Are you getting the best value from your venue?

Head of sales and service for ExecSpace, Kristin Lamb, shares some key insights to help achieve competitive pricing.

It comes as no surprise that one of the key elements of organising any event is securing a space or venue. It may sound like simple work – finding a venue and exchanging contracts – but the devil is in the detail and more often than not, there’s a myriad of hidden factors that will impact the eventual price tag.

1. First is the day of the week that you decide to hold your event on. If you book venues on a “shoulder day” i.e. a Monday or a Friday, the chances are they will be cheaper.
2. It’s worth sitting down and doing some desk research around any other major events, International Conferences or festivals that are taking place on the same dates as your event as these will undoubtedly bolster tariffs.
3. The size of the booking will also have a significant impact on the rates as some venues charge room hire plus catering, whilst others charge delegate rates or packages on a cost per head pricing structure – so take the time to do your sums and think about what will yield the best levels of return for you.
4. Consecutive year deals, Series Training or Roadshows can be used as a strong bargaining tool so consider securing more than one event at the same venue or make multiple bookings at the same chain of venues across a number of cities or countries.
5. Lead time – work with your venue finding agent to understand the metrics of your booking patterns; what is the optimum lead time to source a venue, negotiate best value, retain space on option to allow for site visits and exchanging of contracts, that results in the best value per delegate?

When it comes to procuring real value for your off site event, one of the most efficient routes to market is working with a venue finding agency.They will undoubtedly have more buying power, professional events expertise and their industry relationships will allow you to benefit from the most competitive rates, favourable terms of contract and they will support you in achieving best overall value.