.svg)
Book your event at the largest conference venues in Manitoba
Kevin Penner
February 3, 2023
When organizing an event for Manitoba conference venues, you are confronted by many decisions. Choosing a venue is the one decision that will have the largest impact on your attendees experience. Location needs to be a reasonable distance, but far enough away to remove the distractions. Do you want a city location such as Winnipeg or something an hour way in a Provincial Park setting? Capacity is also a critical factor. Is your event 10 people, 50 or 300?
Does this sound a bit intimidating? You don’t have to feel that way. Here are some tips and guidelines about the process of making the decision, what to consider, and how to do better.
Check available dates
1 – When talking to Manitoba conference venues start with checking if the date or dates you are considering are open. If it is find out if they have a large enough meeting space, guest rooms, parking area and AV equipment. The number of Manitoba Conference Venues in the city is a lot higher than ones located in Parks or rural locations, so if you are considering a venue located in a Provincial Park, check with those venues as early as possible.
Layouts and floor plans
2 – Layouts and floor plans help to understand the time it takes to get between points such as your meeting area and your meal services area. Booking a 50 person event at a venue that has a 1000+ person capacity means that your attendees are going to be doing a lot more walking, and wasting a lot of time compared to booking a venue with a smaller footprint. Keep your venue right-sized to your event.
Below is an example of meeting rooms at a Provincial Park Conference Centre – Wilderness Edge.
AVERY ROOM
20 person occupancy
Lower level
MCCOY LOUNGE
30 person occupancy
Main Floor
PINAWA ROOM
40 person occupancy
Main Floor. 2 adjoining breakout rooms that hold 8 people each
AGGASIZ ROOM
160 person occupancy
Lower level
MANITOBA ROOM
200 person occupancy
Overlooking Winnipeg River. Small kitchen. Main Floor.
OVERFLOW AREA
20 person occupancy
Main Floor. Across from McCoy Lounge.
LAKE VIEW TENT
300 person occupancy
Setup on our yard between our Dining Room and Winnipeg River
Ambiance
3 – Ambiance is another area that can set the mood. Do you want your event in a busy city or are you looking for a more peaceful location? The reason so many of Canada’s events are booked at Manitoba Conference Venues is partly because of their central location within Canada and North America, but also the boreal forest and river setting at some conference centres creates the right environment for relationship within a group. The less the ambiance matches the feeling of the event the more you will need to make up for it with themes and decorations.
Cost and flexibility
4 – Cost and flexibility is a really important factor. Are you working on a limited budget? If so you will be wanting to find all inclusive packages to protect yourself against unexpected runs in cost. Get your venue to provide hard stops on the price, and preferable get everything firmly in writing right from the start. Pricing for Manitoba conference venues is much lower than those in Toronto or Vancouver and you will get a lot of value for money spent. Getting firm prices up front will insure that once you have found your preferred venue you can be confident that costs are something that you don’t have to worry about for the remainder of planning.
Services
5 – Services such as event programming, audio/video options and flexible meal times can make planning your event a lot less stressful. If you are holding your event in a city then things like parking and parking security can become an issue. Try to find a Manitoba conference venue that gives you the flexibility of bringing your own equipment or using theirs. In general the more flexible your conference venue, more you have control over your expenditures.
Tips to finding Perfect Manitoba Conference Venues
A. Very Accessible Location but isolated enough to keep out distractions
B. Meeting Rooms with Natural Daylight and Amazing View
C. Wifi
D. Good Quality Equipment
E. Dedicated Point of Contact from the Conference Centre
F. Comfortable Chairs and Tables for Delegates
G. Good Quality Food, Beverages and Snacks
Accommodations
6 – Does the conference venue offer accommodations? Most events work best when accommodations are at the same place as the conference venue. This allows a minimum of distraction between sessions, meals and health breaks. It also gives the conference organizers the ability to add more time for existing sessions or add additional sessions, because travel time which can eat an enormous amount of time is completely eliminated.
Catering
7 – Like onsite accommodations, have a venue that caters onsite is an enormous time saver. If the venue you partner with has the ability to be flexible with meal and break times your conference will be hugely efficient with its use of attendees time.
.svg){kind=small}
Large meeting rooms
143 guest rooms
Catered meals
.svg){kind=small}
One hour from Winnipeg
Located in Pinawa, East Whiteshell Provincial Park
25+ outdoor activities
Rafting, canoe rentals, snow boarding, hiking trails, etc.
Team building
Rafting, canoe rentals, snow boarding, hiking trails, etc.
Hot tub
Sauna
Free Parking
Firepits
Marina
Walking trails
Convenience store
nearby ATM
Golf Course
Beach
Pickle ball
Tennis
