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What is the process behind choosing a venue for your live events?
What are your reasons for picking one place over another? I am in the middle of trying to choose a venue for a conference that I am co-hosting, and I am curious to hear what your process is behind choosing venues?
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2 Answers
Jeff,
Can you share a little more information?
What type of industry are you in? Will your attendees come from a national or regional basis? Who are your target attendees? C-level executives, mid-level maangers etc? How many attendees have you planned for? What is the target date for the conference? How many days is the conference? Is it during the week or over the weekend plus weekday? Is it a company paid or self paid conference? Will you have vendors? Will the facility serve food for your function?
Generally speaking, the facility must be located in an easily accessible area. Many companies have cut costs in this area so choose a location that is financially reasonable for containing costs. Example, Chicago and New York are very expensive for travel accommodations, conference room fees, parking etc. Keep the travel budget in mind when selecting a location. Can the facility provide the support you need? Ask them for references from past conferences your size. If you are drawing national attendees, then locate the conference centrally to keep travel times, costs low and convenient for the attendees. If it is in winter select a location in warmer areas. This will also help with weather related delays and stress. If it is in summer go north. Make sure that the location has public attractions for off hours. People will select conferences based on the location for after hour events.
Select several locations then let them know you are looking at several. This will facilitate competition and they will offer value added services for the business.
Just a few thoughts.
It's important to start with the goals for your event. What are you hoping to accomplish with the event (you'll likely have several goals)? What are the MOST important goals?
Once you have determined the most important/top three goals, think about the best environment in which to accomplish those goals. For instance, if your number-one goal is to attract the C-level execs from Fortune 100 companies nationwide, your venue must be of a higher caliber and offer the environment and types of services these execs have come to expect. Their time is valuable and they must perceive value in their attneidng the event. Where and when you hold the event is critical to attrcating this busy prospect.
As with any marketing effort, you should always start with your overall marketing stategy and how the event helps you accomplish your overall marketing goals. Events should never stand apart from the overall strategy. If your number-one goal is to garner new leads, how will you accomplish this through an event? Is an event really the best method for accoplishing this goal?
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