As a Dueling Piano entertainer, I’ve worked in clubs and I’ve worked in corporate settings. I’ve seen performers get away with things in clubs that they could never get away with in a corporate setting. So many performers are very talented and creative people, and yet when it comes to translating that into doing corporate shows, they are clueless.

There’s so many critical things required of Corporate Entertainers. Many of these are the very same things that are required of any employee of a Corporation, i.e. dependability, communication, professionalism, lack of ego, ability to be part of a team, etc, etc. Many times successful artists have made their career out of being an individual, and not conforming. As an artist this may be critical, but as a corporate entertainer it can be a hindrance, especially off the stage.

But assuming they have these basic requirements and are on point with the business aspects of corporate work, the most important thing is that they must be able to capture and hold the attention of the group. They must be interesting. In order to be interesting they must relate to the audience. It’s the event planners job to hire to right entertainment for their group. If they hire redneck comedian Jeff Foxworthy to do a Investment Banker’s Convention in Montreal, or, similarly, hire Beyonce to do a bikers convention in Tulsa, it’s probably going to be doomed from the start.

If your group is high energy, you want to hire a high energy act. The choice of entertainment may depend on how much your crowd will be drinking. Have they been worn out by traveling all day, and if so, maybe you want to keep it short and snappy. Or maybe they’ve been in serious and staid conferences and classes all day and this is the opportunity for them to loosen up.

Speaking as a performer, once you are onstage, it’s important to identify where your audience is coming from, and be able to adapt. Do I try and grab them right away with a high energy set, or do I start out a bit slower, and let them ease into the show before rocking their socks off? If the crowd is still eating, I’m probably not going to try and force everyone to sing along to Crocodile Rock with a mouth full of Haddock. If I play Billy Joel, and I don’t get the response I’m looking for, I may change gears mid-song and rap out a chorus of Ice, Ice, Baby to see what I get back from the audience. I am constantly scanning the audience to determine what the next move should be. And that’s one of the most important skills a Corporate Entertainer must have. They must be able t0 read the crowd and adjust.

As an event planner, you will want to see video of all unknown performers. You will also want to speak to other event planners that have used this performer before and ask very specific questions about how they related to the crowd, and how the crowd related to the performer.

One of the most popular events I’ve seen used for corporate team building “entertainment” is a casino night. Each attendee is given a set number of chips and one raffle ticket at the beginning of the night and at the end of the night they can trade their winnings in for tickets towards a raffle. The more they win “gambling” the better the chances are of winning a prize in the raffle. If there are sponsors of the overall event, you can ask them for raffle donations. Otherwise, corporate branded items, Starbucks/Amazon gift cards, etc. can be used. I’d suggest one raffle item for each 10-15 attendees. They don’t need to be high value, although it’s nice to have one “grand prize” type item. Keep in mind if people have flown in for the event, size matters.

As you watch you’ll see alliances being formed and a lot of teamwork and coaching as more experienced players assist other players and players strategize with each other to defeat players deemed to be winning too often.

Sometimes there may be a few people not want to participate for religious/cultural reasons, and you should always have alternates for them–usually a couple of games suitable for two such as checkers and Uno to start, but they are always joined by people who have lost all their chips fairly quickly and you can have Pictionary with white boards set up for team play.

If you’ve ever been to Las Vegas, you’ll know that Dueling Pianos is a wildly popular form of entertainment that dovetails with the Casino party environment. This also works as an additional team building activity, as a good Dueling Piano show offers opportunities for group participation, and interaction both with the entertainers and among the participants. That will be the focus of our next blog post!

I don’t normally put tip jars on my pianos or ask for tips when I do a corporate gig. I think it’s generally inappropriate to charge thousands of dollars to a client and pedal tips from their guests.  And we are quite capable of putting on an engaging show without using the tip mechanism. But…tips do add a very interesting element to the dueling piano format, as you can see on some of our demos. Let’s say someone gives us a request for Piano Man along with $5. If someone hates that song, they can stop it immediately with $6 and have us play their song instead. The original requester may choose to “re-start” Piano Man by giving us $7. It can get into a hilarious battle. Dueling shows use these types of “tip battles” with College Fight Songs, North-South duels, Male-Female duels, etc. to great effect.

A professional event planner that understood the “dueling” aspect of Dueling Pianos recently suggested giving the guests “play money” to use as “tips” to drive the content of our request-based show. I don’t like the idea of play money, because it’s not going to cause the same crowd response since the crowd will know that the person tipping doesn’t have skin in the game. And if anything, it will make the show more chaotic without adding the fun factor you’re trying to achieve.

Here’s a suggestion…rather than using “play money”, give each guest an envelope containing $3 or $5 or $20 (or more depending upon how extravagant you want to get). Seal the envelope so they can’t see what’s inside (a dark colored envelope or manila should do the trick), and put the guests name on it. Under their name have written instructions not to open the envelope until instructed to do so.

Then when the dueling pianists begin the show, they tell everyone to open their envelope. The duelers explain what the money is for, but tell them that they are permitted to pocket the money and keep it as a gift (cool, right?) OR use it in song battles. They can also pool their money, to have more power in choosing the direction of the show.

How many events do you know that have given cash as a door prize? It’s a unique gift, and it’s memorable. But far more memorable is the fun they will have pooling it, and stopping songs, and starting songs…kind of like a really fun team building exercise. And depending upon how much money the client wants to put in the envelopes the dueling piano entertainers may be willing to lower their entertainment fee.

Planning a special event is exciting- and more than a little rough on the nerves. For the love of God, you never want your event to be remembered for the ‘AWFUL (insert venue, entertainment, food, atmosphere)’

You’ve already found great entertainment. But finding the right entertainment venue is one of the more traditionally vexing aspects of party planning. In the interests of making that process a little less fraught, here’s a few tips to help you make the best decision.

• Consider the season. You may have the absolute perfect venue in mind, but if it’s most charming features can only be enjoyed in warmer weather, and you’ve got a February event, keep looking.
• Can the venue accommodate the kind of entertainment you have in mind? Do they have in-house tech people to set up the stage, or will the performers need to bring all their own equipment and tech people?
• Is the venue relatively convenient for the majority of the guests? Of course, for special occasions most people don’t mind going a bit out of their way, but you don’t want your guests to become mired in complex travel arrangements- unless you’re prepared to organise and pay for it all, of course!
• Is the venue actually available at the time you have in mind? Many first time party planners mistakenly believe that a couple of months notice is more than enough. Very popular venues, however, can be booked out in peak months well over a year in advance. Before you get too carried away with the planning, ensure your venue of choice is actually available.

About the Author: Special Guest Writer Isabelle Riley is a copywriter working with Ballara Reception, nestled on 3 acres of English gardens, with it’s own picturesque lake, weeping willows and family of ducks–the perfect setting for a wedding venue Melbourne. When Isabelle is not working she enjoys writing restaurant and movie reviews and regularly updating her Facebook.

New York City is one of the event capitals of the world, and because of how precious real estate is, especially in Manhattan, many cool places serve double duty both as their original function (i.e. Library, Museum) and as event spaces that can be rented out. You’ve already figured out your unique event entertainment (New York, NY Dueling Pianos, of course!) Now, here’s 5 unique spaces on the island of Manhattan to consider if you are seeking something different than a standard hotel or convention space for your corporate event, wedding, or gala fundraiser.
Another great New York space is the Central Park Boathouse in middle of this beautiful Park. The Boathouse overlooks the lake which, in the warmer months hosts gondolas replete with gondoliers singing Italian love songs to starry-eyed couples. There’s a brick terrace right on the lake, perfect for cocktail hour before dinner. Capacity is 80 – 230.The iconic Stephen A. Schwarzman Building of the New York Public Library just underwent a $50 Million renovation and is one of the more spectacular venues, located in the heart of Midtown Manhattan. There are 7 different spaces available, each one breathtakingly dramatic. From the old school wealthy grandeur of Astor Hall or McGraw Rotunda to the Wachenheim Trustees Room, a warm 19th century drawing room, each space offers a historic slice of perhaps the greatest city in the world. These rooms accomodate from 40 up to 500 people.
While the Delegates Dining Room at the United Nations is certainly a wonderful space, it’s the adjoining patio that’s particularly special with it’s sweeping views of the city skyline and the East RIver. It’s one of NYC’s largest outdoor patios and can hold up to 1,000. Add the 800 capacity of the Dining Room, and you host an event for 1,800 people at this historic locations where ambassadors, diplomats and the occasional president roams.Whether you’re hosting a Black Eyed Peas concert or Sarah Jessica Parker’s wedding, this gothic synagogue built in 1849 will fit the bill. Angel Oresanz Centerwas  modeled after the Cathedral of Cologne with the gothic style of the German Reform Movement of the 19th century. The center has become one of the more dramatic event rental spaces in NYC with it’s rib-vaulted ceiling, wraparound mezzanine and it’s architectural detailed alter.  The main space can hold up to 300 people, with additional seating for 200 more in the balcony.

If inlaid marble floors, ten foot brass doors, soaring Corinthian columns and delicate stained glass windows amid gold-leaf domes are your thing, then you want to check out the magnificent Grand Ballroom at Gotham Hall.  There’s a plushly appointed mezzanine that looks out over the Grand Ballroom and the space is quite dramatic, as the name suggests. With 10,000 square feet on the floor of the Grand Ballroom, you can invite up to 800 guests, with room for 300 more up in the mezzanine.

Let’s say you’re throwing a private party for your spouse’s 40th birthday, or perhaps you are considering entertainment for a Gala Fundraising Dinner for your nonprofit organization. Maybe you saw a Dueling Piano show or a really good party band on your vacation to NYC last month and you want them to entertain for your special event. The things that you see are great entertainment. But it’s the things you don’t see that the professional event entertainer is probably going to base his price on. Here’s 8 that you should be aware of before you contact your entertainment provider for a price quote:

1. The entire time the entertainer will need to be at the venue. This includes the time for setup (I like giving myself 3 hours to load in and set up my sound, lights and 2 grand pianos) plus sufficient buffers in case something unforseen happens such as needing to run out to Guitar Center to replace a broken cord. It also includes time during the event that I’m not performing but that I am still set up. So even though my performance ends at 9, I can’t begin breaking down until 10:30. So a 90 minute Dueling Piano show may require 8 or 9 hours of my time at the venue.
2.  Travel time with buffers for traffic. It takes about 90 minutes for me to travel from NYC to Philly, but I will probably want to give myself an extra hour (at least) in case something unforeseen happens. My clients do not care that there was traffic on the NJ Turnpike. They expect that a professional will be there on time. This takes planning.
3. Event Insurance. Will the entertainer be required to provide a commercial insurance liability binder possibly naming the venue as additional insured? Some entertainers pay for these policies annual, while others purchase them for each individual event as needed. Regardless, it’s a very real cost of business.
4. Your choice of day/date: There are only 52 Saturday nights in a year. These are valuable commodities to performers who may only work 4 or 5 shows per month. Most performers put a slight premium on weekends because they know they are more likely to get a booking even if they don’t get yours. This is why you expect to pay more for events on New Years Eve, or Saturdays in December.
5. The size of your venue determines the sound production required. If you are doing an event for 750 people, your professional event entertainer better bring a sound system that can fill up that space, and these systems aren’t cheap. Your performer has paid thousands of dollars for (hopefully) good professional sound gear just so that she is ready to provide quality production for your event and others like it. The cost of this equipment as well as upkeep and upgrades will be part of the professional’s equation when bidding a job.
6. The cost of moving and storing equipment. Many entertainers have technicians that they pay to move and set up their equipment. Some have purchased large vans and trucks to move our equipment from job to job. Others have the equipment professional stored for easy access. They may insure this equipment against damage and theft.
7. The cost of maintaining advertising, websites and referral services. This is the cost of doing business. How did you find your entertainer? Maybe they paid for Google Adwords so that when you searched the term “Party Entertainment NYC” their ad came up. You clicked on their add, which brought you to their professionally designed website where you looked at their professionally shot and edited video reel and photos. You better believe that every one of these elements took significant time and expense to get right.
8. Act development and prior experience of the performer. This is the part that is illusive to the purchaser. The good news is that the better the video is, and the better the performance is, the more you can be sure that attention has been paid to this most crucial part of professional event entertainment.  Obviously if someone has spent a lifetime developing their talents and skills, they expect to be compensated appropriately.

These are just some of the considerations that your performer will have in his or her mind when they are considering what to charge for your performance. If you receive a bid that seems too good to be true, I would start to question the actual value of that act with the above points in mind.