Tip #3 Event Entertainment Ideas – The length of the act

Hi, I’m Darryl from Lovegrove Entertainment. We produce fabulous ‘wow-factor’ entertainment acts that transform events. In this series I’m sharing my top 7 things to think about when hiring entertainment.OK so you’ve been working really hard putting this event together.  You’ve chosen a great menu and the perfect venue. But if the entertainment you’ve booked leaves your audience bored or even heading outside, you’ve blown it. People are counting on you to make the event fun, memorable, engaging and in good taste.

So, it’s your responsibility and you have to get the entertainment right. Because at the end of the day, no-one will remember the food, the wine or the table settings but they will remember, good and bad, the entertainment. So what are some of the things you need to think about when hiring quality entertainment?

Event Duration

Today we’re focusing on point #3 and that’s thinking about the length of an act.

Believing that ‘more is better’ is just wrong. Instead you want to embrace the philosophy of ‘Leave them wanting more’. If you’ve planned a long event then you might need to consider hiring a number of different acts rather then just a large one.

Also think of what your audience may have been up to during the day. If it’s been head down in seminars and training they might need a short, fun, more lively act that doesn’t demand too much from them. If it’s been an easy day, maybe playing 18 holes or sight seeing, then they’ll be in a great position to enjoy a longer, more sophisticated, more engaging act.

In this day of shorter attention spans the standard window for successful well known ‘wow-factor’ shows is 20-35 minutes.

But don’t worry so much about the length of the act.

After all, one of my former shows I co-created, the world’s #1 corporate act, ‘The Three Waiters’ only runs for around 23 minutes. But the impact of that show…massive! Same with ‘The Leading Men’ – only averages around 25-30 minutes but always an encore.

Instead, watch an acts promo video and focus on the testimonials and don’t be afraid to ring some of them. They’ll be able to explain, first hand, the impact the show had on their audience.

The top shows should always leave the audience talking about the entertainment for not just the remainder of the event but for months later.

Well, I hope that helps. Look out for the other ‘top 7 idea’ videos in this series. Thanks for listening and please feel free to leave comments. We’d love to hear from you.

Call (02) 9953 0390   Email Us   Online Enquiry Form

Darryl Lovegrove is an award winning corporate entertainment producer, keynote speaker & MC with a global business success story of ‘operatic’ proportions. In 2009 he founded Lovegrove Entertainment which has produced 9 acts including two time Australian Event Awards 'Entertainer of the Year' finalists THE LEADING MEN as well as the 2012 winner DARRYL & HARMONY. His keynote, ‘Passion, Perseverance…and Puccini’ focuses on his co-creating the worldwide phenomenon ‘The Three Waiters’, expanding internationally to build a global brand and surviving 9/11 before establishing his own company. He has twice been voted as the event industry's top 5 best performers in Spice Magazines 'Hot 100' and is now one of Australia's most in demand MC's. For further information email info@darryllovegrove.com or visit www.darryllovegrove.com.