Some allow you to drill down further into WiFi and AV or even extras such as whether there is a golf course nearby or a spa on site. Some tools are more comprehensive than others, but having search filters is a great time saver identifying potential venues rather than trawling through websites or phoning venues to find specific information.
It also avoids finding out after sending a manual RFP that actually none of the venues approached perfectly meet your wish list. Be as specific as you can entering your set criteria to produce better-matched search results.
If you are not familiar with a venue, having floor plans available to show room locations helps to give an overview of the layout and flow of the venue. No event planner wants to work with a venue where the rooms are miles apart or on different levels and venues have been known to gloss over these details to try and fill their remaining stock around other already confirmed bookings! Individual room plans and dimensions can also help planners get to grips with the space and any potential limitations to sight lines and set up, such as pillars.
If the room is an unusual shape or the ceiling height is low you may need to factor in additional relay screens or additional speaker towers to compensate. A picture really is worth a thousand words!
It also gives an insight into different event layouts, the versatility of the venue and what can be achieved. Virtual venue tour technology is becoming more and more common, possibly allowing you to view the space with different layouts and production, rather than just an empty room.
As our research shows, we trust reviews from our peers, so viewing ratings, feedback and comments from other event planners can be useful when narrowing down potential venues. Some online marketplaces include reviews or star ratings. If not, maybe investigate other avenues; view their Facebook page for comments, look for recent mentions on Twitter, look at recommendations key venue staff have received on LinkedIn, search on Google and most of all ask your colleagues, AV company or other suppliers what it is like working at the venue.
This can be very revealing and enlightening hearing from those with first-hand experience of working or attending an event at a venue you are considering. This is ideal as if you have set dates which are not flexible you need to be prepared that several of the venues that make your shortlist will be booked already and so can be immediately ruled out. The search and filter tools on online venue marketplaces are great at narrowing down the options, but there is generally the opportunity to add extra information to a text box before the RFP is circulated to venues.
Use this space to give useful information which will help the venues to respond accurately. We have compiled a handy venue requirements checklist with the details you should include in an effective venue RFP, whether you are sending this out directly or completing details via an online portal.
One of the biggest frustrations with venues is the venue staff not considering themselves as partners and caring about the event as strongly as the event planner and the client do.
To give the venues an opportunity to share the vision for your event we recommend including the following information on your RFP. When the responses come in this will soon separate those venues that have taken the time to read and respond fully from those that are not such a good match for your event or care less about securing your business.
Your RFP has been issued and the responses are in. Event planners need to be able to spot which are the best proposals received and which should be immediately discounted to create a credible shortlist. Here is some criteria to judge the responses against and find the venues that stand out above the others. Event planners have to be strictly deadline focused and so you want to work with venues that have the same ethos.
If you gave enough time for responses and a venue missed the deadline without any communication with you they should probably be discounted straight away. A venue of the future will have read and understood the RFP, answered all questions fully and included all the information requested in a complete proposal. Good venues have all the answers at their fingertips to enable to pull together information and create a bespoke proposal with ease.
If they cannot deliver on something you have requested in the RFP they will offer alternative solutions or options, just as any event planner would. In the proposal, a winning venue option will have demonstrated their enthusiasm for winning your business and securing the event.
The response should be well written and show the pride in their venue and facilities. A venue of the future will be eager to invite you and your client for a show round and keen to put space on hold for you while you consider, as the venue knows its popularity and that otherwise the date may be snapped up by someone else.
Are things like WiFi, cloakroom, tap water and AV included in a complete package, or are there lots of added costs that you will need to factor in. Can they offer you the early access you need for the event and waive or reduce the charges from their standard hire rates?
The last thing you want is to sign a contract and discover hidden costs or high rate cards for extras that you were not prepared for. Like all good eventprofs, a venue will also go the extra mile. Have they included extra, relevant information to strengthen their proposal? Compared to the other venues have they offered additional value and USPs unique selling points which differentiates their venue from the competition?
The proposal should have taken into account your requirements and illustrated through their tailored response why they would be the perfect venue partner. If you have any additional questions raised from the proposal does the venue respond quickly and efficiently?
Is all contact with the venue slick and efficient? Do they return calls promptly? Are they always happy to help? A venue of the future will always be customer focused, right through the sales and negotiation process, the planning process and to the live event itself. When an event planner has a shortlist of venues that are being considered, the next step is to have a venue site visit, or show round.
This is generally done in person, however travel and schedules do not always enable this. Venues of the future have amazing online portals, websites with degree virtual tours and lots of video content showcasing what you can do at the venue. Your negotiation strategy, therefore, starts way in advance of any direct contact with the venue itself as you immerse yourself virtually in the venue, gaining an in-depth understanding of its strengths along with its weaknesses.
There are some vital checks and telltale signs that can reveal whether this is a good venue to work with. Here are some ways you can use a familiarisation trip to ensure you are making a solid venue choice:. Event planners are often looking to find a true event partner, focused like you on delivering an exceptional event experience, rather than just a business transaction.
Incidentally, the supreme importance of the relationship between event planner and venue team when it comes to venue selection is second only to rates in our survey and considerably ahead of any other criteria including recommendations, reviews or the fact that a planner may have used the venue before.
There was a time not that long ago when planners going on a site visit didn't really have to think much about AV or technology. Their entire focus could be on things like the look and feel of the room, catering and food selection, activities such as spa treatments, bus tours, wine tastings, and water cruises. Whether that's to have fun and energize, deliver important messaging, to network, to celebrate, or to educate.
At every step in the process, there have always been venues willing to invest in the latest and greatest technology, to take chances, try new things, and be willing to be on the leading edge. Others, not so much. As the rate of change in disruption in technology appears to get faster and faster every year, it gets harder and harder for venues to choose which technology advancements to invest their money in, making the environment even more complicated. This has resulted in a tremendous lack of consistency when it comes to venues and technology.
Event planners now have an entirely new list of things that need to be checked at the site visit, as a certain baseline level of technology is being expected by the modern meeting and event goer.
From there, you can work your way into the realm of the leading edge, choosing your venues not just on how they handle the basics, but also what new technologies they can offer.
Venue style, decor, catering, and amenities are always going to be important parts of choosing a location for your meeting and event, but now is the time to start working on your technical venue checklist as well. Probably the most hotly debated subjects in meeting and event technology today are those surrounding WiFi and Internet access.
How do you know if a venue is going to be able to provide enough bandwidth for your attendees, presenters, and staff? But there are a few things you can do on your site visit to check the quality of the internet services being provided by the venue. While WiFi and Internet access are probably the technology that attendees value the most at a meeting or event, nothing compares to the importance of having a serious conversation with your venue regarding power and electrical services.
The next item on our venue technology checklist might be surprising to some: be sure to inspect any staging you might be getting from your venue. Staging that is too tall, too short, or in various stages of disrepair pardon the pun is incredibly common. As a result, rigging the hanging of lights and sound gear from the ceiling of a venue has become a much more common practice.
Even small to medium-sized meetings are getting equipment up and out of the way by rigging from the ceiling. Ask the following questions:. How they answer these questions, plus those regarding rigging, could mean a difference in thousands, or tens of thousands on your AV bill.
Find out what restrictions there are when it comes to using outside vendors for AV and production. Are there going to be fees or charges for doing so? If so, how much? Think of these as value add-ons that can help you to decide between otherwise equal venues.
Traditional business centers are on the decline, with more hotels and venues offering tech-forward common areas. Lounge areas with plenty of power plugins, charging stations including cable-free charging pads , strong WiFi, and other amenities will allow guests to use their own devices in a warm, inviting atmosphere. There may be a workstation or two in the corner for printing out boarding passes and the like, but BYOD is the rule of the day.
Digital signage is another one of those areas that might not jump to mind when you think of tech, but it can be a tremendous benefit at a venue, especially for conferences. Find out who is responsible for changing the displays, and how quickly they can be changed.
Being able to change digital displays to update the most current session locations and times can be vital to things flowing smoothly. To that end, many of the coolest advancements in leading-edge technology have to do with intralocation.
What geolocation has done for finding our way in the world at large, intralocation has the ability to provide similar opportunities for us indoors. Using technologies as simple as low energy Bluetooth beacons aka iBeacons or WiFi triangulation, or as futuristic as facial recognition and laser radar LiDAR , venues are starting to invest in passive attendee tracking technology.
The benefits of such a system for the attendee can include precise location and mapping within a convention center or expo hall, including the fastest routes to their next meeting, or an alert that the vendor booth they wanted to stop by is immediately in the next aisle. It also could be a simple as recognizing them as they enter the registration area, so that by the time they approach the desk, their badge is printed and ready to go.
On the planner side, intralocation can offer many benefits as well. The obvious benefits include session tracking with precise accounting of how many people saw what session, and for how long.
While many conferences will scan badges on the way in, hardly anybody scans badges on the way out. Where things really get interesting, however, is the ability for these new technologies help planners visualize people moving through an event space in real time. What sections of the event are the most popular?
Which booths at the trade show are getting the most traffic? Are the lines from the bars starting to block the main entrance? This kind of real-time data can be a powerful tool to the tech-savvy planner, giving them almost a clairvoyant ability to head off problems before they occur. After the event, that data can be used to show the ROI of different portions of the event. How popular was the VR station compared to the old-school photo booth?
Did we really need bars 4 and 5, or could we have gotten away with two? Would you like to upgrade to one of those booths next year? As event professionals, we desperately want to be known for our innovation and creativity but a key aspect of our true value lies in our ability to marshal the numbers and march them into a shape that corresponds to the available budget. At the end of the day - or week or year - what makes a great event planner is the manner by which maximum event impact is achieved within the confines of the money there is to make it happen.
This means event managers need to wear the hard shell hat of the negotiator in tandem with the technicolor dream coat of the eventprof. Managing the budget can truly make or break the event and to manage the budget well you need to be an excellent negotiator.
But remember, excellent negotiators are in it for the long game. Rates are what make or break budgets and perceived high rates can be enough to eliminate that destination or venue from the selection process entirely. Rates and, particularly, packages offered remain hugely important in relation to the final decision on the venue - ranking 3rd only behind location and room capacity.
When negotiating on rates, however, we need to be strategic. To successfully negotiate with a venue or any supplier you need to do your homework and know your figures. Savvy event organizers know that the initial budget presented to the client should always include every possible line item of cost including easily forgotten items such as storage space, staff changing rooms, speaker green room, build and tear down time etc.
For example, being able to ship materials direct to the venue and to have them stored there is hugely beneficial for the overall event in terms of logistics and convenience but a monetary value needs to be placed on this upfront so that the venue and the event professional are seen to be proactively participating in the win-win dynamic.
Food and beverage is what divides the sheep from the goats in the world of eventprofs. Happy days. An inexperienced or nervous planner, however, guarantees and stands back powerlessly as 30 meals go unconsumed. So how should you negotiate food and beverage? Firstly be meticulous about historical data — what has been the behavior of this group over the past 5 years? The client may have this data but, if not, the venues they used previously will certainly have it.
At the risk of being sexist, ageist, prejudiced or old fashioned, here are 5 failsafe measures:. AV and production is a key part of virtually any event and another focus for negotiation with a venue.
Many eventprofs have their own preferred partners for AV and production so often the first thing to negotiate is the right to use these as opposed to the in-house incumbent. For venues, there are two issues here. In-house AV and production teams are a profit center for the venue so allowing a third party production team means forgoing revenues.
An in-house team working permanently in the venue knows best how to achieve optimum quality with sound, light and AV. Negotiating technology in a venue is way more than trying to secure free WiFi although some eventprofs - and even more venue managers - think that this is still the key variable. So beware of free wine and beware of free WiFi. Large iconic structures like stadia and concert locations have generated significant recurring income from print and digital display advertising at the venue and from selling the naming rights to big corporate enterprises.
Now venue managers are applying the same principles to conferences, corporate meetings, events and exhibitions by charging event organizers for any prime real estate space they use for branding purposes. So advertising, branding and use of on-site digital signage have become additional items for on the negotiation merry-go-round. And herein another crucial arrow in the quiver of the contemporary meeting and event planner — you have to have the gimlet eye of an attorney!
Insert your information over the highlighted sections. You can also share it digitally on any social media sites with ease. Thanks to its auto calculation feature, the daunting task of event planning is made that much easier.
It helps make sure that you did not forget anything that is important and should not be missed on a special day for the bride and groom. Leave no stone unturned and be confident about going to the wedding using this easily editable checklist. Check it out now! Know why you are making the checklist and mainly, what kind of an event are you hosting.
Checklist templates in Google Docs will help you create the best checklists for every possible topic. Step 2: Event Details The next thing for you to do would be to make sure that you have all the details of the event in place. Details like the venue, location, landmarks, address, etc.
Also, have the guests list with you so that you will know the number of people who will attend the event. Step 3: Budget Finances are an important part of managing any kind of event. They help you understand what are the expenses fort he event you are planning and what can you do to minimize them in the best way possible.
This way, at the end of the event, you can also pay off the vendors and the others you owe money to for being a part of the event by selling their stuff.
This also means the caterers, the lightmen, etc. Checklists in Word will be of great help in making your job easier. Step 4: Finalize Schedule Once you have all the points in place, the next thing for you do would be to finalize the schedule of the event. Have all the details like the date, time, location, etc.
Finalize the schedule of what all would be happening in the event and put it on paper. Checklists are a great way to make sure you have not forgotten adding something that might be important later. Choose a theme for your event and stick to it. Also, mention who the possible speakers, artists, and performers in the event sare, as this will increase curiosity in the readers. The activities that are needed to be done in the event must also be listed.
This will affect the overall set design of the venue and will also greatly affect the space that will be used and provided for the expected number of guests. The reason for the occasion must be one of the primary factors in deciding whether a venue shall be chosen or not. There are specific occasions that require a specific ambiance and location vibe to fully implement the mood of the event. Aside from our venue checklist samples and templates, you may download our Blank Checklist and use it for other listing activities that you may need.
Also, you can use our Wedding Checklist as a reference in writing all your requirements for the location of your wedding.
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