More From the Creative Office Revolution

Yesterday in Crystal City, Sodexo workplace strategy guru Deb Dailey said that while the business world has changed, many metrics used to evaluate workplaces haven't. But changing attitudes toward how we work could create an opportunity to form new metrics, such as how to measure "community-ism," among others.

Bialek Environments chief Joan Bialek says the workplace needs to reflect today's knowledge-based economy, just as it did in the '40s with mass production and in the '60s with IT. But future-proofing a space is a must for companies (with features like modular walls and furniture), Joan says, to stay ahead of the curve as much as possible.

Marriott's Jim Young (with DFS Construction's Grant Stephens) said he remembers sitting in meetings with colleagues a decade ago wondering if sustainability features would be a mainstay in real estate. (Spoiler: they did.) Jim says the same sorts of meetings are being held on workplace advancement and efficiency issues, and that they're definitely here to stay. Grant says the innovative new workspaces of today are prototypes for how most space will look in the coming years.

With all the talk of giving Millennials what they need, it's easy to forget about the Baby Boomers, Vornado/Charles E. Smith prez Mitchell Schear says. And throwing both groups into an office can be challenging, he says, since one group has experience and resources and the other has ideas but not much experience. So the key is to turn environments "upside down," and create as much collaboration as possible.

And how about this? The event didn't just feature a new topic, but our biggest wayfinding stand ever.