Consider unique, non-traditional venue options to wow your attendees.
Any meeting or event leaves the corporate host and the event organizer with a lot of balls to juggle, including attendees, guest speakers, activities, transitions, catering, entertainment, lodgings, and of course, the venue where the event will actually take place. Between strategic planning, logistical concerns, and finding the latest technologies for your event, it’s only natural that certain features of an event might take a lower priority.
There’s no denying the ease of simply booking a hotel ballroom, a convention center, or other traditional venues for your event. In truth, there’s nothing technically wrong with instructing your convention planner to do just that. However, if you want your event to wow, you cannot overlook the smallest detail, and the venue can either add a memorable element to your event or fade into the background.
When you stay up-to-date with the latest trends in finding suitable venues for your meetings and events, you have the best opportunity to impress your guests on every level, starting with the setting. While you might not have the time to research this topic on your own, the experienced professionals at a global meeting services organization like American Meetings, Inc. (AMI) can keep you informed of current trends and help you track down the perfect venue for your event. Here are just a few things you should know about the top event venue trends for 2018.
Consider Non-Traditional Event Spaces
Corporate meeting rooms, hotel ballrooms, and convention centers are designed to provide ample space for meetings and events, as well as a neutral canvas on which a convention planner can build the foundations for a particular event. Unfortunately, these traditional venues can also come across as bland and forgettable if the corporate host and event organizer go minimal where the décor is concerned. For this reason, many planners are turning to non-traditional event spaces.
According to Tessa Cameron, VP – Strategic Sourcing “The venue sets the scene for your meeting or event, and if you choose a boring venue, you’re setting the tone right off the bat. When you think outside the box and transform a non-traditional space like a craft brewery or an industrial warehouse for your purposes, you’re going to catch the interest of attendees immediately and create a lasting impression.”
Even better is the fact that these non-traditional spaces can save you money in a variety of ways. In some cases, they cost less than traditional event spaces to rent, and they might offer built-in decor and catering opportunities, as well.
Go Local and Green as an Event Organizer
Whether you’re planning a one-off event or hosting an annual shindig, one of the first things you’ll have to decide is if your event will require travel to an off-site venue or if it will take place locally. Many consumers are getting on board with the idea of local, sustainable practices, and you should consider working these ideas into your choice for an event venue.
This could mean choosing business establishments that are owned and operated locally. You can also choose venues that tout sustainability with eco-friendly, low- or no-emission spaces, energy-conscious planning, or organic products, just for example. Supporting local businesses that are sustainably built and operated is not only good for your community (and your standing in the community), but it also gives you an added selling point when inviting attendees, guest speakers, and so on.
Use a Virtual Convention Planner
Is there anything in the real world that can’t take place in virtual space these days? If you’re looking for an innovative means of hosting an event, consider that you could allow guests to attend your event from the comfort of their own home or corporate office.
With the rise of new communications and virtual reality technologies, a hosting company can team up with a talented convention planner to create an event that takes place entirely in a virtual space. It’s just a hop, skip, and jump from webinars to interactive, virtual events, and forward-thinking companies can find ways to make virtual meetings and events just are enticing as real-world soirees (if not more so).
Pay Attention to Branding
Any event organizer is tasked not only with pulling off an impressive event, but also creating the perfect event for each client. This means getting a handle on an event host’s branding and particular corporate culture. A massive, medical industry conference, for example, may require a very different venue than an event for those working in retail startups. With a reliable and experienced partner in meeting and event planning like AMI to help out, your business can find the perfect venue for any event, especially if you’re willing to try out new trends.
