When you ask attendees what they remember from a conference, they don’t always recall the panelists. But they do remember the food. In fact, Food and Beverage has climbed to the second-most important factor in venue selection, just behind location—a shift that reflects more than taste. Once treated strictly as a cost center, it now ranks ahead of décor, seating, and AV. That change reflects the pressures of rising costs, sharper attendee expectations, and the need for organizers to show value in visible ways.

Catering is Programming — Ask Any Attendee

Surveys from Freeman and IACC reveal that 70% of employees judge event quality by the food. Not the speaker lineup. Not the swag bag. The food. Attendees have become more sensitive to whether meals are thoughtful and inclusive, and they increasingly read those choices as a measure of quality. That scrutiny has put pressure on organizations to make their priorities visible in ways everyone can see, and food is one of the only elements that reaches the entire room at once. Because content is easy to consume elsewhere, the strongest case for gathering in person is networking—and meals have become the most reliable setting for it. With costs climbing across every part of an event, food has also become the easiest place for attendees to spot where corners were cut, making it one of the clearest indicators of whether an event delivered on its promise.

Not every venue is built to meet that standard. At many hotels, catering is still treated as logistics—trays pushed through service corridors, menus designed for volume rather than impact. The difference shows when food is planned as part of the program instead of bolted on. Purpose-built centers like the OLC are designed that way: dining, lounges, and breakout spaces are laid out so meals extend the day’s flow rather than interrupt it.

The New Rules of the Table

John Adams once wrote that the way to win hearts is through the stomach. At events, the same holds true—but only if the food is handled with care. The rules aren’t complicated, but they’ve become non-negotiable:

• Menus send a message. Rising costs in 2025 mean attendees are watching more closely; no one forgets when the “vegetarian entrée” is just the chicken dish… minus the chicken. Remember, inclusion on the plate is inclusion in the room.
• Design against the 2pm crash. Balance menus with lighter proteins, evergreen snack areas, and well-paced coffee breaks that keep energy up long after lunch ends.
• Offer mocktails worth holding. Nearly 45% of younger attendees drink less, but they still want to participate. Give them options worth raising a glass to.
• Keep the coffee strong and the line short. Few things sink a strong keynote faster than a weak cup or a twenty-minute queue for it.
• Treat meals as prime time. The most important exchanges rarely happen at the podium — they happen when someone leans over dessert and says, “We should talk.”

Dining Room = Deal Room

When attendees make the trip, most won’t say it’s for another panel in Auditorium C. They come for conversations that can’t happen on a livestream. Food sets the stage for those exchanges. Communal tables, coffee stations, and dinners nearby are where introductions are made and decisions begin.

Research backs it up: psychologists link communal eating with oxytocin release, the hormone that builds trust. In practice, it means a handshake over dessert is more likely to spark follow-up than a business card exchanged at the back of a session. Venues like the OLC that are located near restaurants, entertainment, and walkable options extend those moments, turning a lunch or dinner into the most productive hours of the day.

The Bonus Points Are in the (Recycle) Bin

Food isn’t judged only by taste. In IACC’s 2025 research, sustainability ranked among the fastest-rising attendee priorities. Compost bins, recycling, and waste reduction don’t decide whether an event succeeds, but they now decide whether a venue stands out. The practices that earn credit are practical ones: right-sized portions, menus built around local vendors, and visible systems for cutting waste. At IACC-certified venues like the OLC, these measures aren’t add-ons—they’re part of the operating standard, and planners are starting to use them as tie-breakers.

The Venue Test Event Planners Can’t Ignore

All of this raises the question: can every venue deliver on these expectations? The short answer: no.

Hotels remain the default for many events, but 65% still report staffing shortages. The cracks show up quickly—in banquet delays, long buffet lines, or RFPs stretched thin. Planners are noticing, and they’re moving. More than half now say they prefer specialty venues like the OLC, where food, service, and design aren’t competing for resources but are built to meet global standards. In an environment where food is no longer a detail but a deciding factor, that difference has become impossible to ignore. Put simply: align the program, the plate, and the room — as IACC-certified venues like OLC do — and you create the kind of events people remember, return to, and talk about.