7 Tips for Hosting a More Memorable Award Ceremony
The planning for an awards ceremony can be an immense undertaking because you have to identify who has gone above and beyond their duty. You want to make it a memorable event for both the guests of honor and everyone else that's here to hear the speech, while avoiding dragging on so much as to make them bored.
I have a few awards ceremony ideas that will turn your event into an entertaining and celebratory occasion while giving proper homage to those being honoured. These are seven helpful tips!
1) Have a Theme
Awards ceremonies are always a big deal. They're one of the few times that you get to recognise and celebrate your employees, customers, and partners. In order to make it feel like more than just an ordinary day at the office, come up with a theme for the ceremony. You might want to go with something that matches your company's values or highlights something about your organisation that makes it unique or special.
2) Get Creative with the Location
One of the best ways to make your award ceremony more memorable is to get creative with where you host it.
When planning for an award ceremony, one of the most important considerations to think about is what venue to use. Different types of venues may have an impact on the event's success. When you're picking a venue, take the number of people coming and your budget into consideration. The theme of your ceremony and the type of event you're hosting can have a huge impact on what type of venue to pick. When picking a venue, you should know what to look for and how to go about it.
What are the AV and branding capabilities?
It is sure to be one of the key highlights of the year for your clients, employees, and the event industry. Your event will be an excellent opportunity to market your organization. The venue you choose must be able to accommodate erecting signage and other promotional items so your audience can learn about your organization while enjoying the event. A venue should allow you to brand your awards event with your brand imagery, as well as consider your AV needs, such as sound, backdrops, and visuals. You may also need to hire an AV company to handle your award show's sound requirements if your venue does not have a PA system and does not provide a sound engineer.
How large is the stage area?
There's no point putting effort into organizing a fabulous event if your stage isn't big enough to accommodate all the presenters and award winners. If you want your company to appear positively on social media after the event, your venue should be large enough for award winners to take photos. Venues must not only be spacious to accommodate guests, they should also be impressive enough to differentiate your event from others.
3) Book a magician as your host
Booking a magical host is an easy way to add some excitement to your event. You can have them do live magic tricks, or they can even perform as the emcee. It’s worth it to find someone who has experience in hosting large events and understand what they need to be prepared.
A magician who can host the event, will keep everyone engaged, and provide narrative and structure. This person should have charisma, clarity, and knowledge - they will hold the event together.Consider who will present each award. Will it be your main host, or will you hire a different speaker each time? . Often, it's the CEO or some other top-level executive. With this in mind, I recommend a skilled speaker that knows how to speak eloquently.
Keep in mind that your host will not just be introducing people, but also conducting other duties like presentation introductions, prize allocation, and so on.
If you’d like to find out more about booking Magician Host Dean Odell for your next event head to: https://www.deanodell.co.uk/contact
4) The award
The whole point of gathering everybody here is for you to deliver the award! Presented with a physical award that is displayed and taken home, your well deserving winners will not only have something they can display with pride, but will always be able to remember the accomplishment.
First and foremost, one needs to come up with the award design and determine whether or not to include a nameplate with the recipient's name and their accomplishment. Although it's not required, giving them an individualised award is a really thoughtful touch, showing how you really took the time to think of this achievement. Naturally, you won't be able to do this if the judging panel is deciding on the day's winners.
If you have it planned in advance, you will have time to buy a quality gift without running out of time before the party. As soon as you've chosen your winners, you can work on the design and place the orders on time.
5) Make Sure the Food & Drinks are On Point
If you want to ensure your event is unforgettable, make sure you have great food and drinks. Serving appetizers during the ceremony will give your guests something to snack on while they are waiting for the main course, as well as a chance to mingle with others in attendance. Plus, it's always nice to offer an open bar and some fruit juice or non-alcoholic beverages.
You cannot hold any form of the ceremony without food and drinks. These two elements are essential and, in most cases, will take a considerable chunk of the total budget. An award ceremony is a sit-down event that warrants a proper meal and a variety of drinks. Most of the time, award ceremonies are held in the evening, and this dinner is a more suitable option. You can give out a questionnaire to the guests where they will choose which foods they prefer from the personalized list, such as fish, meat, and vegetarian.
This choosing process helps you get a rough estimate of how much it will cost you per plate.You can set up a bar and hire a mixologist who will make unique cocktails for the guests. Ensure that you have alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks available so that all your guests are catered for.
6) Plan for Entertainment
The kind of event you are hosting impacts what types of entertainment are appropriate. Awards ceremonies, for example, are often formal, which makes a live band probably inappropriate. In other words, it is more casual and the music is dance music.
Make the ceremony something fun The ceremony should be more than just a series of award ceremonies and where your entertainment comes in.
Ceremonies tend to be boring if all it entails is announcements, photos, and awkward socializing. Have a cocktail hour, have dinner, and have live acts such as stand-up comedy or a swing band for stage acts. Even if you're planning out your event to be as gorgeous as possible, it will likely not be successful without some sort of entertainment. Here are a few entertainment ideas for your event. One way to take care of guests with lackluster attitudes during the awards show is to hire a live band, who could be a great way to energise them and set a good mood.
On top of that, live music will ensure a celebratory atmosphere throughout the ceremony. Some guests may find that it's just not as exciting to watch other people receive awards, and boredom can quickly set in. Sometimes, a live band may be necessary to ensure that your guests have something to keep themselves entertained.
You should book a magician for your awards ceremony , who can wow your guests with their amazing tricks. No matter what type of award ceremony you plan, adding an entertainer will always make it memorable and enjoyable for everyone involved. If you’d like to find out more about booking Magician Host Dean Odell for your next event head to: https://www.deanodell.co.uk/contact
7) Add value
Honestly, if you're the friend of an employee whose coworker you never met, you're probably not going to care if he or she gets a good job award. You need to put a price on it so these people who really just don't care about the awards understand that they need to work with you.
Spend a bit more money on food and entertainment and you will increase the worth of the event as a networking conference, where you will meet new friends, business partners, and even potential partners. This may involve an icebreaker to help put strangers in a teamwork mindset.
Other ways of adding value that we have noticed involve hosting a sweepstakes or raffle during the event or giving informative lectures or seminars before the awards ceremony.
The Above Are Award Ceremony Ideas to Consider
For a successful award ceremony, you must plan it well in order to create a thrilling and astounding experience for the attendees. This award ceremony ideas will help you accomplish that. Whether you're planning an event or just looking for live music, we have you covered at Bands for Hire. Contact us today for more information.
An awards ceremony is rewarding for everyone, especially the winners, which is why you should do everything you can to make it successful. It also sets precedent for future events, so people can look forward to them.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dean Odell is a professional Magician, Mind-Reader and Event Host
I help create unforgettable moments by providing unique entertainment with incredible magic & as a Magical Event Host
If you’d like to find out more about booking him for your next event head to: https://www.deanodell.co.uk/contact