Tag: Meeting Rooms

7 Things to Consider Before Hiring a Speaker

Post author By Deeley
Post date June 13, 2016

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When it comes to planning or hosting an event, deciding who will do the talking is a big priority. Your speaker or emcee will be addressing, entertaining, and engaging your audience, so choosing the right person is important. There are many qualified speakers out there, but not everyone would be suited for your event.

To help you learn the ropes of how to go about hiring a professional, we’ve put together a list of seven things to consider before hiring a speaker.

Know your goals

Understanding your goals and being able to communicate the intent of your event with your speaker is key. Depending on the type of event you’re hosting, the requirements will be different. Whether your goal is to inspire, educate, or purely to entertain, knowing your goals and sharing them with your speaker allows them to customize their performance to your event’s needs.

Consider your audience

The person you hire should be able to relate to your audience, understand their wants and needs, and deliver a performance will live up to their expectations. Getting to know your audience will help you weed out speakers that might not necessarily engage your audience.

What is your budget

Events are costly; hiring a speaker can be an additional and often unexpected burden. Knowing your budget is the key to not overextending yourself (or your resources) later. Good speakers can charge a significant amount of money, so knowing whether an influential speaker is important or not will help you figure out where to spend and where to cut costs in your event budget.

What’s important to you

Would you rather have someone who dazzles and entertains, or motivates and inspires? As with understanding your audience and goals, knowing what characteristics you want in a speaker or what you want them to get the audience to do twill help you add or eliminate candidates from your list of potential speakers

Who is available to you

After considering all of the above factors, it’s time to start reaching out to people and find out who is actually available for your event. Influential speakers tend to have busy schedules, so if you already know that you need a specific speaker or that you need a big name for your event, you should do this step first.

Check their references

Your potential speaker might seem perfect on paper and great in person, but taking the time to check references and review previous performances is crucial. Ask the candidate for their last three performances and references in addition to what they have already prepared. This will ensure that they aren’t just choosing their best performances, and that you’ll have a better idea of their skill.

Trust your instincts

After prioritizing your event’s needs and narrowing your searches, you need to rely on your instincts. This event is yours, you understand what it needs and what it lacks. Trust your instincts when selecting a final candidate, and choose someone who will give your event exactly what it needs.

If you have found a speaker and are now looking for a unique local venue in Vancouver, reach out to Deeley Exhibition. We are experienced, professional, and happy to provide assistance in planning your private or corporate events.

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Tags Meeting Rooms, Meeting Venues, Motorcycle, Museum, Unique Venues

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How To: Build An Effective Meeting Agenda

Post author By Deeley
Post date March 21, 2016

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Dying of ‘death by meetings’? We’ve all had meetings where conversation runs at tangent from the important issues, people come unprepared, or there are people involved in the meeting who don’t really need to be there. The end result of these meetings it that they’re often a colossal waste of time.

This is not an exaggeration. The problem is prevalent enough that Harvard Business Review built a Meeting Cost Analyzer to help you find out approximately what your meeting costs in terms of lost productivity.

The problems which lead to derailed, sidetracked, and ineffectual meetings are often the result of a poorly designed and communicated agenda.

An effective agenda lets team members an attendees know what to bring, how to prepare, who has the floor and when, and what the takeaways will be when the meeting is finished. A well-designed agenda facilitates a team’s ability to address issues and problem-solve in the shortest possible time, and clearly identify who has responsibility of the action items, before leaving the meeting.

Agenda Kung-Fu

If you want to really exercise your acumen, we’ve laid out a pattern which will help you to streamline and accelerate the pace of your meetings. If you use the below workflow, your meetings will get shorter. The better you get at it, the faster you’ll be able to move through it. Just be consistent.

Put it all on the table: Before you even mention a meeting, get everyone’s aches and pains on the table. Go to each team member and get their roadblocks, issues, pending approvals, et cetera, and list it all out. Sort it based on importance and precedence: if it’s not critical and not holding something else up, can it for an email thread. (Honestly, how many meetings have you been in that could have been replaced by an email?)

Sort what’s there: Once you’ve eliminated anything that can be answered out of a meeting, look at the second tier of asks: those things which can be handled in a short, tactical huddle instead of a strategic meeting. If the answer someone needs can be arrived at in a problem-solving session, or by getting the right people in the room, make it a small meeting with only the required people. Get those out of the way before you inconvenience team leads and other managers with bigger meetings. These smaller meetings, or groups of smaller meetings, are a great opportunity for recurring weekly or monthly half-day planning sessions and huddles.

Invite the key players: It’s a short rule… “If someone doesn’t need to be in a meeting, don’t invite them.” It seems like an obvious rule, and one many people try to follow, but it’s one that gets broken all the time. Often we invite people because we want them to feel included, or because they may present a fresh perspective – this can be good for envisioning meetings, depending on your industry – but more often than not you’re only adding time and confusion to a meeting. If an attendee doesn’t play a critical role in the meeting, or doesn’t possess some unique skill, expertise, or perspective the other members lack, (or the thing being discussed isn’t their direct responsibility) don’t waste your time or theirs. Leave them out of the meeting.

Keep it timely: It’s the chair’s responsibility to keep the show moving. The chair needs to be empowered to cut people off without hurting people’s feelings (and this needs to be established by the leadership from Day 1). Establish a neutral sign for telling someone to wrap it up. This can be a hand gesture, a light knock on the table (like signalling a ‘stay’ in poker), or even holding up a card. If any one person talks for longer than 60 seconds and they’re not communicating valuable, actionable information: cut it off, summarize their point, and move on.

Recap, recap, recap – Use the Rule of ‘W’: What may be the most powerful question you can ask in a meeting, in terms of efficiency. If you’re focused on GSD (Getting S#$% Done), send the following out a week before your first meeting, and send an After-Action Email following every meeting thereafter going forward.

What’s good? – What were the big wins? Are you on time? On budget?
What’s bad? – What big thing didn’t get done, what failed, or what needs fixing?
What’s at risk? – Is there a looming deadline? Is a client about to walk?
What did we get done last period/meeting? – Or, get the small stuff out of the way. Use this as a checklist to measure progress.
What are we doing this week/now? – What needs to get done for the bigger above items to move forward?
What decisions/approvals are outstanding? – Has everything been signed off on? Is the decision maker on the call/in the room? Why not?
What stands in the way? – See above. If it hasn’t been addressed by the time you get to this point, it’s likely something you’re waiting on from someone else. Usually sub-trades, contractors, service providers, or business partners. What is the shortest path to clearing these roadblocks?

Note: The above isn’t just for project meetings or committee decisions… The ‘Rule of W’ process is absolutely relevant to design meetings. Good design is not smoke and mirrors; it is iterative, solution-oriented, audience-aware problem solving. Design is almost never right on the first try [when it is, reward the person who designed it]. Good design is artisanal, and it depends on smart people applying active listening, adjusting for fit, and stakeholders providing meaningful feedback which takes into account the business objectives. Your designers absolutely need to be in on design meetings.

Define Ownership: Once you’ve given a good run-through of the ‘Rule of W’, in the order listed above, lay out who’s responsible for each of the action items by the next meeting. Set a deadline for early response, and follow-up dates. For example: if you’re waiting on a service install by a partner before the next thing can get underway, identify whose responsible for confirming the dates, troubleshooting for completion, and follow-up once it’s done so the other team members know to start their tasks.

After-Action Email: Make sure that you capture the above in an email and it goes out to everyone who was in attendance. That way they can share it with their reports and subordinates as an FYI, or for the purposes of delegating smaller tasks when they need help. It should be skim-able. Keep it short. Bullets are best. (See below for an example email.)

Review for success: Before you leave your meeting, every meeting ask ‘What worked and what didn’t?’ Taking 3-5 minutes to review and identify what is working, what isn’t and who does/doesn’t need to be in the next meeting will help you shave valuable meeting time and let people get on with doing their jobs.

After Action Email

Here’s a sample after-action email for a meeting addressing the brand rollout and office expansion for an industrial services company.

Brand Meeting After Action Email (03/19/2016)
Fr: dmatthews@somecompany.net
To: project-team@somecompany.net
Cc: leadership@somecompany.net

Hello ladies and gents. Here’s the AAE for today’s meeting. Next follow-up is next Thursday at 10:30 am. Same attendees.

Good: Selected printer for letterhead and business cards, go-ahead on design of new brand website, and estimates received from designers for fleet vehicle wraps.
Bad: Costs are +10% higher on vehicle signage due to USD change.
Risk: Designers don’t have template for new Nissan cargo van, recommend hold off on acquisition of those vehicles until templates received from Nissan.
Last Period: Put out RFQ for letterhead/documentation design, close logo design, and receive fleet agreements.
This Period: Proceed with Ford fleet agreement and vehicle wraps (David). Sign-off on pending new office lease, and signage install (Bryan).
Pending Approvals: New office hiring documentation (Amanda). Budget and operating line for new office furnishing, equipment, and payroll (Janice).

If you’ve got regular meetings you’re committed to and need a secure, private location with ample free parking, accessible to downtown Vancouver, Burnaby, Coquitlam, and New Westminster, give Deeley Exhibition a call. We offer half-day, full-day, and evening bookings for our meeting room.

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Tags Meeting Rooms, Meeting Venues

What's New

The Cost of Meetings

Post author By Deeley
Post date March 21, 2016

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One of the most frequent questions we encounter about our meeting room facility is cost: “What am I paying for, and why does it cost what it does?”

This question isn’t unique to us, and it’s a perfectly reasonable question. Many meeting planners are trying to find room in their belts to take care of the costs of doing business while watching the budget.

While we do our best to address questions, inevitably this is one area where people always want to know a little more. We’ve decided to proactively provide more detailed answers about our fee structure, and a case example unique to one business.

Before you ask ‘Why does this cost so much?’, it’s important to consider the elements that make up the total package and contribute to the fee. As the organizer, it’s also good to visit what your meetings are attempting to accomplish so you can organize for greatest return-on-effort (RoE).

À-la-Carte vs Package Deals

We’re big believers in providing à-la-carte pricing instead of a rigid package. The reasons for this are simple:

Packages are often more expensive than required.
They don’t fit many people’s needs.

The average hotel meeting package tends to be based on a meeting of a dozen people and is a full-day booking. This routinely costs around $80-100 per head, and the package is just that – a package. You don’t save anything for services you don’t use. If you need to present to the group, these packages usually only come with a clipboard; you have to pay extra for use of a projector or audio-visual equipment (usually an extra $5-10 per head).

Many hotel meeting facilities are dependent on the food services that come in the packages, because that’s where they make their money. They include continental breakfast, lunch, and coffee service, but they expect you to eat in the hotel. Some hotels offer excellent cuisine, but many don’t: this doesn’t leave you a lot of options if you want to use your own caterer, or take into account entertaining business guests and visiting speakers at area restaurants.

Unless the facilities have been recently renovated, many hotel meeting and conference rooms look like the set of a Molly Ringwood film. Hotels that do have renovated facilities charge commensurately higher fees for their meeting packages. You could be looking at put to $120 per head if you commit to a package.

Furthermore, if the hotel is anywhere in the Metro Vancouver core, daily parking can cost upwards of $35 a day per vehicle, with some parking lots being $17.50 for the first hour! How much of those transportation and meeting costs does your company commit to paying?

It’s not just a matter of cost. What if you don’t need a full-day booking? A big part of the real expense of off-site meetings is the lost opportunity cost in having your entire senior management team, or team leads, participating in training and closed-door meetings. Efficient use of time is as important as is the economy of your options.

We offer half-day bookings for our meeting room, and services are à-la-carte: you only pay for what you use. If you’re only looking for a half-day, with coffee service, you’re only committed to the room rental and $30-35 per head. For thirty people that’s a fee of $1750, instead of the $2400 if you went with a hotel package. Our facilities are fully-equipped with premium A/V equipment and are professional, clean, modern, and brightly lit.

RoE: Recurring vs Full-Day Meetings

While you’re weighing the costs of your meeting, consider holding your meetings as more frequent, recurrent meetings rather than quarterly full-day meetings. Since 2010, charge-out rates for professional services have continued to rise.

This is all about RoE: consider the cost of having your senior resources tied up in meetings when they could be more efficiently engaged in working.

Let’s take the example of a project management firm: Charge-out rates for experienced project managers range between $175-$350 an hour; split the difference and call it $225/hr. If you’ve got 30 project management professionals engaged in a meeting for eight hours that’s a whopping $54,000 a day in lost productivity.

If you’re only holding meetings every three months, chances are there’s a lot to cover, and the more bodies that participate, the higher the chance exists that questions and discussions will slow the pace. It may end up taking you three or four days to get through all the relevant topics. These types of meetings are routinely held so that the executive and management teams are able to get on the same page.

If you’re able to hold smaller management meetings bi-monthly (for example: a half day every other Friday) and keep the checkins between teams more frequent, you’ll not only be able to get through the quarterly meetings more quickly, but you’ll likely also get ahead of any risks before they get to the level where the executive team needs to engage.

You benefit by having lower overall meeting expenses, improved communication, and lower lost opportunity cost; by keeping the highest bill members out of unnecessary meetings and discussions you free them up to focus on driving value and strategy.

The Deeley Benefit

We are able to accommodate business meetings, lectures, and seminars for up to a hundred people in our meeting space, and we benefit from being close to restaurants and lounges for entertaining business prospects, guests, and dignitaries. We have relationships with several high-profile caterers as well.

Deeley Exhibition centre has ample free parking, is conveniently located adjacent Highway 1, and is accessible by transit. We are fully accessible and wheelchair friendly.

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Tags Meeting Rooms, Meeting Venues

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Top 40 Reasons Deeley Exhibition Should Be Your Venue of Choice

Post author By Deeley
Post date February 1, 2016

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A few years ago Jeff Kear wrote a great business management piece about choosing an event venue.

Kear puts forward a lot of great questions that you should answer before choosing a venue – it’s one of the best articles on the topic. We asked ourselves all of the questions you should be asking when searching for the perfect unique venue for your event.

With no further ado, here are the 40 reasons Deeley Exhibition should be your next corporate or meeting venue of choice.

Availability

1. Is there space available on the desired dates and times?

That depends on when you’re looking to book. The sooner you book the better, as most venues start taking bookings well in advance. Leave yourself 2-3 months to book for the dates you want for daytime corporate meetings and at least 6 months for events on weekend evenings or during the Christmas season.

2. Is there a premium or discount for booking during certain times of the year?

Because we’re an independent conference and meeting room facility not attached to a hotel, we’re not subject to the same seasonal extremes of ebb-and-flow as tourism-impacted conference centres. This means we often have dates available when other venues do not.

We offer flexible rates for companies, organizations, and government bodies looking to book their multi-day meetings with us.

Location

3. Will the venue be convenient for guests in regard to travel and accessibility?

The Deeley Exhibition is located on Boundary Road between Burnaby and Vancouver, right off of the Trans-Canada Highway.

We are 25 minutes from the Vancouver International Airport by car, 15 minutes from downtown, 5-10 minutes from several hotels and super-accessible by bus and by Skytrain.

We are also 100% wheelchair accessible.

4. Will it be a destination venue that naturally attracts people?

Trev Deeley was Canada’s first – and exclusive – Harley Davidson distributor.

Since 1917 the family sold the excitement, desire, and wonder of performance motorcycles. Over the last century, Trev put together one of the world’s best and biggest private collections of vintage motorcycles from private owners, famous movies, and war assets. This is where those motorcycles live, and they make an interesting and engaging background for any event, from fundraisers to professional seminars.

5. Is the venue in a local or part of town in which people will feel comfortable?

You bet. We’re on beautiful, tree-lined Boundary Avenue, with the backdrop of the Lions and the North Shore mountains. If you need to stretch your legs to refresh during meetings, we’re just a 5-10 minute walk from Thunderbird, Rupert, Charles, and Adanac Parks.

Price

6. Is there a change in fees between winter and summer?

No. We cater to a wide range of businesses, organizations, and individuals who need conference and meeting room services year-round. However, during the Christmas season, evening weekday corporate party rentals are priced at the same price as weekend evening rentals due to high demand and complexity of the event.

7. Is there a difference between weekday or weekend?

Yes – weekend daytime and evening rentals are priced at a premium due to the types, complexity and length of events that are held. Weekday events are typically priced at a lower rate.

Evening appointments are a premium engagement that require a full venue buy-out; meaning that evening events must book the entire facility – museum, lobby, and meeting room.

8. Is there a deposit required, and is it refundable?

We ask for a non-refundable 50% fee on the cost of the space, and allow organizers to change the date once within 60 days (provided the date is available).

9. Is there a minimum payment required for booking?

The minimum booking we offer is a half-day, 4-hour block in our large meeting room. This is to account for set-up and tear-down, cleanup time, and required coordination and administration.

10. What kind of value-adds does Deeley Exhibition include?

We take care of you from the start, by focusing on your peace of mind. We take care of room setup and tear-down, we help with setup of audio-visual services and projection, and we’ll help you out with floor layouts for tables and seating, specific to your event. Organizers looking for specific items we don’t normally provide are welcome to call for more information.

11. What kind of packages are offered and what do they look like?

Every client and event requires different elements. Our expertise is in catering to completely individual and unique needs, and we facilitate this by making our services entirely à-la-carte for weekday events.

There’s no premium charged on one service while offering you things you won’t need. You’re only charged for what you use.

However, for evening, full venue buyout events, our basic fee also includes a site manager to assist with the execution during your event and excellent in-house A/V amenities typically offered à-la-carte.

Space

12. Can Deeley Exhibition accommodate my large group?

We can accommodate up to 150 people standing room for a daytime event in the meeting room, or 250 people for an evening event (full-venue booking). Our large meeting room can comfortably host 80-100 peoples with tables, depending on the layout you’re looking for.

13. What are the separate spaces in Deeley Exhibition?

We have our large meeting room, the exhibition museum, and our foyer. Our 1,800 square foot meeting room is large, well-lit by natural light during the day (thanks to our huge windows), and brightly lit during the evening. The room has a partition to convert it into a smaller space of 1,350 square feet or two spaces, depending on the format of your event.

Our grand front foyer and museum exhibition hosts the collection itself and bikes are parked right out where you can walk between them. The collection is carefully curated and beautifully designed.

14. What is the flow of the space?

To get an idea for this space check out our virtual walk-through.

15. I have some large items and staging for my event. Can Deeley Exhibition accommodate?

The safety and security of the collection is our primary concern. Otherwise we’re happy to help you with larger staging and focus pieces, space and requirements depending. Special handling fees will apply.

Venue condition and colours

16. Will the condition, colour, and decor of the venue complement my event?

Deeley Exhibition’s meeting room and foyer was redesigned by Stantec Architecture and Engineering with premium finish and polished design in mind. Our space is finished in neutral concrete and burnished woods which accentuate the class and decorum of the bikes’ storied history. Glass, steel, and large black and white historical photos make this a unique venue.

Our museum has changing exhibitions and therefore, changes in appearance from theme to theme. The concepts are developed in-house by our Director, Brent Cooke (a renowned Canadian artist, who most recently received the “Artist of the Year” distinction by the World Wildlife Federation). The design work of each exhibit is developed by EDG – Experiential Design Group.

View more conference facility photos or take a virtual tour.

17. Is there anything that might hamper my guest’s experience?

Only if your music is too loud. We’re wheelchair accessible, and have railings for ramps and stairs in case you need assistance getting around.

Policies

18. What do I need to know about refunds and guarantees?

To secure a date, we require a booking deposit. Depending on the scope and cost of your event, suppliers may ask for deposits and minimums.

If you are planning an evening event, depending on who you want to hire, many caterers ask for 50% up front to secure your date, same as the venue. Caterers may ask for full payment within 2 weeks of the event, as a guarantee. Many rental companies may require a 72 hour cancellation minimum. So if you have to cancel or reschedule, make sure you notify all involved parties to understand what your options are.

If an event needs to be rescheduled, talk to your venue and suppliers right away. It is always possible for dates to be shifted, provided there is adequate time, but the closer it gets to your event date the harder it is to accommodate changes, if at all.

Catering

19. Does Deeley Exhibition have on-site catering?

We have several catering partners, and work with them based on the type of event being catered. We work with the clients to make sure budgets, tastes and events are individually catered to.

20. Does Deeley Exhibition allow outside vendors?

We don’t allow outside caterers for daytime events but we will work with you for catering evening and weekend events. If you bring in an outside caterer, planning fees may apply for time incurred (as required) for additional coordination.

21. How experienced are the catering manager and executive chef?

We work with many popular and well known catering companies – the client budget and vision usually dictate who we use.

22. Are there food and drink minimums?

Although we have accommodated meeting and events of all sizes, all venues and caterers have minimums spends and surcharges may apply. When you call us to inquire about your event, we will ask you about your meeting or event size and advise you what the minimum charges are.

Reputation

23. What do event professionals and local organizers think of Deeley Exhibition?

We have great relationships with event planners and organizations in the area. You can view some of the testimonials on our homepage, near the bottom.

24. Has Deeley Exhibition had any recent issues that would make an event/wedding planner think twice before booking there?

Not at all. We have an excellent track record of hosting class-leading corporate and business events, social fundraisers, and other professional events.

Unfortunately, we do not allow weddings or private events, like birthdays or dry-grads, in our venue. We are not equipped with the rooms necessary to host bridal parties and we do not allow private self-catered parties. Only events with caterers and proper staffing are permitted. This is for the safety of the museum and its precious collection.

Amenities

25. Does Deeley Exhibition allow for event signage or displays?

Free-standing displays are great, and encouraged. If you have signage that needs securing or mounting, please give us a call in advance. For things like banner affixations, setup and removal is the organizer’s responsibility and needs to be cleared on case-by-case basis.

26. Does Deeley Exhibition have a concierge, or information desk?

There is room to set up a table near in the foyer to greet guests when they enter the building if needed. Upon entering the wide open foyer, guests can easily identify which way to go to see the exhibition or to find the meeting room.

27. Is there a business centre for use?

We can assist in providing copies of meeting documents as needed for a nominal fee.

28. Does the Deeley Exhibition and Conference Centre have shipping and receiving services or personnel?

Yes, we can help you with receiving and staging items for your event. Handling charges may apply.

Utilities

29. How are the outlets and lighting in the space?

We’re designed for business meetings, learning conferences, and social events like fundraisers and black-tie galas. We can accommodate all of your needs, but give us enough information and advance notice to get the space optimally setup for your needs.

30. Is there natural light, and a way to shade it?

Yes and yes. In our meeting room and foyer we have big, gorgeous floor-to-ceiling windows. The meeting room is equipped with blackout shades so you can bask in the daylight or shut it out for projections.

31. How reliably can Deeley Exhibition create a comfortable environment?

Part of having a big engineering firm like Stantec handle our redesign is that the HVAC system is solid as stone. Making sure our guests stay comfortable and the collection stays safe – and in premium condition – depends on it.

AV and Acoustics

32. What kind of PA and music amplification is there?

We have a fully-integrated, rack-mounted and secured audio-visual setup. Recently upgraded, it’s professional-grade, and can support some plugin or pass-through to other systems. We have up to 4 microphones and separate sound can be piped into the foyer and meeting room areas.

We will assist with setup onsite as needed, though extra fees may apply depending on the amount of help you need. If you’re hosting something as important as a TEDx talk or a sessional lecture, you’ll probably want to have your own sound engineer on retainer.

33. What are the acoustics like?

Like most venues, the number of bodies and the type of engagement have a big impact on sound.

The meeting room is designed for exactly that; meetings, conferences, talks, and conversational engagement. There are acoustic panels on the ceiling to retain sound and speakers around the perimeter of the conference room ceiling. Depending on your voice and timbre, and the number of bodies in the room, you may not even need a microphone.

The foyer and museum have great acoustics for larger, live, un-amplified musicians (such as a baby grand piano). Smaller instruments may need a helping hand from a small amplifier or studio monitor.

If you’re hosting a black-tie gala, or a corporate Christmas Party, your needs will differ. We’ll work with you to help make sure you have the best experience possible.

34. Who are Deeley Exhibition’s preferred vendors for AV and music?

We prefer to work with Promax Audio Visual. They’re fantastically knowledgeable, professional, and easy to work with. If you are looking for music, we can provide you with the names of local DJs that are excellent.

Weather

35. Are there any seasonal weather issues associated with Deeley Exhibition?

Gorgeous mountain vistas, warm Pacific winds, lush temperate rainforests… Vancouver is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and ranks in the top three most livable cities in the world year-after-year. Even in the sunny heat of summer, it’s still Vancouver. Bring an umbrella.

If you’re here between October and April, it’s likely to be raining. In 2015 Greater Vancouver received 12.2 meters of precipitation. (For Americans, that’s 40 feet of rainfall over the year.)

Security

36. What kind of security personnel are required?

It depends on the number of attendees and the nature of the event being booked. Public events require additional security, which can be coordinated at the booker’s expense.

Before we accept any booking, we thoroughly ask questions to understand your event, especially to determine whether there are any security issues. If an event may put our valuable motorcycle collection at risk, we cannot accommodate hosting the event.

Privacy

37. Is there the ability to shield the event from public view?

Yes. The spacious meeting room is centrally situated but entirely private, allowing for confidential discussions or enhancing private corporate engagements. When the large main door is open, the meeting room becomes an extension of the main foyer space, and can be used for food service and/or seating to compliment the foyer’s natural social interaction.

Parking/Transportation

38. Is there ample parking available for hosts, guests, and attendees?

Yes, we have both front and rear parking lots to accommodate event participants, including street parking. Best of all, it’s free!

39. If guests are arriving from out of town, is there convenient transportation to get to the venue?

Absolutely. We are centrally located between two major transit interchanges, just off Highway 1, and there are several hotels within a 5-10 minute drive.

Restrictions

40. Are there any special restrictions that Deeley Exhibition has when renting the space?

To safeguard the safety and integrity of our collection we do not cater to personal events such as weddings, birthdays, dry grads, or anniversaries. Our ever-present and stunning collection is our centrepiece, and we need to guarantee that guests and attendees come, and leave, with great respect for the bikes.

We hope these questions helped you get a better understanding of the many things Deeley Exhibition has to offer as a unique venue for your cocktail party, business meeting, corporate retreat, or other major event.

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Tags Meeting Rooms, Meeting Venues, Unique Venues

What's New

Before You Start Your Venue Search, Know Your Event!

Post author By Deeley
Post date January 27, 2016

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As a unique meeting venue focused on the corporate meeting & events market, we keep an eye on our competition.

We do it to stay on top of what’s out there in the Burnaby and Vancouver area, but also to understand what makes our competitors unique and see what they have to offer. There is a plethora of available venues, and it seems that every business with excess room wants to offer their space for rent. From cocktail receptions to corporate meetings, the number of venue options can be overwhelming.

But when it really comes down to it, only a few spaces may be able to accommodate all of the specific needs your event has. Often event organizers fall in love with a space based on appearance, only to find that it doesn’t fit the needs of their event. They’re left trying to force a “square peg into a round hole”.

How much space do you need?

Planning a training session or business meeting for 50?

Consider that if you require tables and chairs for 50, plus a registration area, space for the trainer & A/V equipment, plus food & beverage set up, you will need significantly more space than say, a cocktail party for 50.

If you are hosting a private party, do you need kitchen facilities? Many unique venues don’t have them, so make sure the venue has a separate space for caterers to set up a “pop-up” kitchen. There is no standard for venue equipment and facility offerings, so make sure you know what your event requires before your search.

Does the venue rent space only, or is it full service?

Some venues, like community centres and galleries, only rent space. This means that you will need to manage every element of the event including planning and managing guest lists, renting china and glassware, renting furniture, arranging the catering, staffing and logistics, setting up, executing, and tearing down your entire event.

To the uninitiated, this can become a huge amount of planning, effort, and stress. If you do not have the time or the resources to do everything yourself, make sure that you choose a venue that can provide planning and execution services. It will be less expensive, time consuming, and definitely less stressful in the long run.

How much time do you need?

Some venues charge by the hour, and others by set hour blocks (ex. four or eight hours). Others may only be available during certain hours (evenings or only during standard business hours).

If you are hosting a one-hour evening meeting, not every venue will be able to accommodate you. In addition to the amount of time for your actual event, how much set up and tear down time do you need? The cost of space is typically based on the total amount of you need, not just the duration of the event itself.

If you need significant set up time or require to set up a day prior, you will need to ask the venue if they can accommodate this, and if there is an additional charge.

What elements do you need for your event?

Do you need seating for 200? Do you want a bar area for a cocktail reception? Do you need tables for a gala dinner? Do you need A/V equipment for a presentation?

When searching for a venue, make sure you know what space, amenities, and equipment you would prefer to have on site. If you choose a venue that cannot accommodate the requirements of your event, you will need to have the budget to arrange these things to be brought on site. If not, your search may be more limited.

Make sure these factors are discussed at the beginning of your investigation.

How accessible do you need the venue to be?

A venue’s accessibility is not just limited to a physical geographic location.

When considering what kind of venue you need, ask yourself:

Do you need ample, cost efficient, and safe parking around the building?
Is the building locked or do guests need directions or instructions to access the space?
Is there an elevator, or are there only stairs?
Is the building wheelchair accessible?
Is it easy to get to by public transit?

If you have guests with physical limitations, you will need to accommodate them. Similarly, if your catering and rental items have to be brought in you will need a venue that is either ground level or has an elevator for easy transport into, and out of, the building.

Are you looking for a full-service, unique venue outside of the downtown core, close to North Vancouver, Burnaby and all cities along Highway 1 that is fully accessible, has free parking, ample space for small to mid-size meetings and events, and comes with a museum housing Canada’s largest private motorcycle collection?

Call the Deeley Exhibition and let us know what you need. If we are right for you, we’d love to show you around!

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Tags Meeting Rooms, Meeting Venues, Unique Venues

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How To Plan A Successful Business Meeting

Post author By Deeley
Post date December 10, 2015

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The New Year is just around the corner, and with it comes another year of important client, department, committee, and other organizational meetings. Vancouver venues are competitive, and often booked early. Are you ready? Get the most out of your 2016 business-planning, internal, corporate, marketing, or strategy sessions by making sure you’ve planned ahead.

We’ve created this guide to the points you should always consider when choosing a meeting venue for a successful business meeting.

Comfort

Often Vancouver event planners are faced with choosing between booking a meeting room based on a budget versus placing priority on creating a productive environment for attendees. Being price-conscious is important, but you’ll get the best results from a space that’s conducive to thought. Small spaces, environmental noises or smells, and bad lighting prevent attendees from focusing on the task at hand, especially during all-day meetings. You should choose a meeting room that looks and feels good, with space for guests to move around and features that enhance comfort and well-being, like natural light.

Convenience

Event professionals and meeting chairs have a lot on their plates come meeting time, from preparing presentations and materials, organizing and printing handouts, managing additional speakers or out-of-town guests, verifying the RSVP list, and so much more. Choosing a meeting venue that can take care of operational details allows you to focus on what’s important: your message. Check with the venue to see what they have on-site that can reduce your stress and what you need to bring or arrange on your own, such as A/V equipment, stands, furniture, flip charts, and other supplies.

Connectivity

While you’d prefer that your attendees aren’t distracted by their smartphones and tablets, in this day and age our phones are often such a part of our business and personal lives that we can’t expect anyone to entirely leave them alone. It’s important to allow attendees breaks to check in, or else they can become distracted or look for opportunities to sneak social media time. And depending on the type of meeting you’re having, you might actually want attendees to be accessing files or media, taking notes on tablets, or sharing what they’ve learned on social media. You might also need your own phone for notes, reminders, and other last-minute parts of your presentation. You’ll want to inquire in advance about a meeting venue’s WiFi.

Location

Where you host your meeting is absolutely crucial to its success. Is it far enough from the head office to escape distraction? Is it central to attendees? Is there ample and free parking? Is it convenient to reach by public transit? Is it a wheelchair-accessible venue? If someone has to wrestle with complicated directions, drive around the block for half an hour to find parking, park far from the venue and walk in the elements, take multiple transit transfers, or just plain can’t find the place due to a remote location, it’s likely to lead to the early part of the meeting being wasted on calming frustrated nerves. The easier it is to arrive and park or access your meeting venue, the more relaxed attendees will be – and the more ready they’ll be to get down to business.

Nourishment

It goes without saying that well-fed, hydrated (and in some cases caffeinated) attendees will be happy and attentive participants, while hangry attendees with growling stomachs will be checking their watches every few minutes until they can leave. Food and beverage options are often overlooked as a large unnecessary expense rather than treated as an essential part of your meeting program. Make sure to discuss food, drink, and snack options with your meeting venue. For a full-day meeting, having delicious and nutritious food on hand helps attendees focus and increase productivity and overall effectiveness. Include healthy snacks to boost brain power, such as whole grains, nuts, berries, and veggies including broccoli, to keep attendees alert and focused!

We hope you found this guide on choosing meeting rooms helpful. Deeley Exhibition is conveniently located on the Vancouver and Burnaby border, with a nearby SkyTrain and bus stops, and is a wheelchair-accessible meeting venue available for rent. Take a virtual tour of our facilities, or contact us today to get a quote.

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