As the largest hotel chain in the world by number of available rooms, Marriott International needs little introduction. With franchise locations dispersed all over the globe, the American multinational offers a broad portfolio of hotels and related lodging facilities and runs major hotel brands like Sheraton. The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged them to think about the future of hospitality and meeting the evolving needs of their guests.
The need for accessible, hybrid hotel workspaces is growing as companies are moving away from big, ballroom meetings and seeking ways to unite their remote and present workers in more compact meeting spaces. This is where Barco’s ClickShare Conference came in the picture—allowing guests to instantly connect their device wirelessly to all the speakers, mics, and cameras in the existing meeting rooms. Hotel guests are able to set up a meeting with their remote co-workers while all the participants in the room are captured equally on video and audio. For Marriott, it was the perfect solution.
Before being rolled out on a large scale, Marriott International personnel had a chance to experience for themselves the hybrid meeting experience that ClickShare Conference brings. Neil Smith, director, IT Business Partnership & Planning – Digital Guest Experience for Marriott International, was immediately a fan: “The ClickShare CX-20 demo unit that we got to try has worked flawlessly for us. I’ve spent the last three weeks with it working from home, and it has been so convenient and easy to use. I cannot wait to get this into our hotel spaces and see our guests take to it!”
Adapting to a changing workforce
How companies operate has drastically changed over the last year—with remote work becoming omnipresent and everyone now used to being in online meetings. This experience, however, is often far from perfect and workers are looking forward to having in-person meetings again. Hybrid meetings offer a middle ground, where a part of the meeting takes place on the spot, but remote colleagues can also be included via a video call. As hotels were previously true hubs for work meetings, they have to adapt to this advancing hybrid trend.
Marriott has shown they are not afraid to take the lead in this field—investing in ClickShare Conference to facilitate the future of hybrid meetings. “ClickShare Conference allows us to turn our existing meeting rooms and hotel lobby spaces into hybrid workspaces where our guests can easily connect with remote colleagues.” Marriott leadership emphasized, “We build on our hotels’ prestigious reputation as true meeting hubs by engaging in innovative technologies that are appealing to our guests.”
Setting up a meeting within seconds
The call for an easy-to-use system is even more pressing in a hotel meeting room context, as it’s not feasible for Marriott staff to give guests an extensive explanation on how to use the meeting room set-up. With ClickShare Conference’s intuitive user interface, any guest can set up a hybrid meeting within seconds. And there’s no need for cables, adapters, or a specific meeting platform; ClickShare Conference is compatible with Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Webex and more—optimizing the guest experience and eliminating the hassle for the hotel staff.
Ultimately, ClickShare Conference helps Marriott leadership express their core values of readily welcoming change and always putting people first, “By equipping our hotel lobbies with ClickShare Conference we embrace the change that hybrid meetings bring in the workplace and are able to position our lobby to our guests as an attractive collaboration space.”
A graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology, Doug has been in the Technology industry since 1976 and actively oversees Fearing’s daily operations. Along with his wife, Lois, and three others, Doug started Fearing’s in a 600 square-foot facility in Portage, Wisconsin. In the 25 years since, the company has grown to over 30 employees with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Doug likes to say he’s a “TV Technician with a dream� going back to his history with the family’s original business-Fearing’s TV and Appliance.
Doug values time with family, watersports, hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. In addition to being a devoted member of his church, Doug serves as Board President for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County, Board member of Schools for Haiti and Scripture Chair of the Gideons-Portage camp.
A graduate of MATC, Lois oversees Fearing’s daily book keeping along with various HR responsibilities.
Along with Doug, Lois is deeply connected to community outreach, serving as a Board member and Fundraising Committee Chairperson for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County. She also serves on the Schools for Haiti Fundraising committee. In addition, Lois’ ongoing passion and commitment to provide care for the elderly comes from her 10-year history of working in a Reedsburg, Wisconsin Nursing home.
Lois enjoys singing, hiking, sunny days on the pontoon, and spending time with her 4 grandchildren.
Ehren drives Fearing’s technology by continually seeking out trends to enhance capabilities while supporting Sales, Engineering and Installation teams. Throughout his years with Fearing’s, Ehren’s talent and vision have joined forces to create a wide variety of projects and strategic solutions that exceed expectation.
Ehren loves music, family time, movies, nature, sustainability efforts and electric vehicles.
With 10 years with Fearing’s and over twice that long in the industry, Ben continues to lead, coordinate, and develop the Commercial AV team.
By consistently delivering an outstanding experience and outcome, Ben contributes to the Fearing’s legacy of long-lasting partnerships that truly make a difference. Whatever the Commercial AV need may be, Ben and team deliver at the highest level.
Ben is an avid fisherman and photographer. He enjoys coaching his sons and other youth.
Chris has been with Fearing’s for 20 years and in the industry for over 2 decades. As a Certified leader in Sales Acceleration and trained in EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating Systems), Chris successfully utilizes his skills to lead the Fearing’s Salesforce. Chris and team are motivated and driven to develop new client partnerships while continuing to reinforce loyal long-term relationships with ongoing Service excellence.
Married for 19 years with 3 children, Chris enjoys skiing, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, camping and golf. He’s also been actively involved as a Youth Football and Softball coach for his family and others.
