Meetings & Conventions: Real-Life Reviews Meeting
Matrix
December 1997
Meeting Matrix For Windowsby SCLM
Software (203-207-5454)
This room setup software lets users juggle the elements (chairs,
tables, plants, A/V, stages and more), and then direct the facility
on how to design the final layout.
Price: Single user, $995; each additional user, $395.
John Roth, president, Complete Meeting Concepts, Orlando,
plans 8 to 12 meetings a year for an average of 600 to 700
attendees and has been using Meeting Matrix for about 10
years.
How do you use Meeting Matrix?
We use it for all our room diagrams, so we don't have problems on
site. We try to give the facility the best information we can
beforehand. Every hotel is different, so we don't use it as part of
our specs, but we use it when we've chosen a particular room. We do
gala evenings with big-name entertainment and massive stages -- we
want to make sure that these things are worked out to scale.What is its greatest strength?
It's very user-friendly. Any Windows user should be comfortable
with it. And it's obviously designed by people who understand
meetings. Often, the more powerful a design program gets, the more
difficult it is to use. But this is a very powerful program that is
still easy to use for the novice.John McConahy, CMP, president and executive producer,
Imagination Plus Inc., Pittsburgh, plans 50 to 75 meetings a year
for an average of 250 people and has been using Meeting Matrix for
about two years.
How do you use Meeting Matrix?
We supply our facilities with our desired setup of a room based on
what we're trying to accomplish. We take a look at the room layout
and/or take room measurements and convert them into Meeting Matrix
so that we can look at different configurations based on what we
think will be happening in the room. We use it to help us make
decisions, and we are better able to communicate those decisions to
the facility. This is state-of-the-art for drawings for the
meetings industry.What is its greatest strength?
Ease of use. Although it doesn't walk you through the process, it
comes pretty darn close.What is its greatest weakness?
The biggest weakness isn't within the software itself, but within
the industry. So many facilities do not have measured layouts
available to the planners, we have to take the measurements
ourselves and draw up the entire room.How would you improve the software?
Put wizards in it that would walk you through step-by-step, so you
don't miss anything.Michel van Eersel, manager of meeting services, Association
for Investment Management and Research, Charlottesville, Va., plans
30 to 50 meetings a year for an average of 135 people and has been
using Meeting Matrix for about four years.
How do you use Meeting Matrix?
Mainly to see if our setup will work and to squeeze an extra bit
out of a room if possible.What is its greatest strength?
The ease of use. This is by far the best thing out there.What is its greatest weakness?
We've just started to use the Windows version -- it has a lot of
features and is harder to use. There's also a $5 charge to convert
each file from DOS to Windows.How would you improve the software?
We've only had the Windows version for about five weeks, but it
seems less intuitive than the DOS was. I'd like prompts or some
other change to make it more intuitive. For the occasional user, it
takes us twice as long as before to work out the layout.
Back to
Current Issue index | Back to
Real Life ReviewsM&C
Home PageCurrent
Issue |
Events Calendar |
Newsline |
Incentive News |
Meetings Market
ReportEditorial
Libraries |
CVB Links |
Reader Survey |
Hot Dates |
Contact M&C