Venue Sourcing Like A Pro
Venue sourcing can be a tricky task when planning your event. At first, it seems straight forward: a quick Google Maps search, polling your friends and colleagues for recommendations, and consulting your favorite hotel brand to have them hand-pick the best destinations from their portfolio. Sure, all of this is part of the process. However, if you are not prepared with the right questions, event details, or negotiation skills, it can quickly become overwhelming. More importantly, negotiations left on the table or misinformation during the contracting process can lead to many unnecessary expenses. While Bash Creative would be thrilled to help you with your venue search, if that isn’t in the cards, let us help prepare you to do it yourself like a pro. We have crafted a checklist for you to review with your internal teams, ensuring that you avoid the most significant and costly mistakes when engaging prospective event venues.
Communicate your Needs: Work with your internal teams or planning partner to create a comprehensive RFP. This should include items such as a schedule of space needs, ideal room set-up with desired square footage, guest count, AV & food and beverage requirements, guest rooms, AND most importantly budget & event dates. We’ve created a comprehensive template you can borrow.
Know the Local Market: Make sure you are familiar with the local laws and regulations concerning labor and permitting. For example, many major US cities are heavily unionized. Working in a union environment will require more time and financial resources.
Site Visits are Worth it: Ensure your planning timeline includes time to visit your top 2 or 3 venues. Experiencing a space in person offers a completely different perspective than viewing it through pictures and videos. You’ll understand the nuances of the space and its services, enabling you to plan effectively and prevent major headaches in the future. It also provides an opportunity to create a positive relationship with your on-site team which goes a LONG way when you need their collaboration the most.
There should Always be Room to Grow: An event concept will rarely deflate during the planning phase. More often than not, your wonderful initial ideas will evolve into more incredible ones, requiring additional space. Also, remember that most events with over 200 people, will require auxiliary spaces such as a production office, green rooms, crew meal space, storage, coat/bag check, etc.
The Truth about Concessions & Negotiations: Have you considered which areas of your request you’re willing to adjust or compromise? Being flexible with the event date, pattern, or guest count is usually the best negotiating tool. At the same time, when getting a better rate isn’t an option, consider whether the venue can enhance your experience or their service. Some of our favorites are additional load in/out time, complimentary parking, more favorable contract clauses, and upgrades for VIPs. Just remember that negotiations involve give and take, not just taking.
We genuinely hope that these prompts lead to very fruitful conversations within your team. It’s all about how you kick things off and the momentum you build from there. Feel free to reach out to us and share your thoughts and observations after you’ve had these discussions.
Bash Creative is an event planning company that specializes in incredible gatherings that go beyond just great design. We’re known for teasing out smart goals for your event and serve up a stylish execution that will keep your guests buzzing. Located in San Francisco, but often found in New York, Austin, Chicago, Seattle, and beyond.