There's a place for us... Choosing a venue

8-00 PM at the park (and a door) by J.S.B.

8-00 PM at the park (and a door) by J.S.B.

There are some venues which make my heart soar – and some which make it sink! What can you find out about a venue ahead of time, which will help you pick a great place and enable you to design your event or workshop to suit its idiosyncrasies? Here’s a great five-point checklist.

  1. The room itself - large, squarish, with natural light and movable furniture and with ‘working walls’ - flat, solid surfaces free of pillars and pictures, which you can fix paper or sticky walls to. Big enough to hold all the participants cabaret style and still leave room for break-out spaces around the edges.

  2. The location and accessibility of the venue - good for pedestrians, cyclists, public transport and people with disabilities.

  3. Happy, helpful staff who are willing and able to solve problems.

  4. Great food and refreshments - not too much, not too fancy, with convenient flexible serving arrangements and food choices which suit participants’ varying needs. Happy to do 100% plant based. No single-serve, single-use wasteful packaging.

  5. Outdoor space to work in or at least gaze out at, depending on the weather.

Free download

Here’s a free download on choosing a venue.

Making the Path by Walking

This post was first published in my Making the Path by Walking newsletter, October 2018. Scroll down to the footer to subscribe.