Chanel at the V&A
Why is hosting an event at a venue with a ‘pull’ so key?
Nowadays, lives feel so busy, and people really cherish their personal time therefore ensuring you can get good attendance at an evening event is even harder than ever. It’s not always enough to have great food, wonderful drinks and brilliant company as crazy as that sounds. We find that securing a venue with a ‘pull’, something with a real ‘draw’ to make that invite impossible to turn down, is a magic formula when combined with a brilliant menu, an exciting programme, or an enticing space.
Exclusive access to a sold-out exhibition
This is such a draw to get guests fighting for a ticket to your event. A key example is the Chanel exhibition upcoming this Autumn at the V&A South Kensington. ‘Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto.’ launches at the V&A South Kensington on the 16th of September. Currently, you have to enter a queue to book tickets and the first available slot, at the time of writing, is late November with seriously limited tickets and this is changing hourly!
To offer a private view of this exhibition at a time when it’s sold out for months from opening is a really special part of an event invite. When there’s an exhibition in town that sells out in this way there’s so much talk and press that guests will inevitably have heard about it and link that exclusivity with your event invite. We see such high attendance at events when this is the case – especially perfect for a client event where you want to guarantee the attendance of key individuals.
Top tip – stagger or delay entrance to the exhibition to secure key networking time ahead of the viewing.
Adding unique value to an event experience
Creating the perfect formula for good guest attendance is a tricky challenge. We always recommend really considering your menu, the atmosphere, the flow and the guest journey but adding unique value is really what makes that invite pop and stand out.
When guests can see that they’ll have access not only to an exciting venue but perhaps a unique experience, it always grabs attention. If there’s an exhibition running or perhaps there’s an incredible history to the venue, adding a special curator or talk is so great. This could be anything from a historian discussing the incredible space the event is set within, a forager showing you the hidden treasures from the venue grounds through to an expert on a currently running exhibition. For example, with the upcoming Chanel exhibition at the V&A, Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto. we are running events during this time period and also adding experienced curators who take small groups of up to 25 guests to talk through the exhibition and add extra details and information. Not only do guests then get to see an exhibition which is totally sold out, they get access to special, extra information which feels very exclusive.
Consider hosting in a unique space, not normally seen in that context.
At the Golborne Collection we specialise at events in unique venues. We regularly work in spaces such as the V&A, Natural History Museum and the Wallace Collection, amongst others. Spaces like this have such a draw – guests feel very special to be able to access these spaces after hours, once the public have gone home. It doesn’t matter how long we have been working within our industry, we still pinch ourselves that we often find ourselves walking through galleries surrounded by priceless paintings and artefacts, alone or with a small handful of people. It’s an unbeatable experience to host an event within venues like this.
Hosting your event within a space like this absolutely increases attendance rates and we see this very clearly. Being able to have dinner in one of the most prestigious museums within London or attend during a sold-out exhibition such as the Chanel exhibition at the V&A feels super special and an invitation you just can’t turn down.
At The Golborne Collection we work closely with our clients to ensure that their events are not only successful from a logistical perspective, but from an attendance one too. We can suggest great venues and have brilliant knowledge of the upcoming exhibitions within the capital which we know are likely to sell out. Securing event dates within venues like this is where we specialise so let us know your brief and we’ll find the perfect space to entice your guests in. If you'd like to know more about hosting in a unique space we'd love to hear from you.
