What to look for when booking your Edinburgh conference venue

Booking a venue for a work event can be a thankless task. The sort of throw away comment your boss may say as they are leaving for the day. Oh, book a place for the conference in April please. It is not a case of just finding somewhere for that date within budget (although trying to get those two factors together can be a nightmare!) There are many other issues to consider. Here in Edinburgh there are many venues. If it is short notice, you may not get exactly what you require and booking an Edinburgh conference venue can become a problem! Location If you have people coming in from across the country, nation or globe you will need an Edinburgh conference venue close to certain transport links. Proximity to bus and train stations and an airport will be incredibly important. Parking If your attendees are driving, ample parking will be paramount. In some cities finding parking can be hours wasted so make sure the venue has parking or that you can advise people of places to park to ensure you dont have frazzled delegates. Local knowledge If you need to arrange an event in an Edinburgh conference venue but you are not local, find a centre that offers event planning or advice. Finding out everything you can about nearby facilities, hotels or taxi ranks can help you avoid booking a poor location. IT and support Do not assume that all training and conference centres have everything you will need in the IT area. If you are gathering some of the finest sales people from across the nation together and after months of planning you find on the day your laptop wont open your PowerPoint presentation, you may be heading for a nervous breakdown. Some venues will provide excellent IT support staff to help with technical problems to ensure your event goes as smoothly as possible. This can be the difference between a roaring success and dismal flop. Catering and refreshments If you can find an Edinburgh conference venue that also provides catering, this will make organising much easier. Some venues will offer onsite catering and refreshments and you can choose from traditional buffets or a Scottish themed spread. Administration and Meet and Greet If you need to run off 25 copies of a handout immediately and you are miles from the office, you need to be confident that you can action this. You may need to receive or send a fax urgently or have a courier drop something off urgently. Whilst you are busy settling in delegates, you will need someone professional front of house to greet new arrivals.