A lot of people don’t give the entertainment a thought until it’s almost too late.
In preparing for an occasion of any sort, you should give entertainment/DJ equal amount of attention as the other parameters that will contribute towards the success of the function, things like the venue, the theme, the catering, the beverages, the guest lists and VIPs, speakers, presenters etc. should all have equal weight. After all if any of these go wrong they are all potential showstoppers in a sense.
In the 32 years I’ve been involved in entertaining people, it’s those who engage each component of their occasion early and keep the communication flowing who ultimately have the most successful occasions.
Herein is the benefit of my years of experience with the exceptional, the good, the bad and the downright disastrous so that your function has its best chance of being in the good, no make that GREAT, category.
The “Do’s”
Do Talk to Your Entertainment — Early and Often I Cannot Stress This Enough
On too many occasions I’ve not heard from a client who I’m due to perform for until as little as 24 hours prior to the event, even if the event has been booked for months.
If You’re Having a Theme—Do Tell Us
And tell us early You know the saying—The impossible we do immediately, miracles take a little longer. Sometimes I think there is that sign on our equipment. Please, if you’re having a theme, don’t assume the entertainment can suddenly conjure out of thin air an entire repertoire to suit. Engage the entertainers early and tell them what you’re thinking.
Do Include Us in the Running Order / Runsheet
Most occasions run to some sort of plan. The more experienced venues insist on it. Make sure the entertainment a) appears on the plan and b) gets copies of it. Additionally make sure we have the most up to date revision of the plan. Don’t assume any other party will automatically make it appear at our office.
Do Be Specific About When We Start and Stop
Nothing more unprofessional than a speaker trying to get everyone’s attention when the music’s still playing because no-one told the entertainment that now would be a good time to take a break.
Do Make Sure it is Clear Who is in Charge on the Night
There’s nothing worse than trying to tie down someone, anyone on the night to have a decision made. If its clear who has authority that’s great for everyone.
When Selecting Music, Please Do Choose Music for EVERYONE Who is Attending
This gets neglected too often. If you’re having a corporate function, please realise and acknowledge that there will be a wide age range in attendance, please ask the entertainment to play for that wide age range.
Do Utilise the Entertainers Expertise
Often this will be your first visit to the venue and the entertainment you’ve engaged may well have played there often, therefore they’ll know better than anyone what works in terms of timing and atmosphere. Also assuming you’ve hired experienced entertainers they will have done this kind of occasion many times before so why not pick their brains and put all that hard earned knowledge to good use?
Do Allow the Entertainers To — Entertain!
Yes this sounds odd but let them do what they do best — entertain everyone. Even if this flies in the face of an organiser’s individual taste. If the majority of the group come away with a great feeling about the night then I contend that the entertainment has done their job well.
Stay Tuned for ”The Don’ts” in Part 2 of this series …
If you’d like to book me for next function, please call me on 0418 65 11 21 or fill out the form on the Contact page.
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