Maybe it’s just me, but I LOVE a good site visit! One that is ridiculously productive, informative and leaves you feeling confident. It’s a great time to visualize how a space will be laid out and to get answers to a few key questions… or at least that’s the hope right?!
I believe a site visit can be as beneficial as you plan for it to be. To begin a successful site visit there are a few things to think about.If it’s your first time using or seeing a space, I recommend going alone without vendors or clients. This will allow you to ask all the nitty gritty questions so you can feel competent when it comes time for the main walkthrough. Come up with a list of questions prior to arriving onsite; this piece of advice rings true whether this is your first or fifteenth time seeing the space. Being prepared ahead of time with that event’s particulars will make for a much smoother visit. Here are a few helpful questions to ask:
- What is included in the venue rental? Audiovisual + a tech, staging, tables, chairs, glassware, security and/or parking staff? Just because a venue has monitors on the wall or microphones available, doesn’t mean there isn’t a fee to use them or that the technician time is included in the rental fee!
- Are there ancillary fees? Are there any that haven’t been accounted for in the rental or contract price such as: taxes, administration/service charges, labor and/or security fees? What about new covid fees?
- How many hours are accounted for in the event rental fee? Is it enough time for setup and tear down or do you need to purchase additional hours, and what is the fee per hour?
- Will the food and beverage style fit in this space? Is the space of ample size to host a fully seated dinner with room for the servers to efficiently move about for table-side wine service or would this space be more conducive to action stations with passed hors d’ oeuvres, more standing cocktail tables and less dining table seating? Ask the client about the menu requirements and budget before your site visit. This will give your caterer the opportunity to curate the most viable catering proposal for your client and will help you understand how to best utilize the venue space.
If this is a site in which the client will be present, get the venue to answer your questions ahead of time. This will help you concentrate on the client and creating the vision rather than focusing on the logistical information. Once a client is onsite, the conversation and range of questions can take several left turns, so it pays to be prepared!
If this is meant to be an informational vendor site visit, I would keep the invitation list short and sweet, with one representative from your most important vendors(i.e. lighting and design, F&B, entertainment and audio visual). This will keep all of your vendors on the same page. When a site visit becomes littered with vendors or even too many clients, it can become difficult to manage —side conversations run rampant and inevitably details are missed. Some vendors and/or venues are on autopilot because it’s just one of the many site visits they’ve done that week, so it’s up to you to keep everyone on track.
After a site visit, it’s helpful to organize all venue/site related notes and documents while they are still top of mind. You can store these documents, notes and contact information on the ORO platform. Remember to take the time to thank your new contact for the information and tour, we all have busy days and it's important to remember these are fun but also educational.
