How to Find the Best Venue for your Event

by Jones Davis Owner

Trying to decide the best place to host an event can take a lot more time than you think. Most times, event planners consider the number of guests expected as the major pointer for deciding on a venue. While this is very important, there are quite a few other things to consider before you decide. Finding a venue is so important that even the date of the event may not be certain until you have decided on a venue. Here are some things that would make your decision easier.

Date

There are many different things to consider that could affect the date of your event. For example, does the date fall within a peak period? Trying to book a venue for a date that falls within a peak period can be difficult because most venues could be booked already and if you’re not fast enough, you would have to settle for an undesired venue. You also need to consider seasons. How will rain affect your venue, if it’s during such a period? How will snow affect your venue? Even if your date is flexible, deciding quickly will help.

Accessibility

You need to find somewhere easily accessible to most people. This could be a well-known area, a popular road or somewhere with an easy-to-spot landmark. If your guests spend too much time trying to find the venue for your event, they are already mentally wrung out before they arrive and when they eventually do, participation could suffer.

Objectives of the Event

What do you hope to achieve from the event you’re planning? What are your ideas for the participation and involvement of the guests? If your event is a workshop that requires your guests to do some work, you might need a venue that can provide tables or desks for each guest, if they need to write or use their personal computers. If you hope that your guests would interact and network among themselves, you could consider a venue with an open reception or welcome area where some light food or appetisers could be served before the main event starts.

Location

The location of a venue is one of the best ways to attract guests for an event. Depending on the kind of event, you first want to choose an area that fits. For example, if your event is a party, you don’t want to choose an area that is too residential because of noise. You also don’t want to choose rough or unsafe areas. If, your event is a more corporate one, you probably want an area that would be comfortable for the kind of people you want to attend. Apart from being easily accessible for your guests, you also want it to be strategically placed so that you can cater to any last-minute needs if they arise.

An online service like Venue Finder can easily help with this. It has listings for many different venues in many different cities. So, if you’re in Bristol, for example, Venue Finder can help you make a shortlist so you can eventually find the best conference venue Bristol has to offer.

Venue Warning Signs

When you have made a shortlist and are reaching out to make a reservation or a payment, please engage the management in charge of the venue properly. Also, watch out for inconsistencies or sloppiness. If you find problems with their paperwork or you’re not comfortable with the communication then maybe that is a sign that you should take it out of your shortlist and make the list even shorter. They probably are not very reliable.

Some events are more important or harder to plan than others. However, if you follow these rules well enough, your event venue should be one less thing to worry about.