Introduction to Venue Management

VENUE MANAGEMENT
• What is venue management
• Why is it important
• Different types of venues
 Venue forms a part of many sectors

uA) HOTEL INDUSTRY

B) MUSIC INDUSTRY
C) SPORTS INDUSRY
D) CORPORATES EVENTS
E) TOURISM INDUSTRY
F) RETAIL INDUSTRY
• Corporate events
• Tourism industry
• Retail industry
 Venues are:
• Purpose built
• Multi purpose
• Residential conference venues
• Educational establishments
• Hotels/hostels
• Misc venues
• Venue is a part of an event and should match
the theme of the event.
• Venues are four walls and a roof, a blank
canvas on to which an event is painted.
• Needs to meet the operational requirements
of an event
• There is an increase in the number of unusual
venues which are outside the realms of the
conventional venues
• Historic houses
• Sports and leisure centre
• Museums
• Race courses
• City centre locations
• The 12 most common types of event venues

• An event venue can be any place your event is held. (It doesn’t even
have to have walls or a ceiling.) That said, there are certain types of
venues that are ideal for events.
• Read on to discover which one is best for your next event.

• 1. Bars, pubs, and clubs

• If you’re organising a party or live show, there are few better-suited

venues to hold it in than bars and clubs. That said, you can also get a
good deal if you hire them during the day.

• Best suited for: parties, live music, comedy nights, and tasting
events.
• 2. Restaurants
• You can book a private dining room or, if your
event is big enough,
book out the entire restaurant.
• Best suited for: dinner parties, birthdays, wedding
receptions, business meetings, and tasting events.
• 3. Hotels
• Many hotels come equipped with restaurants,
bars, ballrooms, conference rooms, and other
event spaces, making them the ideal choice for
many different types of events.
• 4. Conference centres
• Although many conferences are held at hotels,
purpose-built conference centres are also a popular choice. They
have all the AV equipment you need and often provide catering as
well.
• Best suited for: conferences (duh), business meetings,
presentations, and networking events.

• 5. Business centres
• There is a certain degree of overlap between business and
conference centres. Typically, business centres tend to be more
concentrated around day-to-day activities such as meetings and co-
working.
• Best suited for: business meetings, networking events, and
presentations.
• 6. Community centres
• Local governments and organisations (such as
churches) have space available for private hire. The
venues might not always be impressive, but it’s
possible to get yourself a really good deal.
• Best suited for: meetings and community events.
• 7. Sports clubs
• Local sports clubs, like golf, football, and rugby, might
have extra space that they’re willing to hire out to
private events in order to generate additional income
for their members.
• Best suited for: sports-related events.
• 8. Art galleries
• Art galleries are largely empty spaces so there’s
room for the art installations. This also leaves
room to host events of all kinds, and you might
be able to negotiate a decent price.

• 9. Academic venues
• Like sports clubs, academic institutions are eager
to make some extra cash. You’ll find that many
schools and universities are happy to rent out
part of their premises for private events.
• 10. Stadiums and arenas
• If you’re organising a giant concert with thousands of attendees,
then stadiums and arenas are your best bet. However, you’ll also
find that they offer smaller spaces for smaller events.
• Best suited for: sports events, concerts, comedy shows, theatre
productions, and presentations.

• 11. Parks and fields

• The great outdoors can be used for many different types of events
—and there is plenty of space to host them on. Get in touch with
your local council to see which parks or fields you can use.
• Best suited for: markets, fairs, festivals, concerts, comedy shows,
and theatre productions.
 Venue pricing
• Once you’ve settled on the venue for your event, it’s time to look at the
different pricing structures. Not all venues will charge you a flat rate for hiring
their space.
• Below you will find some of the most common pricing structures.

• 1. Hire fee
• A hire fee is a flat rate that you pay based on how long you need the venue for.
You will typically be able to hire the venue for a few hours, half a day, or a
whole day.
• You can get away with anything from £10 per hour in cheap venues…all the way
up to thousands of pounds per day on the more prestigious end of the scale.
• Hire fees can be dry (see #2 below) or include catering and technical
equipment. It all depends on your deal with the venue.
• 2. Dry hire
• Dry hire is the same as hire fee except that it’s been made explicit
that nothing else is included but the space. In many cases, that
means there isn’t even decoration.
• It’s a good solution if you want to organise food, drinks,
decoration, and technical equipment yourself. However, you
should do the math to see if you can actually save money that
way.

• 3. Package per person

• Package per person is a pricing structure that does what it says on
the tin: you pay a certain amount for each person that attends.
• That means the price is typically inclusive of food and drinks the
guests will consume.
• 4. Day delegate rate
• Hotels and conference centres that focus on
business events will offer day delegate rates.
These are pretty much in the same price range
as package per person deals
• Day delegate rates differ in the sense that they
are often inclusive of AV equipment as well as
any extras the attendees might need such as
pens and notepads.
• Minimum spend
• Many hotels, restaurants, bars, and clubs will
offer you a minimum spend deal. That means
you pay nothing up front to hire the space but
have to ensure your guests spend a certain
amount.
• If your guests are expecting to buy their own
drinks and food, this might be a good solution
for you. Just make sure the menu items aren’t
ridiculously overpriced.
• Why is the venue important
• For parties and celebrations, the
ideal location will have excellent food and
catering options, as well as flexibility to
decorate according to a particular style or
theme. Finding the right venue can make or
break an event and has a persuasive effect on
the lasting impression guests walk away with.
• How do I choose an event venue
• The ultimate checklist for choosing a venue for
your event
• Your event venue location. The first is location, where are
your audience and what is going to work best for them
• Space Is The Place.
• Your event venue should match your message.
• A proximity thing.
• Create a checklist for your event.
• It's all in the budgeting.
• Get clear on venue access.
• Weighty Issues.
• List of essential questions
• There are some questions that need to be asked
before hiring a venue –
• Is the venue available for exclusive use?
• Are there rooms available along with the main
hall?
• Is there a minimum guaranty of guests required?
• Availability of the venue on the desired date
• And questions according to the purpose of your
event.
So, Fire away those queries before finalizing your
desired venue!
 The nature of the industry
• Heterogeneity of the provision
• Heterogeneity of the providers
• Often B2B
• Almost always the customer will be different
from user
• Venues represent the most tangible
manifestation of what is ultimately an
intangible experience
 How do venues operate
• Identify what services and facilities they want
to provide
• Decide the core activity
• Decide which will be managed inhouse and
which will be outsourced
• How to maintain the required standards
• Venue provides services in return for payment
• Part of the service provided depends on the
terms of the license of the venue
 Key players in the events industry
• BUYERS-Corporate organisation,public sector
buyers
• SUPPLIERS- of venues,destinations,contractors
• AGENCIES-venue finding agencies, destination
mgmt companies
 How would you select a venue
• Location
• Matching the venue to the theme
• Matching the size of the event to venue
capacity
• Venue layout and seating arrangement
• Event history/reputation
• Availability
 What can the venue provide
• Transport links and parking
• Access for audience,equipments,guests,staff,
Vip’s,facilities for the differently abled
• Washroom & welfare facilities
• Catering
• Power
• Communication
• Climate, ventilation
• Technology
• Emergency plans and exits
• Price
• Destination Image
• Awards and accreditations
 Venue
• The Venue Manager is a key role in the
organisation.
• Responsible for ensuring a high level of service
to all users of the building (staff, tenants,
artists, audiences, event hirers, local
community etc.) and ensuring the upkeep and
maintenance of the property
• As a venue manager, you are the first point of
contact for your venue when it comes to
queries and questions.
• It goes without saying, you must know
everything there is to know about the venue,
from the endless possibilities of seating
arrangements to the food options to the
various health and safety protocols.
• On top of this, you need to be an excellent
communicator and be able to manage client
enquiries and events to the best of your ability.

• Ensure you give your customers the best

possible experience, to get more repeat
business from event managers and ultimately
to nail venue management.
 Be Approachable
• Being a venue manager is about constantly
engaging with current and potential clients. You
will receive enquiries all the time, and being
timely and responding to them as soon as you
can is essential.
• In these modern times, when communication is
so instant and social media has opened
opportunities for live chats and responses,
expectations are high.
• Making it as easy as possible for guests to
contact you is important.
• Do you have social media accounts?
• How about an instant messenger?
• Do you have a direct dial that enquirers can call?
• Once you have multiple channels setup, it’s
important to monitor them constantly. From the
old school voicemails or the emails that may
have gone to your junk folder, to your direct
messages on Twitter or Instagram. Organise a
methodical system for yourself where you check
all of the various channels you work with for
potential enquiries.
• Be a Clear Communicator

• Miscommunication or crossed wires in the events

industry can lead to disastrous results and
unhappy customers. As the first point of contact
for the venue, communication is key.
• Communicate the conditions of the venue hire
from the offset so clients know exactly what hiring
that space entails. This comes down to knowing
the venue inside-out. If you manage a
conference venue you should know conference
requirements like the back of your hand.
• Questions for conference venues can be very specific.
• What kind of flipcharts do you have?
• What is the specification of your sound system?
• How many ways can the space be configured to be as flexible
as possible?
• Knowing all these things and being able to immediately
answer the questions from any potential clients will fill them
with confidence.
• Being a clear communicator should underline everything you
do. You are working in an industry that is based on
communication and networking. It sounds obvious but we
cannot emphasise this enough. You must be a clear
communicator to become the perfect venue manager.
• One of our favourite venues, Camm & Hooper, gave
us some insight into why communicating clearly is an
important aspect of venue management.
• They said venue managers should work closely with
event planners and communicate openly, this way
both side can work within realistic parameters
because. "Transparency saves time and helps us give
the client as close as possible the deal that they
need”.
• Be Trustworthy
• Clear communication links closely with being transparent
and trustworthy. Often event managers assume venue
managers will do anything for a sale, which of course is not
true.
• As a venue manager it's important to have integrity and
only sell a package that is right for the venue and the client.
You’re the expert and ultimately you know when your
venue is not the right fit.
• Stretching the truth about your venue will only come back
to haunt you and affect any repeat business you may have
the opportunity of securing. Being upfront and honest
about what your space offers and any potential
discrepancies with the advertisement is important.
• Organisation
• Almost every industry emphasises the importance of
organisation. But as a venue manager being organised is
invaluable to your efficiency and success.
• Learning how to best prioritize your time and organise your
enquiries will only help you flourish as a venue manager. Work
out the processes and methods that work for you. Constantly
review your objectives to make sure you are staying on track to
reach your goal. Although to-do lists can seem endless creating
one is a foolproof way to make sure you don’t miss any of the
finer details.
• You could also consider implementing a daily power hour where
you put 100% effort into a detailed, deadlined to-do list.
Anything you can implement which works for you and the
specific demands of your venue.
• Budgeting
As a venue manager or event professional you are often
dealing with large sums of money coming in and out of your
accounts all the time. Often it falls to you to manage these
accounts and the flow of revenue to your venue. Being
organised and proficient in budgeting comes hand in hand. If
you know when your bookings and deadlines are, you will be
able to better organise your finances.

Event budgeting also strongly correlates to being flexible. As a

venue manager your income will obviously vary depending on
what events you have throughout the year so constantly
looking at your budget against your forecasted income and
targets is important. So as not to under or overestimate your
evenue at the end of the year.
• As a venue manager things you must consider
include the precise breakdown of costs when
hiring your venue; including the overall venue
cost, the amount of money behind the bar, the
cost of any AV equipment, catering and any
agreed damage deposit.

Various tools can help with this process. The old

faithful spreadsheets come with helpful
shortcuts, so they can be formatted to help you
track money efficiently. You just need to make
sure you keep it up to date.
 Be Flexible
• Although you can’t promise everything to clients,
being flexible with the weird and wonderful requests
you get is important to becoming a reputable venue
manager.
• Ultimately, its all about being personable, everyone
remembers good customer service and if you treat
people with respect and take a real vested interest in
their event you will create lasting relationships which
can only support your business moving forward.
• Being flexible also links with being flexible on
budget. If the event manager is open and
honest about the budget you and your venue
team will be able to work within realistic
parameters. Being flexible on budget, within
reason, also means you could forge stronger
relationships and secure more repeat
bookings.
• Customer service goes a long
way in the events industry
 Managing Expectations
• While you should always try to be flexible,
sometimes, as a venue manager being honest and
managing expectations is key.
• Event planners and customers will expect a lot, they
can often be demanding and sometimes unrealistic.
• This is where you come in. Managing clients
expectations without seeming militant is a skill
which takes time to develop. Having the ability to
manage expectations is an important tactic in venue
management, it will help keep your customers happy
and will create lasting relationships.
• Establishing relationships from the ground up
is important for getting repeat business and
ultimately becoming a trusted and reliable
venue.

• As a venue manager you are the first point of

contact for the venue so a glistening first and
last impression is key.
 Venue contracting terms
• What should I look for in a venue contract
• We've created a venue contract checklist to make sure
you're hiring the right way.
• Read and re-read everything.
• Ask for contract clarification.
• Check access hours.
• Look out for a cancellation clause.
• Seek out construction and renovation clauses.
• Clarify whether VAT is included.
• Find out deposits and payments dates.
• Factors to keep in mind while choosing the
venue as per the budget
• · Discounts offered on the venues
• · Negotiation capabilities
• · How much will the taxes and other
additional charges be?
• · Payment requirements
• · Any deposits or down payment required?
• The budget should also keep as a priority, just
to shortlist the options of venues that fall into
that category and make decisions easier for
the event venue management team.
 Common types of venues
• The 12 most common types of event venues
• Bars, pubs, and clubs
• Restaurants.
• Hotels.
• Conference centres.
• Business centres.
• Community centres.
• Sports clubs.
• Art galleries.
 Why is the venue important?

• For parties and celebrations, the

ideal location will have excellent food and
catering options, as well as flexibility to
decorate according to a particular style or
theme. Finding the right venue can make or
break an event and has a persuasive effect on
the lasting impression guests walk away
with.
 What makes a good venue?

• Choose a venue that's close to a variety of

accommodation and one where delegates
can easily access amenities such as shops,
cafes, restaurants, bars and cultural
attractions. This is especially useful if the
conference is over the course of a few days.
 How do I choose an event venue?

• The ultimate checklist for choosing a venue for your event

• Your event venue location. The first is location, where are

your audience and what is going to work best for them .
• Space Is The Place.
• Your event venue should match your message.
• A proximity thing.
• Create a checklist for your event.
• It's all in the budgeting.
• Get clear on venue access.
• Weighty Issues.
 Overseas venue
• Choosing an international destination for your
conference or incentive can be hectic and time-
consuming.

• In-depth knowledge and good relationships with

hotel group contacts and Destination Management
Companies is required to assist you in finding the
venue which best suits your requirements.

• Also provide information on the destination and

suitability.
• Venue Rental Contract SAMPLE
• Event Name: Event Name
• Event Date: Event Date
• Rental details
• This agreement is between [venue name], hereinafter known as the “Venue”,
and [Organization], signers of this agreement, with the details below for
renting [venue name and address].
• [Venue] agrees to provide a dancing and socializing space with seats, lighting,
sound systems*, restroom(s), security*, and parking options for the duration
of this rental, exact date(s) specified above.
• [Organization] is responsible for staffing the front of the house, box office,
security*, sound operators*, and liability waivers for our dancers and
performers.
• [Organization] will have use of the Venue during the following rental times:
• Setup: [date and time]
• Dance / Performance: [date and time]
• Take down: [date and time]
• [Organization] agrees at all times to keep the Venue clean and passageways clear
for emergency situations.
• [Organization] agrees to properly dispose of all food, trash, and garbage at the end
of the designated rental time, or end of the night if multiple nights are booked.
• [Organization] agrees to at no time exceed [number of persons] occupancy limit,
which is designated by the Venue.
• [Organization] may place posters and information tables in the Venue lobby, and
place their on sandwich board with public information on the sidewalk in front of
the Venue during the hours of rental by [Organization].
• Venue agrees to keep restrooms cleaned and re-stocked at regular intervals.
• Venue will provide keys to the space, or will provide a representative to unlock and
lock the space, for [Organization]. Failure to return the keys* will result in a fee of:
________.
• * If applicable
• Payment
• [Organization] agrees to pay Venue a total rental fee of:________.
• The rental fee schedule is as follows: [dollar amount 1] due by [date 1], [dollar
amount 2] due by [date 2].
• These terms are hereby agreed to by Venue and [Organization]:
• Contracting Parties
• Event Representative
• [event representative name]
[event rep email]
[event rep phone number]
• Organization
• [Organization email
[Organization street address]
• Venue Information
• [Venue name]
[Venue address]
[Venue phone number]
[Venue website]
• Venue Representative
• Name: Venue representative name
 Venue cancellation policy
• 30 days or more prior to reservation:
• A full refund will be issued for both the
deposit amount and the facility rental fee. 7 –
30 days prior to reservation: ½ the facility
fee and the full deposit will be refunded.
• Less than 7 days prior to reservation: Facility
rental fee will not be refunded.
 What does marquee mean

• A large tent set up for an outdoor party,

reception, or exhibition
• a permanent canopy often of metal and glass
projecting over an entrance (as of a hotel or
theater) The hotel doorman was stationed
under the marquee.
• Advantages of a marquee for a wedding

• Marquees have a unique atmosphere. Set up, temporarily, for a

single occasion, they are a space apart from normal life, embodying
the specialness of an event.
• In addition, marquees are very flexible. In a marquee, anything is
possible: long, square, L-shaped; romantic, classical, themed....
Bride and groom can stamp their character on an event in any way
they choose.
• Hiring a marquee also gives you the opportunity to welcome guests
to a wedding reception at home at a time of your choosing. And to
party until late if the neighbours are agreeable.
• County Marquees supplies several different sort of marquees:
flexible frame structures, romantic traditional style poled marquees,
stretch tents, bell tents and pointy toppped Chinese Hat marquees.
Which you choose will depend on your space, taste and budget.
 ASSIGNMENT
• Explain the various types of venues and
explain how would you sell it