When it comes to booking event spaces and venues for conferences, meetings, away days, or team building activities, you will often be provided with a cost in the format of a day delegate rate or 24-hour delegate rate. These two pricing formats are widely used when it comes to venues and events, but if you haven’t heard of them before they can be a little confusing. As a result, we thought it would be good to explain exactly what these two terms mean and what to look out for when using day delegate and 24-hour delegate rates.
What is a day delegate rate?
A venue will often quote a day delegate rate if you are looking to hold a meeting, conference, or team building event that will last for a single day. It is a fixed cost (per person) that includes a majority of the items you will need for your event.
Exactly what’s included within a day delegate rate does differ slightly from venue to venue as you would expect, but will generally include the following items:
- Main meeting room hires for the duration of your event.
- A projector and projector screen (or a large plasma screen for smaller rooms)
- Tea and coffee breaks
- Lunch
- Parking (although not usually with City centre venues)
- Wi-Fi access throughout the venue
- Delegate stationery (pads, pens, etc.)
- A flipchart and easel
- Bottled water in your meeting room
What is a 24-hour delegate rate?
A 24-hour delegate rate is very similar to a day delegate. It is designed for events where delegates will be staying at the venue overnight, either the day before or the day of your meeting, conference, or team building event.
In addition to all of the items included within a day delegate rate, a 24-hour delegate rate will typically include:
- Three-course evening meal (this is usually served in the venue’s restaurant although there is often the opportunity to have a private dining room if required)
- Overnight accommodation
- Breakfast the following morning
When should you choose an inclusive delegate rate?
If you require all of the items provided by a day delegate rate or 24-hour delegate rate, then they often provide good value for money and are also a great way to stay in control of your budget. However, make sure that you aren’t paying for things that you don’t need and always be clear on exactly what is and isn’t included within the rate.
What is the alternative to an inclusive delegate rate?
If you would prefer to stay clear of ‘delegate rates’ when booking your next event, the alternative is for the venue to break everything down for you. In this case, they will provide you with separate costs for room hire, tea and coffee servings, lunch, projector hire, etc. If your delegate is staying overnight, they will also provide accommodation costs and dinner rates for you.
If you choose this pricing structure for your next event, make sure you are completely happy with the rates that have been quoted and that all the things you will need for your event have been covered.
What if you choose to hold a virtual event or hybrid event?
Due to their very nature, virtual meetings, conferences, and events will not require the use of a physical venue, and so there will be no venue fees or delegate rates to pay. However, if you are planning a virtual event, you may wish to use a specialist virtual event platform that will provide all of the services and functionality you will need. Naturally, there will be a cost associated with using a virtual event platform which will vary depending upon the solution you choose. Depending upon how these costs are structured, you could argue that these costs are in fact like a ‘virtual delegate rate’, whereby you pay a certain amount per delegate, to use the various functions and features of your chosen platform.
If you are planning a virtual event, consider including a virtual team building activity at some point in your agenda to help improve delegate engagement.