Choosing a venue for your event is one of the most important elements to be determined early in the planning process. Here are 5 important considerations to help choose the best venue.
1. How well will the venue fit the event(s)? What is the type of event: is it a concert, meeting, festival, trade show, conference or combination? What are the advantages of outdoors vs indoors? Can a combination of both make for an attractive event? If you go outdoors, can you obtain all the needed equipment, sound, stage, etc. within your budget? What if it rains? If indoors, is there enough space, is it easily accessible with all of the features that you need? Will you need to spend more money on staging, equipment etc. to make the venue work for the event? A little or a lot?
2. What is the profile of your audience: age ranges mostly adults, teens, families, mostly male or female or both, expected behaviors? Is it a hip-hop or heavy metal crowd or a symphony or adult conference group? Keep in mind, some people who are normally very responsible behave less so when out of town. Is this venue equipped to handle that type of audience? Are most attendees expected to be local or from out of town? How close is the venue to mass transportation and the hotels where they will be staying?
3. If a similar event has been held, in the last 6 months to a year, research its results. For example, is the talent on tour currently or at least recently? Where at? (Is the area similar to yours?) Have they dropped a new CD recently, appeared on TV or won awards, provided music for a movie? Was the recent tour a full multi-city or just one or two limited events? Was there a supporting act, who appeared at all or most of the dates? How popular are they, and are they a package deal? What percent of the house sold and at what prices? What kind of venues were the events held at, arenas/stadiums, convention/conference centers, clubs; and is your proposed venue like them? Can you make a fair comparison of the venues? Are there many competing events scheduled within your area? If comparing trade shows or conferences, how well attended were they? Will it be held again (a sign of success)? Was the press favorable?
4. Analyze the venues in your proposed area. What is each venue's reputation, both with attendees and promoters. Read all of the PR, check with local Police and Fire departments, check the industry trades such as Venues Today, Pollstar or Billboard. Request the Promoter's package, follow up with questions to clarify anything that you don't completely understand. Do you get prompt answers and real cooperation? Does it feel like it will be a teamwork relationship or is it take it or leave it, we don't care either way? I recently interviewed Michael Yormark, President and COO of the Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida. The Center is ranked (as of 10-12-11) as number 9 in the US and number 20 in the world according to Pollstar. The company has achieved that exceptional rank by fostering teamwork within the organization, from part timers to the executive suite. Mr. Yormark stated, "A venue is more than a physical space, walls, stage, seating etc. When you select a venue, you are choosing a business relationship. You will be successful if you can find a way to identify your common goals, to make money, to work together to provide the best guest experience. It always is about teamwork. People outside of the business assume that venues and promoters make millions on every show. They don't take into account all of the costs of labor, equipment, advertising, administration and on and on. Yes, you can make excellent money in the entertainment business, however, it is not a get rich quick scheme. As always, one has to learn how to plan, execute that plan and learn from both mistakes and successes." Other considerations include can you afford your targeted venue within your budget or will you need to reduce costs somewhere else to afford it? Will doing that negatively impact the quality of your event? Compare the costs with other venues, both local and state wide. Make sure that you get a list of all fees, add-ons, costs for services and approved vendors. Analyze the vendors and service providers in the same way. What is the venue's sustainability policies? Are their efforts real or green washing? Will they conform to your standards and requirements? Does the layout facilitate success, ease for attendees making it a pleasurable experience? Is it kept it good repair, somewhere you would be proud to attach your name to?
5. How well is the venue and it's staff prepared for emergencies? Once an emergency happens, the promoter relinquishes authority to local Police and Fire Departments. Do they have a good reputation, and experience with events like yours? How well trained is venue staff and security? Is the venue well equipped with emergency supplies, fire fighting equipment etc.? A good PA system to communicate with attendees to reduce the likelihood of panic? Are there multiple entrances and exits to evacuate people who are injured, or if need be the entire venue in an orderly way. Ask to see the evacuation plan. Remember, you too may be sued in the event of a disaster. You will need to prove that you have taken every reasonable precaution available to safeguard attendees and employees. Research any incidents that may have take place over the past 5 years. What was the nature of the event, how well was it handled? Did it result in injuries, property damage? Were there lawsuits filed, and who won them? How has the venue improved since then? Was the incident the result of poor planning and careless execution or a result of not being able to plan for every single contingency that could possibly happen. You will always be limited by budget and available personnel and equipment.
Of course, this does not speak to each and every issue, but unless you get the right answers to these questions maybe you should take a pass.
