How to Select the Best Venue for your Event
Just as in real estate the right location is very important to the success of your event. The attendees are depending on you to make the right choice. This is not easy when all the best places are reserved the earliest.
It’s not enough to find the perfect venue, it also has to be available. The longer you wait to make reservations, the more limited your options become. Make early plans and backup plans as well. Keep track of any reservations you make and the penalties involved if you have to cancel.
You probably already have a good idea of where the general location will be. Things to take into consideration at this point are the travel requirements to the event ? will your guests need transport to the venue and back again? Additional transport can significantly increase the budget demands and you may end up having to cut back in other areas such as entertainment, drinks or food. Central city venues can however be much more expensive but country venues can offer a very different. These variations should of course be taken into account when thinking of your event location.
Consider that the style of the location you pick needs to blend with the atmosphere you want the event to present. There is a lot of variation in venue locations from franchised hotels to unique privately owned specialty type venues. Style comes at a price so keep this in mind when budgeting. And remember that cheap accommodations may require you to spend more in decorations.
The venue you select will be largely dependent on your budget. Prices are all over the map and vary seasonally. You will have a hard time negotiating a price if you are only planning one event. But there are ways to improve your negotiating position. Find out more in our recent article on the art of negotiating venue rates. Remember to factor in additional costs for setup times or eating accommodations.
Will you be organizing accommodation for your guests? If the venue has bedrooms, you need to be sure that you don’t carry too liability. A reduced attendance could cost you dearly! If there are no bedrooms available then you need to decide if their accommodation is going to be your responsibility as this can become quite a logistical challenge. It is often useful to outsource this process to accommodation management companies who may offer this service free.
Clearly, the type of rooms the venue has is a practical factor to consider. If you are holding a conference, how many break out rooms will you need for your discussion sessions (maybe you can get away with using the bar / lobby?). It is usual to set up a site visit so that you can judge if the venue is going to be suitable.
Trying to find the most appropriate venue via the internet is possible, but there are other options. One of the better ones is to use a free venue finding service. These services are often paid by the hotels for their matchmaking services, and on top of that, they will negotiate with the hotel for the lowest rate!
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