For the saddest day of the year, Comet Meetings is betting on wellbeing in meetings and opening Comet Retiro, its first Madrid building, 1,900 sq m facing the Retiro park.
The start-up is shaking up the classic meeting model with the opening of its new building in Madrid. Wellbeing has been shown to improve communication between employees: it helps strengthen bonds and improve relationships within teams, including with management, because when people feel good, they work better. In other words, it raises performance and efficiency, improves decision-making, stimulates creativity, increases productivity and reduces absenteeism at work.
Backed by its Meeting Scientists, experts in productive meetings, Comet Meetings advises on and offers wellness sessions before every meeting. They are designed to restore our energy and our nervous system, and to guide our attention through the body. They include breathing and stretching exercises that help maintain focus and engagement, set the pace and release tension during sessions. After 50 minutes of uninterrupted work, we lose almost 50% of our capacity for attention and it needs to be restored through effective breaks. In the same way, practising yoga or meditation renews our ability to think: when we stay seated for too long without moving, blood flow to the brain slows down and mental clarity fades. Movement also brings energy back: by reactivating the cardiovascular system, the whole body (and the brain in particular) is resupplied with the oxygen and nutrients it needs to function properly.
At Comet, the team knows how much circumstances can affect our state of mind and our performance, for better or worse. That is why, especially on the saddest day of the year, the company invites everyone to think about it and take a moment to unwind. To do so, Comet divides the day into four moments:
- Focusing before a meeting
- Unwinding before a meeting
- Restoring energy at midday
- Ending the day in peace
Each of these moments brings together different exercises or techniques with their own goals: the Balance posture to help with concentration, or the Body scan as a self-relaxation exercise after a long day. These are, among other activities, what can be found at Comet Meetings from this month. The French start-up, co-founded in Paris by Victor Carreau, Nicholas Findling and Maxime Albertus, raised 30 million euros in 2020 (Eurazeo, BPI, among other new and long-standing investors). After considerable success in France and Belgium, it is now entering Spain, in a landmark Madrid building. The key to its success: promoting in-person meetings in settings that foster collective intelligence, with innovative equipment and an inspiring location.
For its first opening in Madrid, Comet Meetings chose a listed building steeped in history, facing the Retiro park on one of the city’s most emblematic avenues, Calle Alfonso XII, opposite the Puerta de Felipe IV and next to the Casón del Buen Retiro. Comet Retiro will be made up of different worlds spread over 6 floors, in a 1,900 sq m space bringing together dining areas, meeting rooms, shared spaces and outdoor areas. The 19 modular meeting rooms, fully equipped, can host 2 to 80 participants and are designed to encourage creativity and teamwork. Two outdoor spaces also offer privileged views over the Retiro park.
“At Comet, wellbeing is a genuine pillar of the turnkey offer we provide, because when people feel good, they work better,” says Juliette de Cointet, Head of Wellness.
Among the services on offer, a dedicated team meets every need clients may have, with all-inclusive packages at very competitive prices and a range of activities, such as wellness sessions to start the meeting in top form.
“For us, being able to convey Comet’s vision in our projects is essential: companies need to learn to hold fewer meetings, but better meetings. A successful meeting has to meet five dimensions: the right environment to encourage exchange, the right level of service so people can focus on what matters, the right participants, the right content, properly structured and delivered, and finally the right mindset to achieve the meeting’s objectives,” explains Victor Carreau, co-founder and CEO of Comet.
“This new opening and our arrival in Madrid mark a very important milestone in our international expansion, taking the successful meeting format and the Comet concept everywhere.”
The different options available depending on the project (classic half-day, gourmet half-day, full day, afterworks and evening events) come with personalised support, including activities before and after work such as wellness sessions and team building, and services such as a team of facilitators to structure the day and steer the content, all with the aim of encouraging productive meetings and stimulating, motivating work.
