When tasked with organising an event one of the first things you need to do is finalise the location and venue.
Often events will be organised based on guidance from various stakeholders involved in membership organisations. So for example the reason you are holding an event could be for members in a particular region so therefore it is easier as your event location is already determined.
However if you are organising an annual conference or national event which moves location each year this involves a little more work!
Firstly you need to consider who you are targeting to attend the event and with this do you want to encourage delegates to use public transport? Or do members travel by car and need car parking? This is a good place to start as it will help you decide on a city centre or outskirts location or something in between if you want parking but also to be close to public transport links.
Start by reviewing in past years where you have held events and look at how the numbers and demographic regions they travelled from affected this.
If you have asked delegates previously for feedback on the venue and location review this also. It is important to always build this into your analysis as it can work.
For many organisations we work with if they have a national event we tend to do it one year in the North and the next in the South to alternate and give members a choice.
Other factors to consider are venue style and other requirements such as if you require lots of outdoor space for team building elements to your event it would be unusual to find this space in a city centre so you would require something on the outskirts of a location.
Or if you are an educational institution for instance you will be VAT exempt and therefore using an academic venue will ensure you don’t have to pay VAT and provide an exemption certificate. You may want a hotel type venue or more purpose built conference centre or unusual venue to offer delegates something different to attract them to attend but also tie in with the theme of your event.
Once you have decided on the location for your event you need to look at venues in the area and compare the space available and costs, we can obviously help you with this for free! But if you want to do this yourself then useful tools such as www.venuedirectory.com can help.
When you have decided on a venue we would always recommend a site visit if you have not used the property before. This will allow you the opportunity to view the meeting space and other facilities available for example the bedrooms, restaurant, area for your delegate’s lunch and the service you and your delegates will receive, giving you the opportunity to truly assess this. It is always good to ensure anything agreed at such meetings is captured within the contract when you finalise this with the venue.
If you would like to write a blog for Mosaic Events or share any of your venue experiences please contact Sarah on sarah@mosaicevents.co.uk , if you need help sourcing a venue for your next event please visit: http://www.mosaicevents.co.uk/venue-finder/ .
