"It's unthinkable these days for an event not to use SmartPhones or tablets": Sophie Amsellem, le Public Système

Do hotel groups' seminar offerings meet your expectations?

Sophie Amsellem - We are partners with a number of major chains. They are moving forward with often innovative concepts, and that suits us just fine. I also appreciate their flexibility, their openness to the unexpected. That's what an events agency needs. In Paris, for example, to meet the expectations of a major American client, a Hyatt hotel entrusted us with a complete rethink of its lobby, before putting it back in place, of course.
In Seville, we repainted the entrance to the Barcelo Renacimiento in Renault colours for the fn 2011 group sales force convention.

Are independent hotels competing with them?

S. A. - The world is changing, things are evolving. It's not all palaces and top-of-the-range establishments. Alongside them, you have original accommodation such as igloos and owner-occupied hotels. You have to take everything into account. For one customer, we set up convivial weekends in Brittany, the Camargue and Alsace in charming establishments. The hoteliers opened their doors to us so that participants could meet local personalities. On an incentive trip, you can get away from a big hotel structure and go for something more 'rootsy'.
For one of our clients, we proposed fash meetings in the desert in Oman or in igloos in Lapland. Today's technology makes this possible.

Are we heading for increasingly high-tech seminars?

S. A. - Today, it's unthinkable for an event not to use smartphones or tablets. Audiences need meaning and authenticity, but they also need technology. The impact of a seminar needs to be established over time, and technology makes it possible to tease out the event beforehand and create links afterwards. In this way, the brand or management can continue to address its best customers or employees. We organised an event where participants were given a tablet before they left with the programme for the meeting and all the information they needed to get there.
On site, they could receive messages and make appointments. The tool was even used in plenary sessions instead of the big screen. Afterwards, all the topics were discussed via social networks.