Finding a Venue

COVID-19 UPDATE

In the absence of traditional trivia nights our lives do not have to be completely trivia-less. Check out QuizNightHQ’s guide to Isolation Trivia + Games. It contains plenty of ideas to get your friends, family and workplaces engaged in an online quiz night or online video fun.

Contents

  1. First Things First
  2. Use an In-House Venue
  3. Ideal Quiz Night Venue Checklist
  4. Suggestions for Locations

First Things First

When organising your Quiz Night, finding a suitable venue will be one of your first tasks. After all, without a venue, you won’t be able to advertise the event or date and potential guests won’t even know what’s going on. Instead of seizing the opportunity to parade their knowledge in front of others, they’ll remain at home, watching Netflix. Worse, they could end up attending a Quiz Night hosted by someone you have long despised.

Before you contact the venue, try to have an ideal date in mind. Christmas, for example, would be suboptimal. Try to have a couple of alternative venues in mind, too, just in case your first choice isn’t available on the desired date.

Giving at least 3 months’ notice is also recommended. This much advance notice will give you plenty of time to organise the event and afford you some wriggle room for when locking in your preferred date. Venues are sometimes booked out many months in advance, so it’s always best to get in early. If a tentative booking is made far enough in advance, most venues will accept it without a deposit, so even if you need to adjust the date later on, you will often be able to do it without issue.

Use an In-House Venue

An in-house venue — i.e. a building within your club or organisation — is almost always an ideal choice.  Not only will it save you hiring costs, the familiarity of the facilities, packing up process, etc. will usually make the event easier to manage. An in-house venue will also allow you to be more relaxed with start and finish times and often allow you to set up / pack up at a more leisurely pace. You may even have access the day before to prepare the venue and the day after to tidy and re-organise. This will give you, the organiser, much more time to enjoy the event and you won’t have to contend with the stress of a fast-paced, long-haul evening.

If you don’t have a suitable in-house venue for your event, ask around your club or organisation or amongst friends and family for anyone who might have connections to venues that are available for hire. They may be willing to donate their services or offer a discount to hire the venue. Never hurts to ask. Someone within your club may even suggest a facility with which they have some connection. Minimising venue hiring costs can be very beneficial and ensure more money is raised by the event.

What Makes An Ideal Quiz Night Venue?

In addition to finding potential venues months prior to your event, you should keep the following in mind:

1. Date Availability

If your preferred venue isn’t available on the date you have in mind, there are usually plenty of other spaces to consider. Making tentative bookings while you finalise your date and ideal venue can be very helpful.

2. Location

Ask yourself: what is the proximity of the venue to your club/organisation and the majority of the people that will be attending the Quiz Night? Try to make it as easy as possible for people to get there.

3. Size and shape of space

How many guests are you expecting? Is the space open and inviting or a long/odd-shaped room? Some spacious venues, for example, have vertical columns dotted throughout the available space, making it harder for people to see. Too big a venue and it’ll feel lacklustre. Too small and it can get too loud or cramped. Try to be mindful of these possible shortcomings before you make a booking.

4. How does the venue feel?

Does it have an appropriate look or style for your event? A big old church hall may work for some events, while a nicely renovated sports club with bar and lights may be more ideal for others.

5. Ease of setup/pack-up

Does the room have tables and chairs already set up or will you need to provide your own/source them from elsewhere?

6. Licensed for consumption of alcohol

Some venues have their own bar. Some have a licence that will allow attendees to bring their own alcohol. Others may require you (the organisation) to get your own Temporary Liquor Licence. These temporary licences are relatively simple to apply for and usually fairly cheap. For an example of how to apply, go here.

7. Cost

How much will it cost to hire the venue? Will the night’s expected takings be sufficient to cover this cost? If not, it might be worthwhile to try and negotiate on the hiring cost or simply seek out a more affordable venue. People attending your quiz night will usually have a lot of fun no matter what the setting.

8. Available Hours

Does the venue allow for a late finish? How much time will you have to set things up before the event begins and pack things up when the event is over?

9. Access to AV equipment

If the venue doesn’t have a sound system or projector/TV, will you need to hire/borrow/use your own? Is there an ideal location for the ‘stage’ where the MC can host? You might not need audio/visual equipment to display your questions but Quiz Night HQ’s Marketplace contains all sorts of engaging trivia rounds that do require a screen.

Suggestions for Types of Locations

  • Local sports club (e.g. footy, bowls, racing etc.)
  • Church hall
  • School hall
  • Pub/bar backroom
  • Private room for hire
  • Your own organisation’s space.

If you’ve used another type of venue, have another suggestion that others might appreciate, or have simply found this guide to be helpful, please leave us a comment below.