Lights, Sound, Success: Planning Corporate Entertainment
Your meeting host or sponsor—perhaps your CEO—wants to change things up by adding “name” entertainment to the closing dinner of an upcoming high-profile meeting. You’ve never worked with entertainers before. What would you do? Would you:
Panic?
Reach out to your planner and supplier contacts for suggestions on who they would recommend?
Look to someone who specializes in booking and producing “name” entertainment for high- profile events such as yours?
Best answer: Most likely, all the above.
Planning Corporate Entertainment
When it came to booking “name” or “corporate” entertainment for a meeting or special event, I always looked to an “event” production company that specialized in collaborating with entertainers and their agents.
“Name” entertainment means marquee-level acts. "Corporate entertainers” are less-famous acts that make their living mainly in the corporate market. Both add another layer to your audio-visual and speaker support plans. The unfamiliar requirements can feel intimidating and create problems you may not be equipped to handle on your own.
Contract Riders -- the additional requirements attached to an entertainer’s contract—can specify special, sometimes demanding staging, lighting and sound needs beyond your general meeting setup. Meeting those requirements takes specialized expertise. Then there’s travel, accommodations, meals and other care for the entertainers—all additional responsibilities on top of your already demanding workload.
But that’s OK because there are resources available to help you manage these situations – like a show producer/production company.
What exactly is a show producer? What are the benefits to working with them?
A show producer specializes in producing live entertainment. While show producers can handle all aspects of a meeting, their expertise is in the entertainment industry.
Whether you’re working with a marquee-level name or an act that makes its living mainly in the corporate market, entertainment adds complexity to your audio-visual and speaker support plans. You don’t have to manage those unfamiliar challenges alone: a show producer can help you navigate them.
The use of “name” entertainment and “corporate entertainers” has the potential to be one of the most memorable and well received elements of a successful industry conference, corporate event, incentive trip, sales meeting or customer event.
Working with a skilled and dependable partner who is highly experienced with selecting and producing live entertainment for the corporate market is key to your success as a planner and to your company. And the production that best supports the act in total is critical to a successful entertainment event.
The stakes are high: production decisions affect both the delivery of the show and its cost. Bring the experts on board to execute the details. As the planner, stay informed about changing technology and the options available to you, while letting specialists do what they do best.
Tips to help you work your PLAN and SUCCEED.
Always work with a skilled company and talented individuals that focus specifically in the corporate and private event industry – professionals who best understand the unique setting and coordination needed to orchestrate a top entertainment experience for your guests.
Select acts that best augment your program’s overall goals and objectives, one that fits your core audiences’ demographics and the message you want to convey. There are many, many different acts … but only a select few will really connect with your guests to achieve a highly memorable audience experience.
Work with acts that truly seek to entertain the guests and go the extra mile to make the show special.
Before booking your meeting space, include the act’s additional function-space needs, setup time and rehearsal time in your meeting RFP specifications. Confirming those requirements early helps prevent contract issues—and avoids discovering that the space you’ve booked won’t work.
Budget for the full entertainment experience, not just the entertainer’s fee. Lighting, sound, the stage background and other production elements all have a price tag. This can be an expensive proposition, so understand the full scope of what you’re paying for before committing.
Finding the right production team
A seamless production creates the setting that allows the act to connect with your audience. That’s why producing the act is integral to planning—not an afterthought. A seasoned producer brings well-developed expertise and high-level contributions to the show, guiding the production toward success.
A detailed production schedule and event show schedule put “plan your work … and work your plan” into practice. Together, they clarify the many elements and decisions that contribute to a successful show. An experienced entertainment producer uses that planning discipline to help create a top entertainment experience.
As a planner, question everything and seek to understand … but resist micro-managing.
You remain responsible for the meeting or event you oversee. Bringing in competent, capable suppliers helps you fulfill that responsibility—it doesn’t replace it. Understand the event fully, draw on your suppliers’ expertise, and work together toward a successful outcome for everyone.
Select suppliers carefully.
Ask plenty of questions.
Check references.
Ask to see their work (by perhaps getting to see another corporate show they are involved with for another client, with the client’s approval, of course).
Ask your production team what a successful production looks like to them and which priorities guide their decisions. Then compare their answers with your program’s goals and objectives.
Top producers will welcome your questions and elevated level of engagement with what they are providing. They will or should appreciate your curiosity and interest as you all work together to realize your shared goal.
Then, give your production team the space to put that expertise to work and surpass your expectations. After all, we tend to do our best work when people believe in us and trust our competence, right? With the planning in place, enjoy the show—and leave room for your producer to deliver more than you expected.
My special thanks to Frank and Jane Steck of Spotlight Corporate Entertainment, Inc. for their advice and guidance on producer specific areas of this post. They were the experts I always looked to. I lived the experience with them numerous times throughout my career– and enjoyed every minute of it.
Take care.
Be well. Plan well. Never stop learning.
And remember, I’m only a phone call, email or text away. You can reach out to me through my website’s contact form located at the bottom of my “About” page.
Mary Jo Wiseman, CMP | Author, The Meeting Planning Process: A Guide to Planning Successful Meetings
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