Organising a corporate event involves a lot of decision making on your part. However, it’s the venue that is ultimately going to make or break your event, so you need to ensure you’re picking the right venue for your corporate event.

If you’re looking to find the right venue for your needs, here’s some advice to help make the decision a lot easier for you.

Give yourself time to look for a suitable venue for your corporate event

If you want to find a suitable venue for your corporate event, you need to give yourself adequate time to look. Ideally, you need to start researching and looking at venues 4-6 months before your desired event date.

Have an event budget in mind

Having a clear budget laid out right from the start, will help you narrow down your options, once you start looking around at possible corporate event venues.

Be flexible over your event dates

If you can have a couple of potential event dates in mind, you may find it easier to get the venue you want. Venues will always have open dates they need to fill and they’re more likely to offer a discount, if you’re able to fill one of those available slots.

Find the right type of venue for your event

Know what type of corporate event you’re organising, before you start looking into venues. This helps you think about the type of activities you want to include and the layout or flow they will need. You’ll also need to think about the overall style and theme you’re after, as well as the specific needs you want from a venue – all of which will help you narrow down your venue choice. This blog post from Eventbrite has some really good tips to consider to help you choose the right venue.

Factor in accessibility

You need to understand the needs of your attendees, to ensure you’re choosing a venue that’s accessible to all. This includes individual disabilities and age, as well as the transportation and accommodation requirements guests may need access to, if they want to attend your corporate event.

Choose a venue that can offer the services you need

Whether you’re after tables and chairs, needing help with setting up and/or cleaning afterwards, or basic audio visual equipment, they’re all requirements that need to be taken into account, when choosing a venue. Some venues will have a list of add-ons they can provide, for an additional cost, so if something isn’t immediately offered, do ask if it can be provided.

Know their catering capabilities

Your catering requirements can take a big chunk out of your available budget. When you’re looking into venues you need to know what food and drink options they have available to you. Do they even have a kitchen or catering staff available? Are you able to go inhouse or will they allow external caterers to come in? Many venues will have catering options available to suit differing budgets, so do double check.

Check out the acoustics and general ambience

The overall architecture of a building can be really important, when organising a corporate event. You’ll want to pick a building that portrays the right look and general ambience for the type of event you’re holding – otherwise you’re going to have to spend more decorating it yourself.

Look into their reputation

Don’t just go for a building that looks the part, check out their customer feedback and reviews online. It’s no good picking a building that looks great, if their food or levels of customer service, aren’t up to the standard you want.

Schedule in a visit before making a decision

Finally, never book a venue for your corporate event without seeing it first. Your event is too important for you to make a mistake and far too often, a building can look great in a photo, but fall short in reality! Go and visit the venue to see it firsthand, get a feel for the general ambience and to see for yourself, whether it is going to fit your needs.

Organising a corporate event means you’re going to have to make a lot of decisions, but it’s the venue that can really make or break an event. By following the advice above, you’ll ensure you’ve done everything you can, to choose the right venue for your corporate event.

If you’d like some help with how to choose a venue for your corporate event, and organising / co-ordination on the day, consider outsourcing to a VA – contact Green Tree Virtual PA Services to see how we can help with event planning and co-ordination. Book a call with us today!

Check out this related article on ‘Is Exhibiting right for your business?’