Convene Hospitality Group is the new parent company entity of Convene, the hospitality brand that operates premium event venues as well as flexible office space and smaller offsite venue network Etc.venues, the company announced this week. The move allows the organization to chart its
next chapter as a global hospitality group comprising multiple lifestyle brands, the company said in a release. CEO and co-founder of Convene Ryan Simonetti will serve
as president and CEO of CHG.
“The formation of Convene Hospitality Group is the culmination of
our 16-year experience serving the meetings and events industry with a
hospitality-first mindset,” said Simonetti. “We’ve listened to our
clients, conducted market research, and have constantly iterated on our
approach to ensure we were meeting the needs of our users in a meaningful
way. Through our diligence, we uncovered multiple unique industry
segments—ranging from tentpole experiential events and product launches to
internal team offsites—we are committed to serving the full spectrum of
the meetings and events market utilizing a multi-brand approach. Convene
Hospitality Group allows us to leverage our expertise, global scale, and
distribution to operate a growing house of brands.”
CHG's introduction comes at a time when businesses are increasing their investment in conferences and events as an extension of building business and culture. A Deloitte study, also published this week, showed nearly 70 percent of companies investing more in sending employees to such events, up nearly 10 percentage points from last year. At the same time 63 percent of 1,000 travelers surveyed by Deloitte said they would be attending a conference or event in 2025, up 2 percent from previous years, and the next-highest impetus for business travel was to training events.
With consolidation under one parent company, CHG becomes the largest single provider of dedicated meeting and event
venues in the U.S. and United Kingdom. Convene opened a new location at Hudson Yards this month, giving it 17 locations in New York. Across its brands, it has a network of 38 locations spanning nine global cities
with additional new venues under development.