#6 If you are creating a seating chart for your event, you can either set it up randomly or work with someone else in your company to come up with the best possible scenario.

Here are some Seating Examples I recommend to my clients when they are scheduling entertainment or a keynote:

#7 If you want good attendance at your event, it is a good idea to schedule it earlier in the week or a long way away from any major holidays. People tend to vacation over holidays and often have plans on weekends, making Friday and Saturday bad days to have a business function.

#8 It is important to know when to use a theme and when not to. A child’s birthday party is an appropriate time to use a theme, while a corporate event requires less of a theme and more plain elegance than anything else.

#9 When you are having a business event, keep the music mellow and stick to something that everyone can enjoy. Suggest genres of music to your DJ, or request a typical playlist of common favourites that will encourage people to dance!

#10 If you will need equipment such as microphones, projectors, speakers, a video camera, etc., make a list of the things you will need and make sure that you have someone on site who can fix any technical problems which may come up during the event. You do NOT want to wait hours while an on-call technician is being dispatched to you.

“What’s the deal”, I asked, thinking that I’d be going with him to set-up or assist on one of his Trade Show Holograms.

“You’re my back-up. Just in case I can’t get mine, I’m sending you.”

Ohhhhh-kaaaaaay. So I changed and decided to go and get the photo. First though I logged onto the web, filled out and downloaded the application. Papers in hand, photo taken, I set out to find my guarantor.

Thursday 3pm: I had my passport in hand and I’m on the phone to my wife.

“Hi, honey. I have a gig.”

“Great! Where?”

“The Caribbean.”

“What! When?”

“Tomorrow night. I leave in three hours. Love you, Bye.”

As it turned out, it wasn’t just me. There were two other performers going as well. London juggler Steve Seguin and a local face painter. We were told the event was a kid’s birthday party on a boat. That’s it. I had two hours to prepare a 40 minute show for kids whose age, gender and nationality I didn’t know and pack it into a carry-on size case that would double as my on-stage case. The agent who booked us, in spite of calling me every half hour worried that we were not going to make it, is notorious for not having a lot of details about clients or shows.

Thursday 7pm: On the road (me, Steve and the facepainter) to the Detroit Airport hotel. Arrive. Dinner. Sleep.

Friday 7am: Depart Detroit Airport for St. Maarten. Lunch is available on the plane for $5 US but all I have is $5 CAN. He takes it. (this comes into play later)

Friday 2pm: We land and are met by a concierge who gets our luggage AND fast tracks us through customs. Yay! He then escorts us to a much smaller plane for the short jump to St. Barthelemy, French West Indies.

Friday 3:30pm: We land and are met by our client, Helen of Essential Yacht Services. She packs us into a cab and off we go to the hotel – on the beach! However there isn’t any time to assimilate ourselves to the surroundings because we have to be onstage by 6:00. Back in the cab for a short ride to the pier.

Once at the pier we unload onto the dock and wait for the tender (one of two) to take us to the boat, um, ship, The Excellence III. As it turns out, the ship is too big to fit in the St. Bart’s harbour.

Friday 5pm: We board. Greeted by five crew members, all in white, asking us if THEY can assist US n any way. Sure. It’s just this case here, but thanks. Oh, and I have to take my shoes off. Don’t want to take a chance on scratching the solid teak decking on all three levels of the yacht.

We are escorted upstairs to the top deck and shown the party area. It’s a nice sitting area with lots of room and we are to perform in front of the bbq buffet they have laid out. After we’re all set-up, Steve and I decide that he should go first, do his 30 minutes and then it’s my turn. The face painting will take place before the show.

But where are the kids?

Friday 5:50pm: The kids arrive. Four of them. The 9 and 8 year old son and daughter of the Russian dad who rented the yacht and two 7 year old Swiss twin sisters whose family were his guests. That’s it. Four kids. None of whom spoke English as their first language. Also, as it turned out, the 9 year old was a bit precocious and his sister just wanted to watch (not volunteer). The twins were fun but they needed a translator. No parents. They were below deck having a spa day and another, fully prepared meal. The buffet, entertainment and event on deck was only for those four kids! Although we had about 6-8 staff watching the show, they were the ‘babysitters’. Also, it wasn’t a birthday afterall. It was a Halloween party (in May).

The kids enjoyed the show but the face painter got seasick and couldn’t do her best work.

Friday 8pm: After the show and some food we were back in the tenders enroute to our hotel. We decided to walk down the beach and have a larger meal by the water and about midnight we called it a day.

Saturday 10am: Breakfast on the hotel terrace and then we basically ‘killed time’ waiting for the return flight at 2:30pm.

Saturday 2:30pm: We say goodbye to St. Bart’s and settle in for the long trek home although this time around, I was smart (so I thought). I made sure I had $5 US for the lunch on the plane. However when the flight attendant got down to me – she had run out! Run out! And to add insult to starvation, the connection in Philadelphia was so rushed that I didn’t have time to get anything. Lunch (dinner) didn’t happen until midnight, at Tim Horton’s, after we crossed the border into Canada. Nine and a half hours on pop and cheap airline cookies!

But it was a lot of fun. We figured out that the client – the dad (whom none of us met, BTW), spent in excess of $10,000 to fly us down and do the show, over and above the half a million he spent renting the yacht for the week.

Lessons learned: Yes, I am ready for any show, anywhere, anytime for any audience.

(But make sure to pack a lunch first!)

Here is the first in a short series of tips for planning successful corporate events.

1. Always take the time to plan ahead. If you will be renting a special venue you need to secure it as far in advance as possible. Some places can book up even a year in advance: by finding your venue early and putting down a deposit, you can ensure that you get the venue that you want.
2. When planning a corporate event, set a very strict working budget and make sure that you have extra cash for the unexpected expenses. You can be sure that every event will have some unexpected expenses; it’s simply part of planning an event.
3. If you have contracts, agreements, lists, or seating charts, make sure you keep extra copies of them in case they are misplaced or lost. Copying them is very simple and quick, and can really save you later on if you lose your plans.
4. Remember to contact the service providers whose quotations you do not accept, to let them know that you are declining their quote. They will often be more than happy to recommend another company that will meet your specific requirements … or perhaps even be prepared to negotiate a more acceptable fee.
5. Make sure you send out your invitations at least 3 to 4 weeks ahead of your event. In addition, make sure that you ask your guests to RSVP so that you know how many people will be attending.

Stay tuned. More to come!

Over in the Resources section I have a new Workbook that will help you plan and organize your next event.

All of pages can be printed out serparately so it will be easy to use any or all of the forms to help you plan a great event.

Let me know if it helped!

A corporate event is the accepted way to show appreciation to either staff or clients, to provide an opportunity for your guests to get to know each other personally, and to create an unforgettable memory that your guests will not only remember fondly but also feel compelled to tell their friends and family. Company functions should be considered a marketing opportunity since the success of your event can directly relate to the success of your business: perhaps this why event co-ordinators are normally very nervous or stressed out during the planning stages of the function!

The key to a successful event is to ensure that your guests shared experience that is so fun, so personal and so completely unforgettable that they talk about your party for a long, long time afterwards. That’s why it’s so important to focus your attention on providing a comfortable environment to get your guests relaxed, talking to each other and laughing as quickly as possible! Be careful! Many event co-ordinators make the mistake of spending too much attention, time and money organising things that are not going to make a considerable difference in making the function memorable.

Stop for a moment and think about the last corporate event you attended that you really enjoyed. Can you recall the venue and, if you can, was the venue the most important or memorable thing about the party? Was it the food? The drinks? I going to guess and say the most memorable thing about the entire event was how much you enjoyed the company of your friends around the table and possibly how much you talked and laughed, right?

So it’s not how elaborate the venue is, how ‘inventive’ the cuisine is, or how much there is to drink that defines the success of your event. Yes, these things are still very important to ‘spark’ the kind of spirited atmosphere your guests need to have a great time – but I’m sure you have attended parties, both private and corporate, that were very simple but that were still tremendous amounts of fun! A successful event is one where your guests are quickly able to create lively conversation that is fun and gets them relaxed and comfortable.

So, how do you ‘break the ice’ so that your guests are keen to share an experience that creates this required level of personal interaction? In my experience, working with professional event entertainers can be instrumental in creating the kind of atmosphere that will directly contribute your event’s success! By working with a performer who is dedicated to keeping your guests laughing, talking and relaxed, you will have the opportunity to sit down and also take part in the festivities. The benefits of working with an entertainer who is a corporate event specialist far outweigh the potential problems you may encounter and need to deal with if you choose the ‘cheapest’ entertainment, or take on all the responsibility of interacting with the guests yourself.

Selecting and hiring professional entertainment can be quite daunting, particularly if you do not have a plan or enough information available. How do you know if the entertainment will be value-for-money? What if it’s inappropriate or the entertainment doesn’t arrive? Selecting and hiring the right entertainment to ensure your event is a success can actually be very simple and easy.

Here are a few tips and suggestions to help you choose the right entertainment for your event:

Have a plan for your event — even if it’s a rough plan.

You must have a plan for your event – otherwise how will you know what you are trying to achieve? Your plan should include the following information:

► Date and time for your event
► Venue
► Theme
► Rough budget (including allowing for at least 10% extra)
► Timeline
► Notes and special requests

Start looking for entertainment options when you start your event planning.

There are several good reasons for this: you can check if your choice of entertainer is available, advance bookings are often discounted, or you can create a theme that matches the entertainment. The success of an event depends heavily on the quality of entertainment, yet many planners make the mistake of leave this important aspect to the last minute!

Decide how important it is for your guests to interact with the entertainment.

Do you want an entertainer that incorporates every guest into the performance, or do you want ‘background’ or ‘atmospheric’ entertainment? Remember, since we can agree that interactivity is very important to create conversation, consider if you really need something that your audience will forget about after a few minutes.

Be prepared to have several alternatives available.

If your requested entertainers are not available, ask them who they recommend. Professional performers will know other entertainers who would be suitable for your event, and be able to give you suggestions and their recommendations.

Credible and qualified entertainers will offer you testimonials and referral letters.

Find these letters on your entertainer’s website and do a web search (e.g. Google their name) to find any additional positive or negative comments. Taking a moment to read through your prospective entertainer’s list of previous clients gives you the best indication of the level of experience your entertainer has, and do not hesitate to call previous clients to ask them for a personal recommendation. Ask your friends and colleagues if they have recently seen an entertainer who they would recommend. Just doing this can save you a lot of time, money and trouble in the long run!

Consider whether the entertainment is going to be suitable and appropriate for your guests.

Not everyone enjoys listening to hip-hop, has the same tolerance for ‘risqué’ humour, or wants to see an inexperienced or unskilled performer struggle and ‘die’ on stage! Establish your company’s accepted policies with your performer very early in your enquiry process. If you need to short-list your entertainment, why not select entertainers that are certain to help you be remembered for all the right reasons? Nobody wants their guests to tell their friends how rude or boring your entertainer was, and this can be prevented if you chose the right performer.

How your prospective entertainer treats you will be a great indication how he or she will treat your guests.

When meeting with your entertainer, ask as many questions as you like – do not hesitate to make specific requests, since your performer is going to representing your company to your guests. If you feel that the entertainer doesn’t care about you or your event, you’re probably right. Keep looking around until you find someone you really feel comfortable with.

If you know what qualities you’re looking for then selecting and booking the right entertainment for your event or function can a lot of fun! You’ll be interacting with interesting personalities who love to laugh, are passionate about their work and who are eager to be in front of an audience. So when you’ve confirmed the right person for your event, you will not only relax — knowing that you’ll be working with a professional — but you’ll be certain to have just as much fun as your guests. You also deserve the type of event that you will remember and talk about for a long, long time! Just remember – aim to make your event fun, personal and unforgettable and you can be sure that your event will be talked about for a long, long time afterwards.

Such was the case this past week when illusionist Timothy Drake and myself were brought on board to help set-up and execute a 16′ x 10′ Hologram for a top tier corporate client.

Yes you read that correctly – a 16′ x 10′ Holografic image of the client’s new venture that accompanied their presentation in front of 400 people. It was an animated, 3D image of their new 23 storey office building slated to be built this year in downtown Ottawa. Note: The image on the left is a much smaller scale version of the same effect.

What was so unique about this adventure was it was an opportunity for me to apply my theatrecal background, my magic background and my ‘roadie’ background together as a technician at this gig.

Wednesday began with a 7 hour drive, followed immediately by a 10 hour load in and set-up. The next morning, after only 4 hours of rest, we were back at it for 15 1/2 hours of testing, tweaking and execution. And then 7 hours back home on Friday!

On top of that, the venue – The Ottawa Conference Centre was hosting the 2012 Juno Awards one floor down from us so I had an opportunity to sneak in and see their set-up as well (we were gone by the time that event happened – darn!).

I wouldn’t want to do it that way every time, but I certainly would enjoy doing it all again.

http://www.tradeshowhologram.com/

Why should things be any different in the entertainment industry? Remember that when your company hosts an event or function, everything about that party creates an impression on your clients and customers. That means that if you are considering bringing in an entertainer, that person (or group) can influence how your clients (or prospective clients) feel about doing business with you.

Even if the event is an internal one, like a year-end ‘staff appreciation’ party, what message do you send if you use an amateur performer? Or a performance that is offensive? Or just plain inappropriate? I’d go as far as to suggest that if you’re considering hiring the ‘cheapest’ entertainer you can, then you should save the money and give your staff a small cash bonus – they’ll appreciate that more than having to sit through bad entertainment.

The fact is, a good entertainer is going to cost you – but how do you know that he or she is going to be valueable?

Let’s assume you want to use the services of a performer or entertainer who is ‘worth it’ – what should you look out for?

Here are some key indicators that the entertainer you’re considering will deliver professional, consistent and reliable service:

• The entertainer is a full-time performer. In order to make a living in the entertainment world (especially in Canada), you need to be consistently performing and working. A part-time performer may not be able to give you 100% commitment, or may not have enough enquiries to keep working. However, I know several professional entertainers who choose to have a full-time job in a different industry – this does not mean they’re not fantastic!
• The entertainer has an extensive list of corporate clients. If the performer is good, he or she will keep getting referrals and will continue to work for big companies.
• The entertainer has a collection of testimonial letters. A true professional asks his clients to send feedback. The fact that a client has taken the time to put a recommendation on paper proves that they found the performance to be (at least) satisfactory.
• The entertainer’s marketing material is up-to-date. You should be able to watch videos and see photographs to get a good sense of what the performance is like. Expect to receive brochures or ‘one sheets’ with updated biographical information, recent clients, comments and feedback. Also, is their website up-to-date, and is it comprehensive?
• The entertainer belongs to professional industry associations. Association membership indicates that he/she wishes to grow and improve their business or standing within the industry. Examples are the Canadian Association of Magicians and the Performer’s Marketing Association of Ontario
• The performer is willing to recommend other professional entertainers. There are some cases when the performer you’ve contacted is not the right fit for your event or perhaps they are unavailable on that date. Professional entertainers will gladly recommend their colleagues who may be a better fit and may be available simply because they truly want your event to be a success. There is no competition when it comes to the needs of a client. I quite often refer clients to colleagues like Timothy Drake, Yvette Locke, Ryan Joyce or Steve Seguin because I am unable to fulfill their needs.
• The performer has a good contract. Because an entertainer can make or break an event, how can you ensure that you are protected against injuries, damage or even if he or she doesn’t show up? The contract is most important as it covers the details of your agreement. Be concerned if the performer does not, at least, send you a document with the terms of your agreement. Ask if the entertainer offers you a “money back” satisfaction guarantee and if they are insured?
• “The Devil’s in the details”. Are your calls returned? Do you receive prompt replies to emails? Does the marketing material give you a sense of confidence? Does the entertainer really understand your needs and answer your questions? Do you get a sense of confidence? A large component of your decision will come down to your ‘gut feeling’!

In my experience of working with first-time clients who rarely hire entertainment, they’re often surprised that it takes a little bit of time to make the right decision. However, there is absolutely no doubt that if you work with an enthusiastic and committed professional entertainer that people will remember how much they enjoyed your event and thank you for choosing the perfect corporate event entertainment!

I’d like you to get to know them as well, and perhaps create an opportunity where we can all work together in the year to come.

Here they are, in no particular order:

Timothy Drake: Theatrical presentation of Illusion and the Magical Arts has been the focus of my friend Timothy Drake for over 15 years. Original magic effects are highlighted in Timothy’s shows from the most intimate of close up magic to the grandest of stage illusions.

Yvette Locke: Yvette Locke has over twenty-five years of experience amazing audiences with her ventriloquism skill. Her fun, interactive show gets the whole audience involved and her loveable “friends” will steal your heart.

Ryan Joyce: International Grand Illusionist Ryan Joyce is one of the most highly regarded large scale illusionists in Canada today.  His Vegas style revue show has won critical acclaim from audiences all around the world including New Zealand, India, and the Middle East.

Captain Corbin: The funniest, friendliest, most magical pirate you’d ever want to meet! The Captain sails all over Canada performing for all ages. The Captain brings pirate Hi-jinks, adventure and the very best in entertainment to every special event.

Bob Cates: This memorable interactive comedy show includes advanced juggling, wild unicycling and balancing skills, black light laser effects and a finale that you will remember for a long long time.

Thank you all for your friendship this past year and here’s hoping we share the stage again!

During the discussion phase, they discovered that I was also an Alumni of Fanshawe (Broadcast Television ’87). Bonus! Then they decided to do a cover story on me to promote the Homecoming.

Thinking back, I’m not sure if I was honoured, flattered, embarrassed or confused. I do know that the first thing I said to them after they asked was “Are you sure?”. I guess I was humbled.

Anyway it turned out to be a great feature. A lot of people saw it and it even got me a series of shows in Newfoudland-Labrador two years later.

Oh and in case you are wondering, I am not resposible for choosing the cover shot. As a matter of fact, I was just goofing around. I’ll never do that again!