| feature-key | category |
|---|---|
drinks |
catering |
Non-alcoholic drinks are a base necessity of every conference. Luckily, they are also quite easy to organise.
Type: catering
Implementation difficulty: easy
Appropriate decision time: mid
While you can skip food on conferences, you can't skip drinks on any event that is longer then ~1.5 hours. You don't want people to have to step out to quench their thirst.
Basic drinks include water, some soft drinks and maybe tea/coffee. Also try to find drinks with taste but low (or no) amount of sugar, not everyone likes or can consume large amounts of sugar.
Plan with 3 liters of water per person, per day. Especially in times where it can suddenly get hot, having ample amount of water is important! When it gets hot, people will start switching from enjoyable drinks to lots of water.
Drinks can be easily bought from delivery services. Usually, even small numbers can be covered by a delivery service.
If possible, search for a supplier that allows you to buy on commission. This way, the drinks will be delivered and also carried away, but you also only pay the actual consumption.
For waste management reasons, prefer bottled drinks in crates. These can be easily collected and are environmentally friendly.
As drinks are a basic commodity, you can do this rather late in the planning process, but you should research suppliers in the middle time of your planning, when you have some downtime.
Check with your venue. Some venues expect drinks to be served by them, which makes things easier for you, but also means that you need to accept their prices. Also, set a maximum consumption to make sure you don't run over budget.
Also, check the cooling situation on site. Are there fridges? If not, can you rent some and bring them in?
Drinks are rather low-effort, even when interacting with a supplier.
Depending on the venue, you can negotate that filling the fridges is done by volunteers, which might save you the cost of catering personel.
Drinks are very plannable. Make sure you have a supplier that can deliver additional drinks in case of unexpected hot periods.
Research drink prices before pricing your tickets. Add the price for 3 liters of water and 1 soft drink per person to the ticket price.
Hidden Things
Sometimes, Sponsors want to be drink sponsors and will send you a couple of crates of a favourite local drink. Make sure this works for the venue, especially if they provide the drinks.
Also, discuss the nature and the labeling of the drinks, as with all sponsoring material. It should fit the messaging of your conference.
- Is there a fridge?
- If not, can you bring one?
- Does the venue offer drinks?
- If yes, will they insist to take their offer?
When? Before signing the venue.
Suggestion: Roughly 6 months before the event
Get a proper quote from the suppliers you picked.
When? When you have a rough idea of how many people will attend.
Suggestion: About 1 month before the event.
Get the final number of attendees before finally ordering.
When? Right before the conf.
Suggestion: About 4 days before the event.
Should you decide to service drinks yourselves, come up with a service schedule for the conference. Who fills the fridges, how often?
When? Right before the conf.
Suggestion: 1 week to 1 day before the conference.
Don't forget paying the final invoice after the event.
When? After the conf.
Suggestion: As soon as you get the invoice.