Ten factors to take into consideration when selecting an association meeting location:
1) Your Program
2) Your Attendees
3) Look into your Past
When considering a location for your Association Meeting,
your history may be the guideline to your future.
When you conduct your Association Meeting evaluations do you ask questions specifically related to the conference location; the hotel, the city, etc.? The feedback you gain from your attendees including exhibitors and speakers is valuable information when planning for future meetings.
If your attendees like the fact that your meeting was held at a hotel resort far from distractions, then why would you not want to plan another meeting in a similar location? If they hated the downtown hotel because of all of the hustle and bustle associated with big cities, would you go back?
Look at where your meeting has been in the past. Do you see attendance patterns that can be associated with the location? For example, if you are in a second tier city with average attendance yet your meeting held in a first tier city broke attendance records, you need to ask yourself why?
Do your attendees want you to “rotate” locations – east coast vs. west coast; North America vs. Europe? Where have you already been? Do your attendees want to go back? Or do they want to go someplace new? Ask!
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