Meeting types are different; they range from face to face negotiations to international conferences, while meeting venues differ in accordance with meeting sizes and forms. Selecting meeting venues can be as easy as a piece of pie if you know what to take into account and complete a thorough selection checklist prior choosing anything. It will help you find exactly what you need as well as not to forget about the least details.
The meeting venues' selection checklist should include the following ideas:
- Vital criteria for selecting meeting venues are suitability for a corporate image and profile, appropriateness for this particular type of meeting, appealing to the audience, and an overall positive impression.
- Consider also a location and accessibility. The venue should have easy access to necessary air, rail and road links, major attractions, sights and entertainment venues as well as to a hotel where guests are supposed to accommodate. It is even better to choose a hotel for both accommodation and meeting; indeed many hotels provide comfortable meeting venues for personal meetings, seminars, and conferences.
- Speculate on seating capacity, consider extra seats as your list of guests can unexpectedly increase, but the facility is often booked in advance. Check facilities and catering. Ask if any projector, electronic whiteboard, microphones and stationary are available. You may also need an Internet access, a photocopying and fax service, laptops or PCs. An overhead projector, a slide projector, a film projector, a video equipment: VHS, DVD, teleconferencing can come quite handy for a meeting of any scope.
- Refreshments, tea, coffee and meals are always necessary. Additional requirements to a venue might be services for people with disabilities, air conditioning, a restaurant or bar for post-meeting communication and entertainment, sports and leisure facilities as well as enough parking space.
- Consider your specific requirements, wishes and needs. For instance, if your meeting is a team-building event, you will need more music, post-meeting entertainment and leisure activities that can largely enhance the team-building process. Many theme parks cater for team-building events and actually create unforgettable events. Your motivation meeting will be brightened by fireworks, thrilled with breathtaking rides and attractions and filled with the general enjoyment and elation.
- International meetings need even more careful planning and may require such things as catering national food preferences, organizing travel arrangements and sightseeing. You should also look through business etiquette guides for different countries in advance and hire a translator if the guests do not speak English.
- The last, but not the least, criteria are your budget and cancellation policies.
Meetings Org is one of the leading searchable databases on where you can find an ideal venue for your meeting, conference or seminar throughout the United Kingdom. It also provides links to many other organizations and websites you can find useful in your search.