e-Communiqué

August/September 2006

Published exclusively for members of ACCED-I

I don’t know about your campus, but on ours there has never been a lot of thought put into event space. Aside from the faculty club, which holds only about 60 people, there are not a lot of options for events on campus. This has forced me to become quite creative when planning event locations, resulting in celebrations held in lobbies, a football team’s locker room, and our student art gallery. It’s a far cry from a podium set up in the faculty club, but this creative approach makes for memorable occasions for guests and staff alike.

The University of Regina has some great student space, but it isn’t always practical. Students don’t always take kindly to us commandeering their area. However, we have made events work in a student area fondly referred to as “the pit.” (Think of a big sunken living room with benches around the edges, a few coffee tables and well-used orange carpet.) This has been a popular student hangout since day one. At times the students have found this area set up with tables, white linens, flowers and tropical plants for a university event. We’ve had everything from news conferences to retirement parties in this area, and it works. The students show consideration for these staff and faculty events and have been great about respecting that.

Another student area that I’ve used is our student art gallery. Our gallery is run totally by students who make all the decisions from what art goes on the wall to who uses the area. Last year, a locally-famous Canadian artist donated a wonderful large piece of sculpture to the university. We were able to have the unveiling and news conference portion outside at the site of the sculpture, but we wanted to follow this public event with a private luncheon. The logical place to hold it was in the student art gallery. It took some convincing to use the space, but it was well worth the effort. It was the perfect space for the luncheon and the event was a great success.

Speaking of outside events…well, I’ve seen snow in this province every month of the year but July. That means you can plan an outside event, but you have to have a back-up plan. It’s like planning two events. Our campus has some good outdoor space. But wind and mosquitoes are quite often an issue, so much so that even in a tent, it’s still not ideal. We do hold a couple of large outside events each year. One is our annual “Gathering on the Green” staff and faculty picnic and the other is a kick-off event for the welcome week for students. Usually, though, when someone asks about doing an event outdoors, my first response is, “How long have you lived here?”

Quite often, we will take over a lobby area for an event. We have to be careful to keep the fire marshals happy, but we will set up chairs and a podium off to one side in a lobby. We’ve used these areas for receptions and news conferences.

We even have held a news conference in a test lab (I hope to someday host a reception there as well.) It shows people a different side of campus that they may not always see and it allows the faculty to showcase its work. I find that hosting events in locations where the public or even staff and faculty are not normally allowed access creates interest. I once held a small awards luncheon for a group of staff in the common room of our newly built student residence. It was an area the award winners had never had access to, and it had a wonderful view that few employees had ever seen. The group felt very special, which is one of the things that I wanted to achieve.

The space that gets the best reaction is when people find out I hold formal dinners in our university football team’s locker room. You probably have the same question I did: “Doesn’t it stink?” Well, it could be that our football team hasn’t been working that hard, or it could be that the facility is almost brand new, or it could be just a really great ventilation system, but this room smells as sweet as a rose.

The president was so pleased with the first event that we held there, I only wished I could have taken credit for the idea. I was planning a donor event for the room next door, the Rams Memory room. It is a great space with all sorts of football memorabilia, nice leather couches and a door leading out to a patio. Then, the event I was planning had an overwhelming response; if we used this area, the tables were going to be really tight. I was debating what to do when our football coach came in and suggested using the locker room instead. I thought he was nuts. I checked out the locker room, found it did not smell, and knew our donors would be much more comfortable in there, so I went for it. The event was a major success and people were thrilled to be in the Rams locker room. There is a sound system and a big screen TV, and the coach is very accommodating – hanging jerseys on the lockers for effect and making sure all our needs are met. He is even going to have a dimmer switch installed so we can control the lighting. What more could I ask for?

I’ve continued to use this room for a number of major events. It’s great to see people’s reactions and it’s just a wonderful space. I still use the Rams Memory room, but for smaller receptions, as they’ve now added a large boardroom table. What were they thinking? Not about my need for event space, that’s for sure.

The one drawback to using an odd or unusual event space is that it can create a nightmare for your caterer and may make your event costs rise. Access to things as simple as water can be difficult. A liquor permit may be hard to obtain. The area may need special attention from cleaning staff if it is an area usually not open to the public. You need to do a very good on-site inspection before you decide to use the space. A respect for the unique items in the area is also a must. For example, if guests were to leave their drinks on lab equipment or play with some of the buttons in a particular area, years of research could be lost. It takes a good relationship with your caterer and the person responsible for the area to get over the hurdles, but in my experience it’s well worth it

In conclusion, I’d have to say I’m always looking at every nook and cranny in the university in a different way-wondering what type of event might work in that space, realizing nothing is off grounds or that outrageous. I encourage you to do the same at your university or college. The reaction of your guests just might surprise you as you create an event that they will never forget.