The right venue is crucial to the success of any event and what’s more without a venue you have no event. So we’ve put our thinking caps on and come up with the Pretty Clever Top 10 Tips to choosing the right venue.
Firstly – use a venue finding service or better still call us! We’ll listen to your requirements and promise to find you some venue options that meet your brief and better still it won’t cost you a penny. Why spend time trawling the web when we have a dedicated team constantly researching the best deals for you – and what’s more it’s FREE!
Think about the size of your event and don’t leave it too late. To get the venue you want you will need to plan early as some of the leading venues are often booked well in advance.
Duration of the event – How long do you actually need to achieve your business? Can you cover it in a breakfast, lunch or evening seminar? Or maybe you have speakers and delegates that need overnight accommodation in which case it’s best to choose a venue with accommodation?
Types of event – Conference, Team Building, Themed Event or Wedding. What ambience are you trying to achieve? What do you want to use the venue for? There are all sorts of different venues out there now. You might want something a bit special or oozing elegance so a boutique hotel might fit the bill nicely. Some of you out there are a bit more traditional so a long-established hotel would be more appropriate and others are simply looking for the convenience of daytime conference space or a venue within easy access.
Location Location Location! Any venue you chose should be in easy reach of public transport links (particularly train or tube links) or motorway. In short you don’t want your delegates to have to trek halfway to Timbuktu, the harder it is for your delegates to travel to a location the less likely they will bother to come, yes I know, sad but true. If people might be travelling by car is there a car park near by? It’s all about the logistics!
Format – have you thought about the layout of the room? Do you prefer people to be seated in rows (theatre style) or do you want people seated around tables (cabaret style) which will almost certainly halve the number of guests you can accommodate? Do you need any break out rooms? Do you require and staging and production (this can massively effect the size of room you require), do you need any catering and where might this take place (if it is in the same room you will need to factor this into your itinerary, equally should you be using a separate area for this then you may well be charged an additional fee.
Ease of Access – We suggest that any venue you choose should be fully accessible to people with disabilities or at the very least thought about. Does the venue offer lifts and ramps for wheelchair users?
Facilities – Depending on what type of event you are looking will determine what facilities your guests might need. Almost certainly these days’ people need wi-fi/interntet access and other business services. You might be doing a team building event or family fun day that requires outdoor space or you could be using your venue for an incentive reward trip in which case spa and health facilities are always a bonus.
Catering – All venues work differently. Some have onsite caterers; others don’t which would mean you would need to look for an outside caterer that can fulfil your needs. We can help with that we have awesome food!
Post Event – we think it’s crucial to get feedback from all clients post event likewise you might wish to do the same with your delegates. If something works well for you then we’ll happily fly the flag again. If a venue hasn’t worked for you then we think it’s important to understand why and cross it off your list for next time.
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