1. Whatever event you put on, they're always enthusiastic about it
A Hire Space venue manager not only helps you set up a room, but also makes sure that your guests will have a memorable experience. Once, Harry Upton who's based at Madame Tussauds, hosted an after party for 750 Star Wars fans. Not exactly a fanatic himself... What did he do? He read up on everything Star Wars, got the DJ to mash up the saga's theme songs and everyone danced their night away with life-sized Star Wars figures!
2. They always come to your rescue when your worst event planning nightmare comes true
Let's face it, a lot can go wrong when organising an event. Booking the wrong event date for a 150 people seated dinner is probably the worst mishap possible. Hannah Stock, who now works at 41 Portland Place, has a lifesaving habit of checking in with clients on the day before the event. When she was working in the Gold Coast of Australia, she checked in with a client as usual. Long story short, a client realised in horror that their event was actually on that very evening, not the next day as he had booked. Within 7 hours, Hannah had everything ready for 150 guests who were oblivious to the manic preparations that had taken place.
LaiHa Diamond from Kingsway Hall Hotel said it best: Be flexible and turn the crisis into a positive thing.
One of LaiHa's clients once approached her with a 3-day conference brief, just 5 days before the first event day! Turned out that client was let down by another venue, and for those of us who have organised multi-day conferences, a huge amount of resources and revenue is at stake, not to mention the risk of damaging future conference performance. LaiHa turned this around and the client ran a successful conference despite the last-minute venue change, and no delegates were let down. Go LaiHa!
3. They are multi-tasking champions
Every venue manager has varying responsibilities within different venues. Though one thing is always true - they are the liaison between clients and the venue teams, making sure every stakeholder is on the same page from planning to execution. They know the venue inside-out, understand what logistics limitations there are for bulky supplies, entertainment noise level and timings, and most importantly, they make sure both the client and venue teams are happy.
"Every day can be different, and that's why I love being in the events industry", said Harry at Madame Tussauds. He told us that his lists of things to do can range from site visits to contracting, conceptualising new event offerings with suppliers and content creation about past events for marketing purposes. On an especially busy day, you may find him in the Sealife London Aquarium, where the resident penguins help him to focus!
4. They are openminded and accommodating
Victoria Mayhook, who looks after Victorian Bath House, hosted a birthday party for 50 guests, where a long table was set up for a private dining experience. She was pleasantly surprised by the birthday girl's request to source a coffin from which she would jump out to greet every guest at their arrival!
5. They always reply to your emails, and efficiently
Hire Space venue managers take their emails very seriously. Elodie Baran is based at London Marriott Hotel Park Lane. She makes sure new enquiries are responded to and follow up questions are answered. Having been on the other end of the waiting game, she makes sure no one is in the email limbo.
If you've ever enquired with D&D London's restaurants, you might have spoken to Francesca Lucci, who is famous within the Hire Space team for being super fast and efficient to new and ongoing event enquiries!
Discover more Hire Space Venue Managers' stories in
10 Reasons Why Hire Space Venue Managers Are Events Superstars: Part II
