With a new year and busy events calendar now well underway, we’re not surprised to find that our clients are increasingly looking for ideas to help them save money. With the rising costs involved with delivering conferences, many planners are exploring creative ways to minimise spend, without having an impact on their attendees.
A recent Northstar/Cvent Meetings Industry PULSE Survey found that 61% of respondents are focused on cutting costs in areas that won’t detract from the event experience. While only 24% reported plans to raise their event ticket price to offset increased operational costs – a figure that was down from 28% from last year.
At Congress Centre, we’ve been hosting events of every size and scale in our historic, award-winning venue for over 25 years. Along the way, we’ve learnt some valuable tips from our most cost-conscious clients.
We have 16 flexible event spaces suitable for conferences, exhibitions, meetings and corporate events for 10 – 500 people. We’re proud to offer one of the most competitive delegate rates available for a conference venue in London. We understand it can be a challenge to find the right conference venue to suit your budget and that many different factors can affect your overall cost.
In this blog, we’ll share some of our expert team’s top tips on how to plan a conference while making sure you get the most bang for your budget.
Many venues have a range of built-in features already factored into their hire fees and delegate packages, or can offer these as cost-effective extras, to minimise spend with external suppliers. These include:
A venue like ours with an extensive in-house tech spec, including built-in digital signage and LED colour changing lights, will allow you to eliminate spend on printed materials and heighten the environment at no extra cost.
Our robust connectivity throughout the venue will also help you save money (and waste in the process) by supporting a digital-first approach to event communications. Online registration and ticketing systems, QR-code agendas, online feedback forms and digital over printed wayfinding, are just a few ways to optimise costs and resources when planning a conference.
Most events are seasonal, so demand fluctuates accordingly throughout the year. A conference is one of the few types of events you can host all year round, so it’s worth considering off-peak seasons and days to secure better rates.
Conference venues can often be more flexible with pricing around December-January and the summer months. Mondays and Fridays are typically more economical than mid-week dates. Although hosting an event off-peak can significantly reduce your overall costs, be careful to weigh up potential savings against the likelihood of your audience’s availability. Otherwise, you risk the time of day, month or year becoming a barrier to delegate attendance.
Getting an upfront discount on elements of your conference is one of the quickest and easiest ways to save money. This requires investing some time and effort in finding potential savings opportunities.
We suggest identifying a dozen or so venues and suppliers you’re potentially interested in using for your conference. Follow their social media channels, subscribe to newsletters and frequently check their latest news and blog feeds. These are the first places businesses are likely to publish any promotions, so you’ll be among the first to know about them.
Building relationships with preferred venues and suppliers is another way to negotiate better rates, especially if you organise multiple events and can place repeat business with them.
There are several ways event sponsorship can help you reduce costs or provide a lucrative revenue stream to offset spend.
Think about the industry and target audience your conference is relevant to. How much sway does your average delegate have within their companies; do they influence decisions about where money is spent? Then identify some brands and businesses that would likely benefit from getting in front of your attendees or being associated with your event.
Quantify the value of the promotional opportunities and delegate exposure you can offer and create sponsorship packages with different price points, to appeal to small, medium and large companies. Sponsor exhibition or product demo stands, speaker slots, hosted networking sessions and enhanced branding opportunities are just a few creative ideas you could consider including in your sponsorship packages.
At Congress Centre, we offer 103” plasma screens in our entrance foyer, designed to capture attention as delegates enter. These offer an ideal opportunity for sponsor branding alongside countless other prime visibility sites throughout the venue.
It’s also important to consider mutually beneficial contra deals. Would your host venue consider a discount on the hire fee, in exchange for an opportunity to take your delegates on a tour of their event spaces? Might a supplier offer reductions because the purpose of your conference aligns with their CSR objectives?
Although very important, event promotion can quickly eat into your budget without a carefully considered strategy.
There are a range of high-impact, low and even no cost ways to promote your event. These include social media marketing and channel takeovers, strategic partnerships with sector-leading experts and influencers, leveraging speaker networks for expanded reach and creating promotional partnerships with key industry stakeholders.
As a leading conference venue in London, we offer competitive venue hire rates and a selection of packages including a choice of flexible event spaces, in-house catering and AV equipment. Some of our rooms include additional areas within the hire fee, such as our Congress Hall, which comes complete with a dedicated registration area and a spacious Foyer.
If you’re looking to save money on your next conference, get in touch with the team at our central London conference venue on 020 7467 1318 or email co*************@tu*.uk