corporate

Who said corporate events should be boring? Entertaining a serious audience is, well, a serious business. It takes creativity, inspiration, and resourcefulness to make the most of any corporate event.

Planning a corporate event is no joke. Conferences, workshops, presentations, seminars, forums, annual meetings, away days, and general networking events – it takes months to plan, organize, brand, establish partnerships and sponsors, and so forth.

After you’ve put so much effort into your next corporate event, it would be a shame if you fail to take the boredom out of the equation!

 Here are 8 ways to make your next corporate event not boring:

1. Pull a rabbit out of your hat

A foolproof way to kick start your corporate event is to offer the attendees a grand opening they will never forget. Come up with a creative way to approach a short, yet impressive opening ceremony – consider a live band performance, fireworks, a light show or even a magician (depending on your audience’s profile an your event’s theme).

Starting your event with a bang will not only serve as a great conversation starter but it will also guarantee you a lot of social media buzz with people taking pictures and videos of the performance and posting them online using the official corporate event’s #hashtag. Who knows – your event may even go viral!

2. “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”

Guess what? It’s the same with women! Nothing will keep your audience’s fuel levels up better than a careful selection of food and beverages to suit every taste. This is easy to achieve with the help of little tricks like offering several meal choices, different salad dressing options, a spice buffet, etc.

Another way to show the attendees that you treat them as individuals rather than a grey-costumed mass is to consider people with particular needs (vegetarians, people with food intolerances, allergies, etc.) when taking care of the menu. Such small gestures never go unnoticed.

3. Make people laugh

There are not many things that can improve the overall mood and bring some life to your audience better than a good laugh. You have many options when it comes to using your sense of humor at a corporate event.

From making witty remarks during the presentation to inserting a funny video here and there in between the (boring) Powerpoint slides, it is really a matter of creativity to come up with a way to mix things up for the people listening to you.

4. Give your audience a break

Over-scheduling can turn your corporate event to a real beyond-boredom disaster. Remember that when it comes to presentations, it is quality that matters more than quantity.

Shorter sessions followed by regular breaks will keep your attendees engaged and focused during the presentations and they will be able to catch their breath from session to session. In fact, these breaks are as important as the presentations themselves, giving people the chance to interact and better assimilate the information that has been presented to them.

5. Put your attendees in the spotlight

Involve the audience in any way you can. This will both keep people engaged and will grab their attention throughout the event, leaving aside the last trace of boredom.

Another huge plus of giving your attendees the chance to share their opinions is that you make them feel an integral part of the event, nurturing their sense of importance. Let them ask questions and express their opinion, encourage brainstorming, provoke discussions on Facebook, tweeting and retweeting points of interest, etc.

6. Keep them guessing

Last time we checked, no corporate event attendee was eagerly looking forward to an endless day of changing slides and the inevitable back pain from having to sit still all day. An easy way to entertain a serious audience and avoid event boredom is to keep them guessing what’s next.

Keep the excitement levels high by giving some clues on what they should expect later in the day. You can even bring in some creativity and turn this into a contest with small rewards for everybody who followed the clues and guessed what the surprise was. Needless to say, this is a rather fertile soil for social media commenting, #hashtag-ing, and sharing!

7. Make them use their bodies

A great way to take the boredom out of the corporate event equation is to regularly make your attendees practice their fine and gross motor skills. This will not only help them stay focused, but it will also ease their discomfort from sitting still for such long stretches of time.

Incorporate different physical exercises into your presentation – it can be raising a hand, standing up and looking right/left or – why not – even dancing! The people attending your event will be pleasantly surprised by the breath of fresh air that comes with moving around.

8. Keep them close

No, this doesn’t mean making them feel uncomfortably stuffed into a conference room with no room to move a muscle. The idea is to resist the temptation to split your audience as, thus, you automatically fail to create a shared experience for them.

On the contrary, you should organize the space in such a way that it promotes and encourages interaction. This will guarantee you that no attendee will feel lost in the crowd at your corporate event.

Some final food for thought

Planning a boredom-free corporate event is easy if you’ve come prepared. While you cannot avoid the mandatory elements of corporate events, you can spice them up in such a way that your audience is kept engaged and entertained during the event.

Inject creativity in every aspect of event planning, consider fun activities and ways to keep the attendees’ minds fresh and productive and you are guaranteed a corporate event that’s everything but boring.

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Ahh, the lovely Sunshine State! Tampa is a vibrant and scenic location that welcomes beautiful events of all kinds. As an extremely popular wedding destination, Florida’s west coast offers so much more than just beach weddings, too! Here are our top 4 reasons Tampa is the perfect wedding destination:

1. Picture-perfect wedding weather

If you decide to get married in Tampa, you are guaranteed near-perfect weather at least ten months of the year. What more can a bride want? The sunny, yet swelter-free weather boasts an average of 361 sunny days a year, which means that (almost) every day is a perfect wedding day in Tampa! The bad news? Those amazing Friday and Saturday sunset ceremonies are usually booked up to a year in advance…

2. Finger-licking-good food

Packed with incredible culinary diversity, Tampa has everything you could dream of for your wedding, as your tastebuds will agree. From the freshest (and most delicious) seafood you can imagine to flavorful local dishes and creative farm-to-table cuisine, your wedding guests can be guaranteed an amazing dining experience.

3. Fabulous sun-bleached sandy beaches

With 35 miles of sugar-white sandy coastline along the Gulf Coast, the Tampa Bay area offers some of the finest (and most praised) beaches in the world! Open all year round, they make the perfect beach wedding venue with pristine waters and spectacular waterfront views. If you are planning your beach wedding at the Gulf coast, go for a sunset wedding. If you are getting married on the east coast, a sunrise ceremony will certainly take your breath away.

4. Unique world-class Tampa wedding venues

Whether you are having a traditional wedding, a glamorous wedding or a modern wedding, Tampa certainly has the picture-perfect wedding venue for you, pampering your senses with a stylish mix of elegance and romance.

*Note that Tampa is also a gay-friendly wedding destination offering plenty of same-sex wedding packages!

Here are 3 unique wedding venues you will find only in Tampa:

The Dali Museum

Photo by Puff N Stuff Catering Photo by Puff N Stuff Catering

The Dali Museum in Tampa is famous for its exceptional architecture. This is a unique wedding venue that will surely leave your wedding guests speechless. Its iconic glass structure (the Glass Enigma) makes an enviable wedding photo session setting and the freestanding spiral staircase is the most spectacular site to exchange your vows. An added bonus is that your wedding guests will (in almost all cases) get access to the galleries as well!

Museum of Fine Arts

Photo by Tampa Bay Times Photo by Tampa Bay Times

The Museum of Fine Arts is a unique wedding venue that is an embodiment of sophistication, class, and elegance. Featuring a luxury classic ballroom, spectacular lush gardens, and a stunning glass conservatory, this unique waterfront venue can turn your wedding into a dream come true. 

The Florida Aquarium

Photo by Your Story By Us Photo by Your Story By Us

For a unique underwater theme wedding, your obvious choice is the famous Florida Aquarium in Tampa. With several options for ceremony and reception locations (both indoors and outdoors), the Florida Aquarium offers a one of a kind ocean-themed wedding experience. Needless to say, amazing photo opportunities are available at every step!

The Oxford Exchange

Photo by Ailyn La Torre Photo by Ailyn La Torre

The Oxford Exchange is one of the most Instagrammed places in America, and it’s not hard to see why. The atmosphere is beautiful, the scenery is breath-taking, and the food is among the best that Tampa has to offer. If you’re going to plan a wedding here, you won’t be disappointed – just make sure you book way in advance as they have a massive waiting list!

wedding-dancing

Let’s face it. Only a week after your wedding, your guests won’t remember the beautifully-crafted centerpieces, the designer of your dress or the limo you arrived in.

What will remain in your wedding guests’ minds will be (you guessed it right) the entertainment. They will clearly remember that your wedding was fun and they danced the night away to the rhythm of their favorite songs.

Perhaps that’s why future brides find it so frustrating to decide whether they want a wedding DJ or a wedding band for the reception. Luckily for you, we’ve gathered 8 of the most discussed questions and problems that could be found online regarding the DJ/live band debate so you can easily make the best decision:

1. Budget and extra costs

Just like anything wedding-related, your wedding music cost will vary. It depends on things like the wedding season (high or low), the day of the week (weekday or weekend), etc.

Unless you want Calvin Harris or David Guetta at your reception,  a wedding DJ will usually cost you less than a live band. Just by the numbers: a DJ plays “solo” while a wedding band consists of multiple musicians all looking to be paid for their time. You’ll likely also have to budget an extra place for them to relax, plus food and refreshments for every band member.

2. Mood and vibe

One huge thing to think about which might be better for your wedding is the atmosphere.

A live band can create a feel of sophistication and elegance to your wedding that no DJ can achieve. On the other hand, an experienced wedding DJ with a custom-tailored playlist can ensure that your guests are on the dance floor all night long.

 You should also have in mind that a live band takes breaks, which can be a bit of a party killer. DJs, however, can mix for longer or put on longer tracks to keep the music going all night long (or at least as long as you’ve paid them to).

3. Style

Your wedding music should be the invisible wrap of your overall wedding style and theme. If, for example, you have decided on a glamorous art deco wedding theme (ostrich feathers, champagne towers, glitter, and everything), then a live jazz band will be exactly what you need to get your guests on the dance floor.

If you are planning a boho chic wedding with the “I woke up like this” feel and an individual touch to every detail, then a customized playlist created by a solid DJ might be your better choice.

4. Venue requirements

Sometimes, choosing between a DJ or a live band has nothing to do with your personal preferences and/or wedding theme. Your chosen wedding venue may have specific requirements on the number of musicians or music equipment that you will have to comply with.

Other restrictions might have to do with power supply, noise limitations, etc. so it’s smart to get a list of your venue’s rules before setting your heart on a DJ or live band.

5. Repertoire

While a live band may be visually more impressive (with instruments, vocalists, musicians and everything), when it comes to repertoire and variety, nothing beats a DJ with a versatile playlist. Suiting every taste and playing your wedding guests song requests all night long is a surefire way to keep the party alive.

You might think a live band is limiting by sticking to a certain music genre/sound but they do have one big advantage – improvisation. Either way, if you’ve set your heart on a live band for your wedding, you are probably already in love with their sound and how they perform on stage!

6. Personality

When a band performs live on stage, they give your wedding guests an emotional show that nobody will forget. Musicians and vocalists involve everybody in the magic that is music, and even wedding guests who are not fans of dancing will still enjoy the show.

If your DJ (who usually plays the role of MC as well) has a cheesy personality you are not particularly keen on, this can really ruin the experience for everybody. But no worries, since a face-to-face meeting with your wedding DJ (or band) prior to the wedding can eliminate this risk altogether.

7. Sound

Live music (performed by wedding bands) is a great way to keep your wedding guests’ energy levels high as it tends to be played much louder than recorded tracks. But you should have in mind that it can sound too loud (especially if your venue is less spacious).

Recorded music, on the other hand, offers much more flexibility when it comes to volume levels. This means that, if you hire a wedding DJ, he will be able to adjust the sound levels as needed throughout the night.

8. Reliability

Imagine that you have ticked your live wedding band off the wedding planning to-do list months ago. A few days before the wedding, one of the musicians (let’s say, one of the violin players) gets the flu. Since it is almost impossible to find another violin player who is not only available on your wedding date but is also familiar with the parts of the rest of the band’s musicians, the band is very possibly forced to cancel.

On the other hand, if your DJ gets the flu a few days before the wedding, it’s much easier to find a replacement. As simple as reviewing your original DJ’s notes and having a short meeting, your night is covered once again!

We hope these tips have been helpful in deciding what kind of entertainment you should book for your wedding. It’s your special day, and we’re happy to do everything we can to make it an Exceptional Experience, Every Time!