As the summer season is quickly approaching, many events are moving outside to enjoy the weather. This is many young people’s favourite time of the year as it gives them a chance to enjoy their two favourite things: outdoor entertainment and the sun.
Whether it be a comedy show or a summer showcase, planning is essential to ensure that nothing is left to chance. Below, we describe the 6 things you need to know when planning your event:
6 steps to have in place before hosting your outdoor entertainment event:
- Organise the staff
- Determine what the overall cost will be of your event
- Secure a specific venue
- Stick to a schedule
- Build your shows marketing plan
- Insuring your outdoor enetertainment event
How to determine an outdoor entertainment event’s budget:
The budget of an event is perhaps one of the most crucial steps when planning your event. Planning the budget allows you to see where you can splash out, and gives you a rough idea of what needs sorting. Firstly, set aside the money you have to work with and allocate spend to these categories:
- Venues rental cost
- Cost of paying for entertainers/actors
- Catering costs, depending on the event
- Toilet facilities, if not included with the venue
- Health and safety procedures
- Risk management
- Equipment, if needed
- Insurance
With Insure Our Event, we’ll be able to save you money on your insurance as well as provide advice on health and safety and risk management. For the most cost effective outdoor entertainment event, consult Insure Our Event.
How to protect your staff at an outdoor entertainment event:
With this kind of event organising your staff is so important. Linking with another point listed, there should be a timetable of when your performers arrive onto the venue. This eliminates stress before the show and makes sure everything runs to plan. Make sure your actors are aware of what times they must arrive to the venue.
Having specific staff in a determined position around your venue will help the customers to feel comfortable as it will provide them with security and safety. Likewise, with your actors, have a particular time of when they are supposed to be performing and stick to it where you can.
Consumer market planning for your outdoor entertainment:
This job will not be on your to-do list, but it is not a job to be forgotten. Start by stating your business’s mission and then determine the key performance indicators for this mission. Identify your buyer personas as each buyer’s persona should directly reflect your business’ current and potential customers. Then describe your content initiatives and strategies.
When you have done this define your marketing budget which coincides with the next step which is to identify your competition. Do this by researching the key players in your industry and consider profiling each one. It will help you recognise how you can enhance your own business strategy.
Securing your entertainment venue:
Choosing the right venue will make all the difference when it comes to making your event excellent. The venue must fit the needs of the performance e.g., if there needs to be plenty of room for equipment, the space must not be confined and must be accessible to transport the equipment.
The venue must also fit the needs of the audience e.g., accessible to wheelchair users if necessary. If a lot of your costumers are travelling, make sure there is plenty of parking; consider that not everyone will bring a car if the event is accessible by walking.
The venue might have a capacity number that you are not allowed to go over. Make sure the landlord is aware of how many people you are planning to invite or aim to give a rough estimate. The layout and floor plan will affect the flow of traffic and the event activities if necessary.
Is a schedule necessary at your outdoor entertainment?
Planning the event out will help you to see the tasks that remain. Choose the event duration as this will tell you how long you require your entertainment. Plan out how many performances you will have or if it’s just one elongated performance then plan out how long that will last for. If your venue is large, you will need to think about implementing a map which shows the customers the way around your venue. If the venue is small, you could think about having stewards to help manage problems or queries.
Thinking to the future:
It is beneficial to send out monthly content promoting the entertainment as it builds up the anticipation about the event. At the end of your event, thanking everyone who came to support your event is a great way to show your appreciation for your customers and increases the chances of them returning.
Keeping your previous participants engaged is also an important factor to consider in the aftermath of your event. You can do this by using social media to promote any future events that you are planning to do. You could also post pictures from the previous event, promoting how well it went and if your customers have any improvements they might suggest.
Do I need to insure my outdoor entertainment?
Outdoor shows are exciting experiences and bring joy to many people however there is always a possibility of things going wrong. Insure our event will protect you from having to pay a high price for claims and injuries.
Outdoor entertainment is usually dictated by the weather, they are always at risk of cancellation. Cancellations are annoying but unfortunately they are part of running an event, however having cancellation insurance means you are covered against any of the extreme costs.
Any of these things could affect your event. Ensure that you are not at risk today by contacting Insure Our Event and read more about outdoor entertainment insurance.
