He spends a lot of time in meetings and believes there is nothing more annoying than technology that doesn't work when you need it. Regional Director at Thon Hotels Arne Marius Berg is therefore careful about choosing the right technical equipment for the hotels.
"At Thon, everything needs to run as smoothly as possible: When you connect the projector, it should recognise your computer. You shouldn't have to deal with any choices popping up on the screen, the screen should automatically roll down when the projector is turned on and so on," says Berg.
Leave the light on
Several projectors have been replaced in recent years by LED screens and walls at Thon hotels. In addition to the high-resolution quality of LED, there's another reason why this type of screen is popular, especially in meeting rooms.
“It can be tiring to sit in a dark room all day, but with an LED screen, you don't have to dim the lights,” says Berg.
"You can leave all the lights on and still see the screen."
Several of the conference hotels have LED screens of up to 16 square metres.
"Like everything else at our hotels, quality is important, which is why we feel strongly about good technical solutions. I’m quite certain that Thon Hotels was the first hotel chain in Norway to install LED screens," says Berg proudly.
Meeting room during the day, music venue at night
The technical equipment is always optimised for the hotel where it is located. At several hotels, it is more convenient to have a projector and screen that can be rolled up when not in use. Everything is adapted to the room, also when it comes to the audio system.
"We make all kinds of assessments based on the room itself. If it is to be used for parties and celebrations, it usually has speakers and microphones that can be used by a band. In meeting rooms, loudspeakers are often integrated into the ceiling.
But what all rooms have in common is that they need to have a high-quality and well-balanced sound experience" says Berg, adding that there is one thing many people forget they booking a conference room: the microphone.
“Fortunately, the meeting rooms at Thon Hotels are equipped with both a boom microphone and handheld microphone, so you don't have to worry about the microophone when you hold your event here,” says Berg.
The goal is to offer the very best technical solutions. Instead of seeing what the competition is doing in terms of technology, Berg and the others at Thon focus on customer expectations.
"Guests book a room and expect everything to run smoothly. It’s our job to make sure that happens," he says.