6 Things You Need To Know To Find Perfect Corporate
By David Tapley, Sat Dec 10th

The wrong entertainment can ruin an event and, worse yet,project the wrong image about your organization. The rightentertainment creates a positive buzz among participants and afavorable impression about your company or non-profit.

How do you tell right from wrong when booking entertainment? Themore you know - both about your event and the talent available -the better off you will be.

1. Know your objective. What do you want your event tosay about your organization? Do you want to come across ascutting-edge and daring, or is a more conservative image moreappropriate? Choose entertainment that reflects the right imagefor your company.

2. Know your budget. Entertainment can run as little as$500 for a local act, to well over $1 million fornationally-known talent. Don't waste time pursuing entertainmentthat you can't afford. Set a budget to narrow your choices.

3. Know your audience. Is your audience young, older or acombination? Is it mostly men or women? Will couples beattending, or will you be hosting a crowd of co-workers? Do youwant to book an act that will encourage dancing? Will people berelaxed and in a partying

mood, or will they be more sedate andprofessional? If you understand your audience demographics andmindset, you can avoid booking entertainment that might annoy,offend or even bore participants.

4. Know your theme. A 50's sock hop or a disco ball canbe a lot of fun, but your audience may not want to listen to50's music or disco for the entire night. Pick an event themethat is broad enough to accommodate entertainment that appealsto a wide range of tastes. Use décor to create your theme.Better yet, select the perfect entertainment first and build atheme around it.

5. Know your production costs. You may be able to affordthe talent, but can you afford the cost to produce the show?Many people overlook or may not be made aware of additionalexpenses associated with lighting, sound system rentals, unionregulations, insurance, overtime fees, and stages when they bookan act. Make sure you know all your production costs and budgetaccordingly.

6. Know when to hire a pro. A talent agency is often thefastest - and most economical - source for entertainment for anevent. A talent agency can quickly connect you to the best actsin the business and help you choose entertainment that will beright for your event. Talent agencies with experience bookingnational acts have the expertise necessary to negotiatecontracts and, even more importantly, hospitality andperformance riders. They can make sure you don't end up payingfor non-essential or duplicated expenses. Talent pros can alsoclue you in to hot entertainment trends or less expensiverouting dates on a specialty act that might turn your functioninto the "event of the year."

About the author:Dave Tapley is president and owner of Tapley Entertainment, afull service entertainment booking agency headquartered inCoppell,Texas. For more than 15 years Tapley Entertainment Inc.has provided a variety of national acts, entertainers, andmusical attractions for corporate functions, private events, andcharity fund raisers nationwide.