EventCamp 2019: What Event Planners Are Looking for in a Venue

If you want your venue to get booked by event planners, be strategic about reaching out to them. Your first communication can make or break the sale.

The panelists at our EventCamp 2019 session, What Event Planners Are Looking for in Venue, said that email is a preferred way to make initial contact with them and get their attention. The session included moderator Latha Youngren, VP of Marketing at Tripleseat, and panelists Sarah Kelley Freeman, Business Development at Destination Musick City; Ali McQueen Canon, Manager of Global Accounts at HelmsBriscoe; Angela Proffitt, Entrepreneur, Wedding and Events Expert; and Desiree Wooldridge, Meeting and Event Planner at Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation.

“The ones that are reaching out are going to be at the front of my mind and I’m going to book more events with them,” Kelley Freeman said.

McQueen Canon encouraged venues to include details about what they offer in that initial email. Photos, links to websites, contracts, amenities, packages, and other details or documents will help your venue stand out and save the event planner valuable time.

“I can talk to you forever about your hotel, but if I haven’t seen a picture of it, it’s not going to stick in my mind from a phone conversation. But if I get an email that’s short and sweet, with some really awesome photographs, I’m going to remember that and it’s really easy for me to then forward that on to my clients and say hey, maybe we should look at this place for the next event,” she said.

The email length is important as well, said Wooldridge. Think about the subject line and the first two or three lines — that’s all some event planners see when they’re scanning their inbox on their phone. The more information you share in the least amount of text will get you a response.

“The more that you can say — introduction, best fine dining in Austin, or whatever’s going to be quick. Always attachments with pictures or proposals, something that then I can file, something where the action item on my part is very easy,” she said.

Proffitt said that if you see that an event planner has a contact form on their website, fill it out instead of sending an email.

“If you fill out our form on our website, our contact form, we use a lot of automation. And so when you fill out that form, that form is going to get to me and that form is going to take priority over any of our emails because that’s how we are getting leads,” she said.

The panelists also discussed what their clients are typically looking for in a venue, deal breakers, popular client requests, the information that they look for on a venue’s website, maintaining relationships with venues, and more. Watch the full panel discussion below.

EventCamp 2019 What Event Planners Are Looking for in a Venue from Tripleseat on Vimeo.

Don’t miss the next EventCamp!
We’ll announce our plans for EventCamp in early 2020. Sign up for email updates to be the first to know the details and get access to earlybird ticket rates. You can also access past sessions and tips by viewing EventCamp posts on the Tripleseat blog or by visiting the EventCamp website.