Face to face contact can sometimes be undervalued in the modern world. Meetings are a vital part or any business or organisation to bring together the collective and allow ideas to be shared and connections to be made. A meeting carried out in person ensures that everyone is engaged and understands the material. That being said, don't waste funds on a meeting that isn't necessary, make sure to consider whether an email, Skype or phone call would be more suitable before booking a meeting.
Once the idea of a meeting is decided, the all-important planning stage commences. Depending on the scale of the meeting, a budget will need to be drawn up as there are several costs that must be considered. Sit down with your meeting planning team and draw up estimates for how much you realistically will be spending on each factor. It's also a good idea to leave some money for unexpected costs or any admin charges, however, find out about any fees and penalties in the early planning stages so you can negotiate or avoid them altogether.
The majority of meeting rooms and creative spaces are available to hire per hour, or for the whole or half a day. Deliberate how long you think you'll need the room for, if its simply a meeting led by you, it should be easy to roughly work out how long information and discussion will take. However, if your meeting will be more of a creative discussion, it might be more of a challenge to time how long ideas and decisions can be made. Make a rough estimate and maybe slightly over budget on time rather than under budget, so no one feels rushed. Most spaces include all those crucial elements such as free parking, fast WI-FI and projectors.
Depending on where and how many guests you're hosting it might be an idea to arrange transport to and from the meeting. Corporate coach hire is an ideal option to bring everyone to one place and ensures everyone will make it and be on time. In busier city's where parking may be sparse, it eliminates that stress of everyone finding somewhere to leave their cars. Most venues will offer basic refreshments as standard and additional food and drink for longer meetings. Obviously if you are tight on the budget encourage people to bring in their own lunches and perhaps just put out some snacks. By booking all arrangements through the same vendor, you're more likely to get package deals and discounts, which will be better in the long run. Additionally, if you like the meeting space you've booked, by returning to the same company next time you may get some loyalty benefits.