APPRECIATION APPEAL: Bollotta Entertainment Offers Three Tips To Make Your Appreciation Events More Appealing

By Anthony Bollotta

The intent behind recognition events is noble; reward achievement so as to better cultivate a sense of appreciation, and ultimately lift morale. Yet many recognition ceremonies become so beleaguered by program inefficiencies, they are anything but morale boosting.

1) OMIT LONG SPEECHES & DESCRIPTIONS

Nothing kills a recognition event faster than the slow droning on of a long oration. Even the most good-intentioned speech… one brimming with superlatives, loses its effectiveness when it carries on too long. The same goes for honoree descriptions.

Bottom line? Keep speeches short and to the point, and try not to use the opportunity to educate or proselytize. When describing achievements, remain focused on high points and leave the rest behind. And unless you’re hosting a roast, leave the jokes there too.

Recognition speeches should be congratulatory and respectful. Keeping them short shows a general respect for people’s time and plays to their short attention spans. Short speeches also do a better job of recognizing achievements because they don’t barrel past the tolerance level of the audience. To ensure speeches are kept short, script and time the entire ceremony, and use a teleprompter to keep presenters on track.

2) INCORPORATE MUSIC INTO THE CEREMONY
Music is powerful… especially when an audience can relate to it. It can turn an otherwise boring recognition event into a joyous, memorable occasion when used correctly.

To do that, take the time to choose music appropriate to your group… happy, upbeat music that is celebratory in nature. Have the music edited if at all possible, and use it for award walk-ons. The best award walk-ons comment lyrically on the award or the honoree, thus providing another layer of fascination.

It is important to keep in mind when using licensed music that the presenting company should first obtain Music Performance Agreements from the three agencies that collect and disburse music royalty fees: BMI (http://www.bmi.com), ASCAP (http://www.ascap.com) and SESAC (http://www.sesac.com). These agreements must be obtained by the presenting company and are not the responsibility of any creative talent hired to provide live or recorded music.

3) GET EVERYONE’S ATTENTION BEFORE STARTING
We’re not talking about keeping an audience’s attention. That’s an entirely different topic. We’re talking about getting it. For some, this is the biggest challenge of all. Their audiences are unresponsive to VOG seating requests, or those that welcome presenters to the stage. For these types of audiences, starting the award presentation with some kind of catchy, upbeat entertainment or comedian emcee can help to garner focus and prepare people for what’s to come. But “grabbing” an audience doesn’t have to consume time. One can do it quickly and efficiently by employing a little creativity and taking some calculated risk.

Rather than the incessant, ineffective VOG pleas to quiet down, consider employing a specially selected sound effect to cajole the audience into paying attention. Sound effects come in many varieties and can be purchased for pennies at both the iTunes Store, and at www.sounddogs.com. At both outlets, you’ll find a plethora of categories to search through ranging from the audibly inane to the delightfully whimsical, and purchasing is easy.

Naturally, the trick is in picking the right effect, which is done best with a keen knowledge of your group demographics. Hone in on one that will support your message, or more importantly, your brand, and keep it short and succinct.

For help building your next unforgettable recognition ceremony, call our experts at 619-295-3522 or email info@bollotta.com

Bollotta Entertainment Featured Talent: ROBIN ADLER & THE MUTTS OF THE PLANET - Joni Mitchell Cover Band Brings Uncanny Sounds To Your Next Event

Vocalist Robin Adler, veteran of the Peter Sprague group, and her husband, multi-instrumentalist music producer Dave Blackburn, both lifelong fans of Joni Mitchell, have assembled a group of extraordinary musicians (the Mutts of the Planet, after a line from a JM lyric), to evolve fresh arrangements of well-known Mitchell standards such as “Woodstock”, “River” and “Both Sides Now”.

The music is presented along with illuminating details about Mitchell’s songs and the circumstances of their creation. The result has been a hugely successful series of sold out concerts prompting such audience testimonials as, “Robin's vocals were dead on,” and “Was it worth the 2,281 miles I traveled to hear it? Oh heck yeah!”

The Value of Entertainment In Business: Increase Your ROI With Strategic Event Production

By Michael McGuire

What value do you place on entertainment? In order to truly answer that question, you need to dig a little deeper and determine the purpose you would like your entertainment to serve at your meeting or conference.

Entertainment is a valuable communication tool to connect people, generations, and cultures. It stimulates emotions, balances energy, and is instrumental in opening the
mind to creative thought. Entertainment furthers objectives and messages, and often sets the mood for how your attendees integrate the conference experience. In such, the ROI on entertainment is huge.

There are various ways to utilize entertainment to accomplish your meeting objectives. Greeters, such as stilt walkers or look-a-likes can serve to uplift your attendees as they
enter the venue, and also serve as people movers to get people to their seats.

A high-energy opening, combining production elements of sound, lights, and special effects, will awaken and excite your attendees for what is to come in your meeting. By customizing the entertainment (song parodies, specific talent that can interact with your attendees), you can deliver your message in a fun upbeat manner that will greatly assist in its integration, and create a natural segue to your opening speaker. Equally good is utilizing this concept as a closing to excite your attendees for your next meeting and location. Of course entertainment can be used to simply relax your guests as background music to cultivate networking at a reception, and a band or DJ for kicking up your heels after
dinner!

So how do you budget for entertainment? A good rule of thumb is asking how much you are willing to spend on it for yourself. For example, if you were to take yourself to the movies, you would spend $20 between the ticket, a soft-drink, and a small bucket of popcorn. This is just a basic guideline, and would vary from market to market, and a steal compared to what you pay per person to feed and decorate your event.

For ideas on how we provide entertainment with a purpose, please call us for options at 619-295-3522 or email us at info@bollotta.com.

SOUND ADVICE Tips To Understanding Sound Production Plus A Commonsense Way To Kill The Hum

In sound production, feedback, distortion and hums … or buzzes as they are sometimes called, can spoil even the most compelling presentation or performance.

Feedback, usually heard as loud, high-pitched squeals, occurs when levels are not accurately tuned or when output interferes with input, such as when the head of a microphone is pointed towards a speaker cabinet.

Distortion, which hampers one’s ability to decipher what is being amplified, is heard when wireless signals, from within or even outside the event space, impede upon each other.

Both feedback and distortion can be avoided, but it is important to note that there is never an absolute guarantee they won’t occur, even with the most professional engineer on deck (who should be able to respond quickly and reduce repeat occurrences).

Hums or buzzes, on the other hand, are most often byproducts of power distribution, and result when the power generating the sound is not “dedicated,” but rather is also supplying power to other equipment. To prevent hums or buzzes, ensure that power secured through your venue professional or power provider for sound amplification (and video, if applicable) comes from “dedicated” circuits separate from that for lighting and kitchen appliances.