Organizing big events always comes with logistical challenges that land in the lap of professional planners, or often, amateur planners tasked with filling the role for friends and family. Beyond securing the venue, evening’s entertainment, and food, the seating arrangements carry their own set of obstacles, which increase with the size of the event. To help with this, we at SeatGen have put together a list of seating tips, which can be used with our [name] to take at least one of those planning headaches off your plate.
The following tips are for arranged seating events, rather than ticket events, since these are arranged according to first-come, first-served and pricing:
- Accept that things will change. A good even planner always has contingencies, and the seating arrangement is no exception. Rain interrupts an outdoor events, there are no-shows, and people will move around and visit with other groups. Essentially, for every space you intend to fill with seating, it will always be better to have too many seats than deal with a standing room situation.
- Grouping is ideal, but not mandatory. Sitting people who you know will want to spend time together is probably always at the top of the list for seating planners. We advise starting at the top and working your way through to the furthest association from the guest(s) of honor. What this means is that you want to be sure the retiree being honored has a seat next to his/her spouse and/or children, and that the immediate family are all within next-table-over distance. The old college roommate who may or may not stick around can be somewhere near the door.
- Work with photographers. With social media photo-sharing, an event’s success isn’t just about the event anymore. Now, it’s about the visuals, the still images that will populate photo albums and become precious memories. Photographers, being adept at visuals and angles, are good consultants when it comes to forming arrangements in open space. Most will gladly lend suggestions that make their jobs easier.
- Consider all angles. The bird’s-eye view of a seating chart seems an easy concept—just make sure there are enough chairs for the amount of people. However, there are ground-level considerations that make it less cut and dry. Do the guests have enough room to move comfortably down the rows without interrupting others? Is the front row going to walk in front of the focal point (e.g. the podium) when they stand up for a bathroom break? Is someone in danger of hearing loss for sitting too close to a loudspeaker? These are the considerations that require ground-level walkthroughs and hands-on consideration.
Who is SeatGen?
SeatGen is an intelligent seating chart template that helps planners create professional seating charts. The tips mentioned above are for events, but SeatGen is equally (or perhaps more) a tool for teachers and professors, and one that could be issued school-wide to make staff lives easier. Packages are offered that range from individual to small teams to large teams to institutions, so there should be no problems in finding the one that
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