What To Tell Your Event Company

There are various details that we need to know in order to give you the best possible advice. If we don’t have some information it’s a bit like saying to someone; ‘I want to buy a car’ and giving them no further information. Do you want a two seater or a people carrier? A Bentley or a Mini?

Approximate information is better than no information. You may not know exactly how many people will attend but you should have an approximation in mind. 20 – 30 gives us an idea at the pricing stage. If 32 sign up then we can sort that out nearer the day.

Dates are another key detail. Again, you may not have a specific date in mind but ‘a Friday in December’ helps because venues have different prices for different days. Fridays are generally more expensive and harder to book than Mondays because they’re more popular.

We will need some guidance on location. There are approximately 5,000 pubs and 1,250 hotels in London, for example, and you will be able to find one conveniently close to anywhere. Birmingham has approximately 120 hotels, Brighton around 50 and Bournemouth around 70. There is plenty of choice. Tell us the style of venue that you want and give us a budget.

Budget. Ah, the budget. This is the most difficult detail to get and probably the most important. ‘We don’t have a budget’, ‘Okay, then it’s going to cost £5,000’, ‘Oh, we weren’t thinking of spending that much!’ You do tend to have a budget and it really helps us to know it. If you have been delegated the organisation of an event and the budget isn’t forthcoming ask how much was spent last year, or the last time a similar event was run. That will give you guidance and save you, and your event company, a lot of time.

So there are a few tips on what information to collect and pass over. It will take the guess work out of the process and ensure that you get the best information to present when the decision making process starts.