All things considered, choosing a venue for your in-person event can be stressful and time consuming. From an online search to initial outreach to multiple site visits, finding the best venue for your event can be challenging. The following article will explore tips on how to narrow down your venue search, get the most out of site visits, and collaborate with a venue representative. As you put your energy into finding the venue that will support your efforts to boost an in-person event to the next level, you may want to keep the following information in mind.
Narrow Venue Search
If you are anything like me, when you start searching for anything you usually start with a widespread search and narrow it down as you find options that you like or an area on the map that you prefer. Sometimes it is difficult to extend past a particular area of a city, but other times going beyond your typical search radius on the map can open your event up to new opportunities. One important thing to keep in mind when branching out is: keep notes on distances from train stations, access to public transportation, timing to and from the airport, and all hotels within a set vicinity to the venue. Having all of this pre-prepared will help create FAQs for speakers, sponsors, and ticket holders if you choose a venue that is, for example, farther from a city center than you would normally choose. When you do go for a site visit with a venue from your broadened search you can also “fact check” the information on hotels, transit, and drive times to ensure you’re providing the best possible information to those who may need it. A final point to help narrow down your venue searches is: look for information on the amount of rooms available for use within the venue. If you cannot find this information on their website or through pictures, reach out to them. Whether you plan to use multiple rooms or not during your event, it’s always beneficial to have a couple of smaller rooms for staff, speakers, and/or sponsors to use as a safe space to store their belongings or a quiet place to sit and prepare for a presentation. You may also want to look into whether the venue has separate areas to split between reception, meals, and even networking at different points during the conference or event. Keeping all of this information in mind during your venue search efforts will provide you with a streamlined list of venues to contact, setting up site visits to a short-list of venues that already meet most of your criteria.
Site Visits
A site visit can help to create a great experience with a venue, or not. There are a couple of things you should always look for and ask about during site visits. The following points will help to best compare your different venue options, ensuring you choose one that fits your needs as much as possible. First, try to compare the images of the venue you’ve seen online with what you see in-person. Are the rooms bigger or smaller, newer or older than the pictures you viewed online? The next thing to look for is power sources in each room. This is especially important for tech conferences where attendees are typically developers or engineers. They will likely be using their computers or tablets to follow along with each presentation or session, taking part in interactive activities, and taking notes. In the case that rooms do not have enough access to power outlets, request extension cords so that most tables in the room have access to a power source for their devices.
During your site visit there are also a few questions to keep in mind that you will want to ask the venue rep in order to get a full picture of the event experience at the venue. The first question you may want to ask about is Audio/Visual (A/V) hookups and options in each room you will potentially use. You will want to understand where the A/V booth will be located in respect to the audience, ensuring that no attendee’s view of the stage is blocked. In order to answer inevitable questions from your speakers, you need to know what sort of hookups are available to connect computers to the projectors. For example, is there an HDMI or USB-C hookup and are converters available? You will also want to find out things such as where to send conference branding to be shown on stage, whether the A/V team prefers to use a single computer throughout the event or allow the speakers to use their personal devices for each presentation. The next topic to ask about while on your site visit is specifics about in-house catering options, where applicable. With your venue rep you will want to explore where meals will be served, what the different options are for different dietary restrictions, and the price points for different thresholds of attendee numbers. The final thing you should always ask during a site visit is about payment terms. You will want to understand what the venue’s typical payment terms are and determine if they will work for you or not. If the standard terms do not work for you, the site visit is your opportunity to negotiate terms that work best for you. Anytime you agree on alternate terms, ensure that your venue rep confirms the details via email after the visit has concluded. This will not only ensure the venue staff remember your agreement but you also can easily share the confirmation email with the rest of your team.
Collaborate with Venue Reps
When you have done a site visit then reach an agreement with a venue, it is imperative to keep collaborating with your venue rep. Stay in touch with the venue team in the months leading up to the event, ensuring they have accurate and up-to-date information regarding attendee numbers, talk schedule, A/V plans, and more. Being proactive with sharing this information helps the venue prepare to upsize in the case that you need to expand or downsize in the case you may not reach capacity. Sharing your event schedule with a specific start time, talk time slots, and end time also let the venue know exactly when catering is needed throughout the event or when to expect attendees to arrive. Giving this information to the venue well in advance also ensures that you have not scheduled anything before or after the venue’s working hours, giving you the means to change your schedule and notify speakers of any changes as well as avoiding extra venue charges. While you may have already spoken about typical attendee flow through the venue, in the time leading up to the event you will want to map out exactly how you would like each room set up. This includes the location and quantity of tables and chairs in each room, a reminder about access to power sources, etc. If you or your sponsors will have items delivered before the event, share tracking links and expected delivery dates with your rep as you have this information available to you. This will ensure that nothing gets lost and if the venue is not able to accept a specific delivery, you can make arrangements before the package is delivered. Last but certainly not least, always confirm the receipts of deposits and payments. To do so you can send a screenshot of the transfer request or send a simple email confirming that payment has been sent from your account and should be received within a certain amount of business days.
Conclusion
Between how you narrow your venue search, to all of the information discussed during a site visit, to how well you collaborate in the lead up to your event, you will not only host a stellar event but you may just become your venue’s favorite client. Although you are technically the venue’s customer, they can certainly make or break your event. Being a good event manager, in this case, also means being a good customer. As such, by communicating well and understanding the venue’s strengths and limitations, you will find that planning and hosting your event becomes even easier.