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Today it’s all about unique venues for special events. The trend to book unique places for your event is nothing new, but since 2017 it has drastically picked up pace for B2B events. In the past, it was more of a coincidence but now organizers are specifically looking for individual venues. This was also confirmed through the daily discussions with our customers. Many want to offer their participants more than just the convention center in the next city.
But what makes a special location attractive, what are typical examples of such places and where can I find them if I want to book them for my next event? We will clarify these questions and more in this article.
The Attraction of Special Event Locations
Anyone who has ever had the pleasure of experiencing a classic event in a special environment knows what’s coming. For organizers, these venues bring two great added values to the table.
Firstly, the mental and physical break from standardized processes and thought patterns. With an exclusive venue, you can give every event and every topic a whole new and special drive. The dissimilarity of the place encourages participants to try new ways of thinking and implementing. So it’s almost like starting with a white piece of paper. One is not limited and all directions of thought are allowed. To initiate such a process with your participants, you must first bring them out of their comfort zone. An exceptional location, which differs significantly from your work environment and previous events, is one of the ways to achieve this.
Secondly, the memory effect. What do we remember best? Special moments. And what makes these moments special? Either they are very emotional for us or the moment is significantly different from moments before and after. We can all agree on this point. If something stands out from the crowd, for whatever reason, then we can remember it much easier and longer. This is the same for events. An event which stands out from the mass of classic events will be remembered. Why and how to make your event into an extraordinary event is up to you, of course. A special place is just one possibility.
Types of Special Venues
There is no general definition of a unique location. Each location has its characteristics and can, therefore, stand out from similar locations. There are venues with an extraordinary view. Others are in a particular place and therefore mysterious or hard to find. Some places impress with their long and unusual history. Sometimes the location is relatively normal but has an exceptional feature like a waterfall in the room or individual figures or statues.
In addition to individual features, there are also typical categories for unique venues:
- Art galleries and museums
- Airport hangars and old factory buildings
- Wineries and farms
- Historic buildings like old banking houses or castles
- Exceptional roof terraces
Here You Can Find Such Venues
Now we’ve talked a lot about how great unique venues are, but where do you find such places? And here we already have the first problem. Special venues are special because they are not booked so often and they are hard to find. You often come across these places on regional insider reports or you get a tip. Even if you do some research, you quickly realize that there is still no location collection page dedicated to such types of locations around the world. But you will surely find one or the other regional gem on many of these collection sites. Also, some platforms concentrate on smaller areas. Here we can recommend, e.g. Unique Venues which focuses specifically on the US. Besides, Peerspace also offers many exciting locations in the US and now some in major cities in Europe. And if it’s all about meeting rooms and small venues, then we’d like to recommend Spacebase.
The Disadvantages of Special Event Locations
In addition to the problematic search for suitable venues, there are still other disadvantages that you should consider in such locations.
Often, such places are special or unique, because they rarely host classic events. Unfortunately, that means that they are rarely prepared for the needs of organizers. Often there is a lack of suitable technology. No trained staff knows the location or the way to the location is difficult to handle both for participants and suppliers. Compliance with typical event regulations, such as safety and hygiene laws are often more difficult. Finally, you should also pay attention to the event insurance, which of course adapts according to the venue.
These are just a few of the typical disadvantages of such locations. In general, organizers have to put a lot of effort and money into the preparation. Even if a location convinces you with its particular characteristics, your participants still expect the same comfort as with other events.
What You Should Have Learned
At the center of this article is the trend to select individual event locations for B2B events. We have shown you what makes such venues so attractive, what the typical examples and features of such places are and how you can find them. In addition to the extraordinary atmosphere, when choosing your venue you should also keep in mind that these alternatives are usually associated with disadvantages and problems and your participants certainly do not want to give up their usual comforts. No matter how nice the location is.
“Venue” created by Vicons Design from “the Noun Project“.
