"London" is the "John Smith" of conference room names
London is the most popular conference room name of all, as New York City gets edged out by its smooth talking neighbor across the Atlantic.
“What’s in a name?” Unlike Juliet’s take on them, there’s a lot to unpack from a name. Conference room names are no different. When named well, meeting rooms can help provide inspiration, navigation, and branding. So we studied tens of thousands of meeting room names using Robin to see what’s trending. Stay in touch with this series to help label your next office.
It’s no surprise that when you visit a Target to stock up on decor, you see a number of London and Paris motifs. And when visiting family in France, I’ve noticed a similar affinity in exchange for New York. People like being reminded of the trendy cities across the pond. The same interior design strategy applies to the workplace, as we discovered surveying the naming trends of meeting rooms across Robin. Global cities are the most popular conference room name themes, with London in the top spot.
Why do offices want cities as conference room names?
Naming your conference rooms after global cities with strong commerce reputations makes sense. You and your company aspire to be as successful as the multi-faceted hubs that dot the map all over the world. And by labeling your meeting rooms after them, you can hope to stir up the same driving forces. Perhaps Paris’ rich arts scene can motivate a brainstorm session for marketing. Maybe London’s deep-seated economic history can guide your next strategy meeting. And New York’s eclectic culture can push you to your next innovative discovery.
An even simpler reason may just be proximity -- London room names for the London office, and so on. But let’s pretend there’s more creativity behind it.
Get straightforward office design direction and a simple escape
Not often are people opposed to visiting London, whether it’s your conference room on the third floor with the English tea in the corner or the actual destination. Rooms named after cities provides a simple escapes for employees along with straightforward meeting room design direction.Airbnb does this notoriously well, as expected with it being a travel lodging site. Their offices in San Francisco have rooms modeled after actual homes in various cities, like their Brooklyn room straight out of a hipster’s shopping trip to Brooklyn Flea.
But enough of the conference room inspo, you’re probably wondering what cities are in the top ten. Here’s who made the cut:
Top 10 city-themed conference room names:
1. London
LinkedIn went all out with this ode to London's classic double-decker busses gracing the front of a meeting room. Do you think it takes you to platform 9 3/4?
2. Paris
Recruiting firm Robert Half brings the outside into their new Paris office with views of the Seine and Eiffel Tower.
3. Tokyo
Traditional Japanese interior design graces the walls of Airbnb Tokyo, including this touchdown focus area.
4. Sydney
Strata management agency Premium Strata has a simple ode to Sydney with it's black and white wallpaper and chandelier meant to represent the lights in the city.
5. Berlin
This conference room at DZ Bank in Berlin designed by Frank Gehry may not be a direct representation of the city, but it recalls the modern tech and artistic flair that Berlin offers its citizens and visitors.
6. New York/Manhattan
This New York open-layout conference room at Google NYC feels so real you may forget you're even at work and not actually in a Manhattan rooftop garden.
7. Madrid
Google Madrid has the work of local artist Ricardo Cavolo on its main wall when you walk in, serving as quite the inspiration for anyone who meets at the long table in front of it the artwork.
8. Shanghai
This Shanghai-based outpost of popular co-working space "naked Hub" features wall graphics with local design.
9. Hong Kong
South of their sister hub in Shanghai, naked Hub Hong Kong features another rendition of local Hong Kong artists on the walls of their conference rooms.
10. Barcelona
We're not sure how much this row of conference rooms in the offices of Candy Crush company King is supposed to represent Barcelona, but it sure looks similar to walking down the sunny green and art-filled streets.
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