Holiday Event ENTERTAINMENT

3 Common Mistakes

If you’re making these mistakes for your holiday event, don’t tell people you were in charge of the entertainment.

Whether it’s national corporate events, or local magic shows in Charlotte, Christmas parties are a staple every year with many of my regular clients. I have learned there are three areas in the event planning process that, if overlooked, will almost always cause disappointment. From the first phone call with a potential client, I can usually tell you who’s going to have a great event. Just as importantly, I can usually tell you who isn’t.

1. You’re spending money on the wrong stuff.

Before you dare pick up a phone, ask yourself, “What quality level do I want?” I could write a whole post on this one topic (in fact, I already did if you’d like to read it). Remember, you’re booking entertainment during what is considered by professional entertainers as the busiest time of year. October through December is out of control for me. So if these are in-demand days, and you want quality, you can’t bring a small budget to the table. One thing that I recommend to anyone having entertainment a holiday event…make the entertainment a top priority. Most of the time, it’s an afterthought, which brings me to….

2. Entertainment should be booked in the beginning of the planning.

I learned from a few corporate event planners that for major events, entertainment is the third thing booked. Date…Venue…Entertainment! With repeat clients, I’m often booked before the venue. I’ve even asked by several clients a year to list dates that I’m available. The punchline is that nearly all of those events would rank among some of my best events. Things like food, drinks, and decorations are all important, but that’s never what people are talking about when they leave. In many cases those can even be booked last minute. Book the entertainer first!

Ok, what if this event was sprung on you at the last minute? Still reach out! You may get lucky and find someone good, last minute. The closest I’ve ever been booked for an event was two hour before! Two days before, my already booked event was postponed for that night. The client who reached out randomly was asked to get a magician. FYI, next year, they booked me six months in advance for the same event.

3. Don’t try to figure it all out…lean on the entertainer for suggestions.

Ok, I get it. This is your event and you’ve probably got it pictured a certain way. But trust me, if you’ve booked a professional entertainer, they WILL have suggestions and some may exceed your wildest expectations. You have to be willing to appeal to a higher authority on the subject.

I recently did a magic show in Savannah, GA . Against my very clear instructions to not have a dance floor between the stage and the audience, I arrived and there was the dance floor. This would effectively separate me from the audience by nearly 40 feet. I brought in the event coordinator, the client and the CEO himself and explained why this would be a disaster. Reluctantly, they followed my instructions and put a few tables and chairs on the dance floor to fill in the very large gap. When I walked off the stage that night…to a thunderous standing ovation, the client came over and hugged me. She said, “I will never doubt any suggestion you give me about any other event.” And if that wasn’t enough, while backstage, the CEO came behind the curtain to shake my hand and tell me that my performance made the whole event.

Those two compliments would’ve never taken place if the client hadn’t appealed to my experience.

In conclusion…

Remember, if a client takes my suggestions, whatever happens is a reflection of me. If I’m a major part of the event, then the last thing I want is for something to go wrong. I may sound like I have definite ideas. It’s simply because in my 20+ years of doing this, I just know what works. If I can be candid, it’s why I have some clients booking me 10 years in a row. I wish you the very best with your holiday events!