Issue 62

FUNCTION VENUES
“AI IS ALSO NOW BEING USED MORE
WIDELY TO HELP US CREATE CONTENT
AS WELL AS REACH AUDIENCES WITH
APPS SUCH AS CHATGPT WRITING FOR
US AND DEEPAI GENERATING IMAGES
(I ASSURE YOU THIS ARTICLE WAS NOT
WRITTEN BY A BOT!)”
and ethnic backgrounds, their gender
and sexual orientation, abilities and
disabilities. How inclusive are you? How
do you communicate this so that everyone
feels welcomed at your venue?
LET THE ROBOTS DO THE WORK
In our desire to remain authentic, we are
increasingly reliant on synthetic devices.
AI (artificial intelligence) is being spoken
about everywhere and has already quietly
infiltrated almost every aspect of our lives.
This might fill you with fear (particularly
those of you who remember the
Terminator!) but AI does have the power to
do good and help our businesses.
If you have anything to do with
marketing then you will already have
experienced AI working across social
media platforms and search engines
helping audiences find content and
capturing data to help us be strategic in
our marketing activity. Staying ahead of
the ever-changing algorithms can be a
full-time job but when you get it right it’s a
powerful marketing tool.
GETTY IMAGES
AI is also now being used more
widely to help us create content as
well as reach audiences with apps
such as ChatGPT writing for us and
DeepAI generating images (I assure
you this article was not written by a
bot!). This is particularly useful if you
have the occasional writers block or
are missing an image for Instagram.
The most exciting development in
AI is in helping us with our workflow.
As your bookings increase so too does
your workload. Hiring extra staff to
keep on top of administrative tasks
may not be viable. An alternative
solution could be to integrate
software that can help automate
bookings, billing and information
gathering; improving efficiency and
communication between your team
and your clients.
EVERYONE IS A CONTENT CREATOR
The ongoing development of social
media continues to astound me,
particularly our desire to be part of
the content and not just bystanders.
This has created a new phenomenon
of Wedding Content Creators.
Professionals who can be hired to
capture the whole day from behindthe-scenes
action to those special
wedding moments so that couples
can share them with their wider
audience within 24 hours of their
wedding day. They don’t replace the
expertise of wedding photographers
and videographers but they can
produce short-form videos and stills
specifically designed for social media
content.
This trend could have benefits
for wedding venues by helping to
raise their profile and reach a wider
audience without having to take any
direct action themselves. There may
be risks however in not being able to
control the content and how your venue
is presented to the wider world. Good
communication and relationships with
your couples is important so you are kept
aware of all their wedding plans and plans
to document it!
SUPPORTING AND SUSTAINING ONE
ANOTHER
This year I am also focusing on
sustainability not only in terms of the
environment but also in how we continue
to sustain our human resources and
financial viability of weddings and events.
Money is a significant driver for all of
us. The cost of living is high and other
economic factors are impacting our
businesses and our customers’ budgets so
it is important that we remain vigilant of
costs.
Recruitment has been a major challenge
for the wedding and events industry and
historically we have been neglectful of
the wellbeing of our staff. I have (mostly
happy) memories from my twenties
and thirties of working endlessly long
days with a few hours’ sleep in between.
Somehow I survived but I recognise that
this lifestyle is not sustainable and worklife
balance is important not only for our
physical health but our mental health too.
We need to look after each other and leave
robotic working to AI!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Charlotte Winship has
over 20 years’ experience
transforming good wedding
and events venues into
great ones. She is an expert in
helping venues reach their ideal
customers, maximise sales opportunities,
increase profitability, establish effective
teams and streamline venue operations.
07493 350303
charlotte@charlottewinship.com
www.charlottewinship.com
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