Why use a venue finder?
Anyone who has attempted to book a venue for a wedding, conference or any type of event knows that it can turn into a time-consuming and discouraging experience. With so many venues to choose from, how do you pick the best one for your event? The answer it’s very simple: it is through knowledge, experience, and relationships built over the years.
What is a venue finder?
A venue finder is a specialist who focuses their expertise on the selection and the recommendations of the most suitable sites for hosting an event. At Vodka on Toast, we do the research, proposal writing, negotiation, booking of site visits, day-to-day liaison, contracting and even negotiating the best rates on your behalf. We’re able to do that because of our relationships.
Experience and knowledge
They are both developed through time. We are extremely skilled at positioning the right type of event in the most appropriate venue, and this is possible because we take the time to go see venues first-hand whenever possible, ask the right questions and check that all the important elements are in place. We love to keep up with the latest trends and attend industry events (IMEX, IBTM, Meeting Shows, Venue & Events Live etc.). We’re also accredited as a Safer Event organiser; a crucial service to ensure the safety of your event in a post pandemic venue market.
A key service that we provide is to visit and assess venues with our clients or on their behalf, when they have been unable to attend personally. We can provide risk assessments and personalised reports with their preferences and needs in mind. We can send plenty of pictures and videos too, that get sent through to our clients if they’re unable to attend themselves.
Venues send over quotations each in their own individual formats and currencies. There is no universal standard layout for these things, and as such someone that doesn’t do this often or have the time to analyze a mass of information might find the process confusing, frustrating and tedious.
A simple process
That’s where we step in, by assessing and breaking down all your quotations to be sure they are all judged against the same criteria. We gather all this information and create an easy to read proposal, enabling our clients to digest the key information..
The chase-calls a client may get from venues are filtered by us, so you just have one person to deal with.
Once you’ve established a relationship with Vodka on Toast as a venue finder, we will get to understand your business and your needs more, making your next event even easier and smoother to plan. We can keep you informed of special offers of your favourite venues and know what is vital to you when searching for a venue.
Money
Will you be saving money when hiring a venue finder? Absolutely YES!
Agencies have an incredible buying power. The quantity of events that we can take to a venue is usually greater than a client who goes directly – besides, so you can benefit from our economies of scale. Plus, we know where to look for the hidden costs that you don’t need and know a plethora of other suppliers for your event that can save you money too.
You’re probably wondering how much you’d have to pay for this service. Well, the answer is nothing. We make our fee from the venue and from our other event management services. There really is nothing for you to pay.
Relationships
Trust with venues is built up over time, and it allows a privileged position to negotiate excellent rates as a result. The events industry is a small world and as such long lasting bonds between venues and agencies are essentials, allowing for negotiation of rates with much more depth and effectiveness. We treasure and celebrate our relationships and spend an incredible amount of time on these as we believe it’s the key to success.
Rates
When considering the rates from each venue, agencies work effectively so that everything is considered for your event. Vodka on Toast ensures there are no hidden venue costs that may affect your budget at a later date, instead we include any foreseeable costs in our initial quotes. This avoids any unwanted surprise along the way, as the client already sets the budget based on the selected venue. There’s nothing worse than not having considered any contingency for additional AV, décor, catering etc. so we include the actual cost of catering you’re likely to incur, instead of quoting the minimum spend required by a venue.
A bonus
The core skill of a venue finding agency is being well connected with other suppliers. If you need a venue, it’s likely you’ll need suppliers to cater and produce the whole event – entertainment, décor, transportation, tech, delegate management – so it’s reassuring to know you’ll get all the support, contacts and expertise that you need to turn your event into an incredible success.
Vodka on Toast offers Event Project Management services in addition to venue finding, so we’re extraordinarily well connected with the best suppliers out there.
With professional and invaluable skills, venue finding agencies bring real value to clients who have to organise conferences and events on a regular basis. Providing security to clients by giving them the confidence of knowing they have people with experience behind them.
