Anyone that had booked a venue for a conference, meeting, training or any type of event knows that it can be a time-consuming and often daunting experience. With so many venues out there how do you select the best one for your event? How do you know what’s good and what’s bad and that you’re receiving the best value for money?

The answer to the above is through knowledge and experience – something you simply can’t buy or develop overnight.

The fundamentals of a company specialising in Venue Finding – our core service here at Hippo – is that they . It sounds too simple, right? But it’s true – we do the research, legwork, proposal writing, negotiation, book site visits, day-to-day liaison, draw up and review the contracts all whilst negotiating the best rates due to our buying power and relationships, all for free!

We are always asked, “but how do Hippo make money then?” It’s pretty simple; we receive a commission from venues (usually between 8 – 10% of the contracted value – yes, we are transparent here at Hippo!), which in turn covers our costs, therefore not needing to charge our clients. What’s more important, is that Hippo have no ties or agreements to specific venues or hotel groups, meaning we are entirely independent and impartial.

Let’s take a deeper look into the “time” element first…

Experience and knowledge are developed through time. We are extremely skilled at placing the right type of event at the most suitable venue, and this is in huge part through our knowledge and dedicating the time to go see venues first-hand. In fact, as part of our Continuous Education Programme, we dedicate minimum one day a month to visiting venues in order to keep our knowledge as up to date as possible. Furthermore, attending industry events (IMEX, IBTM, Meeting Shows, Venue & Events Live etc.), office meetings and FAM trips are crucial to staying on top of the continuously expanding venue market.

Where clients have been unable to attend due to time, we have been known to visit and assess venues on our client’s behalf (and with them) and provide independent reports with their personal preferences and needs in mind. Taking plenty of pictures and videos we send these through to clients if they’re unable to attend themselves.

Anyone that has ever done a venue find knows that venues send through quotations each in their own individual and different formats. There’s certainly no industry standard layout, and as such someone that doesn’t have the time or experience in sifting through the barrage of information they receive can find it extremely confusing, frustrating and time consuming.

We simplify the venue finding process by comparing and contrasting all quotations to ensure they all essentially quote for the same criteria when creating our venue proposals. We take all this information and put it together in a very easy to read proposal format, allowing our clients to digest the key information, rather than overloading them with the intimate details at the initial stages. A snapshot view of each venue is beautifully presented, saving our clients hours in comparing the detailed quotes themselves.

Moreover, the chase-calls you may get from venues are shielded by the agency, rather than receiving these calls yourself. At times, we can have tens of these calls per day, which could be frustrating for a client who has 101 items on their to-do list, most of which are probably not involving events!

Once a relationship is built with an agency, they will get to understand your business and your needs, making the next event even easier. They can even proactively keep you informed of special offers at your favourite venues and know what is important to you when searching for a venue.

So, what about the “money” side…

Do we really save you money? The answer is quite simply, yes. Here’s why.

Agencies have great buying power. The number of events placed per year is often far larger than the client directly – after all, agencies have a large client base as opposed to one single client. This allows for greater movement in the rates as the venue isn’t selling to only one client through the agency, they’re effectively selling to all the agencies clients by default. It’s similar to economies of scale.

Relationships with venues are built up over time, and they’re often in a position to negotiate excellent rates as a result. The events business is a small world and as such strong bonds between venues and agencies are formed, allowing for negotiation of rates at a deeper and more effective level. We treasure our relationships and spend a huge amount of time on these as we believe they are key to success.

When pulling together the rates from each venue, agencies work to ensure everything is considered for your event. At Hippo we ensure there are no hidden venue costs that may be incurred at a later date, instead including any predicted future costs in our initial quotes. This negates any surprises along the way, as you’ve already set your budget based on the venue you selected. There’s nothing worse than having to find extra money for additional AV, drinks, F&B etc. so instead of quoting the minimum spend required by a venue, we instead include the actual cost of F&B you’re likely to incur.

And then there’s the added bonus…

The very nature of a venue finding agency’s job is that they’re also well connected with other types of suppliers. If you need a venue, it’s likely you’ll need a few of these extras too – AV, Entertainment & Décor, Print & Design, Transportation, Technology, Delegate Management to name a few – so it’s reassuring to know you’ll get even more support, contacts and expertise than expected. Hippo offer Event Project Management services in addition to Venue Finding, so we’re extremely well connected with the best suppliers out there.

With expert knowledge and invaluable skills, venue finding agencies bring real value to clients who have to organise meetings and events on a regular basis. We provide a reassurance to clients by giving them the security of knowing they have people with experience behind them – someone they can pick up the phone to and ask. If you need help, please give us a call, we’d love to hear from you.

Hippo offer Event Project Management and Global Venue Finding services all over the world – from Surrey and Hampshire to Sydney and Tokyo. Please feel free to contact us today on 01372 460 100 or email on enquiries@hippoevents.co.uk