When it comes to finding the perfect partner, you wouldn’t just pick the first one you see. You want to discover if they like the same things, hold the same beliefs or just remember to take off their socks before bed. So with that in mind, why would you pick the first venue you find?
With the focus on going green, choosing a venue partner who holds the same beliefs is vital. Why wouldn’t you want to pick someone who does their part to reduce their impact on the environment and puts people at the centre of it all!?
But how exactly do you find the perfect venue that matches your company values? You can’t exactly speed date buildings – that would be weird. So we’ve put together a few handy tips to help you find that dream location.
1. Accreditations are key
We can all say we’re good at something, but it’s always great when we can back it up with evidence. When it comes to looking for the perfect venue for you, try to look for venues that hold the Green Tourism Award. This snazzy award demonstrates the venue has committed to reducing their impact on the environment and they’ve got that shiny accreditation to prove it. It’s pretty easy to find, as most venues will show the Green Tourism Badge logo on their website. If you find venues that hold an ISO accreditation, which we’re proud to have been awarded, that’s a bonus too!
2. Accessibility and inclusivity
Sustainability isn’t just about recycling you know. An accessible, inclusive venue is vital to the success of any event. Lack of inclusivity instantly creates a negative brand experience, and in this day and age, there are no excuses. Make sure to ask venues about how they’re championing inclusivity, whether that be through tech advancement like Holoplot, having disabled access throughout the building or even sign language interpreters available for delegates.
3. Putting people first
With people playing a key factor in corporate sustainability, it’s important to choose a venue where they put their people first too. Make sure to check out their Glass Door score and have conversations about how they keep their people safe and motivated.
This is because your venue should reflect your brand, so in your search for the perfect partner, it’s important to also think about whether you see any similarities between your brand and theirs. Just like dating, if the vibes are off, it’s probably best to skip the second date.
4. Keeping things local
Venues that use locally sourced and in-season ingredients are a great way to boost sustainability and support the local community in the process. There’s no need to have meals shipped out from the other side of the country if you can get great quality ingredients right on your doorstep! Displaying menus during lunch and dinner service that show where the ingredients have come from provides assurance to delegates, which has become so important.
5. Keeping things (energy) efficient
For us, we want to work with venues that look to reduce their energy and waste consumption, and we engage in conversations around the strategies and measures venues have in place to do this. This can include daylight-enhanced meeting rooms, reducing plastic usage, the use of LED lighting, and even solar-powered facilities.
The move to more sustainable solutions isn’t going to happen overnight. But even the little things have a huge impact! Did you know that we’ve created a brilliant traffic light rating system to make sourcing a sustainable venue for our clients a whole lot easier?
Whenever we’re pitching a new solution, we’ll explore what sustainable considerations our preferred venues are making, so our clients can feel confident from the start that their venue is contributing to reducing their impact and making a difference to the environment.
Read more on how we’re championing sustainability with our Innovation report on Sustainability.