WIN x Convene: Reimagining How We Gather at Work
Image Courtesy of Convene
Our favorite days to commute into the office are Mondays and Fridays. These popular work-from-home days mean there are open seats on Subway cars and the hustle and bustle of the street corners by express stops is reduced to a hum, intermittently interrupted by a few cars honking and light chatter. Tuesday through Thursday is naturally a much different story – and when arriving at our office doors we might ask ourselves if the morning chaos was really worth it when our WFH office set-up would have been so much more comfortable.
For some of you, a counterargument is bubbling up: working in person makes for much more meaningful collaboration and culture-building, so coming to the office at least a few days per week is a must! We agree. However, when the perceived ROI of in-office life fails to go beyond Bagel Tuesdays, it’s tough for the morning commute to win out over the comfort of working from home.
Some organizations have attempted to rise to the return-to-office challenge with ping-pong tables and cold brew on tap – but have learned creating the equivalent of a summer camp recreation hall doesn’t quite hit the mark. As it turns out, more perks are not the answer.
The key issue, in fact, is these extra perks are often one of the only differentiators between in-office and WFH life. For many of us, aside from intermittent chats with colleagues, the office merely provides another desk from which to greet colleagues on the other side of a screen. It’s no wonder return-to-office is backfiring – post-pandemic, many of us are failing to reap the benefits of intentional meetings and gatherings in person.
Convene is addressing this challenge head-on.
Convene is not your typical flexible office provider – a hospitality company at its core, its predominant focus on purpose-built meeting and event spaces (since 2009!) ensures IRL gatherings are meaningful. We’ve all experienced a meeting where the stars serendipitously aligned: the room was buzzing with energy, or objectives were seamlessly met, or a profound realization was made. These “aha” moments are no coincidence. It takes a thoughtfully curated environment to enable this level of success – which Convene masterfully offers its clients.
As a “partner, not just a place,” Convene provides everything needed for a full-service meeting and event experience – technology, catering, and planning resources (plus unlimited snacks and coffee!). Convene’s partnership scales up to conferences, seminars and summits, too.
Why the unique focus on meeting and event spaces? Convene believes meetings are becoming core to modern workplace strategy. When, where, and how companies bring teams together is not only part of how they approach their office footprint, but a reflection of company culture. It’s the “body language” of an organization – shaping our interactions with the people around us.
Organizations globally are catching on. The “Global Occupancy Planning Benchmarking Report 2024” by JLL indicated the allocation of meeting spaces in offices is on an upward trajectory, from video conference rooms to huddle rooms and more general collaboration areas. There’s no doubt our appetite for IRL interaction at work is sky-high – and with over 15 years in the business of bringing people together at work, Convene is strongly positioned to meet the moment. With a growing portfolio of lifestyle brands focused on revolutionizing the way people meet, work, and gather, Convene’s hospitality-driven experiences and uniquely designed destinations across its various brands serve exactly what we’re all craving: human-to-human connection.
As busy work days blend together into weeks and months, it’s the “aha” moments and meaningful gatherings we remember most –thanks to behind-the-scenes planning resources, technology and hospitality (which Convene has down to a science). It’s these key moments that become embedded into the identity of our workplace as a whole – subtly nudging us to pack our work bags and throw on our layers to head out the door each morning.
And for organizations where the day-to-day is primarily remote, it’s worth thinking about the tentpole IRL moments that keep company culture alive. The less we gather in-person, the more important our in-person gatherings become – making Convene an ideal partner in ensuring these gatherings go off without a hitch.
If we’ve sparked any thoughts on the in-office culture you’d like to see in your organization, take a look at Convene. It just might make the chaos of a Tuesday morning subway ride well-worth the meaningful connection on the other side.
Convene is pleased to offer New York City-based WIN Members a Convene Membership with the first month free when they sign a six-month term.
A few key details:
The promo applies to Convene 101 Greenwich St, Convene One Liberty Plaza or Club 75 by Convene (it does not include Convene 530 Fifth Ave)
The member would need to sign up/ commence their membership(s) by or before April 1, 2025
The member must sign Convene's standard membership contract in order to activate this promotion, and will be subject to Convene's terms and conditions
Please contact sabrina@womenininnovation.co for more details and/or to get started!
Written by Sabrina Romviel, WIN NY Programming Lead & Natalie Hernandez, Senior Director, Brand & Communications at Convene