Guide: Choosing the best entertainment for your event

Quality entertainment can be crucial to setting the tone and building the ambience of any event.

Overlooking this important element or not paying enough attention can be detrimental to your event and your company. Getting the entertainment right is a balancing act, and knowing where to start can be challenging.

Entertainment can vary from; live bands, solo artists, DJ’s or dancers to comedians, interactive games and magicians. The choice is endless, and selecting the appropriate type of entertainment depends directly on the type of atmosphere you want to create.

Consider choosing an act that’s unique as you want to create an event that’s memorable and engaging. It’s all about creating audience satisfaction and ensuring the entertainment is in line with the entire event.

We’ve narrowed down the key points to consider when deciding on the right entertainment for your event:

 

Understand the Occasion:

• Know your event inside out before you consider choosing the entertainment. It’s vital to be clear on what you are wanting to achieve from your event and how you would like to be perceived by attendees.
• Secondly, it is really important to know what entertainment has been used before with this group. Researching their likes and dislikes will greatly assisting in pointing you in the right direction.
• The entertainment helps to create the atmosphere of the entire event. Make sure to stick to the theme of the occasion as getting this right will help with the overall cohesiveness of the event.
• Be sure to understand if you need moveable entertainment or static. Do you want entertainers who can interact during pre-dinner drinks, then help by ushering people inside? Or, do you just need background music, therefore requiring a DJ who can play more relaxed lounge music rather than having a live music set.

 

Know your Audience

• Ensure that you cater to your target audience demographics. As each age group has a different taste in music, you need to make sure you factor in everyone attending. However, the best bet is to aim for the majority, in order to keep the largest percentage of the group entertained.
• Make certain that the entertainment is not only age appropriate, but appropriate to the type of group as well.
• Lastly, consider whether your group would be after a well known name to perform, or would be just as easily entertained with a random act.

 

Event Size / Venue

• Make sure the act you choose fits the room. The logistics are crucial here as you not only need room for the act, but space for your delegates too, especially if they will be dancing. This will help you determine what sort of equipment will be appropriate for the performer as well.
• Visibility is also major factor here. If it is a stand up function then guests all need to be able to see the entertainment. Make sure your space fits a stage or opt a DJ musician which doesn’t have to be seen clearly.
• Lastly, make sure to factor in which musical instruments might be used, if there are there rooms nearby that might be impacted by sound you need to know how loud music can be played and and if there are any curfew or sound restrictions. Otherwise you risk having to turn the sound down, which could be detrimental to the event.

 

Budget

• Ensure that you understand the budget for the event, and how much of this can be allocated towards entertainment. Budget accordingly for the quality of entertainment you want to receive and make sure the act you choose matches the price.
• There are a few ways to ensure the act is worth the price tag:
  • Check reviews of the performer on Facebook and YouTube pages. This is a great way to find realistic reviews from people who have seen the act before.
  • You can also check if the act is worth the price by watching videos on either on social media or their website; this will help give you a visualisation of the act and an understanding of how they will work into your event.
• Make sure to budget for the length of performance as well. You need the entertainment to run for a good portion of the event – don’t skimp on time because of the cost of a famous act.
• When hiring a band, check their rider requirements. Often the need for backline equipment and sound can significantly increase your budget bottom-line – don’t leave room for surprises.
• And remember – It will show if you pick a very cheap act!

 

The Performer:

• Once you’ve chosen the appropriate genre of entertainment, you can then start narrowing down your choice of act.
• Ask for a history of what they have performed in the past, this is the best way to find out what worked / didn’t work for them.
• If using a comedian – make sure to understand your group and what subjects are taboo. Do they use explicit language and what are your parameters?
• Brief the entertainer on the clients’ expectations and the audiences, for example; colourful language, sexist and racists jokes are generally, not appropriate in a corporate environment.

 

We have the expertise and contacts to help you choose the right act for you; contact us so we can help you find the perfect entertainment for your next event.