Selecting An Event Site

Rarely a day goes by where my travels don't take me into a building or other locale that makes me think “I should really hold an event here”. It can be any random fact about the place that triggers it – the shape of the room, the ambient quality of the sound, or some indescribable quality that just makes it feel “perfect” for a production. Unfortunately, the reality of selecting an event site involves so much more than the ambiance of a place. In fact, it ideally a lengthy and meticulous process that relies heavily on planning, reason, and practicality, and much less on the inherent feel of the environment. After all, environment can be created for an evening...loading docks and parking facilities are a bit more difficult to materialize out of thin air.

In my opinion, site selection should be divided into three distinct phases, each with a defined set of actions:

1. Development Phase
2. Survey
3. Analysis and Selection.

In this article, I'll be dissecting each of these three phases, detailing the steps that should be taken, and offering my insight into each.

Development Phase

The first step in selecting an event site begins long before you set foot on a potential site. It involves determining and detailing what your site requirements are. Although it seems obvious, many producers have only a vague sense of what their needs are at the time of the site survey, which inevitably leads to difficulties later on during production. To avoid such issues, you should begin your selection process by detailing as many of your site requirements as possible. These may include the following:

1. Time-line of your event


2. Physical size requirements (be sure to account for attendance, legal capacities, and production size).


3. Location – consider not only city/state, but neighborhood, street, etc. Be sure you're aware of what else may be happening during your event.


4. Environment – should it be held indoor, outdoor, mixed?


5. Load in/out requirements – how many trucks, buses, other vehicles are you estimating?


6. Access – how much difficulty are you willing to put up with in accessing the site?


7. Power requirements – How much will you need based on your production estimates to date. NEVER low-ball this number.


8. Staging areas – you'll likely be receiving deliveries much quicker than you're able to distribute/erect them. How much staging area do you anticipate you'll need.


9. Delivery access – where will deliveries be received? Will they be happening during the event? How can you access them without disrupting your event?


10. Hospitality/Artist areas – you'll inevitably have “VIP's”...where will you put them? Likewise, if there are performing artists or hospitality parties, you'll want to allocate space for that as well.


11. Parking (both production and public)

Once you have determined as many of your needs as possible, the your next step should be to develop a one-sheet document listing your requirements, in an easy to understand format. This document is important, as it will ultimately be given to potential site holders prior to your survey, and the information contained may save you time should they determine their site will not fit your requirements. A word to the wise - only include information you feel comfortable releasing to potential venues PRIOR to selecting them as your site. After all, although we all like to believe our business partners are on the up and up, you may not want to release critical details at this stage for confidentiality or other reasons. A good line to remember is “when in doubt, leave it out”. If everything else checks out, you should be able to answer the omitted questions during your survey.

Only then, after you've detailed all of your site requirements on paper, should you even begin to research potential event sites. By waiting until this stage, you've hopefully avoided the development bias that comes with having a per-determined site in mind, and can therefore bring a greater sense of objectivity to the site selection process. A brief rundown of the steps involved in the research and selection of your preliminary site options:

• Brainstorm your site ideas with your production team. Be open at this point to all potential venue ideas, and not overly restricted by your budget concerns.


• Develop a preliminary list of venues you'd like to pursue. Try to identify the appropriate contact for each venue ( a great job for your interns as it's not always obvious at first glance)


• Place a preliminary phone call to contacts, and give them a brief outline of your event. Send them your one-sheet summary to review to ensure they believe their capabilities will match your scope.


• Should the potential site owner agree with your plan thus far, set up a physical site survey. At this point, there should still be no discussion of money (if they regularly hold events, they should be able ascertain a preliminary number based upon your one-sheet.)

Site Survey

If you've done a thorough job of identifying your needs up to this point, your walk-through should be relatively straight forward. You simply want to examine all parts of the potential site, using your one-sheet summary as a checklist to confirm what capabilities the venue has (it's often easier to condense your one sheet into a simple checklist for internal purposes). Some hints for conducting the actual site survey:

• I highly recommend that you bring along a production/facilities manager to perform the walk with you. They're a great resource for deciphering the more technical aspects of the facility. Suggest that the venue do the same if they have someone available.


• Take notes on what you see, and be sure to detail the benefits as well as potential issues with each building (remember, most issues can be overcome if all other aspects are acceptable).


• Take photos of all venue areas, especially those you feel will best suit your production. Request a venue diagram if one is available.


• Do not commit to anything at this point, no matter how perfect the venue may seem. Let them know your time-line for decision, and ask for a rental estimate at this point.

A serious point I'd like to address - All to often, event producers walk into a site survey not to objectively analyze a building, but to seek confirmation of their own “pre-selection”. If you do so, you're more likely to overestimate a building's capabilities, or accept a higher degree of incompatibility with your event. Aside from making matters more difficult later on, doing so will also cause you to overlook a myriad of creative venue possibilities. Best to walk in with an open mind.

Analysis and Selection

Once you've completed all of your scheduled surveys, you're finally ready to settle down and make some decisions. If you've done the appropriate amount of preparation during the first two phases, the selection process should be a moderately straight-forward process.

1. Compile all of the information you've collected for each venue. Include all diagrams, photos, checklists, and other notes.
2. I'd recommend calling a meeting together with a representative of each interested department to review the documentation. At a minimum, your production manager should be involved.
3. Review each packet. Based on your discussions, set aside all venues that prove the wrong fit for this project. Do not throw them away, as you never know when you might need take on a project that will be a better fit.
4. Of the remaining venues, closely scrutinize the benefits and drawbacks of each. Does the size work? Location? Facilities? Does the cost work? By this point in the review process, a clear front-runner should be appearing, but don't skip this crucial step.
5. If you've identified your event site, congratulations! You're ready to contact them and secure your rental. If no clear front-runner emerges, you can continue your discussions until one emerges, or set aside the review process to investigate alternative sites.

As you can see, selecting an event site is hardly a difficult endeavor. However, a well-defined selection process and meticulous attention to detail will allow you to identify the best option for your event while avoiding selection biases that can cloud our judgment and make for a difficult and expensive production later on.