blog.propared.com: How many events have you attended that just felt “off?” The event design seemed solid, catering was on point, and the entire flow should have worked. But there was something about the cumulative experience that fell flat.
A common explanation for this disconnect: a bad venue. Event planners know that even the best designs can be marred by poor facilities, lack of communication with venue management, and other basic needs that attendees have come to expect at events.
9 comments:
This article was really interesting to read, and happened to remind me of the apartment hunting process. A lot of these red flags are very similar. I can understand how when looking to set up an event, venue can seem like a secondary concern, especially if you’re certain the rest of the event will go perfectly. But choosing the right place can help push an ok event into a great one. I especially found the red flag about accessibility important. I can’t tell you how many concerts I’ve been to where the line for the bathroom is out the door. Little things like that can really make a difference in the overall enjoyment of the experience. Another red flag I hadn’t thought about was the slow/non-existent wifi. But it makes sense that event attendees would want easy access to the internet. And quality internet access also creates a larger social media presence for the event, meaning more exposure. So something as simple as slow wifi could really hurt how successful an event it. If I’ve learned anything from my apartment hunting experience, it’s that a checklist is always helpful. Listing out some of these red flags and other criteria before going on a site-visit would make the process a lot smoother.
This seems like one of those things that’s obvious once its been pointed out to you but you probably wouldn’t have thought of otherwise, I know I probably wouldn’t have put the venue as a major concern during planning. Important yes, but not an immediate concern that’s as important as the other parts of the event. But now that I’m thinking about it these things seem much more important and like they’re often overlooked. Especially the parts about accessibility and up to date technology. Like Emma said, the technology part is important for more than just the enjoyment of the audience. If there’s good internet, then there will be that much more awareness of your even being spread, not to mention the lives of the people in charge of publicity will be that much easier since they’ll be able to easily access social media and communicate from the venue. The accessibility thing is the one that feels like it often gets over looked. For example if you go see a show on broadway its pretty common for the lines for the bathroom to reach all the way from the lobby to the seats (to be far the broadway theaters are all pretty old and can’t be expanded easily but it still shows the problem well).
Whether planning for a wedding, a corporate party/event or a visit from the President, venues and site surveys are extremely important. This article has information that applies to any scale of event, and that, to me, is a sign that the author has done their work and picked out only the relevant information to put in the article. I think that people generally think about accessibility and communication when looking at a venue. Safety, technology and communication within the venue staff are things that people may not think about. This is an article that is work keeping on file. Even if you’ve worked with a venue before, this article is a good refresher for what to look for. I wouldn’t think to ask about fire safety and fire suppression when going into a venue for a personal event. When working as a part of company, safety is especially important; it is even more important when you have a large crowd of people.
As I read this article, two events kept coming to mind. The first was “Antony & Cleopatra” in the warehouse and the second was Thrival Music Festival in Hazelwood on a former steel mill site. The accessibility issues were the first thing that came to mind. The warehouse is not easy to find, it is situation in a somewhat less desirable part of town and there is not ample parking. The space itself is pretty easy and good to use except for heating issues and transportation issues. Thrival had its own issues though (some of which I don’t know all of the details since I was a volunteer but it was not that difficult to gather some information). The location was inaccessible for the most part from public transportation. There was support from police but since the location was somewhat remote and used to be abandoned there was not much infrastructure to the venue. It was good to read this flags to know what to look for from a logistical standpoint with an artistic endeavor.
Hmm, I’m actually pretty impressed with this article. Doing a good site survey of a potential (or locked in) venue takes time and skill. It is a certainly not something learned overnight. All six points are definitely very broad headings that cover a lot of important topics. For example, accessibility is huge, not just from a guest perspective, but also to the technical coordinator. Is there a loading dock? Does my truck fit? What’s the loading path? How far do my people have to haul stuff. How small of a space does my stuff have to fit through? Elevator? How big? Etc, etc. I was cognizant of certain permitting requirements depending on location and scope of the event, but I had not thought of Fire Suppression and Evacuation routes as part of the list of questions to ask. I would think that at larger venues and events this is less of a big deal since the venues are likely higher profile and more organized. But maybe doing an event at that “bespoke” ancient building is more in contention.
I have never been on the planning side of an event like the ones they are talking about in this article so this was cool to see what a planner needs to keep their eyes out for. The most interesting part was the wifi. That is not something I usually think of as a necessity in the same way I think safety plans are a necessity but I do see how they are both important (safety being an obvious priority). Even though I don’t know anything about event planning, other than the wifi, all the things on this list seem fairly obvious to me and seem like they would be obvious for anyone that takes the time to think about what they need to know from the venue. I was expecting a list of weird cool things you need to check up on that no one would usually think about, never the less, this was a cool article.
I could not get Studio 20FUN out of my mind the minute I saw the title. The article provides truly useful information and tips for people who are doing site survey in advance. The warehouse is like aflutter with accessibility flags on every inch of the building. I remember having my first ever CMU show in the warehouse the first semester - the actors and crew need to be trained in using the cranky elevator that makes loud annoying noise whenever it wants. The place is hard to find and definitely in a less desirable part of the town, the road signs we put up out in the streets hardly stood still because of the bad weather.
And on top of all that, in theatre industry, site survey is absolutely important before directors/producers set their minds to it. How seatings will be influenced, whether the space is ideal for sound system (it wasn't), will big pieces of scenery pieces fit into the door, whether there are pillars that would block audiences' views (there were), who are the people upstairs what they are doing and whether they will make loud noise during your show (they did), where are the bathrooms and whether they are all functioning well (they weren't), whether there's enough heat in performance space and dressing rooms (there weren't) and if the heat was turned on whether it would impact scenery pieces (it did). Any of the aforementioned is potential big headache that one would hate oneself for not doing enough effective survey of the space beforehand.
I definitely think that this is very true and something that is very often missed when someone goes to an event they feel is "off." One of the main reasons that designers exist is to create the best world for something to exist it. Whether that's a play, musical, gala, or wedding, our job is to put that event in the best environment possible, and the venue is one of the most crucial parts to executing that vision correctly and effectively. There are always the obvious factors, making sure it is heated/cooled depending on the season and location, things like parking or valet are readily available, and that the space can actually do what you need. I think that the point about the venue manager knowing more about an event than the person inquiring about the venue is a really great point. How can the manager know that the venue can accommodate an event's needs without first hearing, in great detail, those specific needs. I think this is the biggest reason why once an event moves into a space, people panic and have to redo or redesign because what they originally thought would work in a space does not. That then leads to the feeling of something being "off" about that event.
The content of this article was very foreign to me. I have never been involved in the planning of an event that needed a venue rented. I am glad I stumbled upon this article, however. I think this information will be very helpful in my directing career. At school I am incredibly lucky to have venues available to me, but that will not be the case in the real world. In the real world I will have to find venues for performances. Although this article was speaking more to events in general, rather than theatrical events I think it is still helpful. This article gives a basic understanding for what to look for in a venue for those whose minds are not attuned to it. I would not immediately think of the length of bathroom lines when looking at a venue, but now I definitely will.
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