Syntax for dynamic dropdown in form

Question

I have a simple database structure with a table for venues and events.
I am trying to add a select drop down in my form to add a new event which lists the venues, and inserts the VenueID into a field in the Events table.
I have this, which I think is pretty close, but its not pulling anything through:
<select name="VenueID">
    <?php
    $sql = "SELECT VenueID, Venue FROM Venues ORDER BY Venue ASC";
    $result = mysql_query($sql);
    while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
    echo '<option value="' . $row['VenueID'] . '">' . $row['Venue'] . '</option>';
    ?>
</select>
Thanks for any pointers.

Answer 1

Just to say I have it working now by explicitly referencing the DB again, i.e. adding:
  mysql_connect('localhost', 'username', 'password');
  mysql_select_db('database');
A connection file was referenced in the header but must have needed that too.