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When working with various clients to plan a meeting, conference, or event of any kind, one of the big pieces is the site selection. Site selection is a process with a purpose. The site has to have the correct parameters for the event that will be held there.
The size of the plenary session needs to be adequate to comfortably fit all the attendees in a comfortable setting and one that makes sense for the topic and attendee participation, if any is expected. The meeting planner also needs to take into consideration if any large screens are going to be used, what media will be used, will the attendees be able to see easily, and what room set-up is preferred.
Meeting “flow” is another area that is important for each event. The number of meeting rooms and the size and arrangement of the meeting space to be utilized can have a large impact here. How large is the General Session room? How many breakouts are needed? Where are they located? Are they on the same level as the rest of the event? Can attendees access them easily? Can the rooms easily accommodate the audio-visual equipment needed?
And, how far away is the food? Yes, that is always an important question for everyone! RDL staff never likes to use the same rooms for meals that meetings are being held in when they can avoid it but we do want it close by. (Having meals in a separate space gives people a chance to get up, stretch, and move a bit. Plus, the change of scenery can be good for a mental break as well.) And attendees don’t like to be too far away from the food either. Considering all the flow and potential uses of space before selecting a site is incredibly important.
Another important thing to consider when selecting a venue for a client is the location of the event. Is it convenient? Is it located close to public transportation? For those flying to the event, where is the airport in relation to the venue? How about the subway/train? And, for those driving in, what parking options exist? Take into consideration ADA access & limitations, such as the location of elevators in relationship to sleeping rooms & meeting space. Where are the restaurants and the recreational facilities and how easy is it to access them?
One of the final, but vitally important, considerations for many clients is the price. What will it cost to hold the event there? How much are the sleeping rooms? What is the cost of the food & beverage? Is there a cost for the meetings space? Is the venue willing to work with us to meet budget limits? Can the client afford it?
All of these items are important and will help guide the client towards selecting the most appropriate venue for their event. Keep these suggestions in mind and enjoy your next event!
~ Cyndy Hutchinson • Executive Director, RDL enterprises
Showing posts with label space. Show all posts
Showing posts with label space. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
How can I get free meeting space for my event?
I love this question! It is a very common one, especially from first-time clients that I’ve worked with. I think that is partially because it is an obvious cost that impacts an event’s bottom line and it is one that many properties are often willing to waive. However, since hotels (and other meeting venues) are in business to make money, the real question to my mind is – under what circumstances would they give me free meeting space? If I can answer that question, then I just might get free space for my client’s event…
To figure this out, I start with something called the Rooms-to-Space Ratio (sometimes called Space-to-Rooms Ratio). Simply put, this is a comparison of the percentage of guest rooms in the hotel that a group will use, compared to the percentage of meeting space that the group needs. For example, if you are using 50 rooms in a hotel that has 500 total guest rooms, then you are using 10% of the guest rooms. Similarly, if you are using a ballroom that is 5,000 square feet in size and the hotel has 20,000 square feet of meeting space, then you are using 25% of the available space.
A good rule of thumb is that if your guest room percentage is equal to or higher than your meeting space percentage, the hotel will be willing to give you the space for free (or sharply discounted). The greater the difference is in favor of guest rooms, the more willing the hotel will be to give you the space for free. Now, there are some key modifiers to the ratio (such as the contracted rate for the guest rooms, when you want to use the space, and which specific rooms you want to use) but examining the basic percentages is a good place to start.
What happens if the group has a poor Rooms-to-Space Ratio (lots of space and few guest rooms)? Now you have to pull out the big guns – and your group history. Show the hotel that the value of your business is high enough and they’ll negotiate with you on the space rental fees. Your group history can give you the documentation you need to make your argument stick. Remember what I said about them being in business to make money? I know of groups who use a lot of meeting space and fill relatively few guest rooms – but they get good discounts on room rental because their planner could show (from their group history) that attendees who did stay in the hotel would spend a lot of money in, for example, the bar and the restaurant. Hotels are willing to take a loss in one area (space rental) to gain a larger profit in another (outlets). Incidentally, this is also why many properties do not charge a room rental if you are doing a lunch or a dinner in the room. The money they make by catering the event more than offsets the money they “lose” by not charging a rental fee.
OK, so what if the group has a poor Rooms-to-Space Ratio and a small economic impact for the hotel (or no group history)? Here is where you might have to get creative – and flexible with your dates. Can you meet during slow periods at the hotel? This could be a certain day (or days) of the week or certain times of the year. When demand for space is low or nonexistent, a hotel is much more willing to let you have the space for free simply to get some business into the property, even if it is not as profitable as they might like. After all, if the hotel has no events, then those profit centers produce no income at all. Another option to consider is to look for gaps you can fill in the hotel’s schedule. Perhaps they have a group that is using a lot of guest rooms but little meeting space. If that is the case, your large meeting space needs and small guest room requirements might fit perfectly – and they’d be willing to comp the space as an incentive for you to book with them.
I have frequently heard in industry trainings that “everything is negotiable”. That is true – to a point. There are limits but you can always ask... However, if I know what the other side is able and likely to do, then that does give me a slight edge in negotiating. At the very least, it allows me to understand the constraints that my opposite numbers in sales have to work within, as well as allowing me to demonstrate knowledge that reveals me to be a good partner for them to work with (at least, I hope that’s how they see it). I have also found that knowing what is possible and being realistic about the things I ask for when negotiating with hotels has led to more successful contracts (i.e. getting more of what I want) than starting out asking for the sun and the moon.
~ Karl Baur, CMP • Project Director, RDL enterprises
To figure this out, I start with something called the Rooms-to-Space Ratio (sometimes called Space-to-Rooms Ratio). Simply put, this is a comparison of the percentage of guest rooms in the hotel that a group will use, compared to the percentage of meeting space that the group needs. For example, if you are using 50 rooms in a hotel that has 500 total guest rooms, then you are using 10% of the guest rooms. Similarly, if you are using a ballroom that is 5,000 square feet in size and the hotel has 20,000 square feet of meeting space, then you are using 25% of the available space.
A good rule of thumb is that if your guest room percentage is equal to or higher than your meeting space percentage, the hotel will be willing to give you the space for free (or sharply discounted). The greater the difference is in favor of guest rooms, the more willing the hotel will be to give you the space for free. Now, there are some key modifiers to the ratio (such as the contracted rate for the guest rooms, when you want to use the space, and which specific rooms you want to use) but examining the basic percentages is a good place to start.
What happens if the group has a poor Rooms-to-Space Ratio (lots of space and few guest rooms)? Now you have to pull out the big guns – and your group history. Show the hotel that the value of your business is high enough and they’ll negotiate with you on the space rental fees. Your group history can give you the documentation you need to make your argument stick. Remember what I said about them being in business to make money? I know of groups who use a lot of meeting space and fill relatively few guest rooms – but they get good discounts on room rental because their planner could show (from their group history) that attendees who did stay in the hotel would spend a lot of money in, for example, the bar and the restaurant. Hotels are willing to take a loss in one area (space rental) to gain a larger profit in another (outlets). Incidentally, this is also why many properties do not charge a room rental if you are doing a lunch or a dinner in the room. The money they make by catering the event more than offsets the money they “lose” by not charging a rental fee.
OK, so what if the group has a poor Rooms-to-Space Ratio and a small economic impact for the hotel (or no group history)? Here is where you might have to get creative – and flexible with your dates. Can you meet during slow periods at the hotel? This could be a certain day (or days) of the week or certain times of the year. When demand for space is low or nonexistent, a hotel is much more willing to let you have the space for free simply to get some business into the property, even if it is not as profitable as they might like. After all, if the hotel has no events, then those profit centers produce no income at all. Another option to consider is to look for gaps you can fill in the hotel’s schedule. Perhaps they have a group that is using a lot of guest rooms but little meeting space. If that is the case, your large meeting space needs and small guest room requirements might fit perfectly – and they’d be willing to comp the space as an incentive for you to book with them.
I have frequently heard in industry trainings that “everything is negotiable”. That is true – to a point. There are limits but you can always ask... However, if I know what the other side is able and likely to do, then that does give me a slight edge in negotiating. At the very least, it allows me to understand the constraints that my opposite numbers in sales have to work within, as well as allowing me to demonstrate knowledge that reveals me to be a good partner for them to work with (at least, I hope that’s how they see it). I have also found that knowing what is possible and being realistic about the things I ask for when negotiating with hotels has led to more successful contracts (i.e. getting more of what I want) than starting out asking for the sun and the moon.
~ Karl Baur, CMP • Project Director, RDL enterprises
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
A Closer Look at Space Requirements for Event RFPs
Time to examine in more detail another area that is a must to include on your event RFPs – Space Requirements.
When I discussed the major areas that needed to be covered by your RFP, I said that you needed to provide an outline of the space requirements for the group and gave a couple of details that go into that outline. Let’s look at those items a bit more closely and see what we can add to them. And, remember, you will need to provide this information to the venue for each function room for each day of your event.
1. How many rooms will you need and how will they be used? This is usually pretty easy to figure out but can throw a couple of curves at you. If you have a general session and four concurrent breakout sessions for your one-day event, you might be tempted to simply put that you need five rooms. However, the venue may want to know if the general session room can be used for one (or more) of the breakouts. The answer to that will change your space requirements. Does your program have the flexibility and time to do a “change-over” from one set to another like that? Will you be providing lunch or dinner or holding a reception – or all of the above? Will those food functions need to be served in their own spaces or can they use rooms already held for the meeting portion of your agenda? All of these questions affect the answer to “how many rooms do you need?” After all, if you don’t know how the space you’re requesting is going to be used, how can the venue properly prepare for you?
2. What types of room sets will each room need and for how many people? This is a critical component of your RFP. Since each type of room set takes up a different amount of space, providing this information allows the venue to figure out how much space they need to commit for your general session, each breakout, or any other function you might hold as part of your overall event. For more about room sets, check out these posts: types of room sets, what is the best room set, and how to calculate room capacities.
3. When will you use the space you are requesting? Do not just assume that the venue knows that you need the space from 8am to 5pm – tell them. Likewise, if you know that your general session is in the morning only and your breakouts are only in the afternoon, let the hotel know so they can block out space accurately for you. If you need a 24-hour hold on a room, you had better say so. Otherwise, you may find that the venue has sold the space you are using during the day to another group to use for their dinner. In many cases, this is not an issue but I will always ask for my “office” room to be held on a 24-hour basis. Another example: if I have an extensive audio-visual setup, I do not assume that the venue will automatically reserve the space for me overnight. I will ask for a 24-hour hold – and explain why I am requesting it.
I also stressed in my previous post the importance of making realistic estimates of your event’s attendance and space needs. This is where your group history is invaluable to you. Even if you do not share all of the historical details you have for the group, that history will guide your requests. You will know what they have used in the past, what trends exist (if any), and when a particular space request is outside the bounds of what the group historically has done.
~ Karl Baur, CMP • Project Director, RDL enterprises
When I discussed the major areas that needed to be covered by your RFP, I said that you needed to provide an outline of the space requirements for the group and gave a couple of details that go into that outline. Let’s look at those items a bit more closely and see what we can add to them. And, remember, you will need to provide this information to the venue for each function room for each day of your event.
1. How many rooms will you need and how will they be used? This is usually pretty easy to figure out but can throw a couple of curves at you. If you have a general session and four concurrent breakout sessions for your one-day event, you might be tempted to simply put that you need five rooms. However, the venue may want to know if the general session room can be used for one (or more) of the breakouts. The answer to that will change your space requirements. Does your program have the flexibility and time to do a “change-over” from one set to another like that? Will you be providing lunch or dinner or holding a reception – or all of the above? Will those food functions need to be served in their own spaces or can they use rooms already held for the meeting portion of your agenda? All of these questions affect the answer to “how many rooms do you need?” After all, if you don’t know how the space you’re requesting is going to be used, how can the venue properly prepare for you?
2. What types of room sets will each room need and for how many people? This is a critical component of your RFP. Since each type of room set takes up a different amount of space, providing this information allows the venue to figure out how much space they need to commit for your general session, each breakout, or any other function you might hold as part of your overall event. For more about room sets, check out these posts: types of room sets, what is the best room set, and how to calculate room capacities.
3. When will you use the space you are requesting? Do not just assume that the venue knows that you need the space from 8am to 5pm – tell them. Likewise, if you know that your general session is in the morning only and your breakouts are only in the afternoon, let the hotel know so they can block out space accurately for you. If you need a 24-hour hold on a room, you had better say so. Otherwise, you may find that the venue has sold the space you are using during the day to another group to use for their dinner. In many cases, this is not an issue but I will always ask for my “office” room to be held on a 24-hour basis. Another example: if I have an extensive audio-visual setup, I do not assume that the venue will automatically reserve the space for me overnight. I will ask for a 24-hour hold – and explain why I am requesting it.
I also stressed in my previous post the importance of making realistic estimates of your event’s attendance and space needs. This is where your group history is invaluable to you. Even if you do not share all of the historical details you have for the group, that history will guide your requests. You will know what they have used in the past, what trends exist (if any), and when a particular space request is outside the bounds of what the group historically has done.
~ Karl Baur, CMP • Project Director, RDL enterprises
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
What is the best room set for a meeting?
Well…that depends on the meeting. There really is no one style that is best in all situations. The “best” style of room set is dependent on how much space you have to work with, how many people will attend, and the purpose of the meeting. Take the time to look at your meeting in detail, and the answer will often present itself – especially if you are familiar with the basic room sets and when to use them.
In this post, I examined five “standard” room set categories that are used for most meetings and conferences. Today, I’d like to take another look at them and consider when and why you might use each one.
For a typical meeting, Classroom (or Schoolroom) seating or Theater seating are the most commonly used. These sets work best when the meeting is presentation-centered, meaning that the focus of the meeting is on the presentations. Of the two, I prefer to use Classroom seating since it offers participants a place to set their drinks and a surface to write on. Theater seating, though, is great for maximizing the number of seats you can get into the room.
If you need the meeting participants to be more actively involved in the meeting, then I would consider using a set that allows everyone to sit around the same table as much as possible. This means using either a variation of Hollow Square or a variation of Rounds (Banquet seating). Rounds can be done as “full” or “crescent” and are good for when you have a mix of lecture-style presentations with some small group work – and you need to do it all in the same room.
Hollow Square, as a general category, covers (in my mind) any room set that creates a rectangular workspace with the meeting participants along the outside. If the number of people is small, then you could do this as a Boardroom Table or as “Conference” seating. As the number of people who need to sit at the table increases, you eventually reach a point where the middle of the table “disappears” and you have a Hollow Square. A U-Shape seating arrangement simply removes one side of the square, which then becomes the front of the room. Hollow Square and its variations are good for meetings in which the participants need to engage each other on a regular basis throughout the day and any presentations are there to support their work. Board meetings, planning group meetings, and strategy meetings are all examples of meetings that would use this type of seating. A word of warning, though, about this style of room set… If you get above about 40 or 50 people, it no longer becomes practical for everyone to sit at the table. The set takes up an enormous amount of space and it becomes increasingly difficult for participants to see or hear people on the opposite side of the table. Technology (microphones, video monitors, etc.) can mitigate this somewhat, but you still reach a point at which that fails as well.
For those rare occasions in which you do not need (or want) seating for the meeting, you can use Reception seating. This style allows you to provide small tables, called “highboys” for people to use as writing surfaces. It also encourages shorter meetings since people are less inclined to take a long time if they have to stand through the entire meeting. I have often seen this approach suggested as a way to shorten staff meetings for that very reason.
So, which is best? None of them. As I mentioned at the start, many factors go into making that determination for each meeting. Is this a lecture-type of meeting, with a series of speakers presenting from the front of the room? Will the attendees need to interact with each other to do group exercises? Do you even need seats?
And, how much space does each of these sets take? Check out this post for a discussion about seating capacities, or you can download this one-page cheat sheet showing how many people can fit into a room for each style of seating.
~ Karl Baur, CMP • Project Director, RDL enterprises
In this post, I examined five “standard” room set categories that are used for most meetings and conferences. Today, I’d like to take another look at them and consider when and why you might use each one.
For a typical meeting, Classroom (or Schoolroom) seating or Theater seating are the most commonly used. These sets work best when the meeting is presentation-centered, meaning that the focus of the meeting is on the presentations. Of the two, I prefer to use Classroom seating since it offers participants a place to set their drinks and a surface to write on. Theater seating, though, is great for maximizing the number of seats you can get into the room.
If you need the meeting participants to be more actively involved in the meeting, then I would consider using a set that allows everyone to sit around the same table as much as possible. This means using either a variation of Hollow Square or a variation of Rounds (Banquet seating). Rounds can be done as “full” or “crescent” and are good for when you have a mix of lecture-style presentations with some small group work – and you need to do it all in the same room.
Hollow Square, as a general category, covers (in my mind) any room set that creates a rectangular workspace with the meeting participants along the outside. If the number of people is small, then you could do this as a Boardroom Table or as “Conference” seating. As the number of people who need to sit at the table increases, you eventually reach a point where the middle of the table “disappears” and you have a Hollow Square. A U-Shape seating arrangement simply removes one side of the square, which then becomes the front of the room. Hollow Square and its variations are good for meetings in which the participants need to engage each other on a regular basis throughout the day and any presentations are there to support their work. Board meetings, planning group meetings, and strategy meetings are all examples of meetings that would use this type of seating. A word of warning, though, about this style of room set… If you get above about 40 or 50 people, it no longer becomes practical for everyone to sit at the table. The set takes up an enormous amount of space and it becomes increasingly difficult for participants to see or hear people on the opposite side of the table. Technology (microphones, video monitors, etc.) can mitigate this somewhat, but you still reach a point at which that fails as well.
For those rare occasions in which you do not need (or want) seating for the meeting, you can use Reception seating. This style allows you to provide small tables, called “highboys” for people to use as writing surfaces. It also encourages shorter meetings since people are less inclined to take a long time if they have to stand through the entire meeting. I have often seen this approach suggested as a way to shorten staff meetings for that very reason.
So, which is best? None of them. As I mentioned at the start, many factors go into making that determination for each meeting. Is this a lecture-type of meeting, with a series of speakers presenting from the front of the room? Will the attendees need to interact with each other to do group exercises? Do you even need seats?
And, how much space does each of these sets take? Check out this post for a discussion about seating capacities, or you can download this one-page cheat sheet showing how many people can fit into a room for each style of seating.
~ Karl Baur, CMP • Project Director, RDL enterprises
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
How many people will that room hold? – Revisited!
Back in July, I posted a piece talking about how to roughly calculate how many people a room could hold. (Click here to read the original post.) Given the popularity of that particular post, I decided to do this follow up – and include a free cheat sheet (link at end of post) for quick reference. This one page document gives me an easy way to know ahead of time how much space a particular event is likely to need.
Once again, here are the approximations I most frequently use:
Banquets (60” or 72” rounds): 15 square feet/person
Classroom (18” tables): 15 square feet/person
Classroom (30” tables): 20 square feet/person
Theater or Reception: 10 square feet/person
Hollow Square: 40 square feet/person
If you use my numbers and compare them to most space calculators, you will find that the calculators will usually give you more people in the same square footage than my estimates. This is because most calculators do not take into account audio-visual equipment – mine do. I also try to make sure that my attendees have enough space to be comfortable, instead of squished together as tightly as possible. My approximations take this “comfort factor” into account as well.
Please note that, if you have extensive audio-visual requirements or elaborate sets, you will need significantly more space. As always a property’s Convention Services Manager will be able to help you determine the best fit for your event in the spaces they have.
- Karl Baur, CMP • Project Director, RDL enterprises
Download Cheat Sheet (PDF)
Once again, here are the approximations I most frequently use:
Banquets (60” or 72” rounds): 15 square feet/person
Classroom (18” tables): 15 square feet/person
Classroom (30” tables): 20 square feet/person
Theater or Reception: 10 square feet/person
Hollow Square: 40 square feet/person
If you use my numbers and compare them to most space calculators, you will find that the calculators will usually give you more people in the same square footage than my estimates. This is because most calculators do not take into account audio-visual equipment – mine do. I also try to make sure that my attendees have enough space to be comfortable, instead of squished together as tightly as possible. My approximations take this “comfort factor” into account as well.
Please note that, if you have extensive audio-visual requirements or elaborate sets, you will need significantly more space. As always a property’s Convention Services Manager will be able to help you determine the best fit for your event in the spaces they have.
- Karl Baur, CMP • Project Director, RDL enterprises
Download Cheat Sheet (PDF)
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Pillars are Killers
In a previous post,I mentioned briefly the need to be aware of the actual shape of a room when deciding how many people could fit into the space. Just recently, I had this come up in a project I was working on with on of our meeting planners…
We had booked a room for a client’s reception (as part of a larger program), which was located a short distance away from the bulk of the meeting space assigned to our client’s conference but still within the hotel. The distance was not a problem, since folks would have a break between the end of the last session and the start of the hotel. Besides, the room had great lighting and ambiance, overlooked the pool, and was close to the bar – all advantages for this particular event. The room also had pillars, which was not an issue as people would be mingling and, apart from a few announcements that would be made throughout the evening, there was no program to speak of. In fact, the pillars could be used to good advantage in this case. We could decorate them to reflect the theme of the evening, we could place food around them to make natural “centers” around which people could meet, or we could even combine the two approaches.
As happens frequently in the run up to a conference, plans changed… the reception needed to move to a different room (for various reasons) and we started considering the room as a place for lunch. Great idea! People would love the natural light the room offered and there was plenty of space for everyone to fit comfortably. The speaker would have a great backdrop to their talk and…wait a sec…did we just say “speaker”? Yes. The Keynote Speaker would be on right after lunch, with slides… This is not good. The room has pillars, several of them, spaced fairly evenly throughout the room. This would mean that many people would not be able to see the slides (or the speaker) and the speaker would not be able to see most of her audience. We quickly re-looked at our space and found a much better alternative for them to use.
As the meeting planners for this client, we had done a site inspection of the hotel, where we physically looked at the space and walked through the areas we would be using. We were aware of the advantages and drawbacks for the space – the location within the hotel, the room size, the existence and placement of pillars and windows, etc. – and could work around that, finding the best fit for our client’s program. What was a non-issue, or even a plus in one instance, would have been a liability in another. By knowing the space in more detail beyond what was listed on the hotel’s spec sheet, we avoided a potential crisis long before it could become a problem.
- Karl Baur, CMP • Project Director
We had booked a room for a client’s reception (as part of a larger program), which was located a short distance away from the bulk of the meeting space assigned to our client’s conference but still within the hotel. The distance was not a problem, since folks would have a break between the end of the last session and the start of the hotel. Besides, the room had great lighting and ambiance, overlooked the pool, and was close to the bar – all advantages for this particular event. The room also had pillars, which was not an issue as people would be mingling and, apart from a few announcements that would be made throughout the evening, there was no program to speak of. In fact, the pillars could be used to good advantage in this case. We could decorate them to reflect the theme of the evening, we could place food around them to make natural “centers” around which people could meet, or we could even combine the two approaches.
As happens frequently in the run up to a conference, plans changed… the reception needed to move to a different room (for various reasons) and we started considering the room as a place for lunch. Great idea! People would love the natural light the room offered and there was plenty of space for everyone to fit comfortably. The speaker would have a great backdrop to their talk and…wait a sec…did we just say “speaker”? Yes. The Keynote Speaker would be on right after lunch, with slides… This is not good. The room has pillars, several of them, spaced fairly evenly throughout the room. This would mean that many people would not be able to see the slides (or the speaker) and the speaker would not be able to see most of her audience. We quickly re-looked at our space and found a much better alternative for them to use.
As the meeting planners for this client, we had done a site inspection of the hotel, where we physically looked at the space and walked through the areas we would be using. We were aware of the advantages and drawbacks for the space – the location within the hotel, the room size, the existence and placement of pillars and windows, etc. – and could work around that, finding the best fit for our client’s program. What was a non-issue, or even a plus in one instance, would have been a liability in another. By knowing the space in more detail beyond what was listed on the hotel’s spec sheet, we avoided a potential crisis long before it could become a problem.
- Karl Baur, CMP • Project Director
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
A Quickie Guide to Room Sets
There are many approaches to setting up a room for an event but, if you think about it, there really are only so many ways that you can fit people, chairs, and/or tables into any room. So what are the common types? Let’s take a look at the five standard sets…
Banquet Seating: This one seems pretty self-explanatory; people sit around a table and eat. Yes, that is true, but there are other possibilities. Typically, a 60” Round will seat eight people and a 72” Round will seat ten (60” or 72” refers to the tables diameter). This is a good style to use for banquets, hence the name, but can also be used for meetings where you might have to have people work in small groups. Each table forms a pre-made "group". This style of seating is also often used when a planner wants to have a meal function in the same room as the meeting. A common variant is something called crescent rounds. This uses a standard round but seats fewer people around it. I will usually use a 72” Round to seat 6-7 people, removing the chairs that have their backs facing the front of the room. This allows everyone at the table to face the presenter, yet still be in a small group for planned activities.
Classroom (or Schoolroom) Seating: Again, a fairly obvious description. In this case, you are providing long tables (18” or 30”, referring to the depth or width of the surface rather than the height or length of the table) at which chairs are placed along one side. All of the chairs face the front of the room, with the tables providing a space on which to work. Tables are typically either 6’ or 8’ in length.
Theater Seating: This is simply using rows of chairs, all facing the front of the room. And, just like going to the theater, you do not usually have a surface to write on. This style maximizes the number of people that you can fit into a room for a session.
Reception Seating: Huh? A Reception has seating? Sometimes, yes, it does. When I provide seating for a reception, we’re typically talking about a mix of tables. “Highboys” stand waist-high to chest-high and provide attendees with a place to set their drinks and snacks while socializing. I’ll often provide a few regular Rounds as well for people who wish to sit down rather than stand the whole time. In both cases, the number of “seats” is generally far less than the total expected attendance. Among other things, this helps encourage mingling.
Hollow Square: This is a rectangular formation of tables (not necessarily a true square) with chairs spaced along the outside, all of which are facing inward. This style is great for board or committee meetings. However, it does use a lot of space and can become a bit unwieldy when your numbers grow beyond about 20 people or so. A variation of Hollow Square, called Conference Seating, is often given its own category. It is typically a single table with seating for 1-2 people at either or both of the short ends and the rest of the chairs along each long edge.
I have seen many more seating arrangements than just these five – and I’m sure I haven’t seen every possible combination either. Some groups use just one kind of seating for their events and others mix it up from one event to the next, while some mix styles within the same room – whatever they need to use to support their program effectively, really. However, you don’t need to know every possible set or style to be an effective meeting planner. As long as you keep this basic set of five styles in mind, you can find an appropriate seating style for nearly any meeting.
- Karl Baur, CMP • Project Director
Banquet Seating: This one seems pretty self-explanatory; people sit around a table and eat. Yes, that is true, but there are other possibilities. Typically, a 60” Round will seat eight people and a 72” Round will seat ten (60” or 72” refers to the tables diameter). This is a good style to use for banquets, hence the name, but can also be used for meetings where you might have to have people work in small groups. Each table forms a pre-made "group". This style of seating is also often used when a planner wants to have a meal function in the same room as the meeting. A common variant is something called crescent rounds. This uses a standard round but seats fewer people around it. I will usually use a 72” Round to seat 6-7 people, removing the chairs that have their backs facing the front of the room. This allows everyone at the table to face the presenter, yet still be in a small group for planned activities.
Classroom (or Schoolroom) Seating: Again, a fairly obvious description. In this case, you are providing long tables (18” or 30”, referring to the depth or width of the surface rather than the height or length of the table) at which chairs are placed along one side. All of the chairs face the front of the room, with the tables providing a space on which to work. Tables are typically either 6’ or 8’ in length.
Theater Seating: This is simply using rows of chairs, all facing the front of the room. And, just like going to the theater, you do not usually have a surface to write on. This style maximizes the number of people that you can fit into a room for a session.
Reception Seating: Huh? A Reception has seating? Sometimes, yes, it does. When I provide seating for a reception, we’re typically talking about a mix of tables. “Highboys” stand waist-high to chest-high and provide attendees with a place to set their drinks and snacks while socializing. I’ll often provide a few regular Rounds as well for people who wish to sit down rather than stand the whole time. In both cases, the number of “seats” is generally far less than the total expected attendance. Among other things, this helps encourage mingling.
Hollow Square: This is a rectangular formation of tables (not necessarily a true square) with chairs spaced along the outside, all of which are facing inward. This style is great for board or committee meetings. However, it does use a lot of space and can become a bit unwieldy when your numbers grow beyond about 20 people or so. A variation of Hollow Square, called Conference Seating, is often given its own category. It is typically a single table with seating for 1-2 people at either or both of the short ends and the rest of the chairs along each long edge.
I have seen many more seating arrangements than just these five – and I’m sure I haven’t seen every possible combination either. Some groups use just one kind of seating for their events and others mix it up from one event to the next, while some mix styles within the same room – whatever they need to use to support their program effectively, really. However, you don’t need to know every possible set or style to be an effective meeting planner. As long as you keep this basic set of five styles in mind, you can find an appropriate seating style for nearly any meeting.
- Karl Baur, CMP • Project Director
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