Choosing Your Venue

What should you look for in a venue for your event? Do you choose the facility because of the location, convenience or based on your budget?

It’s just as important to consider your attendees comfort. I was at an event where the event planner didn’t event think to provide water for the attendees, I understand that adding coffee and tea is cost prohibitive because hotels charge per person whether the coffee is consumed or not. Yet having the attendees comfortable is just as important to the success as the material being presented.

Some of the items you will want to consider are the ease of finding the location, having ample parking, availability of a coffee shop or deli, choices for a variety of foods and the environment should be conducive to listening and learning.

You might choose a venue because it is less expensive and impacts your budget more positively, yet the results might be your attendees are uncomfortable and therefore don’t absorb the material presented,

On the other hand, you might discover the venue has a noise level conflict from construction or event an event which is in the same location. Distracting noise can be devastating for your attendees,

Knowing to ask the question about food availability, noise or distractions from the facility coordinator ahead of time will help you avoid devastating mishaps for event.

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Titles That Sell

When speakers choose a title for their presentations, it tells the event planner what the topic is, possibly an attitude about their subject and often a distinction between the topic and the keynote speaker’s specific expertise.

The question then becomes, as an event planner, how do you choose a speaker based on their title? Does their title tell you enough for you to make a decision?  If the title is all you have to base your decision, how often will you miss out a great presentation that would be perfect for your audience?

So, the title might not be eye-catching, but the content of the presentation might be exactly what you need. Then how do choose between the many titles that might appeal to you?

Obviously, you will want to have a conversation with the speaker, you’re going to want to know if the speaker is good at thinking on their feet. Even if the title is perfect, if the speaker isn’t capable of being flexible with your audience, it won’t matter how good the title might be.

Too often a speaker who has been on the circuit for a long period of time memorizes their presentation and avoids spontaneity. A speaker who is regimented will unquestionably diminish the success of your event.