This document discusses selecting appropriate venues and resources for events. It begins by outlining learning objectives around venue selection and identifying event resources. It then discusses the importance of venue choice and provides examples of venue types including convention centers, hotels, outdoor spaces, and unusual indoor venues. The document also addresses considerations for venue selection like facilities, budget, and regulations. It emphasizes that resources cover goods, services, people, and money needed to execute an event plan. In the end, the document stresses that people are the most important resource and outlines safety guidelines in The Purple Guide.

1. Event venues and resources
Event Planning and Operations | Dr Ashley Garlick

2. Learning outcomes
By the end of the session, you will be able to:
 Select an appropriate venue for an event
 Explain the importance of the venue choice to the event plan
 Identify the resources required to execute an event plan

3. Why so important?
Getz D, and Page S.J. (2016)
Event Studies. 3rd Ed. Abingdon:
Routledge
“All events require a venue (often
specific facilities, but sometimes a street
or open space)…”

4. Types of Venue
 Convention and Conference centres (purpose built)
 Conference hotels
 Stadia and Arenas
 Theatres
 Historical venues
 Outdoor venues
 Unusual indoor venues

5. Unusual
venues
 Sports centres
 Schools
 Studios
 Airports (hangars)
 Offices
 Shopping centres
 Museums and Art Galleries
 Car parks

6. Local venues
 Community-based planning is required to
accommodate and monitor the regulation of events
 City event zones and spaces
 Construction of venues

7.  Experience of the staff and management
 Health and safety
 Idiosyncracies
 Budget
 Ceiling height
 Creativity
 In-house facilities
 Indoor/outdoor – activities / weather

8.  Impact on surrounding neighbours
 Impact of vehicular and foot traffic
 Where is power and water?
 Accessibility for technical load-in/out and for emergency vehicles
 Protection of the ground from damage
 Perimeter fencing
 Dangerous areas (could be hidden dangers)
 Lighting

9. Event specific venues
 On-site facilities
 Toilets
 Staff
 Technical
 Furniture
 Décor
 Staging
 Projection
 Sound
 Lighting
 Regulated – Fire, H&S,
 Parking
 Management
 Kitchen / catering
 Break-out rooms
 Sales driven culture
 Cost of extras

10. Hotels for events
 Position / location
 Accommodation
 Bars
 Ceiling height
 Creativity and style of décor
 Budget
 Landmark venues
 Regulated and graded
 Standardised brands
= Standards
= Services
(expectations)

11. Where to find
venues
 Brochures
 Websites
 Directories
 Tourist guides
 Tourist offices
 Trade exhibitions
 Word of mouth / reputation
 Local knowledge
 Ground agents
 By foot

12. Agents
 Venue finding agencies
 Event agencies
 Location agencies
 Event catering companies

13.  Venue choice is driven by client demand
 Client expectations
 Guest expectations
 Your relationship with the venue
 Management and staff
 Creating the experience
 Identifying what sets one venue against another

14.  The limitations of a venue help to eliminate it from the venue search
 Lack of parking
 Obstructed sight-lines to stage
 Noise restrictions due to neighbouring properties
 No red wine and brown food
 Low ceiling height
 No fixings to walls or ceilings

15. Resources
 Covers everything you will need to execute your
event
 Can be goods, services, people, and money
 Money is usually needed to secure the other three
 Cash-flow is just as important as revenue (i.e. where
will the initial money come from?)
 Takes significant time to research, enquire and book
with sufficient notice (‘rush’ jobs cost more!)
 What you will need to source often significantly
impacted by the venue choice

16. Income
streams
Adapted from: From: Bowdin, G.
Allen, J. O'Toole, W. Harris, R. and
McDonnell, I. (2012) Events
Management. 3rd edn. Abingdon:
Routledge.
 Client purse
 Sponsorship
 Donations
 Ticket sales
 Food & drink sales
 Pitch/stall rental
 Merchandising
 Exhibitors
 Concessions

17. Value of
ticketing
 Perceived value of an event
 ‘Guarantee’ of attendance
 Generates an attendance count
 Enables the setting of a breakeven point
 Provides data capture
 Income stream

18.  In-house versus outsourced
 Buy or hire
 Delivery and collection
 Single source or multiple suppliers
 Specialist skills may be needed to operate
 Transport familiar resources or source locally to event

19. People – your MOST important resource!
 Finding
 Recruiting
 Inducting and training
 Managing and leading
 Core event planning team tends to
be relatively small
 As the event related activity
increases, so does the team
 This means more common to
employ people on a project basis or
use contracted and/or agency staff
 Not directly employing staff means
on-the-day supervision may be
different from line management

20.  Principally a resource covering the health, safety and welfare at music and other
events
 Developed originally out of an HSE publication, but now managed by the Event
Industry Forum
 Has become the de-facto reference point for the safe management of events
 Is ESSENTIAL reading for all event professionals, alongside other resources
such as The Green Guide to Sports Stadia.

21. What does The
Purple Guide
cover?
https://www.thepurpleguide.co.uk/
(But, you should log in via the
Library as we have paid your
subscription!
 Venue and site design
 Medical
 Communication
 Transport management
 Working at height and temporary structures
 Fire safety
 Electrical and lighting
 Barriers, fencing and crowd management
 Special effects , fireworks and amusements
 Waste management and noise
 Food and drink and sanitation
 Welfare and safeguarding children and animals
 Crime, disorder and working with the police
 + chapters that look at safe processes and many other topics!

22. Any questions?

23. For further research:
Preda, P. and Watts, T. (2003) Improving the efficiency of sporting venues through
capacity management: the case of the Sydney (Australia) Cricket Ground Trust.
Event Management, 8(2), pp.83-89. Available from:
https://doi.org/10.3727/152599503108751739
Yeoman, I. Robertson, M. and McMahon-Beattie, U. (2004) Visitor management
for festivals and events, in: I. Yeoman, M. Robertson, J. Ali-Knight, S. Drummond,
and U. McMahon-Beattie (eds). Festival and Events Management, Abingdon:
Routledge.