Me and John left in good time to arrive at Kingston station, however we did not take in to account that it would take an extra 30 - 40 Min's to get to the venue, therefore we arrived at 4:30pm. Luckily we were welcomed and the events organiser of the venue took us on a tour of the venue, which is The Royal Star & Garter Home.
While we were making our way to the home, we discussed potential infrastructure issues such as;
Transport; there is a 10 minute walk up a steep hill and this would be very unpractical for our guests therefore we recommend to have a shuttle service or perhaps arrange for a taxi rank to be placed by the entrance to go back and forth from the home to the nearest train stations which are Richmond and Kingston.
From this, me and John also discussed using the Richmond parks car parking facilities as they are adjacent to the home. We are looking in to using the car parking facilities of the Park for one night during our event.
We realised that the River Thames was really close to the home there for as part of the grand finanlé we would like to have a yacht sponsor to place the prize on the river and when the winner is announced it will be followed by a fire works show to end the night.
During the tour we were taken around the following areas.
- Entrance / Reception
- Main Halls x 2
- Side room
- Out door balcony
- Kitchens
- Garden
We are also aware that the home does have dormitories which could be used to keep our international guests who would staying for a few days. If it is not possible to keep the guests in the dorms, there is also a hotel opposite the venue. It would be nice to utilise the dorms to keeps costs down.
When we looked at the main halls, we are now aware that it is not possible to have 600 people in one hall at any time. The limit is 300 people per main room, therefore we will have to utilise the garden as well as the outdoor balcony to accommodate for 600 guests. If not then we will have to reduce the number of guests accordingly.
If for example, we were to have 600 guests to be in the venue at one time, they would all have to be spread out through the main halls, garden and out door balcony. This can be done through timing different sittings for the sit down meal and perhaps also having a drinks reception. This will allow us to have a form of rotation so it doesn't go over the venue capacity.
The side room is also a great space to utilise perhaps for our VIP guests and this will also keep the capacity limits in order.
The Garden is outdoors and earlier we were not keen on using it during the winter season due to the guests getting cold. However we are now aware that we can put up a marquee which will be heated thus overcoming this problem. There is a really nice scenic view from the garden looking on to the River Thames, this will also be ideal for the fireworks display looking over the Thames.
When we were taken to the kitchens we were made aware that we will have to commission external caters who will have to cook the food for our guests before hand and then perhaps prepare and warm up within the venue kitchens as it is physically impossible to cook for 600 guests in the kitchens provided.
Reflecting on the trip last tuesday, i now feel it has been worthwhile even though over 2 hours travelling accounted to less than 20 minutes research. It has given me and John a visionary perspective on how the event will take place especially with the production of the event. I have learned that people management in relation to the event programme will be tricky and not as straight forward, however with a little bit of work i feel the event will still be possible for 600 guests.
