User:Jhenderson1/sandbox

= Corporate Entertainment = From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Corporate entertainment describes private events held by corporations or businesses for their staff, clients or stakeholders. These events can be for large audiences such as conventions and conferences, or smaller events such as retreats, holiday parties or even private concerts.

It is also commonly used to mean corporate hospitality, the process of entertaining guests at corporate events.

The companies that provides corporate entertainment are called Corporate Event Planners or Corporate Booking Agencies.


 * 1) Types of Corporate Entertainment

Types of Corporate Entertainment [edit]
There are various types of corporate events that make use of entertainment. An Opening General Session may include entertainment that adds excitement and presents the overall theme of the meeting. Mixers or pre-dinner parties many times use entertainment meant to provide a backdrop for conversation, perhaps an acoustic ensemble or pre-recorded music. Team Building Events are used to build trust and a better working team. Awards or Gala events, usually the last event in a series of meetings, can make use of many options, from celebrity entertainers to exciting bands providing dance music or other options that will leave the attendees with a feeling of excitement and looking forward to the next meeting. There are many different types of corporate entertainment.

Corporate Team Building Events
Corporate entertainment can also include a day of team building activities. These activities include traditional camp activities like tug of war, scavenger hunts, and relay races. They could also include sports such as volleyball, soccer, or basketball. The goal of team building corporate entertainment is to have employees recognize how the challenges of the activities relate to the workplace. Team chemistry, identifying strengths and attributes, understanding how to work through solving problems as one, and reflecting makes for fruitful team building. These events can be strong builders of social ties and relationships that contribute to a better work team.

Corporate Awards Events
Awards or Gala events are usually lavish events that celebrate accomplishment or milestones of a person or group of people in similar industries. Often these events fundraisers for a specific cause. In addition to celebrating and recognizing achievements, it allows attendees to network with others with similar backgrounds or professions. For example, Ronald McDonalds House of Charities hosts its Awards of Excellence Gala each year in efforts to recognize individuals globally, who have made astounding efforts to improve the quality of life for children. $100,000 is awarded to other non-profit organizations of the recipients choice. For Entertainment this very formal event features a silent auction, dinner, and past performances by leading artists including international megastar Celine Dion, renowned Latin singing sensation Enrique Iglesias, Grammy-award winning composer, producer and musician David Foster, up-and-coming musical artist Josh Groban, R&B/gospel singer Nita Whitaker, and pop idol Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys. This years entertainment will include "Lets make a Deal" host Wayne Brady.

Corporate Holiday Celebration Events
Holiday Celebration Events are ways for company's or departments to celebrate holidays and also can in many ways display its diversity.

Employees put in a lot of effort year-round to help grow and better businesses and the staff holiday parties are a great way for employers to show appreciation.

Entertainment at these events vary from raffles and door prizes, mystery dinners, music and an overall casual, social setting that can build social relationships. For Christmas celebrations, companies have used the "A Christmas Story" theme, which is one of the most famous Christmas movies that has a 1940's backdrop. Menu consisted of movie favorites such as duck or turkey and root-beer floats; Candy on the table the represented that time in American folklore. Décor and entertainment revolved around the infamous leg lamp and Red Ryder BB guns used to shoot balloons, for a rented shoot-the-balloon carnival game. For memorable, festive holiday parties with top-notch entertainment that will be the stuff of water cooler talk for months or years to come having unique and creative entertainment is key.

Corporate Seminars and Educational Events
Corporate Seminars, Workshops, Symposiums, and Conferences are more informative in nature and for educational purposes, which bring enlightenment to certain topics. A Conference refers to a formal meeting where participants exchange their views on various topics. A Seminar is a form of academic instruction, either at a university or offered by a commercial or professional organization. A Workshop includes all the elements of the Seminar, but with the largest portion being emphasized on “hand-on-practice” or laboratory work. A Symposium is a formal gathering in an academic setting where participants are experts in their fields. Entertainment for these events varies from kick-op brunches to start, special industry guest speakers, and mixers, dinners afterwards. There are also booths set up for trade shows to display a companies strengths and for better marketing.

Corporate Charity Events
Charity events, whether concerts, golf tournaments, or anything else, play an important role in how businesses interact with the community. Corporate Charity events unites people from all levels of the organization – from the Executives to Janitors – everyone feels like they are striving to accomplish a common goal. This feeling of effective teamwork is another form of team building which positively influences other aspects of work. Making sure everyone has a good time requires managing music, lighting, decoration, stage design, and entertainment. For the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, Team RMHC has a goal of raising $1.5 million in efforts to support children and families globally. For entertainment there is a live DJ, food and drinks, and a red carpet for runners re-entering the RMHC area after completing the marathon. This entertainment is also a celebration and a recognition of volunteers who also contribute to the entertainment as well.

Jewels to Successful Corporate Entertainment
There are many ways a company can make much of the planning process easier. Event entertainment is just one aspect of the evening, and you will need to be able to engage other matters in order to ensure successful results. Here are some ideas on what you can do as part of the planning process.


 * 1) Great Events Planners  -  Regardless of the type of event in question, corporate event planners can be a huge asset for planning entertainment. In addition to helping bring your vision to life with the right lighting, decorations and ambiance, planning companies can provide numerous options for corporate entertainment from comedians to musicians to magicians. Working with them and providing requirements will help prevent less than satisfactory event entertainment.
 * 2) Purpose of Event -  Regardless of elements your event consists of, always focus on how it supports the underlying intent of the gathering. Formal, semi-formal, or business-casual style affairs, planning choices should reflect this tone in order to make it easier for attendees to communicate and get to know one another. Events with a more celebratory atmosphere, but also an environment in which the employees need to be able to be the best face of the company, should reflect this same. Focus on making sure that the intended tone and purpose of the evening is reflected throughout all plans.
 * 3) Dates and Times -  The date and time for your event  will play a role in how the rest of the occasion is planned out. This is reflected in things like the presence of alcohol or what food is served as well as in your choice of entertainment for the corporate event. Similar to meals, lighter or less in-depth performances are better earlier in the day. The earlier an event is set and the further away from the holiday season, the less likely someone is to need to leave early for other engagements. Keeping things shorter in these instances can be beneficial and make for a successful event.
 * 4) Know your audience, Know your Venue - It's important to make sure that your intended venue is actually capable of supporting the event plan you have envisioned. This includes obvious elements like seating capacity.  Also less obvious ones such as if there are enough electrical sockets around the stage or even if it best suits the audience being hosted. Depending on what needs to happen, a resolution could involve an adjustment on the venue's part or an edit within your own plans.  Walkthroughs and physically scoping the venue will prevent operational issues.
 * 5) Have Fun!

See also[edit]
''This legal term article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.''

''This article about a tradition is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.''