Remember, the shoe has to fit! Too often venue size, furniture arrangements, and overall aesthetic is not chosen with the audience or agenda in mind. Instead of providing the crowd with an unforgettable experience, they are left to fend for themselves as they maneuver a venue full of disruptions, inconvenient fixtures, and limited seating.
Three things to keep in mind when you’re choosing a venue for your Event:
Know how many attendees you’re anticipating, larger crowds don't provide flexibility with seating arrangements.
Venues tend to exaggerate the number of people they can actually accommodate, so always check out the venue in person.
Don’t forget to take note of any permanent fixtures that might restrict your layout options.
Now, let’s transition into layouts appropriate for a professional conferences’ content:
Theater Style: for big conferences, presentations, annual meetings, or lectures.
Classroom Style: for note-taking at longer events or trainings where attendees might be using laptops.
Cabaret Style: for meals with presentations and performances, more for luncheons.
Boardroom Style: for medium-sized meetings or brainstorming and breakout sessions.
U-shape Style: for interactive sessions or debates.
Pods Style: for networking sessions or team-building.
Semi-circle Style: for small meetings and one-person presentations.
Ultimately, your goal for room layouts should always be to optimize crowd participation and experience.
To learn more, check out the full article here.
Dia Bondi is a Leadership Communications Coach helping Founders and Leaders know their voice so they can lead with it and the author of Ask Like an Auctioneer: How To Ask For More and Get It. We loved sitting down with Dia to get her advice and tips around the formula for speaking powerfully, and how to achieve mastery before you step on a stage.