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Hosting a TEDx Event

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What is a TEDx event?

TEDx events are locally organized gatherings featuring live TED-like talks and videos. Sometimes these are previously recorded at TED conferences, and sometimes they’re new, original content. The purpose of these events is to foster the TED experience within the local community, and the content and design of each TEDx event is unique. They are developed, organized, and hosted locally by visionaries within the community.

The format, diversity of topics, and community-based (bias-free) content is idea-focused, thought-provoking, and direct. TEDx events are organized by volunteers and lack any commercial, religious, or political agenda. TEDx events are also non-profit events.

These aren’t events with a single topic, industry, or special-interest agendas. Ideas which spark conversation, connectivity, and community are the word of the day.

Organizer Responsibilities

The Organizer’s goal should be to drive the sharing of big ideas, rich storytelling, and the interaction of multiple disciplines. Engineers should be talking to artists, coders should be swapping tales with doctors, and motivational speakers should be busy being motivated by other people’s stories. These are the qualities that make a great TED event – you’re expected to capture the spirit of TED.

This means unearthing local voices. Who are the undiscovered voices and unknown talents of your community who have the power to influence change and the insight to see it when it’s happening? If you choose to include individual speakers, choose extraordinary people with fresh eyes and strong voices.

Produce great content to enthrall, entertain, and educate. People should leave the TEDx event feeling like they learned, shared, and experienced a lot in one place, while having their eyes opened to new opportunities.

Most of all TEDx events are licensed TED events, and you have to apply for a license and be granted one before hosting a TEDx branded event.

TEDx Rules

There’s a super straight-forward list of rules setup for TEDx events. These rules are meant to create a framework to preserve the spirit of the TED event, and to make it easier to organize and structure TEDx events in your community.

Some of the rules are very straight forward, and actually aid in the selection of a venue, for instance:

    • Up to 100 individuals may attend your event. Only individuals who have attended an official TED conference in person may organize an event with more than 100 attendees.
    • Tickets for TEDx events must always be less than $100 USD and should go towards event and operating costs. Based on approval from TED, you can charge an attendance fee for a TEDx event featuring live speakers.

Some of the rules are there to protect the TED brand, and relate to programming:

    • A minimum of two official, pre-recorded TED Talks must be shown at events which are less than half a day in length. For longer events, 25% of the total number of talks must be official, pre-recorded TED Talks from the talks library.
    • TED and TEDx events are stand-alone events, and may not be co-branded with other events or identities (organization, non-profit, corporation, etc).

Before you plan on organizing a TEDx event, familiarize yourself with all the rules and read the TEDx Organizer Guide.

Event Types

There’s a broad array of different event types available to host.

There are the standard event, inspired by the TED conference. There are also University and youth events, for events which are hosted at a college or university and organized by current university admins and staff, or catered towards schools and youth communities.

There are Salon events – small weekly or monthly events – which help to keep a community engaged between regularly scheduled larger events. (In order to organize a Salon event, applicants must already have an existing standard license.)

There are also TEDxLive and TEDxWomen events, aimed at topics of women and gender, or working with a simulcast of the annual TED Conference. These two categories specifically tend to become global events.

TED in Vancouver

Even if you’re not interested in becoming an organizer, you can still get engaged in helping be a part of the action. TEDx events are volunteer organized, planned, and driven events. Without the help of valued volunteers these events can’t happen. Get involved!

Local TEDx Events in Vancouver include TEDx Stanley Park.

Deeley Exhibition and Conference Facilities is an ideal and unique venue for a TEDx Event. Our main meeting room can comfortably accommodate 100 seated guests, we have built-in professional A/V and projection, and we are centrally located and accessible by car or transit. IF you’d like information about hosting a TEDx event with us, give us a call.

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7 Things to Consider Before Hiring a Speaker

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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.meeting room with podium, tables, chairs in semi circle

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How To: Build An Effective Meeting Agenda

Chair and table in event space
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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.

  1. What’s good? – What were the big wins? Are you on time? On budget?
  2. What’s bad? – What big thing didn’t get done, what failed, or what needs fixing?
  3. What’s at risk? – Is there a looming deadline? Is a client about to walk?
  4. 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.
  5. What are we doing this week/now? – What needs to get done for the bigger above items to move forward?
  6. What decisions/approvals are outstanding? – Has everything been signed off on? Is the decision maker on the call/in the room? Why not?
  7. 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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The Cost of Meetings

Deeley Event Space & Meeting Room with tables.
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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:

  1. Packages are often more expensive than required.
  2. 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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Top 40 Reasons Deeley Exhibition Should Be Your Venue of Choice

Top 40 Reasons Deeley Exhibition Should Be Your Venue of Choice
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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.

three image montage of Deeley Motorcycle Exhibition Event Venue and Motorcycle Museum.

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.

three image montage of Deeley Motorcycle Exhibition Event Venue and Motorcycle Museum.

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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Before You Start Your Venue Search, Know Your Event!

Meeting & Event Venue Search Tips
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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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Planning Your Leadership Retreat

Planning Your Leadership Retreat
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We’ve all experienced needing to speak to a coworker, superior, or subordinate about an issue but struggling to phrase it. Maybe you had a conflict that couldn’t be adequately addressed within the confines of day-to-day business conversations; maybe you needed to ask for help, but didn’t know where to start. These things will happen in any business environment, and left unchecked they can ultimately hamper your efficiency and teamwork.

This is why companies hold leadership retreats. Called by any name – retreats, meetings, talks, or offsite days – the fact remains that these events represent an escape from the tension of regular closed-door sessions in meeting rooms.

We’ve created a high-level guide to get you started on the road to planning, and hosting, your first (or next) successful leadership retreat.

Purpose

Take time once a year or once a quarter to step outside of the office and meet at a separate space. This allows people to leave behind their at-work thoughts and behaviours. It facilitates the formation of a safe space to brainstorm, talk about, and confer meaningful experiences, to resolve conflicts, ask for help, and to get back to business.

Before you start the process of planning a retreat, give real thought to the primary purpose you’re trying to fulfill. Make your objectives achievable, and partner with a venue that can help you to run the retreat effectively. Universities and colleges will have professors, consultants, or sessional lecturers experienced in mediating conflicts. These resources bring an extra measure of perceived transparency and stability to the retreat so that all attendees know it’s a safe space to speak honestly.

Keep in mind that there’s no set length that a retreat should be, but many organizations find it’s useful to book a venue for as many as two to three days. For this reason, retreats should be local and easy to get to. Not all attendees will find it useful or necessary to attend the full duration, so plan accordingly.

Location

Retreats are named as such because they are literally an escape from the geography and entrenched attitudes of the work space. Whether that’s everyone’s home offices (for companies with remote staff) or the brick and mortar of the headquarters, it’s important to get people out of their work mindsets. The easiest way to do that is to put them in a new environment.

Your staff are human and retreats can be an intense confluence of brainstorming, growth, and strategizing, so it’s necessary to consider connectivity and breaks. Plan to give your staff time to take breaks so they can catch up on social media, share insights online, and deal with timely or critical issues that arise while they’re out of office.

Conflict between staff members can come down to incompatibilities between work demeanours, and not actual issues between the individuals. Communal dining and dinner talk is a great social equalizer, so having a location that has access to catering services is an absolute necessity.

Tone & Objectives

The tone of the retreat should be fun and optimistic, even if your objectives require some emotional and intellectual heavy-lifting.

Start off the retreat with a brief welcome and follow it immediately with an ice-breaker activity that gets people physically moving. Something fast and fun that requires people to work together, like passing a ball through a circuit of every person in the room and then asking them to find a creative arrangement that allows them to beat their previous time. (Just Google “ice-breaker activities” and you’ll get over a million suggestions.)

If you have any video or presentations to show, make sure you book the facility for a technical run-through to make sure you’re familiar with the systems and to reduce the chance you’ll encounter any problems when you’re presenting.

Divide your retreat into morning and afternoon sessions specific to each objective you want to achieve. Don’t make the objectives bigger than can be solved in a single day if this is your first retreat. A partner organization can help you to structure your sessions so they flow well, have a moderated feedback process, and respond to everyone’s concerns.

Agenda & Planning

The easiest way to ensure your meeting goes smoothly is to plan ahead. Book the venue at least four months in advance, so that there’s enough time to schedule around blackout dates and vacations of senior personnel. Notify everyone of the anticipated date as soon as you can – preferably when you’ve booked the venue.

Release a high-level agenda to the attendees before the event so they can prepare questions and delegate work. Ideally they have the agenda at least a week in advance, but no later than three days before the event. The agenda should be clear, concise, and leave little room for misinterpretation. Don’t make your agenda too long or overly specific; you don’t want your staff coming burdened with preconceptions. There are great sample agendas available online, like this one and this one.

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

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