Dear Stephanie:

Congratulations! You have just entered the wonderful world of Meeting
Planning and Event Management.  Quite a number of cultural institutions
"rent out the hall" for various events and receive a good income from
this activity.

You will probably need to hire someone just to handle this activity -
this is a very detail-oriented activitiy - that person must be able to
serve as the contact person for other Meeting Planners and coordinate
the functions - to include the all important area of catering.

Although a number of your questions fall under the fields of Facilities
Management and Security, I would suggest you gather your legal staff and
administrators together and draw up an institutional policy concerning
such activity.  In this manner, your legal concerns of related vs
unrelated income will be addressed and the institution will be able to
provide guidance to the many commercial organizations wanting to "rent
the hall."

Kind Regards

Roger Wulff
Museum Services International