Make the Venue Choice Count
     (Newbury Business Today - April 08)

It is hard to deny the power of face to face marketing experiences or, as they are more commonly known – events.  From conferences to team building, experiential campaigns to meetings they give you a chance to stand in front of an audience, be it client, stakeholder or staff and disseminate your message. 

 

Events are the physical embodiment of your business, your brand and your core company values.  Attendees will perceive many different things about you during the course of a face to face experience, which is why it is so vital to carefully plan every element in line with your brand and goals, even those relating to your corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies. 

 

Sustainability has become a huge challenge for those looking to organise events - everything from venue choice to menus and delegate transport impacts an event’s ability to be sustainable.  But it is not a bolt on nice-to-have, sustainability must be built into events from the outset affecting all the different elements, from planning to delivery.

 

Given the effect an event can have on a company’s brand, those looking to organise sustainable events need to be careful not to trip over themselves and make simple mistakes.  Ensuring all the background elements are covered is great but don’t forget the very simple but very visible elements that can ruin the effect for the delegates.  Bottled water accidentally placed on the tables is a perfect example but ultimately venue choice should alleviate these problems.  The venue is the most memorable and long lasting elements to any event and getting the choice right is vital to your brand and overall success of the event. 

 

The Sheepdrove Eco Conference Centre has worked from the ground up, creating a new and unique venue in harmony with the environment.

 

Built on a 2,500 acre organic farm, the centre, which can cater for up to 200 delegates, has been designed with sustainability at the core of everything they do, solar power, wind power and a totally independent water system where all the water used on site is drawn from 300 feet below a field next to the centre, bottled on site and fed back to the earth through a system of water recycling reed beds.

 

Delegates attending a conference at Sheepdrove leave with no doubts about their host’s sustainability and CSR policies.  Aligning their brand with a venue like Sheepdrove truly says something about the meeting organiser’s green credentials.  From the design of the venue, with its warm wooden rooms and carefully laid out facilities to the home cooked, fresh produce straight from the farm, the atmosphere is one of tranquil harmony.

 

The UK is full of conference centres trying to achieve something different and tell you that they are that little bit greener than the one next door.  Ultimately seeing is believing so take the time before you decide, go on a site visit to each of your shortlist and pick the one you feel best suits both the event and just as importantly, the brand and CSR goals of your company.