Gathering again will be both welcome and tricky in many respects, but none more so than the universal ritual of breaking bread. How do you serve F&B safely and memorably (in a good way) in the new normal?
To help meeting profs, IACC has published two guides which define new approaches to serving food and beverages at business events, conferences and meetings.
“The IACC Guide to Re-Imagining Refreshment Breaks” and the “IACC Guide to Re-Imagining Conference Lunches” were developed from research and insights from IACC-certified venues and their food and beverage experts across the globe, many of whom have been operating successfully over the last eight months.
More: 2021 F&B Trends
The guides’ ambitious intention was to look beyond short-term measures and instead seek imaginative approaches that can positively change the way attendees experience dining. IACC’s broad canvas starts with the sales and planning process, and then expands to exploring service styles, attendee flows, waste and pricing strategies.
One example: advance ordering. In brief, it means piggybacking on tech advances being widely used by restaurants for take-out orders during the pandemic to allow attendees to order food on an app and pick it up in a contactless fashion.
Both of the guides can be viewed and downloaded from the IACC website.
“These two guides,” commented IACC CEO Mark Cooper, “offer such rich advice, because they are the perspectives of those experts who have already experienced serving groups again and can see the change in behaviors that can shape the way we serve our attendees for years to come”.
Cooper continued: “When I see solutions that will improve the experience for our clients even when compared to pre-pandemic, that is when I get very excited about these innovations.”
