that's entertainment

How to get the most for your event entertainment dollar

© Michael Neaylon 2010

ENTERTAINME is a division of MCME Pty Ltd

P + 61 2 9331 8135

[email protected]

www.mcme.com.au

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.mcme.com.au/

T H A T ’ S E N T E R T A I N M E N T !

Entertainment is a crucial component in any event.

Whether you’re looking to inform, affirm, educate or inspire, chances are

you’ll use some form of entertainment to do it.

You might entertain your audience with a well placed story woven through

your opening speech, perhaps have a prize draw, roast a colleague, play

music or simply meet and greet your guests with a friendly smile; it’s all

entertainment.

But what makes event entertainment sing?


Entertainment with Purpose.

This is the key factor in getting the entertainment mix right on the night - or

day for that matter. By knowing your purpose, all the other questions can be

answered in less time and to more effect. Questions such as –

What type of entertainment do we need? Roving? Centre stage?

Comedian? Magician? Band? MC? A hoax perhaps?

Should we use a star, or at least a name?

Will the audience like it?

Can we put our reputation behind it?

Should the entertainment be funny or serious?

Should we have something written, or just wing it?

How can we make it fun and functional?

What if the client doesn’t like it?

How much should we spend?

How will we know if we’ve achieved the right result?


Is There an Easier Way?

There is! The questions we’ve just asked were about results, or effects. They’re

decisions that are far easier to make - and get right - if you have a clearly

defined reason for the entertainment being on the event early on. In short

entertainment strategies such as:

Who is our audience?

What purpose does the entertainment need to serve?

Why are we using entertainment to enhance this event?

What type of entertainment will best reach this audience?

What time will entertainment have the most impact?

What’s our message, what’s our theme?

How can the entertainment enhance and support the message?

How does the event environment affect the entertainment?


I was once booked on an event where the Event Manager asked for an act that

wasn’t ‘too outrageous’. But it needed to be interactive, energizing and a lot of fun.

Many of our acts fall into this category, and can be tailored to do just that, so we

offered the EM a menu of possibilities. She came back with some Paparazzi

The Devil’s in the Detail.

Some of those strategy questions you would no doubt have asked already.

However, we’ll use them as catalysts to explore a range of events and the

entertainment solutions that support them.

There is no one solution. But there are options that suit an event better than

others. The more informed those options are, the better the strategy and the

better

Ok. Let’s go!


Who is Our Audience?

It might sound obvious. In fact, I’m sure it does. However, I’ll share a quick story.

We were once asked by an Event Manager to perform an act that was hugely

popular on the event circuit. Our characters were over the top European Fashion

Designers. They were funny and fabulous, and had many audiences up dancing in

mismatched combos that made the Village People look sedate. Crowds loved

them.

The right crowds. Usually crowds with over 50% women and a few metrosexuals.

What wasn’t identified in the brief was that this audience were predominantly

blokes. Beer swilling, fun loving, blokes. 90% blokes. There was no way they

were going to feel even vaguely comfortable up there on a catwalk. To their

absolute credit, these guys played well. Yet had we known there were going to be

that many guys we would have had it hosted by 2 women playing the characters

or changed the act completely. No matter how ‘hot’ an act might be, if it doesn’t

suit your audience then it’s not a good fit.


What Purpose Does the Entertainment Need to Serve?

a) The client?

b) The event?

c) The budget?

Answer: All 3

Entertainment needs to fit the brand, the audience and the event. It also needs to

work within the confines of a budget. The brief for the character on the left was

for the Australian Swimming Championships and subsequent Commonwealth

Games held in Melbourne in 2006. The character needed to wear a costume that

was reminiscent of the Aquaman cartoon character and have elements of the

swimsuits made famous by Ian Thorpe. Apart from being a ‘cool’ mascot

(e.g. not a furry animal), he also had to be a hero, as there was tie in campaign

that encouraged visitors to vote for their favourite swimming ‘hero’. With many

committees and sponsors involved, ‘Captain Fintastic’ also had to have mass

appeal, be costumed in brand colours and come in on budget. He did.


Why Are We Using Entertainment To Enhance This Event?

No doubt you’ve thought of one of the reasons below, but could the entertainment

fulfil another function on your event? It helps leverage time and talent for greater

effect. On the left are reasons why you might be using entertainment. On the right

are some simple, engaging solutions.

Why? How?

Create atmosphere Character performers to meet & greet / mingle

Award employees Have MCs pre-tape interviews with nominees,

meet and greet on red carpet as Hollywood TV

hosts and then host Gala Awards

Direct traffic Themed characters that accompany guests on

the journey between venues.

Have employees sing

the company’s praises

Rewrite pop songs to include latest products or

services and hold an ‘Idol’ type competition.

Use those products as prizes.


What Type of Entertainment Will Best Reach this Audience?

Ok. So we’ve identified this audience and we’ve explored some options to what we

think might work for them. How can we ascertain what would really connect with our

audience?

Simple answer: ask.

If you can, find out what’s worked with this audience in the past. Generally you’ll find

the most effective results are in 2 categories. They’re either experiences that -

1. Give an audience a familiar experience in a new way.

2. Give a new experience in a new way.

For those who like the familiar, see if there’s a recurring activity they like, and would

enjoy again, then give it a twist. One client recently told me that his fashion industry

incentive group loved song and dance routines. Great. All we need to do is find out

what ways they’ve been delivered in the past and find new ways to give them that.

Alternately the audience that enjoys ‘new experiences in new ways’ opens up more

options. But remember… beware of blokes in dresses on catwalks.


What Times Will Entertainment Have the Most Impact?

There are many variables depending on the event, so here’s a quick checklist to

guide you. Some of the cardinal virtues of good timing are -

Have band play sets between

meals – and after, of course

Don’t have roving entertainment

during dinner

Start strong Finish stronger

Get people dancing early for balls Keep them dancing late *

Audiences like a reveal – they

love to see someone or

something change

If you do have big revel, don’t give

away too much too early – stagger

acts for maximum effect

Establish your MC as early as

possible to build rapport

If you’re blending serious content

and entertainment, start serious

and then switch to the celebratory.

* Dancers and roving performers are a great way to get dancing going.


What’s Our Message, What’s Our Theme?

The message needs to be clear to everyone involved. Especially the performers, as

they’re the face of the event and will be literally embodying your message, so that

it sticks.

If the message is ‘beating our personal best’, then I’d be setting up a teambuilding

activity that gives everyone the opportunity to do just that. I’d include coaches

that support every single person in that goal, along with a mix of activities that

challenge both men and women and are somehow relevant to the theme. One of

the most satisfying experiences of this was a recent event with the theme ‘Mission

Possible’.

Being bald, I played Doctor Evil taking new sales teams through their presenting

paces to sell a ‘Golden’ product as the ‘Million, Billion, Trillion Dollar’ offering to the

other teams. Everyone had to present. Everyone had to perform. Everyone had to

brainstorm marketing ideas and participate, and they did it all with gusto. It wasn’t

just a feel good exercise in team building. It had purpose and was related to their

conference theme, skill set and core competencies.

For more on messaging and staying on brand, please check out BrandME.


How Can Entertainment Enhance and Support the Message?

Apart from teambuilding or designing characters to represent the brand, there are

other simple ways that entertainment can support the event’s message.

1. Script. Have keywords distributed to all performers prior to the event. It might

also be appropriate for the band to perform a song associated with the brand.

2. A Good Brief. Take the time to brief everyone on the boundaries of comedy and

no go zones. Often good messages are not only reinforced by what we say, but

also what we don’t.

3. Costume Colours. We always research the brands we work with to see if we

can fit in with their corporate colours. Sometimes it can be simply the colour of

the tie the MC wears.

4. Logos. Some acts can even throw laser images of a logo onto a darkened room

to give high impact branding at the end of a performance spot. This is great as

you have the audience on an emotional high – an ideal time to reinforce brand.


How Does The Event Environment Affect Entertainment?

The event environment plays a big part in the choice of act and what that act can

actually do once it’s on the event. For instance, stilts can be highly visual but

they’re not ideal for all events. Apart form being restricted by their height, they’re

also limited in their mobility and unable to go into a crowd for interaction. That’s

what makes them ideal for openings of parties or festivals. They’re a great photo

opportunity. That said, we have a band who do some great jazz routines on stilts,

and manage to create relationships with their audiences with the added dimension

of music.

Having directed and performed in many event stage shows over the years I find

the ones that work best are the ones we’re called in on early to help with stage

configuration: especially if it’s in a venue where the stage is being created

especially for it. When staging is left to the last minute it can be a disappointing

result for everyone’s effort. Yet it’s easily avoided with just one meeting, phone

call or fax of a floorplan early on that goes that extra mile in giving the client their

money’s worth.


P + 61 2 9331 8135 [email protected] www.mcme.com.au

That’s Entertainment!

They’re just some of the ways in which well chosen and well crafted event

entertainment can add value to your next event.

You might still have other decisions to make, such as whether to source a name

act or star for your event. Perhaps you’re thinking of a hoax, or you’d like to have

a centre stage extravaganza. For more complex event entertainment, an

experienced consultancy and agency can make it a seamless experience from brief

to bump out.

We offer 3 services:

1. Entertainment Agency with a wide network of acts from stilts to dancers,

comedians to musicians. We even have a hypnotist and magicians, and for

conferences and seminars supply actors for role plays.

2. MCs for that vital connection between the stage and the audience or

Speakers with high content presentations for your audience.

3. Support ME We offer a unique creative consultation service that offers

artistic brainstorming, fresh ideas and show direction.

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.mcme.com.au/


‘Thank you for your attention to detail and boundless energy.

The shows were an unblemished success and you were the star! Thank you so much.’

Thomas Armati, Account Manager. Staging Connections, Sydney

‘Michael Neaylon is the perfect MC. Intelligent, creative and personable.

Spending time to research brands and businesses prior to the event, his performance on the day is fluid.

We never need to have any concerns about punctuality, appearance or content when Michael is involved.

His ability to dress up and become a character, adds an extra dimension to the events that he is involved’.

Alex Austin, James Gordon Workshop

‘Thank you. You were outstanding’.

Tanya Finley, Director, Veritas


About Michael Neaylon

Michael Neaylon is an MC, Presenter, Entertainment Consultant and Presentation Skills Trainer.

He has over 20 years in the entertainment industry, many of which have been spent performing,

designing and marketing events. Michael is the founder and director or MCME, an interactive

marketing, performance and training company that supports you in making your event, your

brand and your people a success.

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Copyright © 2010 Michael Neaylon

Disclaimer

The material contained in this report is general and is not intended as advice on any

particular matter. The author expressly disclaims all and any liability to any persons

whatsoever in respect of anything done by any such person in reliance, whether in whole

or in part, on this report. Please take appropriate legal advice before acting on any

information in this report.

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