Regardless of the industry, conferences are a fantastic way for professionals to meet up in Realspace, talk shop, and network with each other.
Such a meeting could probably qualify as a social event, but it’s really so much more than that.
It’s often the only time of year when everyone is in the same physical location and can actually see each other face-to-face rather than through a computer screen.
And the corporate conference center you select as the venue for that event is the place where all that human interaction and networking happen.
It’s an important place where connections will be made that could change things within the industry, at least at a local level.
It may also be where deals are made that will come to be worth significant amounts of money.
Therefore, it’s good to ensure that your chosen venue meets certain qualifications before you book a reservation.
Bonus: If you also want our advice on corporate holiday party ideas, check out this article we posted about that.
1. Budget
It doesn’t matter how beautiful or large a venue is if you can’t afford it.
Of all the things involved with your conference, the venue reservation itself will most likely be what you spend the most money on.
So check and double-check to confirm that you can afford it and that it won’t cut into your budget for other important things.
2. Availability
As with the budget, it doesn’t really matter how great a particular venue is if it’s simply not available for the date(s) you need.
Usually, you can avoid this being an issue by calling in to book a reservation far enough in advance.
It will likely take you a while to plan and organize your conference, so just make booking a reservation the first thing on your to-do list.
3. Accessibility
It doesn’t matter how much space you have at your corporate conference center if not everyone can get inside.
If the entrance to the venue has stairs, it’s good to ensure either that there is a ramp or that you can bring or rent one.
Also, confirm that a wheelchair can fit through at least one of the door openings to get in and out of the venue.
For more basic guidelines, you might want to check the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) standards regarding assembly spaces.
4. Space
How many guests will you be hosting at your corporate conference center, and how much square footage will you need for them?
How many tables and chairs will you need?
Keep in mind that the space you need is not only for chairs and tables, but also for walking around and maybe even setting up a couple of stands.
5. Proximity to Accommodations
In other words, are there hotels or some other places nearby where your guests can spend the night if they’re flying in or driving from a long distance away?
It would probably be fairly awkward if you scheduled your conference in a place where there is only one hotel, and half of the attendees will need to stay in the next town over.
Consult the map to confirm that there are at least 3 or 4 decent and affordable hotels within a 30-minute drive of your corporate conference center.
6. Distance From an Airport
Unless everyone attending the event is local, you’ll probably have at least one or two people flying in from far away.
For that reason, you’ll want to prioritize venues that are within reach of a major airport.
If possible, you don’t want to make someone drive or ride in a taxi for more than half an hour after they just got off a plane.
7. Is Furniture and/or Decor Included?
This is underappreciated and can make a huge difference in your planning and budgeting.
Some places will include both furniture and decor rental services, while others will only offer one or the other.
Likewise, setup and teardown services may or may not be included in the booking price, or they may be offered as additional services for an extra charge.
As with any other big rental or booking, be sure to get an itemized list of all the charges you’re being billed for.
8. Venue Staffing
One way or another, you might need to hire someone to help staff your event.
Unless you’re running a very small and short event, you’ll probably want catering and possibly some additional people to run the kiosks and do the setup and teardown.
You could technically do all of this stuff yourself and have everyone break at some point during the conference to go eat at restaurants.
But not doing that can look more professional.
9. Added Features
We’re talking about things like WiFi.
Does the venue have it?
If so, how fast is it?
Are you being charged an additional fee for it, or is it included in the booking price?
Especially at a corporate conference center, you can expect that most of your attendees are going to want to have access to the internet while they’re there.
10. Check and Read the Reviews
Like on Amazon, many reviews these days are fake or paid for.
So, you’ll want to actually read several of them to determine whether they’re real and also to get a proper understanding of what previous customers liked or disliked about the place.
If a corporate conference center has 100 reviews and only 4 or 5 of them are bad, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll have a bad experience.
Some humans (guests and venue owners) simply have disagreeable or difficult personalities, which lead them to encounter a lot of conflict from others in places and situations where it’s neither necessary nor inevitable.
Additionally, someone writing a review may often be having a bad day, and a single misunderstanding or unmet expectation at a venue might be that small thing that pushes them over the edge.
So, read both the positive and negative reviews to get the whole picture of what’s going on most of the time at that place, and figure out who is either just being difficult or having a bad day.
In general, an overall rating higher than 4 out of 5 stars means that you’re probably going to have a good experience.
Don’t Be a Stranger. 🙂
These are the basics you should look for when selecting a venue for your event.
And we hope that this article has been of some help to you.
As we’re sure you’ve figured out, most of the photos in this one have been from one or more of our own corporate event spaces.
However, whether you ultimately book with us or with another place, we’d love to help you, and we encourage you to reach out to us if you have any questions.
