Marriott welcomes video conferencing

Marriott International is ramping up a new high-tech video conferencing service with Go There Virtual Meetings. According to David Marriott, chief operating officer of the hotel company’s Eastern region, virtual meeting will not cannibalize his hotel room business because executives participating in video conferences or webinars are not the ones booking conventions in the first place.

“It’s a new revenue stream for us,” says Marriott, about the technology he believes could exceed the cost of a hotel room in some markets.

The New York Marriott East Side recently made the $75,000 investment to build out a Go There Virtual room in the hotel. Each room features six chairs arranged around a curved conference table facing several large flat-screen panels. The executives who appear on the panels are sitting at an identical table, so it looks as if they are seated at a large round table. The cameras are voice activated and follow whoever is speaking, allowing people to make eye contact. It costs $500 per hour to book a Marriott conference room with the equipment.