Claude for event planners: compare venue contracts

A corporate client wants three venues compared before choosing, and each venue sends a contract and terms of 20 to 40 pages: minimum numbers and when they can drop, minimum spend, a cancellation scale, exclusive caterers and AV, a damage deposit and what happens if the date moves. A sole planner with 3 corporate events a month and 3 shortlisted venues for each reads 9 contracts. At about an hour each to pull the terms into a table, that's 9 hours a month, and a missed final-numbers clause can leave the client paying for 30 empty seats.

Claude reads PDFs of up to 1,000 pages and up to 20 files in one chat, with a context window of up to 1 million tokens on every plan, so all three venues' contracts and terms can go into one chat together. The planner asks for one table with a column per venue: room hire, minimum numbers and the final-numbers date, minimum spend, deposit and payment dates, cancellation charges by date, exclusive suppliers, corkage, damage deposit and postponement terms, each with its clause number. Follow-up questions test the difference, such as what each venue charges if numbers fall six weeks out. The planner checks each row against the contract, writes the client's comparison in their own words and negotiates the weak points; the client signs and takes legal advice on anything unclear. A sole planner can use Claude Pro, with the model-training option turned off, since training is opt-out on personal plans.

A sole corporate event planner in Manchester runs about 3 events a month, from 80-guest dinners to 200-person conferences, and shortlists 3 venues for each. The planner uploads each shortlist's contracts and terms to Claude Pro together and checks the table before sending the client a comparison.

About $319£240€286A$461C$451 a month in time saved, against about $17£13€15A$25C$24 to $20£15€18A$29C$28 for Claude Pro. Contract reading drops from 9 hours to 3, and 6 hours at an assumed $53£40€48A$77C$75 an hour is $319£240€286A$461C$451. Pro is $17 (about $17£13€15A$25C$24) a month billed annually or $20 (about $20£15€18A$29C$28) billed monthly, excluding tax.

1. 1Take Claude Pro: $20 (about $20£15€18A$29C$28) a month billed monthly, or $17 (about $17£13€15A$25C$24) a month billed annually. In Claude's privacy settings, turn off the option that lets Anthropic use your chats to train its models.
2. 2Ask each shortlisted venue for its contract and every set of terms it refers to, such as catering terms and a supplier policy, as PDFs.
3. 3Upload one event's venue documents together and ask for a table with a column per venue: room hire, minimum numbers and the final-numbers date, minimum spend, deposit and payment dates, cancellation charges by date, exclusive suppliers, corkage, damage deposit and postponement terms, with clause numbers.
4. 4Ask follow-ups that matter to this client, such as "What does each venue charge if numbers drop from 150 to 120 six weeks before the event?"
5. 5Check every row against the clause it cites, then write the client's comparison in your own words with the points worth negotiating.
6. 6Once the client signs, put the deposit, final-numbers and cancellation dates in your planning diary.

• Claude can misread a sliding cancellation scale or miss a term that sits in a separate document. Check each row against the clause it cites, and ask venues for any terms the contract refers to.
• Planners aren't solicitors. The client decides and signs, and should take legal advice on any term that looks unusual or unclear.
• The free plan has lower usage limits and may stop partway through 9 long contracts. Free and Pro are personal plans where training is opt-out; a team of 2 or more can use Claude Team, from $20 (about $20£15€18A$29C$28) per user a month billed annually, with training off by default.
• A table in a chat isn't a reminder. Payment, final-numbers and cancellation dates belong in your planning diary.