Our good friends at Applause Entertainment provide some great tips for enhancing your events and balancing active and passive entertainment in this guest blog.
One of the biggest, and first issues that come to mind when organizing and managing and event, is to think about the guests – who is attending, and what do we want out of the event, for them? One way to think about this, is to consider whether the event that you are holding views the attendees as audience, or as participants. Active vs Passive
Pedagogically speaking, it is often considered more beneficial to elicit active participation, i.e. “learning through doing”, but this doesn’t necessarily apply to everything. In fact, in event management, it’s about finding the balance between an active ‘participant’ model, and a passive ‘audience’ attendance. It’s just as important to have moments where the attendees or guests are able to sit back and simply take everything in, as it is to have them up and moving around, actively engaging with what’s around them.
The entire experience
Ultimately, it’s about the overall experience of an event. While it may be tempting to enhance every aspect with flashy technology, such as setting up iPads with which guests use to sign in, sometimes an active attendee simply means providing a focal point of entertainment, such as a Casino Table, or as we at Applause Entertainment specialise in – roving entertainment performers.
It’s all about utilising not only what resources are available to you, but also using and manipulating the space to best enhance an event experience, whether it be active or passive.
Enhancing the atmosphere
The Event Manager Blog gave some tips on enhancing an event atmosphere, some of which I will share here.
First and foremost, they emphasize the importance of working with trusted suppliers and partners. This is probably the most crucial part of event management. We all know the saying “jack of all trades, master of none”, and this is something that as an event manager or a client, you would want to avoid. Identifying what services you want, and what results you want to see, will save you a lot of time and money, because it means you are able to find a specialized supplier for the product or service.
For example, if the event is calling for a Vegas themed venue, with Casino tables and card dealers – an extremely apt and specific example, I know – it would be remiss to not seek out a supplier who specifically supplies Casino tables and card dealers, because it means that they have focused on one service, and do it to perfection. A perfect event atmosphere is created when a collaboration between the different services who supply the smaller components come together effectively to elevate the event from a good event to a great event.
Start at the door
Another tip was to greet guests with a friendly welcome, in order to create a strong first impression. I’d like to expand this to not just creating a positive first impression, but to set the tone for the rest of the event. Some events are formal, some events casual, but all events aim to entertain the attendees. Setting a good mood at the door can make all the effort that you put into enhancing the atmosphere inside the venue well worth it, especially when the guests are walking in, ready to be stunned. This can range anywhere from a stunning red carpet, to performers in costume and character, greeting guests at the door, and set up at the right locations to subtly point the guests towards the right direction.
Remember, get the hype started early! Follow through to the door, and deliver the final knockout inside the event. If you can manage all these three aspects, your guests are definitely in the mood to be receptive to the function of the event.
Choose the right location
This is where the importance of booking and planning events well in advance becomes apparent. There are good venues, and there are bad venues, and the good ones will be booking out fast, or have a long waiting list. Of course, one very important question is: what makes a venue good?
Go back to the points above: how are you splitting up the active and passive engagement sections of your event? What sort of space are you going to want to achieve the outcomes that you want for your event? Are you after a novel location idea, such as high ceilings and beautiful fixtures, or are you going for a more understated and contemporary feel?
Image courtesy of RecruiterIs the location somewhere accessible? Are all the important facilities there, such as ample parking, or a podium from which keynote speakers can talk? Now, after you’ve answered all these questions, you’ll realize why some locations are good, and some locations are not so much; the good locations are flexible, or ideal, for your event, the bad ones are not ideal for any sort of organised event. You’ll find that the former go like hotcakes, and if you are unfortunate enough to have to deal with the latter, you’ll be first in line to book the best venue come next time.
Conclusion
The take away from reading this is: think about managing an event as an entire experience. Blackjack Nights and Applause Entertainment are both pieces of a bigger puzzle. We are extremely skilled at the services and products that we provide – casino tables and card dealers, and event entertainment consultancy respectively – as are other suppliers for event management aspects such as place settings, venue theming, etc. Putting together the efforts of all these smaller components, as well as keeping in mind the enjoyment of the guests, will ensure an overall enhancement to the environment and atmosphere of the event, elevating it from a good event to a great, or perhaps even perfect, event.