How to choose the perfect venue

No one can successfully argue that the choice of your event venue isn’t important to its success. To host an unforgettable event for your attendees while accomplishing your objectives and staying within budget, you need to choose all the right elements. The event venue is no exception. It plays a pivotal role in establishing your event vision and communicating said vision to your attendees. Here are a few factors to consider when choosing the right venue for your event.

What is the aim of your event?

Before you start looking for a venue or a location, you and your event team will need to establish what the vision of your event is. What is the purpose of your event and what do you want to accomplish? Is it to raise funds, entertain, network, educate or inspire? Have you envisioned a theme and style for the event? This is the most important step when planning an event, and after these questions are answered you will be one step closer to searching out a suitable venue for the occasion.

Who are your event attendees?

Who are your desired attendees? How many people do you envision will attend? What are their interests, preferences, needs, and expectations? How do you want them to remember your event? Establishing a clear participant profile will guide your decision-making process. Investigating these factors can help to influence the appropriate choice of an event venue.

What type of event are you hosting?

Once you have your goals and target audience sorted, you can start searching for a venue that matches your event theme and size. You might need a private event location, a conference hall, a hotel ballroom, a theater, a museum, a loft, a park, or even a virtual platform, depending on the aforementioned factors. You will need to consider a few things such as the location, capacity, availability, accessibility, amenities, staff, and costs of each venue, and how they align with your event vision and attendee needs. You can also look for venues that offer unique features, such as suitable lighting, ambience, natural scenery, historical significance, or cultural relevance, to give your event a certain appeal.

What are the event activities planned?

Based on the kind of event you are planning, certain activities, whether major or side projects, can be considered to add colour and creativity to your event.  They can also encourage interaction among your attendees. You can introduce networking segments, keynote speeches, panel discussions, workshops, breakout sessions, Q&A sessions, entertainment shows. The favoured content for your event depends on your event objectives, target audience, and concept design. With this in mind, the suitable event venue will be clearer to you and your team.

Do you have a plan B?

No matter how well you plan your event, you may have to make contingency plans due to unforeseen challenges or surprises along the way. Unexpected changes in venue availability, audience size, speaker availability, or weather conditions are a few things you may have to deal with. New technologies or ideas or even a higher or lower budget can influence the nature of your event. To effectively handle these situations, you need to have a backup plan, a contingency budget, and a problem-solving mindset. You also need to be open to new possibilities, innovations, and collaborations that can improve your event.

Have you planned a dry run?

Before you host your event, you need to test and evaluate your venue and activity choices. You need to make sure that everything works according to plan, and that your venue has been thoroughly assessed and meets your expectations. You need to ensure that your content delivery has been accurately designed in order to be engaging your attendees. Prepare to conducting site visits, event rehearsals, tastings, meetings with your team, speakers or partners. Ensure you have the right tools, event management software and tech, AV associates, and event staff/personnel to assist in creating an event that effectively communicates the overall vision.

Do you have the right team?

Having a vision and desire to host an event is one thing. Actually hosting the perfect event that wows your guests is another. Having the right event coordinator or event team, who can accurately execute your plan is perhaps the most important step when planning an event. The right event coordinator will help visit several venues to appraise/compare each and ensure you pick the right one. They will liaise with the venue staff and vendors, coordinate visits, cross out checklists and negotiate costs of your desired event venue.

Book a consultation with us today. Let’s get planning!