Parking is an often-overlooked element—and neglecting it can be an expensive lesson to learn. We once produced a large event at a hotel where we had over sixty staff members in attendance working various gambling, gaming, and audience-participation activities. Self-parking at the hotel was $15. That doesn’t sound like much until you consider that it was $15 times sixty people. Suddenly I had a parking bill—just to park my staff for five hours—of $900. That’s something you would hopefully budget for on the front end, but it can really sneak up on you and wreak budget havoc if you’re not expecting it.
Public parking at most sites is generally readily accessible and has to meet certain requirements based on local code. This does not mean it is free, and you should always check on the cost of car parking at the location you are considering. Many of today’s venues were not originally designed for hosting events, and sometimes parking is a real problem. If you are hosting a public event, be especially vigilant about parking arrangements.
If your guests are driving in, parking fees can be a huge deterrent if you have not arranged free parking with the site in advance. I have seen public events result in dismal attendance due to expensive parking fees that were not considered on the front end. This is especially prevalent in downtown areas. If folks pull in and find out that the location charges $25 to $50 a day to park a car, they may just pull right back out again. “People have to park; that’s a necessary evil when producing events with public attendance.” Tweet This Quote Sometimes you can negotiate parking fees and get a discount. You may even get them waived for event attendees—but not if you don’t think of it when you’re still in the planning stages.
If parking is not easily accessible, it is our recommendation to hire a valet company. Make sure you get copied as an additional insured on their insurance, and require more staff than they recommend. Coming into the event is not as much of a problem as leaving. Cars trickle in over a thirty-minute window at the beginning of the event start time, but everyone generally leaves at the same time. You do not want your guests waiting more than ten minutes for their car.
Truck Parking
When you are producing an event in a resort environment, there is usually plenty of space—often called a marshaling yard—to accommodate truck parking. But that changes if you’re at a convention center, auditorium, music venue, country club, or hotel in an urban environment. You are most likely going to be required to park at an off-site location because of space constraints, especially if you have a few big trucks or tractor-trailers. This can become a real headache—and a rather large expense—if you haven’t settled it in advance. You may have six tractor-trailers that have to be parked for several days.
The site may tell you that you have to go thirty miles down the road to park, which could cost $150 a day for parking each truck. If you are doing a four-day event and have six trucks—you’ve just spent $3,600 for truck parking. So, before you contract with that location, find out where you’re going to park trucks and how much it’s going to cost. Before you park the trucks, however, you have to unload them at the site, using the location’s loading docks.
You can see how parking, if overlooked, can eat away at the event’s budget and cause tension amongst attendees. Plan and budget for parking right from the get go. The arrival and exit experience can greatly impact your event.
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