What Should Event Producers Ask Before Choosing a Venue?
Since the venue for your event sets the scene and dictates many factors related to the occasion, one of the most important event production tasks is choosing an appropriate venue. In fact, 65% of event producers consider the selection of a good venue to be their most pressing concern.
The problem is, venue selection isn’t easy. Numerous factors can impact your venue choice—and overlooking even one of them could result in disaster. To keep you on the right track when selecting a venue for your event, we’ve put together a list of five questions event producers should ask when meeting with venue managers.
1. Does the Venue Fit Into Your Event Production Budget?
The sooner you know the total cost of the venue, the sooner you can decide whether to eliminate it from consideration. When deciding what you can afford, remember that venue costs will take up a large part of the budget, but you’ll still have to pay for food, supplies, marketing, signage, entertainment, staff, security and other costs.
It’s also important to consider the rising costs of technology when planning your budget. According to EventManagerBlog.com, “71% of event professionals with over $5 million budget will spend more on event tech in 2020.”
Pro tip for venue costs: Keep venue costs down by staying flexible on the event date. Ask the venue to provide a list of prices for different days, blocks of time and parts of the year. A Friday night in June from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. could be a lot more expensive than a Tuesday afternoon in January from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Also, the further in advance you schedule the event, the better venue price you’re likely to receive.
2. How Many People Can the Venue Hold?
Local safety regulations and the venue’s policies will determine the number of people allowed in the venue. There will also be a limit on the number of people allowed in individual rooms. Therefore, it’s vital for event producers to accurately estimate how many people will attend their event and whether the venue can fit them—not just for legal purposes, but for the attendees’ comfort.
Using this meeting/banquet space calculator will help you determine an appropriate size venue based on the size of your attendee list.
Pro tip for venue capacity: Simply finding a venue with a capacity that meets your needs isn’t enough. To ensure the comfort of your guests, get a sense of how tight the space is. Guests should be able to walk around without difficulty and with plenty of breathing room. Ask the venue to take you on a tour so you can assess the spaciousness and comfort of the facility for yourself while considering how your event materials will fill the space.
3. How Good Is the WiFi?
A good WiFi connection at your event will ensure that speakers can connect their devices during lectures and enable members of the media to post stories and updates about the event, all while keeping guests connected. However, it’s common for venues to suffer from poor WiFi connections. Therefore, make sure you evaluate the quality of your venue’s WiFi before renting out the facility.
This article on battle-testing your venue’s WiFi network could help you determine the usability of a venue’s WiFi signal.
Pro tip for WiFi at venues: Don’t just ask the venue about WiFi speed; ask whether the WiFi network offers coverage throughout the property, and how any users can connect to the system simultaneously.
4. What About Parking?
Event guests will need somewhere to park their cars. Some venues charge a fee to you or your guests for parking privileges, others offer free parking, and some won’t have enough parking to meet your needs. A venue with its own parking is preferable to an off-site parking provider, which could complicate matters or be unreliable.
Pro tip for event parking: If you found the perfect vendor but it doesn’t offer the parking facilities you need, one option for smaller event productions—albeit a costly one—is to hire a valet service to take attendee vehicles to an off-site lot.
5. Ask More Questions Specific to Your Event
The questions above are not enough to fully evaluate a potential venue for your event, so your team should brainstorm deal-breaker issues that are specific to your event, which you can then ask during your venue evaluations. Here are some general questions to jumpstart this brainstorming process:
Are the technology offerings at the venue adequate for your presenters and entertainers?
Does the venue have the right audio/video hookups and technology?
Will traffic flow be an issue for the event?
Can the venue house the special displays or art setups you have planned?
Is there room for a bar, food area, etc.?
Is a stage available? If so, does it offer the right facilities for your speakers and entertainers? Can you set up a stage if one isn’t available?
Is the layout confusing? Do attendees have a short or long walk between rooms?
Does the area for check-in and information meet the requirements of your team?
Are staff rooms (e.g., kitchen, break room) available?
Is the venue indoors or outdoors? Could bad weather affect the event?
What security offerings does the venue supply?
Does the venue provide food and beverages? What are the costs of this service? Will you need to pay for an outside food and beverage provider?
Are there enough bathrooms? Are they conveniently located? Are they clean and functional?
Can the venue provide silverware, tablecloths, chairs and tables or will you need to provide these items yourself?
Is there an additional fee for cleaning services before and after the event?
Get Help With Your Event Production Process From Magic Box @ The Reef
Magic Box @ The Reef can assist with all of your Downtown Los Angeles event production needs. Magic Box offers venues and services that will impress the attendees of your event with a perfectly planned and organized occasion. Learn more about Magic Box @ The Reef and the event production services we provide here!
Author Bio
Jeremy Hillpot’s background in consumer-investor fraud litigation provides a unique perspective on a vast array of topics, including event production, website technology, investments, startups, cryptocurrencies and the law. Contact Jeremy at legalwritingFINRA.com or [email protected].
Sources:
https://www.eventmanagerblog.com/event-statistics
https://www.hotelplanner.com/Common/Popups/SpaceCalculator.htm
