The Taubman Museum of art is a perfect destination for all forms of events, from wedding receptions, to award dinners. The museum offers its guests a beautiful sight of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The spectacular Atrium, adorned with a towering glass crown, and a dazzling flight of stairs is the most fabulous setting in and around the town. The Museum is suitable for cocktails and dinners; the Atrium is thus a remarkable platform for award ceremonies. The Atrium has a capacity of 216 guests for events where the guest are to be seated and 670 for an audience standing event, thus qualifying it for a perfect event of just about 150 guest. The Atrium of the Taubman Museum has room for it to be used in conjunction with the Auditorium so as to increase its sitting capacity to 326 and the standing capacity to 838.
According to the Taubman Museum of Art (2008) some of the Museums packages that will endear event organizers to the facility are the
“Museum Atrium and gallery access ,Pre-set menu of hors d’oeuvre choices by Savor , China glassware and cocktail tables ,ticket-style house wine, premium beer and soda bar (two per guest) , Bar and service staff , Audio-visual equipment and staff ,Table seating ,Specialty linen , Catering upgrades and special requests” (p. 2).
The availability of all these services or packages’ makes Taubman Museum of art a perfect location for a 150 capacity award dinner.
Irrespective of the advantages the Museum offers its guests, there are certain limitations that may hinder prospective patrons from utilizing the location for event purposes. One of such limitations is the fact that only registered members are allowed to use the Museum for events. In a situation where a non-registered member intends to utilize the Museum for the purpose of an event he will first have to get himself registered, the amount for registration will be separate from that meant for the deposit of the venue. This will not in all cases be favorable to the prospective users, especially in a situation where the organizers have no room for such expenditure in their budget. Straining of the budget at the same time to accommodate this expenditure might in turn affect the quality of the total package the guest would have enjoyed.
It is also worth to note that, as soon as the date and time stipulated in the payment agreement expires. The management of the Museum will charge extra fees if the facility is yet to be vacated, not minding whether the organizers of the event have any logistics problems (Doowuese, 2002). Again it is common knowledge that the quality of an event is synonymous with the nature of the food served, one other limitation of this Museum is that only the Museums accredited caterers are allowed to provide catering service for events at the location, this in a way will affect events quality in a situation the catering offered by the management does not suit the taste of the event packagers.
In order not to be a victim of the Museums policies, it is advisable to make prior inquiries before choosing the venue as the most preferred for an event. It will also be wise to make provisions for unforeseen events in the budget which will serve as a shield in a situation any of the above situations arise (Imande, 1998).
One issue of critical concern is the risk of losing cash in the event of a shift in date or event cancellation due to logistics or other problems as the case may be. This is because the deposit paid to the Museum management is non refundable and non transferable. This situation is further made difficult, as payment for the facility is made long before the due date for the event.
Reference List
Doowuese, I. (2002). The Basics of Site Selection for Corporate Events. Durban : Lim.
Imande, A. (1998). Understanding Events Management. Abuja: Salem press.
Taubman Museum of Art. (2008). Host your Event in Roanoke’s Most Elegant Location. Web.