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The Difference Between Live Entertainment And Branded Live Entertainment

January 20, 2011 By admin

What is the difference between Live Entertainment and Branded Live Entertainment? Well, Live Entertainment can be any kind of live event – music, sport, an awards ceremony, a corporate conference and so on. You are probably more aware of Branded Live Entertainment than you think you are – ever heard of the O2 Arena or your local O2 Academy? (Sponsored by the O2 phone company), been to either of the music festivals T in the Park or V festival? (Sponsored by Tennents brewery and Virgin respectively) or been to gigs which have been part of the Vans, NME or Kerrang tours (sponsored by the skate trainers/rock music magazine and tv station companies respectively)? These are all examples of Brand Name Live Events.

As Live entertainment experiences become more expensive to produce, organisations are increasingly looking to corporate partners to help foot the bill and there are number of brands which are aligning themselves with Live Entertainment events to become Live Entertainment brands – such as those listed above but also brands such as Levis, Disney, Southern Comfort, Channel 4, MTV, Myspace and Vodafone. Such brands are looking for new and different ways with which to interact with new potential – and particularly young – customers and there is no better way than with Branded Live Entertainment.  This is built around the customer’s experience (at the Live Event) of interacting with the Brand in a seemingly natural environment, which is why drinks, phone network and social networking brands do so much with live music in particular. For example, at a live concert, the brand’s potential customer has a drink in one hand, with mobile phone in the other uploading a photograph or video stream taken of their favourite band at this once in a lifetime live experience on that phone to their social networking site of choice. It’s a cost effective way of reaching out to so many people with publicity for such events often using more than one form of media. It makes sense for such companies to ensure their brands be seen as Live Entertainment Brands and be seen as an integral part of any such live entertainment experience and hope that their potential customers will always associate that brand with a great time (and so, buy more of their stuff…).

Filed Under: Branded Live Events, Live Events Tagged With: , ,

What Is Live Event Management?

January 17, 2011 By admin

What is live event management? This is a growing field of managing live events for all kinds of occasions from parties, weddings, corporate events, trade exhibitions, award shows, product launches, sporting events, charitable and fundraising events, political and social events, celebrity events, fashion shows, concerts, festivals – the list goes on.
To manage a live event, a whole host of people are involved but those overseeing managing live events will most likely be Events Managers or Marketing professionals or PA’s with events management as part of their role.

The function of live events management involves much planning and attention to detail, so is suitable for people who thrive on this kind of pressure. Event Management planning will generally include: identifying event goals, creating and presenting event proposals to clients, managing event-planning schedules, organisational charts, duty rosters, detailed record-keeping, recruitment (of staff for the event), reviewing event contracts and agreements – with the client and also any contracted suppliers and identifying troubleshooting for the event.

The role of the Event Manager will also include the essential task of working well with all people involved in the event – so they must be able to identify the team roles and resources available to them, manage event and task timelines and manage, plan and co-ordinate team and suppliers.
The individual tasks will come down to the specifics of the event but as a start, location, venue, housekeeping (furniture, facilities etc), sound and vision production, live entertainment and catering will be some of the initial considerations.
In managing live events, the Events Manager may also have to consider marketing the event and enabling press and PR. This may mean working with a current Marketing team or finding a PR agency to identify the appropriate publicity required for the event. There are a number of PR companies that specialise in PR for live events management so will be worth considering if it is a particularly large or important event.
A further important part of managing live events is collating event evaluation. This is important to the client to identify the success of the event and also for the live events management company themselves, to identify any problems which occurred which can be avoided for future events.
For those interested in working in Live Events Management, if there is no way to move into this within a current role or organisation, the best way to see if its for you is to try and get an internship or placement or an entry position with an events management company. There are a number of charities that are also looking for volunteers to help out with events too as well as a number of Event Management qualifications that can be obtained.

Filed Under: Event Management, Live Events Tagged With: , ,

How To Produce A Successful Live Entertainment Event?

January 13, 2011 By admin

How do you produce a successful live entertainment event? Firstly, you need to have an idea of the kind of entertainment event you wish to hold. Is this for a new product launch, a corporate awards show, a trade conference or a reward or Christmas event for your company?
If it is for a large number of people, it’s worth considering a company which specialises in producing live entertainment events. Not only will they have a portfolio of previous events and experience for you to consider but also their creative teams will be able to come up with a bespoke event for your company, tailored to your requirements and budget.
There is a huge amount to consider when you produce a live entertainment event and event management companies will cover everything from the creation of concept and the look and feel of the event, managing the logistics – including details such as marquee structure, lighting and sound production, furniture hire, catering and bar, design and implementation of creative themes with décor and table dressing, sourcing of the live music and entertainment, working with firework crews, implementing all health, safety and fire regulations, overseeing any security required and managing all suppliers, hired staff, celebrity speakers etc.
Producers of live entertainment events now offer bigger and better events than ever before, whilst acknowledging that companies do want to offer something different, so meeting their creative teams and talking through ideas will be particularly important. You will need to balance getting carried away with grand design ideas with the realities of budgetary constraints however, so be aware! Equally, if you think that the ideas the events company is coming up with are not appropriate, don’t be afraid to tell them so. If your budget is tight, you will want them to also be creative as possible with limited funds but if it looks like your budget will not allow for an event that will create the impression you are looking for, its worth reconsidering whether to produce a live entertainment event at this time – you don’t want your event to be remembered for all the wrong reasons and worst of all, not to be remembered at all!

Filed Under: Event Planning, Live Events Tagged With: ,

How To Hold A Corporate Event?

January 11, 2011 By admin
corporate events

corporate events

How do you hold a corporate event? Well, first of all you need to clearly identify exactly why you want to hold the corporate event and its aims and objectives. You also need to know your company and staff well in its current state and whether such an event is appropriate at this time – sounds obvious, but if the aim is to increase staff motivation and your company has just made a number of people redundant for example, splashing out on extravagant corporate entertainment will not go down well. Equally if you’ve had a really successful year, exceeded all targets and increased profits, a sparse mid-range hotel conference suite with a day full of dull strategy and finance presentations with mediocre catering would not be appreciated either.
You also need to decide if the corporate event is for the whole company or just a specific unit or team that needs particular motivation (and if this is the case – bear in mind how other staff members will feel if not invited!). Is this to be a memorable day’s experience or just a day out of the office?
Once the clear aim of the event has been established you next need to be clear about budget – as frankly, the sky’s the limit when it comes down to corporate entertainment – from relatively inexpensive sessions of teambuilding drumming/singing/paintballing etc to hiring luxury yacht’s or spending a day at the tracks racing Ferraris.
You should also decide whether you wish to hire one of the many companies who manage all aspects of corporate events from venue hire to catering to corporate entertainment or if you have someone in-house who is extremely well-organised, thrives on making ‘to-do’ lists and excels at paying attention to detail (if you don’t already have an events manager). Attention to detail is key here and the whole event will need to be mapped out in precise detail – everything from budget, location, catering and getting to and from the event. Also, don’t forget to let the staff attending actually know what they are turning up for! Keeping things a mystery, or being too vague just makes people nervous and if the aim here is staff motivation, you want the staff attending to mentally buy in to the event and ideally, actually look forward to it else you can do as much planning as possible and it could be a disaster. However, follow these general guidelines and it won’t!

Filed Under: Business, Corporate Events, Event Planning Tagged With: , ,

Organising an Event – the do’s and don’ts.

December 20, 2010 By admin

Organising an event can be very difficult but also incredibly rewarding. Here are a few tips on how to make the most of your time when putting together an event and how to maximise not only your effectiveness but the ultimate success of your event:

1. Be clear on your events objectives – is it a gathering to catch-up with old friends / acquaintances? Is it to raise money? Is it for business networking?

2. Organise and Plan – make sure you have the right number of people to help you and allocate the work / organising to people with a suitable skill set.

3. Set a budget – and stick to it! Make concise provisions for all elements of you event and leave a bit in case of emergencies.

4. Legalities and Safety – Make sure you apply for any licences, legal requirements, insurances or special permissions that may be needed and consider public access and any emergency procedures such as an emergency evacuation.

5. Bookings – make sure you book any speakers / acts / venues / suppliers / caterers well in advance.

6. Event Promotion – consider who your target market is and devise a plan of how to reach them, incentivise them to come and bring others!

7. Plan for the day – ensure you have in place a complete itinerary of the days agenda, staffing considerations and a communication structure.

8. Evaluate - once your event has finished, evaluate how it went. Was it successful for its intended purpose? Did it make / raise money? Did you stick to your budget? Were your attendees happy?

Considering the above will help you towards planning a successful event!

Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , ,
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