Oregon Data Community/Oregon SQL has had their conference at many sites in both Portland and Vancouver. My first SQL Saturday was back in 2011 at the appropriately named Climb Center in Portland. There was an elevator, but it was small and slow, so it was faster to carry things up and down the four flights of stairs. This brings forth a number of good points in location selection
- Ease of Access – Internal – adding inclusivity to your event. Stairs are rarely anyone’s friends. Be mindful that you will be on your feet for at least twelve hours, AS WILL YOUR TEAM AND VOLUNTEERS. If you want to keep everyone coming back, try to find a site that has easy access to the site and easy traverse around the site. Your energy level at hour ten will be a little bit lower than at hour one. It’s hard to find sites that don’t have stairs, but if they do, try to mitigate their impact by having elevators and hopefully all the needed equipment on the higher floors. Having to haul tables and chairs up and down stairs is not fun for anyone and it can be dangerous!
- As a corollary to this, it’s so important that we make sure that EVERYONE in our community is able to make it to the site, into the site, and around the site. When looking at sites, think about wheelchair access, for ingress and egress, but also for bathrooms and even drinking fountains. We want to make this a welcoming and safe location for everyone.
- Additional corollary, how does the internal map of the site work? Are the rooms logically located to the main area?
- Ease of Access – External – Parking. When reviewing the site, think about how long it will take to haul the supplies into the site and OUT of the site. Can you park close to the doors in a loading zone? Are there restrictions to where you can park? Will you have to compete with other events? What about any external vendors? One of the reasons we picked our recent site is because our food vendor had a solid area for their outdoor cooking setup. Another reason was because not only did they have disabled parking areas, but they also had very good ramps from the parking lot into the site. Another issue is that schools will have sporting events at the same time as our event, so that will limit parking. Think about the calendar date.
- Location of the Site – How close are you to public transportation and transport hubs like airports and train stations? This is a double whammy. Not only do you need to be reasonably close to your wonderful speakers that are paying their own expenses to come to the event, but you also want to be reasonably accessible for your attendees! There are lots of great sites that are 10 – 30 miles away from all forms of transportation, but that would negatively impact the attendance of both speakers and attendees. It’s not any fun for the speakers to not have an audience.
- Insurance Policy – it’s going to be a requirement by most sites, and you need it to cover any “slip and fall” that happens during your event. A few hundred dollars is a lot cheaper than a lawsuit. Also consider an alcohol rider if you plan on having any sort of libations at the end of the event. There are a number of additional details to consider if you have alcohol, but either way, have a liability policy ready.
- Food Service – Sites will have a list of required vendors, preferred vendors, or no requirements at all. If there is a list of preferred vendors, take a look at the offerings. Sadly many of them offer box lunches which I hate because of the packaging waste. If you’re going to do sandwiches, a platter is better for the environment, and usually allows for people to choose the best food for their preferred diet. If you’re going with an outside vendor, ask lots of questions. I will discuss food in greater detail in another post!
- Non-profit Price – First of all, make sure your group is a registered 501c3 nonprofit. Then be sure to ask for the non-profit prices. Some sites will provide it in the site pricelist, but sometimes you have to ask. If you can’t get a non-profit price, do some more looking in the area.
- Distance to attractions and restaurants. As many of us know, the best part of the event can be the “after” celebration and it’s where the best networking will happen. Are you within walking distance to the local pub? Are there good food selections nearby if you don’t offer food service? When I spoke at SQL Saturday Denver, their location was a few blocks away from many restaurants. While it’s nice to have a catered lunch, having a choice can be just as good.
Think about the flow of your event, both externally and internally. It’s important to make it easy for the attendees, the volunteers, the speakers, and the vendors. Each group is critical to the success of your event, so try to make sure it’s
- Easy to get to the event
- Easy to navigate the event
- Easy to enjoy the surrounding businesses
- Easy to set up, manage, and strike the event!
Don’t forget to ENJOY the event either!
