Should You Hold An Indoor Or Outdoor Meeting?

One of the biggest questions that an event planner has to decide is whether or not to have an indoor or outdoor meeting. Both have their advantages and disadvantages so to help you decide, here are the benefits and possible consequences of both settings.

Indoor Meetings

A lot of planners love using indoor spaces for their events because it allows them to control every facet of the space. It’s a blank canvas. You can play around with lighting, drapery, furniture selections, and music.

Some of the consequences that you might experience with indoor meetings are that you are limited by the size and shape of the room. For a large event, for example, you may have to get a little creative in order to find an indoor venue that can seat that number of people. You may not be able to use the preferred venue of choice because it can’t support the number of people that are coming. Fire safety is another aspect that you have to worry about. Your seating arrangements and decorations have to follow a code that can detract from the experience.

Yet you also don’t have to worry about inclement weather. In places where the weather can change at a drop of the hat, indoor venues are sometimes the safer options. This is also true based on seasonal changes. Extreme heat or cold, for example, can completely ruin the experience of those attending the event. Even high winds can make the experience miserable if not dangerous. If the event happens to be during a tumultuous season change, then it might be best to remove that risk and simply have the event in the climate-controlled indoors.

Outdoor Meetings

Yet, meetings held outdoors can be a lot of fun too. If anything, you can be even more creative outdoors. For one, you might be able to use a space that no one else would have thought to have an event at. You can completely make a brand new experience for those attending the event. The venue can also work in your favor. For example, it could showcase a beautiful scenic overlook or even the skyline of a city.

Outdoor venues can sometimes also come with a lot of space. You don’t have to worry about people feeling as though they’re crowded. Your decorations can also be as minimal or eccentric as you want. Outdoors allows you to play with shapes, colors, textures, and layouts to create an event that’s entirely unique.

Of course, the biggest problem with outdoor meetings is the weather. In areas where the weather is temperate and calm, you may not have any problems. Yet, it is hard to predict the weather. Even the temperature can drastically change as the sun sets and the moon rises. Sometimes this can be adjusted by including large fans or heaters. An event planner should understand the weather and conditions of an outdoor venue space before deciding to host an event there.

Mix and Match

Of course, you could always offer the best of both worlds instead of deciding between an indoor or outdoor meeting. Perhaps a room is booked for speeches and the dinner, but the main party and cocktail hour is held outdoors. Or perhaps the opposite is true. You can mix and match indoor and outdoor venues to offer the best of both worlds to your clients.

An indoor venue, for example, could offer huge windows to look outside. Or an outdoor venue can feature comfortable furniture that is typically used indoors. Experiment to see what works best.

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