Finding an Appropriate Conference or Meeting Venue

Finding your appropriate conference venue and planning your conference, catering, travel, professional services and accommodation to make your meeting or conference a great success.

Conferences.co.uk is a resource to suit the conference organiser and planner as well as your potential delegates.

As well as the ideal conference venue take a moment to browse the listings to find the appropriate accommodation, catering and travel facilities, professional speakers, celebrity listings, team activity suppliers and maps of the local entertainment.

Be aware of the typical bugbears likely to feast on your perfect conference, increasing/decreasing numbers of attendees at the last moment, travel problems, communication breakdowns, speaker no-shows, catering upsets, accommodation disturbances and so forth and be one step ahead to slay them before they happen.

Choosing a conference venue.

Take care to choose wisely. Big or small, corporate, educational or entertainment the conference will benefit from intelligent consideration of the venue location. Here is a general check list of some of the points you'll want to consider.

Local watering hole or glorious faraway splendour - the location of your conference will play a large part on how many of your attendees will want to turn up, and how rewarding they will presume to find it. You might consider big brand or a cosy hotel, rural or urban setting, dedicated conference or convention centre, a resort, retreat or cruise ship, or perhaps it's somewhere whacky and unique, perhaps a country house, museum, theatre, sports stadium or stately home.
Balance that with ease of travel, given the location and spread of where your attendees will be coming from.

Ease of organising travel arrangements - the once a week flight to Burkino Faso may be missed by just a couple of attendees, and the alternative route by bicycle may be a little wearing on your celebrity speaker.Exremes aside, the point is made.
Communications between you, the organiser and all the different stakeholders involved in the grand production. - Mobile phone reception may not be that great for all your - say - Orange mobile users at the venue. Just when they really needed to contact you.
Upholding your corporate brand values - does the conference venue fit the image you want your visitors to be left with.
What about the accommodation - the conference hall or meeting room may be right up to scratchbut how about the sleeping arrangements. Doubles, singles, family rooms. Hacking the local prized garden to team-build the makeshift bivouac when there aren't enough rooms may just breach the terms and conditions.
Which brings us to terms and conditions - what about booze, food, electronics etc - make sure your venue has flexible enough terms for you to bring in the cake with the fairy inside (or your cheaper champagne for example).
And the staff. Are they nice and friendly. Of course the salesperson will (likely) by friendly, but it takes a visit and some asking around to get a feel for what the experience will be like.
What if you're the one changing the plans. What if you need to change dates or times, or diets, or accommodation arrangements. How flexible, expensive and accommodating are they going to be.
Ask for references from people who have been - follow them up and listen to their gripes but don't completely disregard the positives. Fat for one and lean for another.
Quality, variety, cultural, and preference food availability. No Halal could mean a group of very hungry attendees by the end of the conference.
Is the venue going to be quiet enough. Look for building works that could upset your days, and local airports, army training grounds and flypaths and pubs and nightclubs that could ruin your nights. Rhythmical seventies hits are just perfect if you're in the centre of the dance floor but quite upsetting if you're a few feet above it trying to get to sleep.
Is it in a safe area? And how far away is the nearest help - police, ambulance etc.if things do go wrong?
Equipment. What does the conference venue have and what do you have to bring. And they may have it but have you booked it. And you may have booked it but did you remember everything, and don't worry it's sure to all be working fine . . . (hint, hint!).
What about the conference room itself. Is it laid out well? Are there obstructed seats? Does everyone have good views and can they hear what's going on. Pretty pointless for them if they can't I'd suggest! Is it big enough, are there enough seats and desks and meeting rooms? It can be too big too - make sure you're not allowing for too much overcapacity.
Think of yourself as planning the prices of opera seating - are you going to have designated seats or seating areas? or is it a free for all with the late drunks and hecklers coming in late at the side doors just by the stage.
Disabled access. Does the venue have it in abundance.
What about the venue environs: does it have enough parking spaces? are the rooms temperature controlled? Do they have wifi, spare pc's and laptops, projectors, electronic whiteboards, stationery, paper? Or are you bringing some or all of your own just in case . ..
Does it have the escape that your delegates might require - golf courses, swimming pools, tennis courts, walks and fitness facilities?
When considering your costs - be ready to negotiate and ask for discounts, compare prices with other venues in your comparison list. Are there hidden costs, how are all the prices calculated - on a per delegate, per day or overall rate for fixed numbers etc. Be careful not to get yourself paying for non-attendance. Does accommodation and/or catering get negotiated separately, perhaps several attendees may choose to eat out. Use your negotiating skills to balance flexibility, price, quality, separation of accommodation and catering etc and pro-rata pricing to your advantage.What is their cancellation policy? What notice do they require? What sort of refunds are available and on what conditions? What sort of deposits are required and on what terms?

When planning your meeting look at your objectives, your budget and most importantly look at it from the attendees point of view. Adjust location, length of meeting, and quality of the venue to suit your brand values and the impressions you expect your attendees to leave with. Decide on pricing and attendee subsidies etc according to your objectives. Budget for spreading the word prior to the event, more than you think you have to. Assemble email lists and addresses well before time and be sure that you have the contact details of all the main participants well in hand.

It can be great fun and very rewarding, or it can be . . . well lets just aim for the former and try to help you every step of the way. We'll be helping you with choosing, organising and planning the meeting and we will help you market it and promote it in the best light to your target audience. We'll also endeavour to make it a breeze for your delegates to find out the what, where, why and how of your special conference.

Further information may be found at the following site e.g. for a list of conference centres internationally. International Association of Conference Centers

Conferences.co.uk. Search here for the appropriate conference venue for your conference.