CENTRE’D AROUND YOU.

Make an impact with your next event at Boise Centre. Our versatile meeting and event spaces, modern amenities, and expert event planning team is at your service to ensure an unforgettable event experience. Located in the middle of the city’s energetic, walkable downtown Boise Centre is surrounded by local breweries, restaurants, shops, hotels and is minutes from outdoor adventures. boisecentre.com

• Convenient downtown location

• Numerous direct flights and seven minutes from the airport

• Surrounded by restaurants, breweries, and nightlife

• Over 1,300 hotel rooms within walking distance

• Outdoor activities close by hiking, rafting, biking, and more

To bring down the cost of the venue, Albrecht recommends steering clear of hotels when possible because additional contractual fees add up quickly. It also saves money to opt for venues that include necessary elements for the event, such as a stage or audiovisual components.

If the meeting must be held at a hotel, look at when and where the event will be held. Scheduling during the off season might lead to lower hotel rates.

To save on A/V, Flowers recommends reviewing the agenda and combining equipment as much as possible. This cuts down on set-up and tear-down costs and the amount of equipment needed.

“If you have four meeting rooms, instead of doing an A/V package in all four, you can set it in two and flip-flop your agenda so you’re reusing the space, versus moving the group to another room,” Flowers said.

Cook also had some tips for saving on audiovisual, such as booking early to avoid high prices for last-minute orders; sharing equipment with other events at the venue; and foregoing the newest, most expensive equipment offered by a company.

Planners can also use logistical information to determine where to shave off costs.

“What you can do is be very strategic about guarantees,” Flowers said. “Don’t just guarantee 200 for everything. Look at arrivals, departures, expected attrition. Tighten numbers as best you can.”

If the event’s overall expected attendance is 200, remember that most won’t arrive until late into the first day, so it won’t make sense to budget for breakfast for 200 attendees that day.