10
Tips for Booking Entertainment for a Corporate Event
The wrong entertainment can ruin an event and, worse yet, project
the wrong image about your organization. The right entertainment
creates a positive buzz among participants and a favorable
impression about your company or non-profit.
How do you tell
right from wrong when booking entertainment? The more you know –
both about your event and the talent available – the better off
you will be.
1. Know your objective.
What do you want your event to
say about your organization? Do you want to come across as
cutting-edge and daring, or is a more conservative image more
appropriate? Choose entertainment that reflects the right image
for your company.
2. Know your budget. Entertainment can run as little as
$500 for a local act, to well over $1 million for nationally-known
talent. Don’t waste time pursuing entertainment that you can’t
afford. Set a budget to narrow your choices.
3. Know your audience. Is your audience young, older or
a combination? Is it mostly men or women? Will couples be
attending, or will you be hosting a crowd of co-workers? Do you
want to book an act that will encourage dancing? Will people be
relaxed and in a partying mood, or will they be more sedate and
professional? If you understand your audience demographics and
mindset, you can avoid booking entertainment that might annoy,
offend or even bore participants.
4. Know your theme. A 50’s sock hop or a disco ball can
be a lot of fun, but your audience may not want to listen to 50’s
music or disco for the entire night. Pick an event theme that is
broad enough to accommodate entertainment that appeals to a wide
range of tastes. Use décor to create your theme. Better yet,
select the perfect entertainment first and build a theme around
it.
5. Know your production costs. You may be able to afford
the talent, but can you afford the cost to produce the show? Many
people overlook or may not be made aware of additional expenses
associated with lighting, sound system rentals, union regulations,
insurance, overtime fees, and stages when they book an act. Make
sure you know all your production costs and budget accordingly.
6. Know when to hire a pro. A talent agency is often the
fastest – and most economical – source for entertainment for an
event. A talent agency can quickly connect you to the best acts in
the business and help you choose entertainment that will be right
for your event. Talent agencies with experience booking national
acts have the expertise necessary to negotiate contracts and, even
more importantly, hospitality and performance riders. They can
make sure you don’t end up paying for non-essential or duplicated
expenses. Talent pros can also clue you in to hot entertainment
trends or less expensive routing dates on a specialty act that
might turn your function into the “event of the year.”
