At Ridgecrest, we work with a range of Event Planners.  Some planners are professional Event Planners with multiple years of experience, some are volunteers that are planning an event for the first time, and most are somewhere in between.  If you are planning a large conference with a lot of moving pieces and are unsure about on-site coordination logistics, you might consider requesting a pre-con meeting.  A pre-con meeting brings key venue contacts together to review the details of your event. However, not all conferences need a pre-con meeting.  Here are some questions to ask yourself:

1. Is this your first time at a new venue?
2. Are you planning a large event with several hundred guests?
3. Do you have several catered events, including banquet meals, receptions, and multiple snack breaks?
4. Are you offering multiple breakout sessions with complicated set-up or audiovisual requests?  Have you requested multiple conference room set-up changes?

5. Do you know the key players in different venue departments (audiovisual, catering, Front Desk)?
6. Are you comfortable navigating the campus and locating your lodging buildings, meeting spaces, and dining facilities?
7. Do you anticipate a lot of last minutes changes to housing or meeting space requests?
8. Are there any other special considerations for your event?

If you aren’t sure if a pre-con meeting is necessary for your event, check in with your venue contact.  They will be able to make a recommendation based on their experience with events similar to yours.  You may not need to meet with the full venue operations team.  It may be sufficient to schedule a meeting and brief tour with your venue contact once you arrive on-site.  They can give you a refresher on where your lodging, meeting space, and dining spaces are located (keep in mind you should have already completed a planning site visit months ago).  Most of your on-site needs will likely be filtered through your venue contact, but they may also introduce you to any key contacts and provide you with an after-hours point of contact.  

You want to start your event feeling prepared and confident about the on-site coordination process.  Asking yourself some key questions and evaluating your pre-con needs before you arrive will help you begin well.  At Ridgecrest, we are happy to answer any questions that you have.  We are here to serve you with purposeful hospitality and support you throughout your event experience.