BOOKING entertainers and keynote speakers for corporate events can be a difficult task and the decision can be even more complicated when considering celebrity talent. Make sure you make the right choice.
 

What are you working with?
If you are considering booking a celebrity entertainer or speaker for your event, you are going to need to go over a number of issues to make sure it is a decision that will bring positive results. First, consider your budget. If you are looking to book a low-level celebrity or speaker, you are going to need a budget of at least US$30,000. This does not include their travel expenses, production requirements and more which clients are responsible to pay for in addition to the fee that the talent makes.

If you want to book a big name celebrity from outside of Asia, perhaps a US-based music act, you could easily be looking at a starting fee of $100,000 and up depending on what celebrity you are interested in, their popularity and their schedule. A keynote speaker will have less production requirements than a big name music act, so this is a good place to save money. The more popular the celebrity, the higher their price will be.
 

The attendee profile.
Another factor in deciding whether to book a celebrity is determining the attendee profile of the event. For example, if a bank is putting on an annual corporate event for their top clients, it may be a wise idea to book a celebrity to speak or perform because the clients may have large amounts of money invested with the bank and a celebrity performance/speech can be a great way of saying thanks to the clients and they will remember it for a long time.

It can also help to solidify business relationships and they will look forward to the event each year. You will also need to asses the type of audience it is.

Is it a young hip crowd? Is it mostly men or women? Once you have answers, you can better select the talent that will fit the attendee profile. For example, if the attendees are mostly men, you may want to look for a celebrity rock band or celebrity sports star. You can and should also survey the attendees if possible before the event by simply asking them what type of celebrity they would like to see, or what genres. You can do this by email or in person if possible, and gain lots of information this way. Not everyone can be pleased, but the more information you have on your attendees, the more likely it is you will make a good selection.
 

Set your objectives.
Celebrities can help you achieve various event objectives such as client bonding, building buzz about a new product or service, rewarding top clients, rewarding top sales people, entertaining VIPs, and more. Your objectives also play a major role. If the goal of the event is to generate buzz, a celebrity is a great way to accomplish this, but if your goal is to drive sales at a public event then a celebrity can also be a nice way to attract lots of people which can help you gather leads which can turn to sales.
You should always look at your objectives and then see if a celebrity would help you accomplish these better. If the answer is yes, you can feel confident moving ahead. If not, it is better to know early than to waste lots of time and money.
 

Booking the talent.
Holding your event in Asia brings some challenges and also some advantages when booking celebrity talent. When you start looking for a big name celebrity entertainer, you should check their website to see where they are touring and find out if they are going to be in your area around the time of your event. For example, if you wanted to book celebrity comedian Russell Peters, and you find out on his website that he was going to be performing in Singapore a couple of days before your event, this would save money on travel expenses as he would already be in the area and his fee would be slightly lower as well since he would not be traveling so far for your event.

Many acts are performing or speaking in Asia more and more, so there will be lots of opportunity to book them when they are in your region. A disadvantage is that celebrities are often wary about performing at corporate events in foreign countries that they are not familiar with or they do not know the company. Ease this concern by providing as much info about your event as possible so they know you are legitimate, things like the venue, organizer, producer, contact numbers of planners and more.

You should also look into working with an entertainment company that can take care of these concerns and produce the event, as well as contacting the celebrity and working on your behalf. They are a good partner to have if you're thinking about working with celebrities at all. They have experience working with talent and making celebrity events a success. Follow these guidelines and your celebrity experience is bound to be a success.

Impact Entertainment books celebrity entertainers and keynote speakers for events, meetings, conferences and more worldwide. Clients have included SONY, Disney, Microsoft and many more. Email:josh@impactentertains.com, website: www.impactentertains.com.
 

MANY companies forget to assess the key rationale as to “Why” they are looking to a celebrity speaker or talent to incorporate into their event. There is no right or wrong answer, however by having a clear understanding of your expectations of this speaker or talent, it will allow you to maximize the true potential of having them as part of your event.
 

The Right Fit
Many clients feel they need to have a celebrity speaker or talent incorporated in their event to make it noteworthy or interesting, however you need to ensure this talent is the right fit for the organization, the audience and the event objective - as sometimes by not selecting the most appropriate talent can impact on the credibility & ROI of the event.
 

Budget
Whilst the addition of local or international celebrities can contribute to creating an event highlight, if you have not budgeted and planned your event correctly, their inclusion can also impact on your event significantly. When designing an event, you must consider all elements of the event experience – the venue, the f&b and overall style of the event. You should never compromise the essential requirements of the event – such as the quality of AV production, food & beverage – due to spending the majority of your event budget on a celebrity feature when you simply cannot afford it.

Also remember when booking celebrity talent or speakers, in addition to their performance fees, they will usually require business class flights, full ground transfers, five-star accommodation, meals etc for not only them but also their accompanying entourage which can sometimes be more than 10 people – subject to the talent. Ensure when getting quotes, you get a full breakdown of their requirements to get a full understanding of their total cost.
 

Pre-event Communication
For your investment, always ensure you have spoken to the talent prior to booking their services, in addition to viewing video footage of past performances or keynote presentations, to ensure they are the right fit for your event vision and audience demographic. Asking for referrals and testimonials from past clients of a similar event style can assist in ensuring they will communicate your brand, vision or key message to your audience successfully.

Many times, the perception of whom you may think will be a dynamic and inspiring speaker or performer may be sometimes quite different to what you expected and underwhelming.

By utilising the expertise and past experience of your event management company/or talent agency, you will get the best advice for your event and your budget.
 

Off-Site Connections Event Management is one of Asia-Pacific’s leading event design and management specialists with offices located in Brisbane, Sydney, Gold Coast, Cairns, Shanghai, Beijing and Macau. Email: nickm@offsiteconnections.com, website: www.offsiteconnections.com.

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