University challenge
finding one and why are they a good option for PAs booking events and meetings? VENUES
You know you want a venue heavy on academia – but how do you go about
When are academic venues available for hire?
“Academic venues offer facilities year round, although primarily rooms are also used for teaching, for the majority of institutions this means rooms are available to hire at evenings and weekends during term time. While at Easter and Christmas and in the summer (mid June to mid Sep- tember), all facilities, including accom- modation options, become available for hire at any time of the day or week. There are also academic venues with dedicated year-round facilities available – these are generally comparable to hotel and dedi- cated conference facilities in their stan- dards and often feature quality assurance measures such as Hospitality Assured, AIM accreditation or Campus Accom- modation grading from Quality in Tourism to reassure organisers of what they can expect. The most useful resource for directing
your enquiry and selecting an academic venue is the website of the academic ven- ues marketing consortium (see
www.venue-
masters.com) – this offers a free enquiry service to member venues (approx 90 around the UK and Ireland), who are
“The best kept secret regarding academic venues, is that the majority have unique or unusual facilities for hire”
obliged to respond within 48 hours. The best-kept secret regarding aca-
demic venues, is that the majority have unique or unusual facilities for hire, these are often used for ceremonial occa- sions such as graduations, Royal visits or governor meetings and have year-round availability, providing a unique and atmospheric backdrop for any event.” Simon Barlow, Marketing and Communications for Qm Hospitality
48 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2013 |
WWW.EXECUTIVEPA.COM What are the advantages of using an academic venue?
Emma Scott, Marketing and Business Development at venuebirmingham, The University of Birmingham, looks at why such a venue can enhance your event.
When considering a location for an event, aca- demic venues tend not to be the first or even obvious choice. However, there are actually many more advantages in using these venues as an alternative to more conventional space then one would think:
1
Affordable – Academic venues have a huge amount of space that differs in size, shape and sometimes period built. Therefore you will usually find a venue to suit whatever budget you have.
2
Flexible – Academic venues are fully equipped to cater for residential and
non-residential corporate and social events. Many venues have accommodation separate to student accommodation and the rates are often considerably lower than many hotels.
Accessible – Academic venues tend to have good access in terms of on-site parking that is either free or very reasonably charged which makes them affordable for attendees also.
3
known branded coffee outlets; they also have reasonably priced on-site restaurants, bar facilities and catering services. This takes the stress out of worrying about catering options for your event.
4
Convenient – Academic venues have audio-visual equipment as standard in their venues which is included in package rates for venue hire. This helps reduce event costs as external equipment hire is not necessary. E
5
Fully catered– Not only are academic venues usually home to a range of well-
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