You completed a handful of preliminary site visits and after carefully weighing your needs against each location’s capabilities, aesthetic, and, of course, overall vibe, you picked the best site for your event. In the months that have followed, you’ve started planning the event in earnest, making decisions, securing contractors, and locking down the agenda.
However, now that you’re closer to the date of your event, more granular details are coming into play. Not only that – you want to make sure the event you’re picturing will go exactly as planned in the venue you picked.
It’s time for your pre-planning site visit.
This visit allows you to nail down the details for the event, walk through the experience your attendees will have, and identify any concerns so you can come up with a solution well in advance.
Of course, with so much riding on the site visit, preparing for one can be a little daunting. Keep reading to learn more about how you can make the most of your site visit.
Why a pre-planning site visit matters.
Your event agenda and vision, both of which were in early stages when you selected your venue, have (hopefully) evolved by now. Instead of having a rough idea of the room set up, you now have renderings and technical drawings. Your agenda includes session times, breakouts, networking sessions, and more. Even the headcount, while still far from final, is more predictable than it was a few months ago.
A site visit allows you to really picture your event in the venue, make sure what you’re planning is possible, and make sure every detail is mapped out.
Before you go.
Some (or even many) of the questions you have could likely be answered in an email or during a pre-event meeting. If that’s the case – ask them there! Don’t waste the limited time you have in the venue going over details that you could easily get ahead of time.
Gaining clarity on these specific points may lead to follow up questions or identify a challenge that needs to be solved. If this is flagged to the venue ahead of time, they may be able to present you with creative solutions during the site visit, rather than first discovering the concern.
Who to bring.
We recommend bringing a few members from both the host organization’s internal event team and the meeting planning team, as well as any vendors who have already been contracted, like the production team, AV supplier, scenic designers, or technical director. The more people and roles that are present, the more targeted information you’ll get.
If there are any major players who can’t attend in person, see if you can video conference them in or get a list of questions from them ahead of time.
What to do during your site visit.
First, make sure your phone is fully charged and has plenty of storage, and then pack an external battery. You’ll want to take a lot of pictures and videos as you walk through the venue, but there are certain things you’ll want to look out for in each area of the event space.
Common areas.
As you walk through the entire event venue, consider logistics, including:
- Are the hallways wide enough for people to quickly transition from one session to the next?
- What is the distance between rooms? Are the breaks long enough for people to get from one session to the next?
- How many restrooms are there and where are they located? If there are several bathrooms, but only one is in an area that will get a lot of foot traffic, it might be a good idea to make your breaks longer.
- Is there enough directional signage and is it easy to follow?
- How many entrances are there? Will more than one registration desk be needed?
- Does anything look different than you remembered or how you expected it to based on the floor plans?
- What do the locations where you plan to have signage or branding look like? Are there any sightlines that should impact the design?
- If you’re planning to have sponsors or exhibit booths, what is a good location for them that will get a lot of foot traffic? What limitations are there in their set ups?
Really envision the attendee experience and note anything that may cause challenges so you can start coming up with a solution.
The main room.
You’ll likely have both a rendering and technical drawing of the general session space before your site visit, and you’ll want to walk through it point by point with the venue coordinator. Make sure they understand exactly what you have in mind so they can flag any concerns with the intended set up.
Perhaps the stage can only be set up along the longer walls in the room, and you intended to have it against a shorter wall. Maybe rigging requirements will make it necessary to move your stage forward or backwards a few feet.
While most of the concerns that arise should be relatively minor, it’ll still streamline load in and set up if the drawings are adjusted accordingly ahead of time.
The loading dock.
One thing many groups forget to check, or don’t realize what they should be checking for, is the loading dock!
Your AV partner needs to know where the loading dock is, how to access it, and how it connects to the rest of the venue. Not to mention, they’ll need to know the elevator dimensions to make sure all cases and equipment will fit. Ask about any rules and regulations so that your team can plan accordingly. For example, if there is a limited amount of time that you’ll have access to the dock, the AV supplier may want to contract additional people to move the gear off the truck and into the event space faster, helping you avoid extra venue charges.
Find out who the venue will have managing the loading dock during your event and help them connect with your AV team.
Confirm access.
From access to public transportation, parking, and accessible entryways, it’s important to know ahead of time what attendees can expect. Ask if any part of the venue or any surrounding buildings or roadways will be under construction during the event. While you, and the venue, won’t have the ability to stop these projects, you can warn attendees so that they can plan travel accordingly.
If there are any virtual components to your event or anything else that will rely on a fast internet connection, bring your computer to test the internet speed. Ask about both public WiFi for attendees and if there is a private network that crew members can use in case any last-minute content downloads are necessary.
Pre-planning site visits are essential in hammering down the details of your event and finding solutions for any potential challenge before you arrive onsite for the show – which is precisely why they can be so overwhelming. Make the most your site visit by bringing people from all areas of the event team, asking questions ahead of time, and knowing exactly what to look for.