Some places on that list might no longer exist, or our past contacts don’t work there anymore - in either case, this is still helpful! You can look on LinkedIn to find a new contact for the company, and find out what company our former contact is working for now.~~
Co-Working Spaces
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!
Startup Offices
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.
Corporate Office
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 Other Government Buildings
Libraries and Government buildings also make great hosts, but usually have the same problems as corporations.
Schools
Stay away from schools!
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 at the last minute, or stringing organizers along for months:
If possible, find an actual person who works for the venue on their contact page or LinkedIn. Contact forms rarely get responses.
DO NOT PROVIDE EVERY DETAIL IN THE EMAIL. You just want to get them onto the phone, where you can talk more. Your email should be SHORT SHORT SHORT.
Here’s a good template:
Hi [name], I’m helping put together a coding event for high school/college students in [city] on [date], CodeDay. It’s a 24-hour non-profit event to inspire students to get interested in coding. CodeDay is important to me because [reason CodeDay is important to you, ideally something that doesn’t sound generic]
I know [company name] has an office locally, and I wondered if hosting the event would be a possibility?
Do you have any time in the next week to talk about what’s involved, and whether that’s possible?
“Can you donate the space?” The venue should be free. (If you find a venue for ~$500-1,000, you may be able to raise the sponsorships for it. Check with your CodeDay contact before moving forward.)
“Do you have a required caterer?” Many colleges, schools, Fortune 500 companies, and professional event venues require you to use their catering provider, which is usually $50-100/person.
“How many students can you support?” This includes considerations of space + tables + chairs. For a new event, look for 30-60 people, for mature events look for 60-100 or more.
“Will you allow overnight events?” CodeDay is 24-hours because 1-day events were not as effective.
“Will you allow high school students?” Some venues don’t want minors.
<aside> 💼 CodeDay has $2M/occurrence liability insurance, and will list them as additional insured. All students sign liability waivers.
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