Room Design [ HOW TO SET UP YOUR EVENT SPACE ]

Transcription

1 Room Desig [ HOW TO SET UP YOUR EVENT SPACE ] There are so may compoets of plaig a evet ad so may decisios! I this article you will lear about some factors that will help you choose the best space for your busiess meetig evet ad the ideal way to set it up. The cosideratio for your room layout ad desig will vary accordig to the space you choose. Are you havig your evet at a typical site such as a hotel ballroom or meetig ceter? Or are you tryig to substatially chage a space ito a evet site? Examples of this would be chagig a buildig lobby ito a baquet room, a warehouse ito a theater, or a tet ito a meetig ad lucheo space. You d be amazed at how spaces ca be trasformed ad with some visio ad help from people who have doe it before you ca make the drabbest space ito a visual woder. But we d like to remid you that the more stadard the evet site, the less you have to thik about. For starters, you eed to kow how large a space you ll eed to accommodate all your attedees. You certaily do t wat your guests to feel that they re ucomfortably packed i, but you also do t wat the room so large that it appears the crowd is too small. As a geeral rule of thumb, pla o 10 to 20 square feet per perso. Oce you've choose your space, you will eed to thik about what arragemet of tables ad chairs would best serve your evet goals. This may seem uimportat, but the way people are seated (or ot seated!) makes a huge differece i their ability to iteract with each other ad to direct their attetio to a focal poit. As if there are t eough logistics to thik about, you also must kow somethig about the state fire code. Yes, the arragemet of tables ad chairs will determie your guests comfort ad ability to iteract, but it is also key to their safety should there be a emergecy.

2 Room Desig WHAT S THE BEST WAY TO ARRANGE YOUR CHAIRS AND TABLES? The aswer to this questio depeds upo may variables, icludig your evet goals, the size of your crowd, whether there s a preseter or a audio-visual compoet, etc. Take a look at these 5 styles to see which oe most closely fits your objectives. Theater Style Theater style floor plas chairs are typically set up i rows. The spacig of rows ad aisles depeds upo the width of the room ad the total seatig eeded. The seats face a stage area, head table, or speaker. This is a very flexible room set-up. Rows ca be semi-circular, straight, or agled toward a focal poit. Accordig to state fire codes (read more o page 7), you must have a miimum of 12 betwee rows, but we recommed 18 to 24 to allow attedees easy movemet i ad out of the row. Typically each row is limited to 15 seats maximum, however, more is possible by icreasig the distace betwee the rows. If your chairs have a arrow width, space them several iches apart to esure your guests comfort. PROS Most efficiet set-up for large groups i a presetatio format CONS Elevatio chages are eeded for large groups No writig surface or food service optio Miimal opportuity for group iteractio 2

3 Room Desig Baquet Style Baquet seatig typically refers to guests seated at roud tables. Geerally the best umber of people to put at a table depeds o chair sizes ad what you re placig o the table. A geeral rule of thumb for table size: 4 for 6 people; 5 for 8-10 people; 6 for people. For a istructioal type evet, use larger tables or less people per table to allow evet attedees to have extra space to place their otebooks ad other materials. For a evet that is a combiatio of food service ad presetatio, cosider crescet roud tables so o oe has to tur aroud. Here s a example to the right 5 roud tables are the best size table for ecouragig coversatio ad iteractio. Pla o betwee 4 to 5 feet betwee tables to allow eough room for comfortable seatig ad wait staff movemet. Be aware that whe you are orderig table lie, although lie that goes to the floor looks elegat, it is more challegig for the perso to sit at the table. Your guests will be more comfortable if the lie is a few iches off the floor. 3

4 Room Desig U-Shape Style U-shaped floor plas lay out coferece tables ad seatig to form a U toward the frot of the room where a preseter will lead a discussio. This layout is ofte used for meetigs or discussio groups where there is a speaker, audio-visual presetatio or other focal poit. A miimum of 24 of table space is required per attedee, with 30 providig the most comfort. Skirt the iside of the U if attedees are beig seated oly o the outside. Avoid this setup for groups greater tha 25, as the sides of the U become too log ad may ot promote participatio from all attedees. PROS Good workspace Ecourages iteractio betwee participats Ideal whe audio-visual or speakers are ivolved CONS Not ideal for larger groups Not space efficiet space i the ceter may be wasted 4

5 Room Desig Classroom Style Classroom style icludes rows of coferece tables ad chairs facig the frot of a room with writig space for each perso. This set-up is ideal for ote takig, meetigs requirig multiple hadouts or referece materials, or other tools such as laptop computers. This is the most comfortable set-up for log sessios ad allows refreshmets to be placed withi reach of each attedee. Tables that exted beyod the stage or podium should be agled toward the speaker. Allow for approximately 24 to 30 of space per perso at each table. Miimum space betwee tables is 3 feet. Provide more if space allows, for ease of movemet i ad out of the rows. PROS Preseter ca see all participats Accommodates large groups i less space Note takig is easier CONS Not coducive to attedee iteractio Participats oly see each other s backs Not efficiet use of space compared to theater style 5

6 Room Desig Coferece or Boardroom Style This floor pla has all the attedees sittig aroud a closed table eviromet. Most appropriate for groups of less tha 25, it is iteded for attedees to have close iteractio. It s most ofte used for Board meetigs, committee meetigs, or discussio groups. Remember, the larger the set-up, the harder it is for attedees to see people at the other ed of the table. PROS Good workspace Good workig atmosphere Ecourages iteractio betwee participats CONS Not ideal for audio-visual presetatios Not ideal for speakers Not coducive for large groups 6

7 Room Desig ARE YOU IN COMPLIANCE WITH FIRE LAWS? The safety cocers associated with special evets are as uique as the evets themselves. The cocetratio of people at large gatherigs may produce problems i physical movemet ad behavior of the occupats, the capacity of the exits, the maiteace of proper aisles or the proper width, ad the method of alertig occupats i case of a emergecy. Evets are usually atteded by people who do ot use the buildig frequetly ad are ufamiliar with exit locatios, exit paths ad other safeguards that may be preset. Take a look at just some of the areas that fall uder the provisios of fire code: Occupat loads (kow your room capacity; the fire code has a per perso occupat requiremet) Table, chair ad aisle spacig Egress: capacity, meas of, width, impedimets to (i.e. draperies over exit doors) Sources of illumiatio, emergecy lightig Sigage Stairs, ramps, hadrail, riser heights Stage ad platform costructio Vetilatio Fire protectio The fire codes are legthy ad iclude may caveats based o the veue type ad locatio. Your evet plaer or fire marshal ca help make sure your evet space is i compliace. 7

8 Room Desig WHAT SHOULD I KNOW ABOUT STAGES? How High? You may ot have thought about it, but if you re plaig o havig a riser or a stage at your evet, its height is very importat for the audiece s visibility. It is also depedet upo may variables: Are your attedees sittig or stadig? Do you have preseters? How may people will be o stage? What do you wat your attedees to see? If your audiece is seated, you ca use a lower stage tha if they are stadig. Here is a stadard guidelie you ca follow: # of Attedees Stage Height Up to to to to to to to 48 How Big? The overall size of the stage you ll eed is primarily determied by two factors: 1) the umber of people that will be o it, ad 2) the size of the veue. You wat the stage to feel right for the size of the room. For example, if you do t have may people that will be o the stage, but your veue is very large, you will wat a big stage. Just imagie a tiy stage at the XL Ceter! 8

9 Worry Free Evets Guarateed Get some sleep the ight before your evet. After producig over 11,000 evets, we ve got everythig covered. From iitial creative developmet ad plaig, to every behid-the-scees stagig ad soud detail, you will have peace of mid that your evet will ru smoothly ad worry free. Each evet has a dedicated accout maager, 24/7 coverage, ad a experieced team of stagig, video ad lightig professioals dedicated to your success. For a free cosultatio about your ext evet, call us at or evets@evetresources.com 333 Park Aveue, East Hartford, CT evets@evetresources.com Hartford s #1 Meetig ad Evet Plaer Hartford Busiess Joural, 2011 Busiess Meetigs Recogitio Evets Award Ceremoies Graduatios Gala Diers Cliet Appreciatio Evets Cocert/Theatrical Evets Grad Opeigs Fudraisers & Beefits Career Fairs Semiars/Workshops Press Evets Pael Discussios Executive Forums Employee/Ivestor Meetigs Product Lauches Fashio Shows Team Buildig Evets Traiig Programs Commuity Festivals