6 Keys to Selecting the Perfect Corporate Event Entertainment Venue

Last week, I devoted a significant amount of time exploring new venues for my company’s corporate entertainment events in NYC, where we are located.

Although we’ve got wonderful relationships with some really fantastic venues, Manhattan in particular has a lot of diverse neighborhoods, as well as a variety of venue options catering to a wide range of group sizes and event “feels.” It’s also a good idea to stay abreast of new venues using services like Pogby, so as to recommend the most appropriate spots.

When determining where to hold your corporate entertainment event – be it a company holiday party for employees, a client entertainment event or other kind of fest – lots of factors obviously come into play. Here are the 6 biggest things to consider when selecting the perfect venue for your upcoming happening:

1. 1. Location – There’s no escaping this, and what the realtors say is right: location is the most important thing. If you want people to attend, you’ll have to keep the venue convenient – either within easy walking or diving distance of your office, or by providing transportation.

1. 2. Capacity – This is supposed to be a corporate entertainment activity, so it’s supposed to be enjoyable – and that means comfortable. Find out how many people can possibly attend, and pick a venue which will COMFORTABLY fit everyone. You don’t want to pick a place that’s too big, but please, find a place with ample seating and/or table space for all of your attendees.

1. 3. Price – Another pink elephant, but you have to face up to it. You need to find out how much the venue will cost, and make some decisions about the kind of event you want: cash vs. open bar, food options, private room, closing down the whole place, etc. (hint: booking a venue earlier in the week, say Monday or Tuesday, will be MUCH better from a budget standpoint than trying for a more popular Thursday, Friday or Saturday).

1. 4. Feel – Does the place feel right for your group? Does the contact there feel right to YOU? Don’t make a decision without factoring this in, no matter how great a deal you seem to be getting. A corporate entertainment party will fall flat if the venue isn’t right for the attendees, or if the people running the place aren’t being responsive to your needs.

1. 5. Capability – Are you looking to have a special form of corporate entertainment requiring a stage, A/V or other technical equipment/operators? Do you want to stream your event live to remote locations? How about catering, variable seating arrangements, specialty lighting, flying trapeze or anything else the venue will need to have – or be able to have – make your event work?

1. 6. Experience – Has the venue done the kind of company entertainment event you’re looking to do before? How often do they host corporate parties, and what’s the feedback been? Ideally you will want a place which is well-honed in entertaining the kind of guests you’ll be bringing, in the way you’d like to do it.

While I certainly don’t mean to simplify the corporate party planning process by boiling it down to just 6 points, to my mind these are the most basic and important things to be thinking of when picking a corporate entertainment venue in NYC or anywhere else.

Can you recommend any other critical things to be looking for during the venue selection process?