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7 Questions to Ask Before you Begin Your Event Location Search by @LizMazzei

LocationsLocation. Location. Location. One of the most essential pieces of any event is the location where your event will take place. In New York City alone, the Official Convention Bureau, NYC&Co (nycgo.com), estimated in 2010 there are 23,499 active restaurants alone. But it’s not just about Restaurants or the other ‘traditional’ event locations like Hotels and Conference Centers anymore. Bars, Lounges, Museums, Loft Spaces, Clubs, Bowling Alleys, Pool Halls, Arcades, Conference Centers, Offices and Conference Rooms, Concert Halls, Art Galleries, Retail Stores, Malls, Movie Theatres, Boats, Rooftops, Gardens, Parks, Planes, etc., etc. are all popular event locations that you should consider when you are planning your next event.

But once you realize all the different types of locations and opportunities for your event, more than 50,000 in the NYC area alone, it becomes a bit overwhelming. Where do you start? How can you possibly call and/or email them all to connect?

Before you begin your search, you must first understand the objective of your event and consider the following 7 basic questions to determine what type of location will be most suitable:

1. How many guests will be attending?
2. Do you need just one big open space or a bunch of smaller rooms?
3. Will you need food and beverage at your event?
4. Will this event include sitting or standing?
5. Will you have displayed media?
6. Do attendees need to access wifi?
7. What privacy level will you require?

Once you understand these basic needs for your event, the fun begins! Time to start communicating with various locations, find out if they are available and determine if they fit within your budget. There are a bunch of ways to find a location and even some tools online that will help you connect with locations and find out the important details like capacity, amenities, price and availability. In our next post we will discuss, a couple of ways you can find a location for your next event.

Remember don’t get overwhelmed by the number of locations. Make sure you understand your event before you get started and then start shopping!

What other advice do you have for folks before they begin their location search? Any other basic factors we should add to the list?

Photo by CartoonStock.com

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Liz Mazzei

Liz Mazzei is a Technology and Internet Professional focused on solutions to any problem across functional areas. Known for thinking around, under and on top of the box, she has a passion for internet based products and services that make people’s lives more efficient. Currently focused on developing innovations at www.imbookin.com (powered by Pogby) – the online leader in real-time booking of private event and meeting locations, Liz oversees all of the Sales and Marketing as well as contributing to the overall product development and design. Liz’s work at Pogby includes founding @PlannerTech (#plantech), an industry event dedicated to showcasing innovations and technologies for event and meeting planners as well as launching Pogby’s consumer channel @imbookin. With roots in CA and South America, Liz is intrigued by food, foreign languages and traveling. She loves to read and is aspiring to be a well-rounded chef, author and serial entrepreneur.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 26th, 2012 at 9:20 am and is filed under Corporate Events, Event Planning, Fundraising, Social Media Integrated Events, Special Events, Weddings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • http://twitter.com/lizkingevents/status/162560139998666752/ Liz King (@lizkingevents) (@lizkingevents) (@lizkingevents) (@lizkingevents) (@lizkingevents)

    {Blog} #eventprofs 7 Questions to Ask Before you Begin Your Event Location Search by @LizMazzei http://t.co/O2kab7eC

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    7 Questions to Ask Before you Begin Your Event Location Search by @LizMazzei | http://t.co/0YcsVI5E via @LizKingEvents

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    7 Questions to Ask Before you Begin Your Event Location Search by @LizMazzei http://t.co/LAJkA1Un by @lizkingevents

  • http://eventwist.com/ Deborah Pannell

    Great post, Liz. I think you covered a lot of the basics in your questions. Those are definitely the main areas to cover when investigating venues. I would just add that folks may want to have a better idea of what type of food and beverage service they are looking for – whether it’s an open bar or cash bar, plated meals or passed hors-doeuvres, and whether or not the venue allows outside caterers. Those will definitely have an impact on their budget, which may end up being the biggest factor over all!

  • Nancy Spooner

    I like it, Liz. I just finished 2 days of site surveys for a pharma product launch happening in San Diego. I am a freelance event producer (not event planner) hired by a larger production company to handle more of the the technical/show side of the event.

    Here are my main points I discuss with venues. They come in handy when it comes time to budget:

    * Is it a union venue?

    * I discuss whether or not I can bring in an outside vendor (my clients/production companies often have a preferred vendor that they need to work with)

    * I find out if there are any mandatory venue charges (power, rig points, lighting and/or rigging labor, labor on staff like a head person who we need to add to our call times)

    * I ask for a room diagrams and rigging points in a digital file

    * I find out their Fire Marshall policies

    * I ask for their a/v packet and pricing in case I need any last minute items on-site

    * I ask to check out loading dock access to the ballrooms (sometimes rooms are on another level so you have to use an elevator that can determine scenic piece sizes or amount of time for load-in/out)

    * I confirmed venue’s load-in and load-out time availability. Remember, just because the event starts Monday – doesn’t mean you don’t need the space reserved for load in and rehearsal on Sunday.

    * Does the venue have risers and tables available – if so what’s their size and how many?

    We chose a venue last week. As luck would have it, the favored venue did not support our load in and rehearsal time needs so we had to go with the second choice.

    Happy surveying!