You probably already have a few venues in mind right now, but not sure if it’s the most suitable one, or you have absolutely no idea on where to hold your event. Whatever reason led you to this article, it helps you to filter through the essential factors to consider when choosing a venue for an event.
- Clarify the details
You are looking for a venue for an event that you are planning to run, this means you should already have some details about the event in mind. Now, list them down and make them visible so that you could always refer back when you are looking for venues and suppliers.
Here are some questions to help you list down the details:
Nature and type of event
- What event are you running?
e.g. conference, annual dinner, weekend bazaar, teambuilding, etc.
- What is the mode of the event?
e.g. physical, virtual or hybrid
- What type of event are you running?
e.g. corporate, private, or charity
- What is the date and time of the event?
Good to have this information for accurate quotes and search
Attendees and demographics
- What is the expected number of attendees?
- Who are your attendees? (family, working class, employees, friends, public, etc.)
Budget
- How much budget do you have for venue booking? (set a maximum budget to spend on the venue)
- Location
After answering all the questions above, you can now narrow down your search location. This location should ideally be accessible by various modes of transport – public transports (bus, trains, metros) and own transport (cars, motorcycles, bicycles, or on-demand transport services).
However, depending on the geographical location of the majority of attendees, you might want to consider picking a central location. If most of them will be traveling from out of town, a venue near the airport, or their hotel will be good. Don’t forget to consider the parking space, traffic, and transportation options.
Consider these questions to help you narrow down the location:
- Where do the majority of attendees come from? (out of town or in town)
- What is the majority mode of travel? (own transport or public transport)
- What is the traffic like during the travel time of your event? (before and after event)
- Ambience
Depending on the nature and type of your event, you will want to search for a venue that provides your desired ambience. Keep an eye on the interior, and style of architecture, does it convey the ambience you desired? For example, if you are holding a professional business conference, the ambience should be professional and formal, and if you are having it at a restaurant, then the laid-back and casual atmosphere would not suit your needs. Keep in mind that the less ambience the venue conveys, the more decoration you need to make up for it.
Some venues and their usual ambience:
- Hotel banquet halls: grand and luxurious
- Restaurants / bars / cafes: laid-back and casual
- Convention centre: professional and intellectual
- Resorts / Homestays: relax and casual
- Social clubs / lounge: exclusive and class
- Capacity, Layout, and Minimums
You might already know the exact number of attendees or an estimated number. This number will help you filter out the smaller venues that have insufficient capacity for your group size. Usually, venues will have their maximum room capacities written on their website, else this information should easily be obtained through the person in charge. It is useful to know the layout of the venue so you could know if it is suitable for your activities.
On top of that, if the venue provides food and beverages services, find out what their F&B minimum pax/spending are, and best to have this information in writing (email, WhatsApp message, letter, etc.). Once you know the minimum spending, trackback on your previous event records and make sure that it’s up to the minimum.
*Quick tip, if you spend way beyond the minimum, take this advantage to negotiate on complimentary services like WiFi upgrading, A/V support, etc.
Information to obtain from venues:
- Maximum room capacity
- Layout
- F&B minimums
- Functions and Facilities
Think of what tech supports you need in order to deliver your event. Do you need a projector and screen? Do you need an LED backdrop? Do you need an audio and visual system? What about lighting and stage? These are some of the things you may want to consider when looking out for a venue, if they are able to provide them, then you don’t have to engage an external supplier.
Furthermore, consider your activities, do you need break-out rooms that your attendees can go into for concurrent activities? Does the venue have function rooms and are they enough for your activities?
Some other thing you would want to consider is the accessibility of the venue. Are you expecting any physically impaired attendees? If yes, you want to choose a venue that could cater to their needs.
Some functions and facilities to look out for:
- Audio and visual support
- Function rooms
- Accessibility
- Contract Flexibility
Now that you have almost decided which venue to book, here comes the crucial part of venue booking, which is the contract. Having gone through the pandemic, we all know that the event may be affected by a wide range of unforeseeable reasons. Hence, it is a good idea to negotiate for a flexible contract that could work well for both parties when such things happen.
As you have already read, there are many factors to consider to choose the perfect venue for your upcoming event. You probably also drew up the conclusion that finding an event venue that perfectly suits your requirements and needs is not an easy task.
IF THAT’S THE CASE, hire an event management agency.
You can always hire an event management agency to save you all the troubles. They will take care of all aspects mentioned above, and all you have to do is to agree on their proposal and they will help you execute.
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