Any meeting planner has seen it happen.

You’ve designed a great program. The topics are pertinent, the speakers are dynamic and the event is sold out.

As the day proceeds, you can see the event is a big hit because many in the audience are nodding in agreement as the speaker drives home the message. Er, wait a minute – upon closer inspection, you notice their eyes are closed. They aren’t nodding – they’re nodding OFF!

Business meetings are more productive at Coast Edmonton Plaza Hotel, with the right setting, the right envirornment and the right food.

We’ve all been there: the food was great, the meeting room was nice and warm, but even though the speaker lived up to billing, by mid-afternoon your eyelids were unwilling.

But Western Canada’s Coast Hotels & Resorts has found a way to conquer meeting-day grogginess.

The Coast Edmonton Plaza Hotel last week launched its innovative “Coast Alert” program, which ensures you get the most out of your meeting events.

Challenged by Coast Hotels & Resorts president Franco Anglesio to overcome the age-old problem of meeting-day grogginess, a team of professionals has come up with the recipe for success.

Covering everything from environmental factors to nutrition and scheduling, Coast Alert is the product of a year of research, planning and testing.

“We spent a lot of time and resources analysing the various factors that maximize alertness, then we brought in focus groups to get objective feedback,” explains Coast Edmonton Plaza Hotel general manager Hans von Bloedau. “We also used our own people as guinea pigs for all the company’s meetings over the last year.

“We’ve seen first-hand that when you make the effort to optimize conditions, it has a dramatic impact on the effectiveness of the meeting.

“If you’re spending top dollar to bring in a speaker, and guests are paying top dollar to attend, you want to get the most out of the meeting. And that’s precisely what Coast Alert enables you to do.”

Coast Alert incorporates a carefully crafted approach to a well-balanced, healthy and attractively presented nutritional plan that provides continuous energy for the entire day.

The program also dictates an appropriate room design and temperature, filtered and controlled air quality, the right lighting, and, of course, the attentive service that has become a trademark of Coast Hotels.

“Our staff are well trained to arrange the room in a way that fosters dynamic interaction, and everyone is well aware productivity and comfort are influenced by the atmosphere,” says von Bloedau. “It really is a science, and we’ve done all the lab work and figured out the equations to determine the right balance.”

An overheated room will put just about everybody to sleep, so Coast Alert calls for a room temperature of 21 to 22 degrees Celsius, a very comfortable level that promotes ideal concentration conditions.

All Coast Alert meeting rooms have additional air filters to guarantee high air quality, and all rooms are monitored closely to ensure ideal circulation and humidity.

Coast Alert also meets or exceeds the 20-50 foot-candles of light recommended by the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America.

The menu, meanwhile, is high on taste and low on fat. Coast Edmonton Plaza executive chef Darren Drew hooked up with counterparts from Vancouver and Victoria and a professional dietitian/nutritionist to assemble a diverse meeting menu to suit the palate.

“Nutrition is a vital component of Coast Alert, and we’re very proud of our menu plan,” explains Drew. “A full day of meetings generally includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and two coffee breaks, so obviously the food factor is a big part of a good meeting.”

The Coast Alert menu keeps fat levels below 30 per cent, but the key is the scheduling and serving size.

“We’ve always served great food at this hotel, but what the research did was help us better understand how to structure the menu plan in a way that keeps everybody alert and full of energy throughout a long day,” adds Drew.

It all adds up to a powerful business tool for the Coast Edmonton Plaza customers.

“Our entire focus is helping out customers do business and get the best return on their investment,” says von Bloedau. “We’re not going to make a lot of money on this service, but you better believe our customers are going to keep coming back when we help improve the effectiveness of their corporate events.”

For more information on Coast Alert and the hotel’s corporate catering services, call 780.423.4811.