We have been operating Creative Point Meeting Rooms for 2 years now. A question that we frequently receive is “Why do companies hire creative meeting rooms when they have large spaces internally?”
To answer this question we decided to interview Bogdan Manta, one of our most loyal customers. Bodgan runs the company The Essential Workshops and calls himself a rustiologist. (he takes the rust away from people’s facilitation, negotiation, public speaking and overall communication skills). He has over 17 years of experience in the event & Show production industry and holds a bachelor in Psychology, one In Economics and a Master in Business Communications.
Do you have a physical office?
I do have an office which is my home, but I don’t spend a lot of time at home. I come from many years of corporate, so if I stay too much with myself that’s a big challenge for me. I like being surrounded by people. But it depends on the people.
That’s why the so-called co-working spaces never work for me. When there are too many people that are talking together and on different subjects I find it challenging, because I can focus on them all and listen to them, rather than focusing on what I have to do.
Why co-working spaces don’t work for you?
I realised I’m a highly sensitive person, an HSP. I perceive stimuli like sounds, noises at higher levels than most people. Around 17% of the humans are HSPs, most of them don’t know it. When I hear topics that are not related to what I do, I get distracted and I cannot focus on what I do. I become curious about what other people say and that prevents me from focusing on my own work. I cannot be effective in any of those offices.
It is very different from a corporate environment because at a business we were at least talking about the same subject. We were in a way connected with each other.
What main attributes that you are searching in a meeting room?
I’m all about the physical context. The physical context is fundamentally important for any sort of interaction and connection with people. Unfortunately, most people ignore the physical context and only focus on saving money on their event that they will use for offering coffee / tea or some snacks for free during their event. Although, coffee and tea are only a tiny part of the physical context.
How does a meeting space contribute to the success of a training / workshop?
I plays a fundamental contribution and I can reason that with my 17 years of productions and events experience. If you have people in a meeting space for more than an hour or facilitate a full day workshop then this meeting space becomes their home. Mood, focus and attention span are closely related to the event space.
Colors, smell, as well as technical details and ease of use are equally important. The final touch is the people that are hosting your event. Those are elements that so many people ignore unfortunately. It’s the reason that many events and workshops do not deliver the expected results.
If you do not provide a warm environment for participants to feel comfortable, then you kill your own or workshop or event production.
What do you see In your audience that proves this added value?
Some people will never express it as they don’t get it until you point it out to them. What happens with people is that they perceive something subconsciously and they don’t realise it until someone mentions it. Then they will have this “aha” moment and will start noticing the amazing venue that they are at.
Sometimes people just feel very comfortable and they cannot explain why. They will tributes this feeling to the workshop, the people and the content. Once you tell them that the space is actually another reason, they will totally acknowledge it.
What is your recommendation for teams looking for a creative meeting room?
First of all the warm on the space.
People are animals and as animals we always look for a comfortable inhabitat. That has never changed throughout the history of mankind.
When you bring a group of people together you need to release a certain type of neurotransmitters. One of them being oxytocin which is the bonding neurotransmitter.
This can be released with effective storytelling but also because of a creative physical space. Oxytocin will not be released cannot be released in a cold venue.
The warmth of the Creative Point for example with all the little details, like the deodorant in the bathroom, makes such a fundamental difference just because it creates this homey relaxed environment.
It is very normal for someone to sweat in a stressful situation. They might not even understand it but other people will. That combined with smell can immediately kill productivity.
When people smell sweat, they produce different neurotransmitters and they will want to get away from that so instead of creating a bonding experience you creates a runaway experience.
What type of workshops do you run at Creative Point?
I run a couple of different workshops for companies and individuals. Some of them are:
- Elevate your professional self
- How to Deliver Impactful Presentations
- Intensive Workshop on Impactful Communications
- Negotiations Lab
For more details you can visit Bogdan’s website or facebook page.