Venue Finding Checklist
1. Location
You might have already thought about this. In case it’s a local event, you might look for a venue that is closer to most attendee’s workplaces or homes. When attendees travel out of a city or town, a venue close to their hotel or airport is a good choice. No matter which is the case, you shouldn’t forget to consider traffic, parking option, and transportation. Surely, you do not want your attendees to be late for the event. So, provide them with a mobile event app. This is quite common these days. It provides maps, shuttle information, and direction. When the venue is situated inside a large campus, maps prove to be really helpful. One of the best ways is to make sure that the attendees are housing at one location and hosting the event in the same location. This way, you don’t have to worry about them being late to the event or getting lost.2. Budget and Cost
Everything is dependent on the budget you have. You might have already understood that your venue is going to take a large portion of your budget, but obviously, you cannot really let it consume your entire budget. You still need to buy food, supplies, signage, and entertainment. Luckily, you can bring down the cost of your event venue if you are ready to be flexible with the event date. You can get ask for the prices of the venues at different times of the year, month, or week. Usually, a Friday during is the most expensive. Another way to cut down on the cost is the plan ahead. This way, you can get a favourable reservation rate.
3. Services and Amenities
This is one of the factors that make a venue suitable for conferences or other events. Apart from the site appearance, it’s also necessary to consider the amenities and services provided by the venue. Here are a few things you need to check.- Does the venue Come with a Kitchen, and Will it be able to Offer Catering? In case yes, often, the venue is going to waive the facility fee and is just going to charge the down payment with each attendee food cost. Some venues don’t come with a kitchen facility. In that case, you will have to talk to a food provider. You can talk to the venue in-charge and find out if they have a partnership with any food vendor. If it doesn’t, it will be a big headache to look for the best food vendor for the event venues in the UK.
- Does it Provide Linens and Chairs for the event? If the venue that you have chosen offers these items, you don’t have to put in a lot of effort and save a great deal of money by using what they are offering, provided it matches your preference and theme.
- Does It Provide a Clean-Up Crew? When you find a venue that provides a clean-up and setup crew, you are in for a treat. It takes a lot of pressure off your shoulders. In case it’s not available, you have to get your own setup and clean up the team for the event.
4. Parking
You might only be looking for ‘event venues near me,’ but you also need to check if the venue offers a parking space and valet parking. In case it doesn’t, check if they have a parking space close by that your attendees can use to park their cars. In case the venue doesn’t offer parking, here are a few alternatives.- Reserve parking space for the attendees and either includes the ticket cost or ask the attendees to pay for it when they park.
- Offer the attendees a way to share a cab. That will be a good opportunity for them to interact with one another.
- Check the app cab discounts for events that different services provided. You can also negotiate with them and distribute the promo codes to the attendees.
- Even if the venue doesn’t offer valet parking, you can. That is especially necessary if it is an upscale event.
5. Ambience
Make sure that you check the venue’s existing décor. Consider the architecture and interior setting of the building. Surely, you cannot choose the same venue for the gala and expo. The less the ambience matches the feeling of the event you will organize, the more decoration you are going to require. Decorating the venue as per the event might be quite expensive. Hence, it is better to opt for a venue that already complies with your theme—looking to create a luxury atmosphere? Opt for a ritzy hotel. But if you want to create a trendy atmosphere, modern space is a good choice.6. Size and Capacity
Every event venue has its own limitations when it comes to the number of people it can hold. So, before you decide on the space and start sending out the invitation, you have to make sure you can comfortably accommodate all your guests. So, you have to check, What is Its Capacity? You might already have a low down of the number of guests for the event. Obviously, 500 people cannot fit into a room that has a capacity of only 300 people. Also, there are safety and fire codes that the venue has to abide by. What is the Food and Beverage Minimum? In case the venue offers food and beverages, find out what are its minimums. It is also called the F&B minimum. Make sure that your attendee’s record is on par with this minimum. Check how big this space feels and if it open and spacious. Two venues having the same maximum capacity might feel different simply because of the layout. That’s why we are going to discuss layout as the next factor to consider.7. Layout
Albeit, you start looking for the venue at the start of the planning process, you will still have an idea of the activities that will take place and the amenities you will need. As you narrow down your searches, make sure you ask for an illustrated floor plan for each venue. If you already have your favourites, walk through them at least once and note down all the important things like where the outlets are or the AV equipment. The floor plan and the layout have a significant impact on the event activities and the flow of traffic.8. Electrical Power
Often people neglect this factor. However, it is necessary to check the electrical power in a venue. Mostly, this is an issue with older buildings. You can face a problem if you bring in a lot of light, video, and audio equipment. Power requirement is something you can only learn about if you get it checked by a specialist. The external equipment and in-house staff have to put their head together to ensure that everything you need for the event runs.9. Accessibility
This refers to the possibility that anyone, particularly the ones with special needs, is capable of accessing the event building and the amenities it offers. For this, you have to consider the attendees and what they need. Often when you are organizing an event, you tend to forget to take guests of all ages into account. For instance, you have to check if there are going to loads of elderly guests for the events. In case yes, you will have to make sure that the venue you have chosen has minimal stairs and is ADA compliant. You also have to consider if there will be children or people with special needs for your event. Only when you have checked all these, you can decide on an event venue.
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