5 Most Important Factors in Selecting Your Venue
tagged: event management event planning experiential marketing food & beverage live event marketing live event sponsorship location parking sponsorship strategy venue
posted on November 8, 2018
Whether you are looking for a venue to host a large trade show, corporate meeting or private holiday party, finding the right the venue that accommodates your needs makes a big difference. The following five tips will hopefully assist in making this decision process a bit easier.
Convenience
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There are several factors that fall under this section such as venue location, ample parking, ease of accessibility and customer service to name a few. Location is one of the most important points on this list as your guests or attendees will be traveling to where the event will be hosted. The location should be centrally located and easy to access, identifiable, clean and secure. Hosting an event at an identifiable venue can bring comfort and legitimacy to an event. Parking should be available either onsite or within proximity of your venue. Always check on what the cost is for parking is and if you expect for your guests to park offsite make sure you are providing them with a shuttle or tram.
Availability
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This holds true especially when you are looking for a venue to host an annual event as it makes your job much easier in the long run to host your event at the same location year after year. You should explore what the venues availability has looked like in the past, currently and for the future dates you are interested to host your event. Look for a venue that values your partnership and supports your vision and growth.
Capacity
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Choosing a venue that is the right fit for your party is another key factor. You need to make sure your venue can host the number of people you are catering to and provides the right capacity to comfortably plan for your layout, decor and needs such as dance floor, catering, stage etc. You can accomplish this goal factor by working on a layout and incorporating all required aspect of your space into a digital CAD drawing. Another important thing to take into consideration once the layout has been completed is to get the fire marshals approval and that it passes their requirement for allowable distances from walls, exits and walkways. This will relieve much last-minute stress of having to make changes to your event space.
Cost
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Cost can fall into different categories such as venue rental, staffing charges, food and beverage minimums. Budgeting correctly for a vent is always an important point and can provide restrictions for what can be done. Being able to move forward with a venue that fits into our budget is a key decision factor. Ask for a breakdown of the costs that make up the overall venue charge. How much staffing is required and what there is flexibility on? Can you substitute some of your own staffing for items such as security or ticket takers? What are their insurance requirements? What type of food & beverage minimums are they requesting? Can you bring in outside catering? These all play a factor into your overall cost.
Capability
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Again, capabilities can have numerous different sections. To touch on a few, find out what capabilities the venue you are renting can offer. For example, if you are hosting a meeting and need audio visual equipment, using avenue that already has that in place and you can rent for a minimum cost will make a big difference that having to outsource your needs through an outside rental company. Another example of this would be if you are looking to host a music festival and going with a venue that already has the stage, lighting, sound infrastructure rather than going with an open festival field and having to bring all that in along with your power needs, etc. Another helpful capability a venue could offer is marketing support. This is especially helpful for first time events and reaching a local crowd that are familiar with the venue.
Taking the time to do your research and gather the information above gives you a better chance to make the right choice for your event.