How to Find Great Corporate Entertainment…
When faced with planning your corporate entertainment events there are some serious pitfalls you should avoid to prevent certain disaster. Here are 3 tips for finding great corporate entertainment to make your corporate event planning go smooth and the event an amazing success so your boss will smile ear to ear at you for a job well done…
The first step to finding great corporate entertainment is to determine an approximate budget. Budgeting can sometimes be tricky. Many planners think you can get by with spending a few hundred bucks on corporate entertainment. Some will even make the disastrous mistake of trying to have all the corporate entertainment be done “in-house”. Nothing spells a bored, disappointed group of mumbling and upset employees or guests than when a convention planner tries to skimp in this area. You should plan on spending at least $2000 – $100,000 in this area to ensure you get quality corporate entertainment.
You can always find professional corporate entertainment for less than $2000 for your event, but as the old adage goes – you get what you pay for. You can always find djs, comedians, corporate comedy hypnotists, bands and magicians willing to work for less than $2000. The problem here though is that even though some of these people may be fine entertainers, many are not. Pros have earned professional level of entertainment pay because they’ve honed their skill to a “higher” level. Many part timers or newbies to the world of entertainment will work for less, because they don’t have the confidence in themselves or their show quality to command professional pay. This is not good for you the event planner, because even though you may get “lucky” finding a good entertainer for a cheap price, you may also get stung. This can be disastrous to your event. We’ve all heard stories about foul-mouthed comedians that had people leaving a gathering in disgust. We’ve also most likely all seen a magician that was funny for kids – but a real bore to adults. Don’t take chances with your career by simply hiring the cheapest corporate entertainment you can get.
Professional corporate entertainers know how to really impress a corporate group and are full time at their craft and this definitely shows off in the level of skill at their shows. They know how to be hilarious and highly entertaining – while maintaining corporate professionalism. They know how to engage an audience and interact with them – without embarrassing them.
Take the time to explain this to your budget developers so they truly understand the value in spending a little more on corporate entertainment to ensure the event goes off without a hitch.
Another tip when planning your event and finding quality corporate entertainment is to survey the people at your company to find great ideas of what they’d like to see or have at your upcoming corporate entertainment Event. Simply send out a short email blast with a survey form asking your fellow employees what they’d like to have for entertainment or who they’ve seen and can possibly recommend.
Ideas for Corporate Entertainment…
Some typical corporate entertainment categories for a survey are: dj, bands, and live entertainers such as stand-up comedians, magicians, comedy hypnotists, jugglers, impressionists and even humorists or mock motivational speakers. One mistake I’ll caution you to avoid is to do the same thing every year – such as having the same dj or band every year. Try something new, such as a corporate comedian or a corporate comedy hypnotist – mix it up to help ensure you always keep your events fresh and exciting to attend. If the event is exciting and fun to attend – the benefits will be realized through employee retention and loyalty plus customer satisfaction.
To find a good live entertainer locally can also be a challenge – especially if you think you have to get the “local guy or gal”. You may have to bring in corporate entertainment from another state if there are no good local choices in available locally. Sometimes planners think if they have to bring in a regional or national entertainer it will be cost prohibitive. This usually is not the case. Professionals make up their added expense of travel through doing a higher volume of shows week after week than most local corporate entertainment.
You must also make sure the corporate entertainment is squeaky clean and politically correct. While you can’t always make everyone happy in every audience, do your best to find someone clean and funny. It can make your job simpler to work with an entertainment agency that has many years of helping companies just like yours bring good corporate entertainment in for events.
A final tip is to make sure you present the choices for your corporate entertainment ideas to your final budget approval team correctly. Never simply go in and pitch your ideas simply on price – especially if you think management may balk on the entertainment price for your event. Always “sell” your ideas with the benefits to the company. This can be especially true when it comes to corporate entertainment. Common benefits for bringing in good quality corporate entertainment are: 1) an entertained crowd is a happy crowd, 2) exciting events boost attendance – because people like to have fun 3) it’s a lot easier for management to make employees feel good about their jobs and companies, when they’ve seen that management actually cares enough about them by letting them know it’s not all about working together but they can actually play together too. If the event is for loyal customers – the dividends are even higher because people like doing business with people they like. Nothing builds relationships in business faster than by having your clients get together with you in a fun environment to build the type of relationship bonds that help cement lifelong business partnerships.
