Executive summary
When deciding a good venue to hold annual general meetings, planners face a lot of problems in coming up with the best location that has all the requirements related to space, security, catering, and cost. Below is a consideration of three locations, chosen within Perth, in Australia. The three locations are analyzed accordingly and a recommendation on the best location given.
1.0 Introduction
When planning for an annual general meeting for a big organization, the site should meet the following requirements. To start with, the room should be big enough to accommodate all the people. Secondly, it should be in a central location with access to off street packing. Thirdly, a consideration of people with disabilities is a must therefore; the location should have access to wheelchair. Finally, the venue should have catering services taking care of all dietary varieties. Three venues were researched and the most appropriate one recommended to the General Manager.
2.0 Analyzing the three locations
Below is an overview of the three selected locations in Perth, Australia. The three hotels are; Perth Forest Centre, Perth Convection and Exhibition Centre, and Medina Grand Perth.
2.1 Perth Forrest Centre
The first location is Perth Forrest Centre located at St Georges Terrace, 221 Street in Australia. The Hotel has a conference rooms and boardrooms that can handle more than 100 people. In addition, the hotel is situated at the Central Business District where many organizations are located thus making it easier for the members to access its facilities. Its location offers major transport links in and out of the city. On the issue of security, the hotel has humble parking that can accommodate more than 500 cars. The design also took consideration of the disabled since it is easier for people in wheelchairs to access the conference rooms and other facilities within the hotel. On technical issues, the hotel offers high speed internet connection in every room, availability of video conferencing studios whereby clients can follow proceedings at their own rooms, and voicemail services. Perth Forest Centre offers catering services, games facilities and heated swimming pools (Regus PLC, 2010).
2.2 Perth Convection and Exhibition Centre
Perth Convection and Exhibition Centre is an international conference centre located at 21 Mounts Bay Road. It is a 30 minutes drive from PER Perth airport. The Centre has won awards in catering due to the high quality food served within the premises. Most companies in Australia prefer its location since it has well suited conference rooms with adequate spaces occupying 1790 square meters and can accommodate up to 1000 delegates. The location has well equipped rooms with high level of technology offering videoconferencing since there are computers in all training rooms. The conference staffs have high level experience on technology thus allowing communication within and outside the conference area reliable and fast. On the other hand, Perth Convectional and Exhibition centre has a good access to street parking. The only disadvantage of hiring the Centre is its high cost since one conference room goes for 500 US Dollars per hour (EventFinder, 2012).
2.3 Medina Grand Perth
Medina Grand Perth offers services like; conferences and meeting venues seminars and other organizational functions its clients who mostly come from Kings Park. The meeting rooms are pleasant, affordable and adequate to hold as many as 50 people at once. The hotel has well trained staffs who take good care of clients from the booking time until they exit the hotel premises. Requesting for a meeting room is easier and efficient due to availability of the current technology in the hotel. The hotel has three conference rooms. Organizations holding meetings in this hotel enjoy these free services accompanied by refreshments when ordered for. In addition, the hotel is located in a central position therefore; people can easily access it from all corners of the city. The management at Medina Grand Perth was very considerate while locating and designing the hotel. People with disabilities can easily enter the conference areas at ease since the floor provides for wheelchair access. Moreover, the hotel has quick access to internet and people in the conference area enjoy online communication without disturbing the meeting progress. Parking is well managed and secure within the available parking rots that can accommodate more than 300 cars. On the issue of catering, the hotel offers a variety of dishes taking care of all diets. Vegetarians are well catered for and treated with a balanced diet (Medina Apartment Hotels, 2012).
3.0 Conclusion
Locating a best venue to hold organizational meetings requires the selecting team to have a lot in mind. From the above discussion, all the three hotels seem to have equal weights but a thorough look at them creates a very big margin. The characteristics shown on the introduction part plays a great role in determining which location to go by. On the other hand, a factor worth considering is the cost of hiring these hotels. Although Perth Convection and Exhibition is a high class conference location and its facilities are perfect, the cost of hiring a room is too high. At Perth Convection, the cost per hour is 500 US dollars compared to Perth Forrest that charges 75 US dollars and Medina Grand Perth charging 60 US dollars per hour. On the other hand, the meeting is scheduled for 70 members therefore choosing a location with a capacity of more than 100 members leads to more cost incurred by the company. The other issue is on accessibility of the venue to organization executives. If the hotel is located far away from the city centre, people will find difficulties reaching those places. Moreover, people holding meetings come from different races and religious backgrounds. A hotel that caters for all these people needs is recommended so that each and every person feels comfortable while attending the meeting.
4.0 Recommendations
Perth Forrest Hotel is the one recommended for holding the annual general meeting for the organization. To start with, the hotel is spacious enough to hold more than 70 members. Secondly, the parking lot is well secured and has easier access to the main highways. In addition, the hotel charges are moderate considering the services offered within the conference rooms. Perth Convection and Exhibition Centre have good facilities but the cost of hiring this location is too high. The problem is an organization has to book the whole conference room which has a capacity of 1000 while the required capacity is approximately 100. On the other hand, Perth Convection is a bit expensive and lacks catering services that take care of all diets. Medina Grand Perth is a good venue but it has limited space since it can hold only 50 members per meeting.
References
Eventfinder. (2012). Perth Convection and event Centre. Retrieved from:
http://www.eventfinder.com.au/venue/perth-convention-and-exhibition-centre
Medina Apartment Hotels. (2012). Conferencing and Events. Retrieved from:
http://www.medina.com.au/medina-grand-perth/conferencing-and-events
Regus PLC. (2010). Executive Suites & Office Space. Virtual Offices and Meeting Rooms.
Retrieved from:
http://www.regus.com/locations/AU/Perth/PerthForrestCentre.htm?product=offices
