A survey conducted by central London venue, Park Crescent Conference Centre (PCCC), has revealed that more than half of event professionals see event management through rose-tinted glasses. The survey, conducted via 300 UK PAs, corporates and event bookers, revealed top mistakes committed in the events industry when choosing a venue.
- 50% of those surveyed who ran events that didn’t go to plan, made the mistake of assuming things would ‘just happen’ at a venue.
- 40% of those surveyed admitted they were not diligent enough when looking at a new venue, whilst over half (60%) admitted they didn’t focus enough time on the format of their event.
- 24% admitted they had organised events at venues they never visited ahead of their event and a staggering 57% revealed that they didn’t read the small print! 48% of people surveyed said they knew someone who had arrived onsite without a plan!
Use the professional in-house team
Mathew Beech, Marketing and Communications Manager for International Students House (ISH) and Park Crescent Conference Centre said: “I know that Event pros are hard pressed but nothing beats a good site visit. However, with today’s technology and a venue that is willing to be 100% transparent about its good and bad points, you can normally work round this. My advice is always to use the professional skills and in-depth knowledge of the professional in-house team throughout the planning stages so that mistakes can be easily avoided.”
Plan, Plan and Plan again
Practitioner, Chris Powell, The Event Expert says: “Plan, Plan and Plan again is what I always say and this advice is supported by this survey. Not finding out enough information about your venue in the initial stages of planning event puts you on the back foot from the very beginning. Skimming the venue contract and arriving onsite without a plan of where everything should go are fundamental errors and I am horrified at the lack of attention to detail revealed by these mistakes. Build a rapport with your venue, pay attention to all the small details and you will have a successful event on your hands with half the stress!”
For more information click here