Conference Room Rental

If you need to procure conference room rental for a business meeting, training session or corporate presentation, the hardest part can be getting started. Sourcing a venue and room might seem straightforward, but with so many options in the Peterborough area, you might overlook details that could end up incurring large additional costs.

Before renting a conference room  consider these issues

1. Actual meeting room rental cost

You need to figure out the meeting room costs before signing any conference room rental contracts and more importantly, the hidden event planning costs involved.

In addition to the actual conference room rental rate, look out for added costs these could include setup and strike fees, Access to power, Service fees etc. For some venues it can often seem that everything you ask for is an extra and incurs an extra charge.

Run through the exact costs of the conference room rental before signing on the dotted line. From a budgetary perspective its always a good idea to allow a contingency for unexpected costs just in case. You never know when these might come up:

2. Conference Room Facility offerings

When considering a conference room rental, you need to know what’s included. There are a few basic things you might need, such as:

• Reliable Wi-Fi for all attendees
• A microphone for speakers
• A projector
• Video conferencing capabilities
• A printer

A basic rule of thumb is that if something isn’t included in the conference room rental cost, it’s a new line item which means in most cases you’ll need to budget for it.

On-site support is another factor. For example, on-site IT staff or caterers can take a lot of weight off your shoulders. The last thing you need is for the technology to fail before the conference has even started  without any support on hand. It pays to establish what kind of support is included with your conference rental before you select a venue

3. Convenience and accessibility

Keep your attendees in mind when selecting your conference room. You want to create a convenient experience for them by:

• Choosing a nearby location, so that there’s very little travel involved
• Arranging ample parking for free or at a low cost. There is nothing worse than turning up for a conference, struggling to park and then finding you are going to have to pay an extortionate amount for the parking. Even worse is conference venues where parking is only available for 4 hours. So delegates have to go out at lunchtime to update their car parking tickets
• Helping attendees travel via public transportation

While it could be cheaper to choose a meeting venue that is a little bit far away, it could be inconvenient for your attendees.

For attendees who may need additional physical accessibility, find a space that can accommodate. Is there a ramp available? Where are the elevators? These may not be immediately obvious, so ask the venue for guidance. If the venue has some limitations (for example, wheelchair ramps aren’t close to the main meeting room), equip your self with extra staff and signage on the day of your event.

Conference room rentals will vary from venue to venue. Be sure to consider these three things before you rent a conference room for your event.

Conference Room Rental Hidden Budgetary Considerations

1. Onsite printing and signage – beware the cost of on the day / last minute printing. If the venue charges £0.10 per sheet and you suddenly want a 10 page document printing for 100 delegates. That’s an additional £100 on the bill for something that would have been a £1 in house. If the venue is producing directional signage make sure that’s included otherwise costs can ramp up even quicker
2. Conference Calls – with mobile phones, Zoom and Microsoft teams conference calls are less of an issue. We would suggest that you confirm in advance the cost of using the venues telephony for conference calls
3. Corkage – for those conferences where there will be a social element and pre or after drinks will be held beware if corkage will be charged
4. Wi-Fi access – we are all so reliant on good broadband its shocking that some venues charge huge amounts for delegates / guests to access the Wi-Fi. Additionally they may impose extra charges if large amounts of data are used. At Brightfield Business Hub great free Wi-Fi is provided throughout the building.
5. Onsite staffing hourly charges. This can often apply if your conference runs on into the evening. We have seen examples where onsite conference staff are charged at £60 per person per hour. If your event overruns then you can quickly rack up a large additional cost.

The big three costs of your conference budget.

Venue rental, Food & Beverage and Audio Visual are typically the three big conference costs. Now I haven’t allowed for key note speaker costs but if you want to have Tony Blair as a key note speaker that will probably be more that all of the other 3 costs.

When it comes to conferences, event planners are designing experiences for our five senses, which are all tied so closely to our memories. That’s why the top three budget items are all about Touch, Taste, Sight, Sound and Smell.

Even if a conference doesn’t have the best educational speakers or entertainment programming, organisers are betting that pleasing attendees is all about pleasing their stomachs and then delivering an engaging experience.

Conference Room Rental – Summary

Contact Michelle Craig at Brightfield Business Hub on 01733 595885 or email Michelle Craig at arrange an appointment to see the wide range of conference and meeting rooms at BBH. Click here to have all your conference questions answered.

For information on short term self storage facilities that are ideal for businesses click here