Published November 2000

Class acts can liven up company party

By Kimberly Hilden
Herald Business Journal Assistant Editor

The holiday season is fast-approaching, and with it the annual company party.

For some firms, it will be an end-of-year celebration to recognize employees and promote a specific corporate message. For others, it will be less structured, simply a get-together for colleagues.

No matter the approach, the bottom line for companies is that their employees have a good time — and entertainment can be a key component in reaching that bottom line.

“You can ask people 30 years after they graduated from high school ... who the entertainment was (on prom night) and whether it was good or bad, but very few of them could tell you what they had for dinner that night, And yet at the parties, (companies) will spend more money on the napkins they had monogrammed than on entertainment.” said Terry Quick, President of ENTCO International Inc. and T.E.A.M. NET, planners of corporate meetings and events.

When it comes to party planning, from selecting a caterer to booking entertainment, you want to be sure to get a return on your investment, Quick said.

“We try to find out what (companies) want to accomplish — what’s their goal — and try to find out what their budgets are” before putting the event together, Quick said.

When selecting entertainment, companies need to think about the audience make-up and what constitutes appropriate material, said Robb Vrooman, Vice President of Marketing and Tours for Bothell-based Jack Roberts Productions. “If you’re doing musical entertainment, you’re pretty safe,” Vrooman said.

“If you’re doing comedy, you must really know what (companies) want and what (comedians) do. ... Most comics have multiple shows, depending on what the party is.”

One entertainment trend is the interactive show, Quick said, whether it’s a comedian, a hypnotist or a murder mystery in which everyone takes part.

“What we try and do is put the entertainment program together in such a way that each individual attendee has a vested interest in it,” he said.

Along with snagging an audience’s interest, such interactive entertainment can promote a corporate message.

Geoffrey Ronning, who performs a mind-reading and hypnotist act for corporate events, often customizes his show, said Wendy Ronning, Vice President of the Geoffrey Ronning Group.

“If the group is using the event to get across a point, such as ‘we had a great year, thank you’ or ‘we need more teamwork,’ ... we can try and bring that home with the entertainment,” she said.

To get the most out of the entertainment, timing is crucial, said Bruce Meyers, who has been plying his mixture of magic and comedy for more than 30 years.

If the holiday party is an evening affair, have the show after dinner so that the audience can enjoy it without hunger pangs, Meyers said.

Also, hold off on the awards presentation until after the show, he said, so that presenters and recipients don’t feel rushed by the entertainment schedule.

“Awards can be an exhausting thing emotionally for the audience,” Meyers said. “You don’t want to feel squeezed when giving out awards; you want to have lots of time to do it.

“Awards are so important. You don’t want to short-change the occasion,” he said.

Related: Discuss budget, goals when choosing entertainment

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