Tips
5 Reasons to Leave the City for Your Conference
Sweden offers many gems for meetings and conferences—so why limit your choices to the big cities of Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö? Escape the urban noise for the stress-relieving sounds of the forest, beautiful environments that boost creativity, and seclusion that fosters focused meetings. Here are five reasons to host your conference outside the city. We've gathered the best tips from three different experts on how to optimize your brain at work.
1. Exclusivity
Take the opportunity to have an entire conference facility to yourselves. Many smaller venues outside the major cities accommodate only one corporate group at a time. This means you can meet in private, without other companies competing to brand the lobby or overshadowing your dinner with noise from the room next door.
2. Accessibility
Not always holding your conference in one of our big cities provides different accessibility for those who don’t live in Stockholm or Gothenburg. By hosting the conference in another part of Sweden, your employees from other regions will feel valued if, for a change, they have the shortest commute.
3. Keep the Group Together
When you’re not in the city, there’s no excuse for someone to duck out for a lunch meeting or slip away from the rest of the group during the conference. A conference is an investment, so make the most of the time you have together and prevent anyone from missing important parts of the event or team-building activities because they’ve snuck out into the city or gone home to their family.
4. Nature
There’s plenty of research showing that spending time in nature works wonders for both body and mind, helping to reduce stress and strengthen both the immune system and cognitive abilities. Physical activity in nature is, of course, doubly beneficial (perhaps a fun team-building activity as a break between meetings?), but it’s also good for us to simply have time for social interaction in a relaxing environment.
5. Change of Scenery
A change of scenery is great for both creativity and productivity. Studies from the Nordic Council of Ministers show that investing in the work environment and employee well-being pays off economically, so it’s unwise to skip a conference at an offsite venue just to save money—a short-term saving that could negatively affect profitability in the long run. Hosting your conference in a beautiful and inspiring environment signals that you care about and invest in your staff. With an overnight stay and a pleasant dinner in the evening, employees also have the chance to socialize, which can strengthen internal cohesion.
Contact us, and we'll help you find a nature-friendly, secluded, or creativity-boosting venue for your next conference, completely free of charge.