Event Management: Tips and Guidance for Success 2

After selecting the venue for your event either as a planner or personally. It is very important that we take into great consideration the following:

 Establish clear point(s) of contact
Once you have agreed on a venue you should establish who will be your contact for different kinds of queries in the run-up to the event (financial, catering, ICT, design, furniture), obtain their contact details and introduce yourself and any other key colleagues. Make sure that you have the relevant names, e-mail addresses and fax numbers and that they have yours.

 Financial and legal issues
Deposit: it is often the case that to secure your booking it is necessary to pay a deposit. You should establish early on if one required. How much will it be? When should this be paid? How should it be paid (cheque/ bank transfer)? Obtain the relevant account details so you can make payments correctly.

Contract: for large events in particular you will probably be asked to sign a contract that will carry a penalty for cancellation. Read the contract carefully (in particular the clauses related to payment, services offered and cancellation) before you sign and negotiate the revision of clauses where necessary.

 Establish deadlines
The venue will need to know certain things in advance like delegate names, exact numbers for catering, furniture requirements, and images to be used for signage etc. Some information they may need a couple of weeks in advance and others a few days, you should establish what information they require and the associated deadlines as soon as you have confirmed that they are your selected venue. For catering purposes, you will need to provide the venue with the number of delegates well in advance. Put the venue's deadlines into your event planning roadmap.

 Opening and closing times
You will need time before the delegates arrive to set up the registration desk, audiovisual equipment and any display materials and time after they leave to pack up. In order to have sufficient time for this it is important to discuss this with the venue in advance. When will you be able to set up from? What time will you need to be packed up by? Do these extra hours for setting up and packing up involve additional costs?

 Delivery of courier materials
Venues vary considerably as to how to accommodate couriered materials. Here are some points you will need to consider:

 Where can materials be delivered to?

 What day/ time can materials be delivered?

 What is the address?

 Will you need to pay for a member of their staff/ arrange for a member of your internal team to oversee delivery of couriered materials?

 What should deliveries be marked with (e.g. name of event/ date/ room name or numbers?) If you have a large exhibition you may want to hire the exhibition hall for half or all of the previous day so that materials can be delivered and exhibitors can set up.

 Catering
Make sure you know who your contact point is for catering (before and during the event).
You will want to address the following points when making your catering arrangements:

 Which selection of food can the venue offer you for your budget?
 Will drinks/ snacks be served during the registration period?
 How many coffee breaks will you have? Hot and cold drinks? Snacks?
 What sort of lunch will you have? Hot/ cold/ seated/ fork buffet?
 Will there be chairs for people to sit during the break/ lunch?
 Can the venue cater for special dietary requirements (e.g. nut allergy, vegan)?
 Water to be placed on the speakers' table?
 Water to be placed on delegates' tables?

Give the venue a clear list of your catering requirements along with the times the food and drink should be served (using your agenda to indicate these is helpful). Get confirmation by phone/ e-mail that they have received your instructions and have understood them.

 Audio-visual
You will want to address the following points when reviewing your audio-visual requirements:

 What equipment do you need for each room where there will be presentations? (- usually PCs/ power-point/ projector/ projector screen, flipcharts, microphones and pens/ laser pointer, but you might also want TV/ video/ internet access/ lighting).

 Do you need any equipment for the registration area?

 What audio equipment will you need on the speakers' table? Are roving
microphones required?

 If you require interpretation (e.g. for a multi-lingual international event) then you will need to ensure that the venue is able to accommodate this (e.g. translation booths and headsets).

 If you plan to transcribe the event proceedings then you can arrange to have a tape recording.
Give the venue a clear list of your audiovisual requirements for each room. Get confirmation by phone/
e-mail that they have received your instructions and have understood them.

 Signage
You will need to decide what sort of signage you would like, where you would like to place the signs around the venue and what imagery and wording you will use on the signs. In terms of the types of signage you may consider having signposts and/ or banners. You may want to place signposts around the venue if it is large to help delegates find their way to the rooms you are using. You may want to have a large banner behind the main stage. Try to make the imagery and wording on the banner consistent with other documents related to the event (e.g. invitation, delegate packs). Make sure you have adequate signage to ensure that delegates can find their way around easily (especially close to lifts and at cross points). Venue staff can make valuable suggestions concerning optimum locations.

 Photographer/ cameramen
It is good practice to get a number of quotes for this kind of work before making a decision and then to put a contract in place with whoever you select. If you plan to take photos/ video record your event then it is good practice to obtain the consent of delegates and speakers; you can do this as they register. Think about the pictures you would like to have for your future dissemination activities (reports, newsletters and website).
If you want to get shots with all your speakers together you should set aside a time at the start/ end of the day when this will take place (it is difficult during the event to find everyone you want and to get them in one place).

Prepare a brief for the photographer/ cameraman prior to the event to ensure that you get the shots you need.

 Exhibition
You will need to agree the following with the venue:

 Tables (size, number and positioning);
 Display boards;
 Power sockets and cables;
 Internet access;
 Chairs;
 Stands;
 Table dressing (e.g. cloths to cover the table); and

 Floor plan.
It is very important to be clear on specifics – how many power sockets, the exact size of the boards, how the table will be covered and how display items can be attached to the boards.
In most cases you will also set aside one or two tables to display materials from your own organisation and from the organisations which supported/ sponsored the event; don't forget to take this into account.
Remember to book transportation (car/ courier) for your own materials well in advance.
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