September is basically the Monday morning of the events calendar.
Everyone’s back from holiday. The out of offices are finally off. The summer social is a distant memory. And then it starts.
“Have we booked the Christmas party?”
“We should probably get the team together before the end of the year.”
“Can we do something nice for the clients?”
“Oh, and we’ll need somewhere for the January kick off.”
Excellent.
If your event calendar has gone from suspiciously quiet to mildly alarming in the space of about three working days, welcome to The September Scramble.
Here’s what’s suddenly on everyone’s list and why now is a very good time to get booking.
The Christmas Party
We’ll start with the big one.
For months, Christmas has felt comfortably far away. Then September arrives and someone casually asks where the Christmas party is being held this year.
Silence.
If this is you, don’t panic. But also… maybe panic a tiny bit.
The most popular dates and venues get snapped up quickly, particularly those coveted Thursday evenings in December. So if you’ve been waiting for someone to make a decision, this is your sign to chase them.
Before you start searching, get these five things confirmed:
- Rough guest numbers
- Preferred dates, plus at least one backup
- Location
- Budget
- The vibe
And by vibe, we mean more than “somewhere nice”.
Are we talking dinner and drinks? DJ and dancing? Rooftop? Private dining? Full blown Christmas extravaganza? Or absolutely-no-tinsel-under-any-circumstances?
The clearer the brief, the easier the search.
St. Ermin’s Hotel, Autograph Collection
The Client Dinner
September also seems to trigger a collective realisation that there are approximately 14 clients everyone has been meaning to catch up with.
And obviously, you should definitely get something in the diary before Christmas.
Cue the hunt for private dining rooms.
The good news is that a client dinner doesn’t need the logistical operation of a 300 person Christmas party. A brilliant restaurant, private room or hotel dining space can do most of the heavy lifting for you.
The trick is finding somewhere that feels impressive without screaming:
WE ARE TRYING VERY HARD TO IMPRESS YOU.
Great food. Lovely room. Easy location. Good service. Done.
The Q4 Team Away Day
You knew this one was coming.
Everyone has returned from their summer holidays refreshed, energised and apparently desperate to spend an entire day discussing Q4 strategy.
Enter: the team away day.
But please, for the sake of everyone involved, it doesn’t have to mean eight hours in a windowless meeting room.
Look for somewhere that gives you a proper change of scenery. A country house. A hotel with grounds. A creative space. Somewhere with activities. Even just a meeting room with actual daylight is a promising start.
If you’re taking people away from their desks for the day, make it somewhere they’ll actually be pleased to go.
The “We Should Do Something Before Christmas” Event
Our personal favourite brief.
No one quite knows what the event is yet.
There may not be a budget.
There definitely isn’t a date.
But everyone agrees that something should happen.
Helpful.
This could eventually become drinks, a team social, networking, a lunch, a dinner or an entire company celebration.
Before opening 27 browser tabs and hoping inspiration strikes, pin down three things:
Who is coming? What do you want the event to achieve? How much do you realistically want to spend?
Once you’ve got those, the venue usually becomes much easier to figure out.
The End of Year Meeting
Slightly less glamorous. Still needs a venue.
Whether it’s a company update, leadership meeting, sales conference or one final attempt to get everyone in the same room before half the office disappears for Christmas, the end of year meeting tends to sneak onto the calendar around now.
And this is where practical things really matter.
Good transport links. Proper AV. Enough space. Decent coffee. Food people will actually eat.
And preferably a room where nobody has to sit directly behind a pillar.
It’s the little things.
And Then There’s January…
We know. Nobody wants to talk about January in September.
But Future You will be absolutely delighted with September You if you sort this now.
January brings sales kick offs, strategy days, annual meetings, conferences and the inevitable:
“It would be great to start the year by getting everyone together.”
Of course it would.
While everyone else is fighting over December dates, have a look at what needs to happen in January and February too.
Book the venue. Put it in the calendar. Feel incredibly smug when January arrives.
We support it.
So, How’s Your September Looking?
If you’ve got a Christmas party, client dinner, away day, meeting, team social and a mysteriously vague “something before Christmas” sitting on your to do list, you’re in good company.
September is the scramble.
Finding the venue doesn’t have to be.
HeyVenues brings hundreds of venues together in one place, from private dining rooms and meeting spaces to party venues, country houses, hotels and everything in between.
Search by what you need, discover venues you might not have considered and enquire directly with the venues that fit your brief.
Because you’ve got enough to organise already.
Search. Discover. Book.
Find your next venue on HeyVenues.
Written by Aimee at HeyVenues