Inspired ideas seem to come more readily in inspired settings. Like, for example, The Studio at Scarman Training and Conference Centre in Coventry, England, one of 55 meeting and creative spaces at Scarman, part of Warwick Conferences’ set of five conference venues on the University of Warwick campus. The Studio is an intimate space where up to eight people can lounge on beanbag chairs (and tested for comfort by our group on a recent meeting planner fam).
Or they can get up and stretch, with the room’s lime-green carpet underfoot — a pop of color intended to bring the outdoors in, according to Lisa Hadfield, client relationship manager for Warwick Conferences. “More and more, companies are saying to us, ‘We’ve got this training program to deliver. We want the environment to be right. We don’t want to use a room with just a table and chairs — we want to be different,’” Hadfield said. “The environment is as important as the content.”
While colleagues are spread out on beanbag chairs, they can also spread their ideas across the room — literally. In addition to strips of magnetic surfaces on the walls for pinning up notes and doodles, the room also features on a chalkboard wall that comes with one cheeky warning printed on it: If inspiration hits and participants feel the need to continue writing on the other walls, they’ll need to pay for damages at the front desk.