Plan Your Meetings

Getting the most bang for your entertainment buck

For many charged with planning and executing this year’s convention/awards show/sales meeting/event/retreat (henceforth referred to as CASMER) there is one obvious place to go after you’ve established the location — the motivational speaker. While I agree this provides a meaningful service and tool for your company, there is another way to get your employees’ attention and enthusiasm.

Before you decide I’ve got some kind of axe to grind with all the famous athletes and businesspeople of the world, hear me out. Opting to enhance your event with a corporate entertainment specialist, instead, can provide returns you’ve probably never considered. Motivation is great, and useful and achievable in many different ways. Here are five reasons to take your event beyond familiar territory.

1. The surprise element (anticipation)

What greater way to build excitement, buzz and word-of-mouth about your CASMER than to involve the element of the unknown? One of the best ways to do this is to retain an air of mystery. All your employees know is that they are showing up to X location on Y date and they’re expecting nothing less than something that topped last year (which topped the year before, etc.). 

“OK,” you’re saying. “We do that by masking our speaker’s identity until the night of the event.” Fair enough, but imagine the anticipation created if everyone’s wondering if they’re going to be whirled into a magical evening of Cirque artistry, Broadway toe-tapping or STOMP-like entertainment?

2. Waking them up (engagement)

I’ve had countless friends and colleagues tell me over the years about their company’s CASMERs. Common refrains include: “So much fun,”  “Got a great tan,” and “Beautiful facility.” When I ask about the actual work-related portion, the conversation inevitably turns to the motivational speaker. “He/she was good” is, more often than not, the only recollection.

 Instead, why don’t you shoot for:  “I was blown away,” “That was like something you’d see on Broadway,” or “I love this company … I can’t believe they do that for us”?  You will feed your employees’ emotions and energies in ways not possible at a cookie-cutter CASMER.

3. It’s your event (messaging)

Your company, undoubtedly, spends significant time and resources on a consistent marketing, branding and cultural message. With all the effort expended on this throughout the year, there’s no reason in the world to treat your CASMER as a vacation from this philosophy. With this being one of the few, if not only, times that you have everyone’s focus and attention, why would you let someone else tell you about their definition of success? Why not build on your own internal successes by celebrating your own most valuable assets, your employees? By putting a singular focus on messaging in your CASMERs, the effect will be palpable. Your employees will leave those events knowing not only what your company’s strategy for success is, but also what their part in that success has to be.

4. It’s a reward, so reward them! (recognition)

By taking a creative approach to entertaining, stimulating, appreciating and, yes, motivating your employees, you’ll find very quickly the focus of the watercooler talk post-CASMER will be about the event itself, not the event’s surroundings. The same event, by the way, where your messaging was the focus the entire time.

5. Always leave them wanting more (duh)

Want to see not only the desire to attend, but actual attendance at, your CASMER increase? There is no better way than to shake things up, get their attention and actually motivate, energize and message through custom entertainment. Studies say a successful Web site must have new content at least once every day to retain interest in returning. In much the same way, by shaking up your CASMER format with unpredictable, engaging and meaningful entertainment, you can ensure that your employees will be ready for more before they even walk out the door.

::

Obtaining a quality motivational speaker is a costly endeavor. Instead of spending all that money on one person, you could secure the talents of an entire performance team who can customize elements of the entertainment so it has personalized meaning for your group. Getting the most for your money by surrounding attendees with creative elements is the key to your CASMER success. With that experience under their belt, your employees will eagerly anticipate the next big bash, knowing they will be recognized in a way that validates their very personal self-worth within the company; a company that cares enough about them to thank them in the most creative ways possible.

Now that’s what I call return on  investment.