Being Ready For A Meeting.

On the face of a meeting there are dozens of things that could go wrong, but with a little careful planning your event will run smoothly and your delegates will be mightily impressed.

First of all, you need to know exactly what's the agendas of the event and who’s going to be attending. Try to set a meeting with the meeting leader or at least with their PA to run through the basic requirements. This will give you a good overview of what’s required. Is it a simple routine Board meeting or an away day event? Is it a client presentation or maybe a product launch? Perhaps its a sales meeting or a major company conference?

From this you can start to think about the type of venue required, as well as catering, presentation equipment, size of space required and so forth. Furthermore, if you’ve been handed a conference lasting days and involving hundreds, it might be a good idea to go straight to the nearest conference organiser or venue and get their specialist help. However you tackle the planning of your meeting or conference, ask yourself these fundamental questions:

1. How many people will be attending?

2. In-house venue or external venue?

3. Where are delegates coming from?

4. Will accommodation be required?

5. What equipment will be needed?

6. What about catering?

7. What about catering?

As a rule of thumb, choose a hotel or conference centre for events which involve more than 80 people, including those involving accommodation and banqueting. By doing so you’ll have everything you need in one place. For events up to 80 people however, think about using a quality business centre. These are prime located and are business premises designed with business people in mind. Standards of visitor hosting are very high in quality business centres, and offer certain advantages over hotels. Firstly, your delegates won’t have to battle through hordes of tourists to reach reception and sign in.

By following these simple steps you can plan an event that offers excellent value for money and will pass by smoothly on the day.