5 Venue Must-Haves for Global Meetings
Choosing the right venue for a global meeting or conference is essential for a successful corporate event. While that may seem obvious, in practice it’s a bit more difficult to achieve. There are many things to take into account to make every company event successful, but here are 5 major considerations to focus on when selecting a venue for an international meeting.
1. Gain a Cultural Understanding of Negotiations and Venue Packages
First and foremost, you must realize that different international locales have different cultural practices for negotiations and venue packages. It’s important to:
• Research your chosen location.
• Network with other event planners that have managed events in that location.
• Connect with locals that have a good understanding of the practices in conference planning for that location.
• Learn everything you need to know for a successful negotiation process that meets your budget requirements.
A cultural understanding of how venue packages work can affect your company’s bottom line. Knowing the laws around Value Added Taxes (VATs), whether Daily Delegate Rates come into play, and how food and beverages are accommodated are all important and can be ways to save significantly on corporate event costs.
2. Make Sure the Venue Is Able to Accommodate Cultural Diversity
It is crucial to know your audience and the cultural diversity within that audience. Choosing a venue that can accommodate the cultural differences among attendees is essential. Food and beverage options are high on that list of things to consider.
You may want to provide a culturally diverse menu for attendees or even better, highlight the food of the local culture, but in doing so you must consider culturally sensitive food options for attendees such as Kosher options and Halal meat. If a venue cannot accommodate those needs, you need to find out if they’re willing to have outside vendors cater the meals. Another option is to find out if there are restaurants near the venue that can accommodate your attendees.
Beverages during the event also need to be considered. The quality of coffee and tea is important to American attendees, while Chinese attendees will expect good wine. Again, determine if the venue can provide for these types of cultural expectations. Or will you need to have beverages catered as well?
Accommodating the cultural sensitivities around food and beverages can go a long way in creating a successfully diverse and inclusive global meeting. It has a huge effect on whether attendees enjoy themselves. Make sure to do your research and be prepared on this front.
3. Ensure A/V Technology Availability for Live Streaming and Video on Demand
Not everyone will be able to attend an event out-of-country. Nowadays, it’s expected that international events will be accessible even to those who do not travel to participate. That means not just broadcasting the event live, but accommodating those in different time-zones with a video on demand option too.
Selecting a venue that has sophisticated A/V technology to enable live streaming and recorded video for on-demand viewing already available will be a huge help in facilitating the participation of attendees that cannot be there in person. Again, understanding the negotiating process and the way venue packages are put together for your locale will ensure that you can identify which venues have what you need for a price that matches your budget.
4. Offer Strong Wi-Fi for Attendees and Meeting Activities
The venue’s internet service must be able to handle the live streaming of event activities, and all the Wi-Fi needs of your attendees, many of whom will need to regularly communicate with people out-of-country. Do not assume a venue has adequate internet service that’ll meet the event’s and your attendees’ needs, even if it has all the A/V equipment you require. Have people on the ground who can double and triple check internet service for the venue and what the exact policies are for its use.
5. Provide Local, Multilingual Staff to Help Attendees
Making sure the venue has a knowledgeable, multilingual staff who can help your attendees navigate in a foreign country is critical to the success of your global meeting. Many attendees are probably going to be unfamiliar with the culture of the area and the activities available to them off-hours. Proper staffing of the venue will go a long way in making attendees feel welcome and comfortable in an unfamiliar environment.
International Meetings
What happens if you don’t have the connections necessary or the time to become fluent in the cultural intricacies of negotiations in the locales you are interested in hosting an international meeting? This is where we shine.
We have the knowledge and expertise to negotiate venue packages all over the world with a global network of suppliers and on the ground event planners that we can connect to. And this work is at no cost to you, so your event budget is not affected. To learn more and experience the difference that only Applied Meetings & Hospitality Solutions provides, schedule your Discovery Call today!