Meeting Planners Turning to Non-Traditional Venues

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. October 14, 2008

MARCH 5, 2006. In terms of 'what's new' regarding business meetings in 2007, look to non-traditional venues that make the most of participants' down time, advises Steve Robertson, Chief Technical Officer at Eventective.

More and more business meeting organizers are researching special interest or non-traditional venues such as resorts, campgrounds, ranches, inns, country clubs, estate mansions, museums and stadiums as alternatives to booking traditional full-service conference centers to host their business meetings.

The reason, Robertson said, is that meeting organizers are recognizing the "unique value" that "non-traditional" venues can bring to a sales meeting, business conference, or team-building get-away.

"Smaller, specialty venues can offer a much fuller range of off-time team building and/or recreational activities for attendees -- ranging from BBQs to horse trail riding to golfing. Not only do the participants benefit from a wider range of available activities, but the organizer -- often tasked with finding 'something new' each year for an annual event -- can shine with a new twist on an old routine. It's all about creating a new and unique experience for the attendees," he said.

"Non-traditional venues often pull out the stops in terms of service. Organizers appreciate the high levels of creativity, flexibility, and even the personal touch that a smaller or specialty facility goes to lengths to offer. Specialty venues also exhibit equal enthusiasm to compete on the cost front -- and generally can offer lower overall costs than traditional venues," he said.

A fourth reason is simply a greater availability of choice -- the result of the marketplace dynamics of a continuing, steady increase in the supply or availability of such venues, which Robertson has witnessed over the past several years at Eventective.

At the start of 2007, Eventective's database featured a record-setting 87,000 venues, 298,000 meeting spaces, and 28,000 related service providers throughout the U.S. Most are non-traditional venues, he said.

"More and more non-traditional venues are getting into the conference business as means to round out their own seasonality in their off-season. They've got the accommodations and catering resources in-house, or have partnered with someone to provide them. They're adding larger meeting and breakout rooms with the required high tech internet and wireless connections," he said.

Robertson said the trend, which has been growing in strength, will get even hotter as 2007 progresses. "Conference and meeting planners will benefit from a greater choice among a more diverse selection in venues. The venues, of course, benefit from the potential new business," Robertson said. "The result is win/win for meeting organizers and event hosts."