Creating entertainment for corporate events is like making soup. You need the right ingredients at the right time to bring out all of the special flavors for your corporate event entertainment. Because of this, you need the right facilities and functions in order to make the best of the occasion. On that note, the entertainment that you include in your event can take your event up a notch, from informative to engaging.
So, what is the best way to incorporate entertainment into your event? The answer to that question depends on your business, i.e what your company does and how they do it. What are your products, and services? Equally as important: what type of event are you hosting? Exhibition? Conference? And furthermore, can your entertainment work in a virtual format? This article will guide you through all of this and more. Let’s make it happen.
What Is Meant By Entertainment?
Entertainment is an ambiguous term. For the purposes of brainstorming ideas and generating a more cohesive and entertaining event, the term ‘engagement’ works a little better. Because what you fundamentally are trying to do here is to engage your attendees through active participation. Not in the sense of being picked out of the audience by the host, or by the industry professional who has presented their ideas to the audience. But rather, to make the experience more memorable, interactive, and an active one on the part of the attendees.
One factor worth noting is that the medium of the engagement may be similar from niche to niche, but the content within will be different. That is why you must consider your own needs for the start point of this exercise.
The Start Point
There are many factors to take into account when considering what entertainment is appropriate for your particular niche. The first of which is your individual budget limit. When it comes to entertainment, there are small implementations and large ones. We will address both of these in turn, but to begin with, keep aware of how much each addition to your event will cost and how this will affect the other factors, such as space hire, catering, and other fiddly elements that are important for the smooth running of your event.
Then, counterbalance this with your niche. Certain engagement forms will be more appropriate than others, and the aim is to find the happy medium so that your event is fully optimized and your budget is kept intact.
What kind of event is it? The needs of a B2B event are very different from that of a B2C event. For instance, there is an argument to be made that 2C events (business-to-consumer) have to be more entertaining. This is because your attendees are members of the public, who have less obligation to invest time, energy, and money into your product or company. In contrast, B2B events can be more formal, for the opposite reason.
Here are a few examples of how creative entertainment ideas can be used in different industries. For instance, a hair and beauty company might host a product sampling section in their event. Something that employees and the crowd can enjoy in unison. This is especially effective seeing as how such an event will attract those who will have fun with the experience. Similarly, a corporate event such as a business development exhibition might feature product demonstrations for the guests.
Here is another example. Events that are more consumer-based might boost the entertainment up even more, by hiring corporate event performers to entertain the audience. This is likely to be the case in a gaming conference, for instance. Conversely, if the event is heavy on breakout sessions, then team-building activities based upon the niche are appropriate. Then, to give attendees a break from their breakout session, corporate entertainment such as music or party-like features like food and drink are a good idea. Hell, you might even want to do something that involves prizes. Everybody loves the opportunity to win something.
Two Pieces of Advice
As introduced earlier, the theme of your entertainment ideas for events should be based on your product or company’s mission. So take this, and counterbalance it with your event strategy goals. What are you trying to achieve, and how can these corporate entertainment ideas help you to get there?
Always recheck that you are on track to achieving your goals, and staying on point with your mission. There is no purpose in imbuing your event with the best corporate entertainment you can afford if it doesn’t fit in with your mission statement.
Another thing to do here is to take the event as a whole into consideration. The flow of the event is important for retaining audience engagement. For instance, if your corporate event is heavy on the conference side of things (i.e there are many speakers and showcases, and much sitting down and listening to do) then the last thing the audience is going to want to do after sitting down and listening for an hour and a half is to engage in similar activities soon after. They will be ready to walk around a little. That’s where you come in. At such a stage, it is good to include some exhibition features in your event, such as B2C product showcases, where the attendees can browse inventions, network with industry professionals, and get excited about the innovative ideas of business owners. All at their own leisure, of course. And if this is your goal, then make sure you book the right event performance ideas and structure them well. Do this, and you stand a great chance of entertaining your customers.
In-Person Company Entertainment Ideas
The ways in which you can use entertainment for events in person are broad and diverse. Let’s go over some effective ways that you can engage your audience.
1: Escape Room
An escape room is great for the purpose of entertainment for company parties and the like. It gets everyone together for fun, strategy, and business engagement. Escape rooms are best served when they are tailored to your corporate niche. For instance, the answers to the attendees’ escape can be based on that subject.
2: Augmented Reality
If Pokemon Go has taught us one thing, it’s that reimagining reality to contain collectibles is a viable way to engage your customers. Many corporate companies are doing this now. It may take a lot of planning, but it drives traffic to your company like you wouldn’t believe.
3: Sit & Sketch
This is one for the creatives. Or very on-brand for those of you who have a creative business. But invite your customers to sit and be drawn by your talented hand. This not only showcases your talent with the accumulation of sketches, but it gives you the chance to network with the customers who are sitting for you. Hell knows you might get a few industry professionals in there, and the time it takes to draw them gives you the opportunity to bond, and share innovative ideas with one another.
4: Fake Awards Ceremony
When it comes to in-house events, you can provide entertainment that is based on staff camaraderie. For instance, how about generating a number of fake awards and giving them out to select members of staff? For instance, how about “Most likely to spend too much time in the photocopying room”? Other light-hearted options are good too. You don’t want to be harsh to the winner by creating a hurtful award. But generally, this is a good way to create some knockabout fun for your colleagues/employees.
5: Rapid Fire Challenge
Rapid-fire challenges are lighthearted, fun opportunities for people to show off their skills, speed, or general knowledge. This form of entertainment tends to be based on trivia, games, or other physical challenges. Furthermore, the task will take ten minutes or less. To tempt attendees into it, prizes are good. It could be a small prize (like cake) or a big one (like a car) but have an exciting incentive.
Virtual Company Entertainment Ideas
Then come virtual events. If this is your event form, you may believe that it is difficult to come up with entertainment. But there are ways, and here are a few of the top ones. In this list, we have included a few more examples. This is because the event entertainment options for in-person occasions are tried, tested, and documented. The same is less true for virtual options.
Also, before we go ahead, remember that if this seems like a viable way of hosting your event, make sure you have the platform sorted too. Everytale is a great option for this, as it provides you with a user-friendly platform with the potential to broadcast your ideas to many people, internationally. On with the list now.
1: Stream Live Music
Hiring a live band might seem a little unorthodox for a virtual event, but it can be done. Simply get the performer on board, then get them to stream their talent to your event. This was done many times over during the pandemic and was shown to be an effective substitute for live music. Less costly, too.
2: Virtual Tours
These work particularly well in regards to consumers. Moreover, they come in many shapes and forms: again, it is niche dependent. For example, if your business is selling an innovative new toothbrush, think of the ways that you can incorporate tours. How about a tour of the toothbrush itself, or across the expansive land of a human mouth? Creative ideas such as this require resources but are great event entertainment.
3: Stream A Life Drawing Session
Another one for the drawers. Through a decent streaming platform and some good cameras, you can stream your talents so that your audience can copy your artistic inflections, Bob Ross style. This method works for many other art forms such as writing, editing, and painting.
4: Online Quizzes
Put one of these together, and design it around your niche. And also, make it fun. This encourages team building, collaboration, and solidarity between attendees. Also, a competitive edge is always captivating.
5: Photo Booth
A good way to connect with other businesses is through Photo Booth, a service that allows you to share photos of yourself, your customers, or anything you can think of, with your peers. Moreover, it is great for networking during an event, and making that initial connection. Photo Booth is available to use for virtual events.
The Verdict
Harvesting and implementing corporate event entertainment ideas might be a lot of work, but it’s how you transform your event from useful to captivating. Moreover, it is an opportunity to exercise your creativity and innovation. That kind of commitment is the key to progressing your events and making the most of your next corporate event. And once you have a successful event under your belt, your business is likely to perform at an all-time high.