social meetings and recreational meetings. Each of this type has a unique design that dictates unique food and drink operations. Basically, business meetings and events will take up a formal design that may demand matching food and drink operations (Allen, 2000). Similarly, social events and meetings will demand a design that connotes the social aspects of such meetings and events. Consequently, such meetings will dictate that the food and drink operations to be implemented will take into consideration the social aspects of the attendees making up the meeting or the event. Recreational events and meetings will also attract relevant meeting designs which in turn will prompt food and drink operations that will reflect on the recreational purposes of the meetings in questions. It is the responsibility of the meeting architect to ensure that meeting designs of various meetings dictate the kind of food and drink operations that are implemented in every meeting.

Meeting architects determine whether the meeting or event is a success. To meeting owners, success of their event/meeting is their greatest concern. Therefore, hiring the best meeting architect; one that can fully deliver on their roles remains of utmost priority. Such meeting architects ought to adjust their practice to what the meeting/event owners may need. It is only then that the quest for client satisfaction will have been attained. Most career advisers concede that meeting planners and architects are among the most sought after professionals in the modern world (The Meeting Design Institute, 2015). The main reason for such a trend is probably the increased popularity of meetings and events for various social and business reasons. It is then the conclusion of this paper that both meeting owners and meeting architects work together to make meetings and events as successful as they may be aspiring.