Six Example Venue Amenities Every Venue Should Provide

We’ve talked a great deal previously on our blog about what event planners should do, what they should look for, what they should provide, how they should approach clients, and more. What we haven’t really touched on is venues. Today, we’re going to go over some example venue amenities that should always be included, since the amenities provided to you is what separates the great venues from the good, and the good from the mediocre venues.

As you well know, running an event is a pretty complicated affair. As such, there are certain amenities that every venue should be willing to provide for anyone who opts to run an event at their venue.

Should even one of the below example venue amenities be missing, then it’s probably worthwhile for an event planner to look elsewhere.

1. Great Venue Staff

Perhaps the most important feature of a venue is the staff that maintains it; everyone from the production staff to the sound techs to the cleaning crew. The best venues provide event managers with a crop of staff who are passionate, enthusiastic, and an absolute joy to work with. The worst offer up employees who are disinterested, lazy, or just plain incompetent.

For that reason, you should pay careful attention to the people working for a venue owner you’re thinking of signing on with. They’re a fairly good indication of how suitable that venue will be for your event. If you have trouble with the staff before the event, you’re surely going to have issues during the event.

2. Tech Support

Technology is great when it works–but it seems as though half the time, it doesn’t work at all. When things go wrong with your audio or lighting, it’s generally the venue’s job to provide an expert technician to help you troubleshoot the problem.

Now, it’s worth mentioning here that many events will bring in AV teams or otherwise provide their own equipment, and have their own technicians. If that’s the case, you’re probably in the clear if you choose a venue with little tech support.

Even if you are bringing in an AV team, though, the venue should at a minimum be able to point you to a house team member who can help sort issues out during the event. And pre-event they should be able to explain best practices from previous events, point you to power connections points, explain any acoustic oddities, and more.

3. WiFi

It should really go without saying that WiFi is an absolute must at an event. If a venue doesn’t provide a powerful, suitable WiFi connection for your guests, then don’t use it. It’s really that simple. Your guests are going to be bringing smartphones, tablets, and laptops along with them to your event, and they’re going to expect that they be able to use them online. If the event space is perfect except for this, look at different options for bringing in WiFi for the event.

Just to reiterate it again, WiFi is a must. How else are you going to get people to post to your fancy social wall?

4. A Host Of Different Room Options For Different Keynotes

Depending on what sort of event you’re running, your needs as an event planner will fluctuate, sometimes wildly. The best venues thus provide a wide array of differently-sized and shaped rooms, and are flexible enough to let them be used for a variety of different purposes. You might have a theatre-style conference hall for a keynote presentation, or a small lecture hall for a round-table. You might have a massive, warehouse-sized room for vendor booths, or a kitchen and dining area for banquets.

The important thing here is that the venue provides the choice of options that you need for your event.

5. Well-Maintained Restrooms

One of the first things an event planner should do when scouting out a new venue is check the restrooms. Are they well-maintained and adequately-sized for guests? If the answer to either of those questions is no, then don’t sign for the venue unless you want to deal with an unhygienic, muddled nightmare. Nobody will have fond memories of your event if the restroom facilities are a nightmare.

There’s another thing to look out for here, and it pertains to the contract: make sure that it’s written into the contract that cleaning staff will be available during your event. It doesn’t take long for a bathroom to go from pristine, to never will I ever… So, you absolutely need to make sure that the venue will be regularly checking the restrooms throughout the entire event, and the best way to ensure it happens, is for it to be in the contract.

6. Space For Signage

Last, but certainly not least, it’s incredibly important that a venue have designated areas where you can place signage for your event–both outside and inside. The former ensures that your guests can find your venue with ease, while the latter allows them to find their way around once they get inside. Usually, this isn’t much of a problem, but if a venue owner is unwilling to work with you in order to set up your signage, you should consider that a warning sign.

A bonus to look for here, is digital signage. These days many venues have digital signage available, and if your venue offers it, ask them about costs or if it’s included, as well as the process for getting your content on the screens.

In Closing: Choose Carefully

Where an event is located is often just as important as what the event is about. For that reason, event planners can afford to be a little choosy when selecting a venue. If a venue owner is either unwilling or unable to provide all of the example venue amenities listed here, then it’s probably better if you look somewhere else–otherwise, the quality of your event will very likely suffer.