How to write a venue RFP that comes back comparable

Why the quotes disagree

Venues quote in different shapes on purpose. One includes AV and service charge, another excludes both. One holds space for fourteen days, another for two. One states a gross rate, another a net. Put side by side, they are not comparable, and the decision defaults to the photographs.

The fix is in the RFP, not in the analysis afterwards.

Specify the programme, not the room

Say how many people in plenary at which set, how many parallel breakouts, what turnaround you need between sessions, where catering happens without emptying the plenary, and what the production draws in power and rigging.

A venue that fails on ceiling height or rigging capacity cannot be rescued by a good rate, and you want to discover that in week one.

Dictate the response format

Ask for net rate, service charge and tax as separate lines. Ask what is genuinely included. Ask for the AV exclusivity position and an indicative in-house AV cost. Ask for the cancellation curve at 90, 60 and 30 days, the attrition percentage and the room block cut-off date.

Provide a table for them to complete. Suppliers who will not complete it are telling you something useful.

Ask the awkward questions early

What else is in the building that week? What is the load-in access and the lift dimension? Are there pillars in the back third of the plenary room? What is the force majeure wording? Who else has held these dates?

These are cheap questions in week one and expensive discoveries in month four.

Then walk the building

A technical site inspection measures the things that decide your production budget. It is not a tour of the lobby, and it is worth the flight.