Event Design - Venue Selection (Part I)
- Jose Martinez Juarez
- Jul 2, 2024
- 3 min read
THE SPACE
Every space is designed to generate emotional (chemical) reactions in our brains that predispose us to feel in harmony or uncomfortable with it. This is because a space is made up of materials, lighting, geometric elements, and colors, among other factors.
When we select the venue for our event, we must review the objectives that we wish to achieve and ensure that the space gives us, in a natural way the sensations that we wish to convey or, consider what adaptations (for example, lighting) we must implement to communicate them; these adjustments will in most cases become an additional expense in our budget.
An interesting exercise is to ask yourself: How does this space make me feel? Welcome? Comfortable? Do I feel oppressed? Protected?
For example, a garden makes us feel good since it connects with nature and gives us a feeling of spaciousness, natural lighting, and general well-being, therefore, its identity is ideal for family events.
In contrast, a cave generates a feeling of confinement, intimacy, and low light; therefore, it becomes the ideal space for a cocktail or a more intimate corporate event.
PRESTIGE
Each venue has a certain status, this status is the result of a constant quality service that creates a reputation, it is imperative to know the standing of the place that we are going to use, if the prestige is solid, it is most likely precisely because of this that we have decided to make our event in that place; On the contrary, it if is a space that we do not know, it is very useful to request the references of two or three clients, to be able to request their testimonials.
As in any event, congruence is the first characteristic of a successful event, if we organize a luxury event in a three-star hotel, this inconsistency will be reflected in the quality of the visitors, in the same way an event aimed at an open audience, held in a space with the perception of being expensive or inaccessible will cause us to have few visitors.
CAPACITY
It is the extent of the space to comfortably accommodate the expected number of attendees, it is advisable to ensure that the space can not only accommodate the number of attendees, but also that it will not forcefully exceed that number and that the event does not appear empty.
The venue staff generally knows to detail their facilities and can recommend different ways of distribution allowing us to prevent our event from looking lackluster, they also know how to accommodate both furniture and decoration to avoid it.
The capacity of a space depends directly on the selected distribution: auditorium, banquet, cocktail, or school; you can make calculation of the number of people as follows:
Auditorium: 0.85 m per person (2.8 feet)
Banquet setting:
Table for 8 people, 1.45 m per person. (4.7 feet)
Table for 10 people, 1.20 m per person. (4 feet)
Table for 12 people, 1 m per person. (3.2 feet)
Cocktail setup: 0.90 m per person. (3 feet)
Classroom setup:
Half table 1.42 m per person. (4.5 feet)
Full table 1.20 m per person. (4 feet)
In the case of trade shows and fairs, the calculation of the total space is made through the number of nine meters boots (3m x 3m) that can be housed in the that space, additionally it is necessary to increase 50% more space, which will be the space required for corridors, common areas and services.
SAFETY
Safety if very dependent on event distribution, but also to the architectural and structural design of the contracted space.
In any inspection visit to the site, we must ask for the location of emergency exits, fire extinguishers, evacuation routes and meeting points in case of an emergency, as well as if there is any civil protection program.
It is imperative to take a tour of these areas, locate them and make sure that our staff knows them and knows what to do in the event of an unforeseen event. Many public and private spaces are obliged to have internal civil protection brigades, we must know if they exist, and have a prior coordination meeting with them.
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