When considering ideas for a venue, it's a good idea to go through the process of putting together a list of potential sponsors discussed in the Sponsorships section (or review your list, if you've already created one).
- Co-Working Spaces
- Startup Offices
- Corporate Offices
- Libraries and Other Government Buildings
- Schools
Our most common venues are co-working spaces for some very good reasons: they're usually small organizations who are willing to take risks, have an interest in building up the tech community, and have a lot of available desks and chairs for student use.
Most cities have at least one co-working space, and you'd do well to put it at the top of your "to-call" list!
After co-working spaces, startups are the second-most-common venues for similar reasons: less risk averse and interested in building the community. Unlike co-working spaces, newer startups don't have enough room to host a CodeDay, so you can expect a lower success rate when reaching out. (Interested companies without enough space can often be convinced to sponsor a meal, however!)
Finding startups is also more difficult than finding co-working spaces, since most startups don't try to rank for "Des Moines Startup" on Google. One great way to find startups with enough room is to check meetup.com for technology meetups in your city, then look for the companies who have provided venues.
Searching on Google is still a good avenue (you may come across press mentions), but you may have more luck on crunchbase.com and angel.co.
If you have a big company with a technology focus in your area, they can be a great potential venue and are certainly worth pursuing, but you should be aware that they'll likely move slowly, and are more likely to say "no" for liability reasons after several weeks of discussion. If you're planning to go this route, make sure you're talking to plenty of alternates, even if things seem promising.
Corporate offices are also more likely to be locked into contracts with caterers, security, and A/V vendors, so you'll need to confirm whether any third-party fees will be required to use the venue and, if so, if the company can sponsor the cost. See the "Considerations" section for more details.
Libraries and Government buildings also make great hosts, but usually have the same problems as corporations.
Stay away!
Schools are not only dramatically more risk-averse than corporations and government buildings, but also have a tendency to add restrictions close to the event. More than half of the schools who've told an organizer "yes" have, a month later, added restrictions such as "it can't be overnight", "no minors", or "only students at this school can attend".
This includes both public high schools and universities, although private schools are less prone to these problems and may be worth pursuing.
Bad Venues
While occasional venue problems are to be expected, we've had consistent problems with a few companies agreeing to host and backing out close to the event date, or stringing organizers along for months. We recommend you do not bother contacting these venues:
- General Assembly (x4)
- Facebook (x2)
- Uber (x2)