.The quality and popularity of your entertainment can make or break an event or conference, so it’s essential that you get the best mix of speakers, performers and emcees for your audience. mice.net asks four of the business event industry’s leading lights to share their top five tips on selecting and managing the right entertainment for your next event or conference.
 1. Talk to your entertainers – Make sure they understand the purpose for which they were booked. They can’t do a good job if they are not briefed properly. Personally call your entertainers or have them call you in order to discuss the event. At the end of the day, their business is also on show and they care about how their product is received.
2. Don’t deafen Nana – This is an obvious point. Make sure your entertainment is suitable for the demographic attending the event.
3. Go and see the act – I have lost count of how many times entertainers are sold by agents who have never seen them perform! Form a relationship with the artist directly and encourage them to keep you up-to-date with their product developments.
4. Get on Google – Don’t be scared to use new talent. Get referrals from colleagues in the industry you respect. They should have no vested interest in selling you something inappropriate.
5. Trust the professionals – Let performers do what they do best. If you’re a stress head, try not to put unnecessary pressure on your performers. Trust and you will be rewarded.
 1. Know your group – Don’t put on The Angels for a group in their twenties. Also avoid staging an hour-long floor show if a group would rather spend their time networking.
2. Watch out for the big name trap – People are often drawn to the allure of the “big name”, but after a few years, your group will keep expecting bigger and bigger names and you can only have Barnesy once!
3. Aim to move people – Your entertainment is the emotional heart of your event. If you’re aiming to move people, don’t put on your children’s choir after the contortionist. In fact don’t have these two acts in the same event full stop, unless it’s a freak show!
4. Design your own entertainment concepts – Entertainment agencies are great but develop your own style – blend the ingredients to make new entertainment cocktails. Also ensure your entertainment is consistent and flows with your event and its theme.
5. Be prepared – It pays to be prepared, especially if you’re designing your own entertainment feature! Ensure you put some money in your budget for logistical, technical and/or dress rehearsals, as this can make or break an entertainment feature.
 1. Continue the theme – You always remember to theme the tables, lighting and even the food, but don’t forget to continue the theme with the entertainment.
2. Time your acts – How often do awards ceremonies go over time? Be realistic as to how long your acts and emcees will take, and remember: the later in the evening, the higher the alcohol consumption.
3. Know the cost – Ask for a production rider with the quote so you can budget for total cost of the entertainment, which is more than just the performers.
4. Consider audience appropriateness – This is not just about the “blue” comedian or a bad cultural fit for an international audience. Think about your audience. Booking a band for an all-male group makes for a quiet night on the dance floor.
5. Think about the space – Plan your room set-up in advance according to the entertainment you will have. A dance floor between a comedian and the audience is equivalent to a blackhole of death for laughter.
 1. Know the event – You need to thoroughly understand the event to co-ordinate the right quality entertainment, whether that is solo artist, band, MC, speakers or comedians. Once you understand the event, you can then properly put the entertainment together that works.
2. Don’t overspend – What is your entertainment budget? Once you establish the budget, then you can determine the quality of act, the format, etcetera. You might be required to book acts from $5000 through to $500,000, depending on budget.
3. Get the age right – One of the most common errors I find is that the wrong entertainers are put into corporate events. Knowing the demographic of the audience age-wise is vital to determining the right act and/or staging.
4. Brief the performers – Know want you want to achieve through the entertainment. If you know the aim for which you are booking entertainment for an event, then you can completely brief the acts on the desired outcomes.
5. Encourage interaction – Rather than simply putting on a show, see that the artists also interact with the audience, and participate in meet and greets. This sort of attention to detail is often the key to a successful event.
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