How can you negotiate with a venue to ensure adequate event space?

Know your event requirements before negotiating with a venue. Assess attendee numbers, flow, breakout sessions, hands-on activities, and off-site needs. Consider internal stakeholders' preferences for extra rooms or specific activities. Externally, review past surveys to align with attendee expectations. With this understanding, negotiate with venues to secure adequate event space.

I always ensure I visit the premises prior to taking any bookings. Because we act in the round, I have to ensure there is plenty of space for our actors and kitchen staff to get around easily and also the guests too so everything runs smoothly. I always check for disability provisions and allow our mystery evidence to be placed on tables. We place it on boards for able bodied guests to view.

1. Clearly defining your needs: Provide detailed information about the event, including the number of attendees, type of event, date, and any specific requirements. 2. Flexibility: Be open to different dates or times if the venue is fully booked on your preferred date. 3. Negotiating terms: Discuss pricing, any additional services needed, and flexibility in case of changes in the number of attendees.

Homework is key to contacting venues. Lots of homework can be helped by gleaning information about how long the business has been going, what events have they had there previously, feedback about previous events and costings so you can build a picture before the main discussion.

Always ensure you provide a clear and accurate RFP to the venues ensuring you provide as much information as possible. We utilise a template each time which ensures that we do not miss critical information. However, as needs change in the scope from your client, it is vital to update the brief and keep your venues in the loop as situations change. Events are not static and being agile is important, but in order to ensure your needs are met to allow for new space needs, open communication is key.

Things can change daily when organising an event but the key is to communicate with the venue. Most venues will be as flexible as they can to accommodate changes as long as they are kept on top of the updated requirements. Building a long lasting relationship with venues is key and keeping lines of communication open is critical for this. After all - if you don't ask you won't get :-)