CVBS, Conference Venues and Booking Services
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Conference venue finding

One brief. A conference venue you can defend, inside 48 hours.

You have been handed an event on top of your actual job. Send us one brief and it leaves your desk: we check what is genuinely available, negotiate the rate and the inclusions, and come back inside 48 hours with a shortlist you can compare properly and put in front of whoever signs it. At no cost to you.

0Years independent, since 1989
$0Our fee to you, ever
0Hours to your shortlist, typically
GlobalAustralia-wide and international
Room set-ups

Choose the set-up before you choose the room.

A capacity figure means little until the layout is agreed. Tell us how your program runs and every venue on your shortlist is quoted on the right set-up from the start.

Conference room set theatre style, rows of upholstered chairs facing a wall screen, with tall windows

Theatre

Rows facing the front. Seats the most people in the room but leaves nowhere to write, so it suits keynotes and plenary sessions.

Function room set cabaret style, round tables with the side facing the screen and lectern left open

Cabaret

Rounds with the front arc left open. Everyone sees the stage and still has a table to work at, which makes it the default for workshops.

Function room of dressed round tables in front of floor to ceiling windows and greenery

Banquet rounds

Full rounds for lunches, awards and conference dinners. If the same room ran the day session, allow for the time it takes to turn it over.

Meeting room set in a U-shape facing a projection screen, water glasses and notepads at every place

U-shape

Everyone can see everyone, and the presenter can walk into the middle. Built for training and working sessions, and it stops working once the group gets large.

Boardroom table set with notepads and flowers beside floor to ceiling windows, flip charts at the far end

Boardroom

One table with everyone at it. Right for board meetings, leadership sessions and small groups making decisions.

Ballroom set with theatre rows facing a stage at one end and dressed dinner rounds at the other

Split set

Plenary seating at one end, dinner set at the other, so nothing has to be turned over mid-afternoon. It needs a room big enough to carry both.

Tell Us How Your Program Runs
Direct or through us

Why not just ring the venues yourself?

You certainly can, and for a familiar room on flexible dates that is a perfectly sensible thing to do. Here is what changes on a conference once the dates, the delegate numbers and the accommodation start pulling against each other.

Going direct

  • You work from published rates and the venues that came up in a search
  • Every enquiry, chase and revised quote is yours to make
  • Quotes arrive in different formats and are hard to compare properly
  • You find out about the difficult load-in or the low ceiling on the day
  • Room hire, catering, audio visual and accommodation negotiated separately

Through CVBS

  • We check what is genuinely available, including rooms that never show as free
  • One brief from you, and we do the ringing around
  • One shortlist, costed the same way, so you can compare like for like
  • You hear the drawbacks at shortlist, not once the contract is signed
  • The whole package negotiated together, which is where the rate moves

Sourcing earns its place as the event grows, and it costs you nothing either way. How we’re paid

How it works

A few minutes of yours.
The rest is ours.

Whoever takes your brief stays with you through to the final invoice, so you are never repeating yourself to someone new.

Karen Jepson Anthony Jepson

Karen Jepson and Anthony Jepson, Directors. Meet the team

  1. You · a few minutes

    Send your brief

    Your dates, your numbers and what the program actually has to do. One form, and you are finished with the enquiring.

  2. Us · the legwork

    We source and negotiate

    Every venue that could suit it, including rooms that never show as available. Then we negotiate the rate and the inclusions on your behalf.

  3. You · usually inside 48 hours

    Compare your shortlist

    Rooms, rates, catering, audio visual and accommodation, costed the same way and set out side by side.

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What it costs

What does a conference venue cost?

Most venues price a conference as a day delegate package, one per-person rate covering the room, the breaks, lunch and basic audio visual. What you pay moves with the city, the standard of the venue, your dates and your delegate numbers.

We do not publish a national average, because the average is the one number that is never yours. A venue with a gap in its diary in February will quote differently from the same venue in October. What we do instead is negotiate the actual rate and the actual inclusions for your event, and tell you what sits outside the package before you commit to it.

Published rates are a starting point, not the price. Breakout rooms, exhibition space, dinners and anything beyond the house audio visual sit outside the package.

Breakout room with two oval tables and wall mounted screens
A breakout room, one of the extras that usually sits outside the day delegate package.
Ask us what your event will cost How conference pricing works
FAQ

Conference venue finding, common questions

The questions organisers actually ask us before they brief.

Does it cost more to use CVBS for a conference venue?
No. Our service is free to you, and the rate we negotiate often comes in under what you would be quoted on your own. If you would like the detail, it is set out on how we’re paid.
How quickly will I get options?
A shortlist within 48 hours of your brief, with rates and inclusions ready to compare. If your dates are tight or the market is busy we will say so when you brief us rather than at the 48 hour mark.
Who handles the contract and the deposits?
The contract is between you and the venue. We negotiate the terms that sit inside it, including the inclusions, the deposit schedule and the release dates, and we stay across it through to the final invoice.
How far ahead should we be booking?
For a large conference in a capital city, twelve to eighteen months is comfortable and the good rooms in peak season go earlier than that. Shorter lead times are workable more often than people expect, particularly if you have any flexibility on the week. Tell us the dates you want and we will tell you honestly what is still open.
What is a fair day delegate rate?
It depends on the city, the standard of the venue and what your program actually needs, so the honest answer is a range rather than a number. There is a summary of the bands on this page, and the city-by-city detail is in our conference cost guide.
How large a conference can you source for?
From small board meetings to large multi-day conferences, including programs with concurrent breakouts, exhibition space and group accommodation. If a venue cannot hold the whole program in one place, we will tell you that before you inspect it.
Do you only put forward venues that suit you?
No. We source right across the market rather than for any one hotel group, and the venues that reach your shortlist are the ones that fit the brief. You will also hear what is wrong with each of them, because that is usually the part that decides it.
What happens if we have to move or cancel the dates?
Tell us as early as you can and we will go back to the venue. Because we place a lot of business with the same properties, a date move is very often something that can be worked out rather than a cancellation, and that conversation is easier coming from us than from a one-off booker.
Often needed alongside Group accommodation Product launches & events Corporate accommodation Conference cost guide How to choose a venue finder
Ready when you are

Tell us about your conference.

We will find the venues that suit it and negotiate them on your behalf, at no cost to you.

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