The Best Events Team
Beyond Media Services
Beyond Media Services has been organising high quality, entertaining commercially successful Awards events for over 15 years.
From the outset, we realised that much of an Awards event is formulaic. Yes, it is a given that a high quality panel of expert industry judges is in place to review a strong number of excellent entries. It is essential that the venue, food, drink and service are top notch. It is a must that the AV/production is slick and professional throughout. And of course, there needs to be a certain number of relevant categories, and a strong depth and range of different finalists.
However, what we quickly identified is that for all Awards events, there is the initial excitement at the beginning of the night, followed by the extreme high for the winners, accompanied by the lows of the unsuccessful majority who become increasingly disconnected as the trophy presentations continue.
So, we decided to make our Awards as interactive and inclusive as possible throughout, with the focus on making the event entertaining for all, for the whole show, fully utilising the AV/production elements that are in place.
The results …
Our philosophy is that if our Awards are fun and highly entertaining, then it will lead to a high level of repeat business, with very satisfied companies spreading the positive word. It does!
Our two main Awards events – Security & Fire Excellence (S&FEA) and eCommerce both now sell-out their venues – Hilton on Park Lane and Marriott Grosvenor Square respectively.
Since we took over both events, the attendance has grown significantly, with eCommerce 2019 recording growth in guest numbers of +19%, and S&FEA an increase in attendance of just under 40%. This has of course led to an increase in sponsorship and of course profit!
Plus, this also translates through to entry levels, as more companies not only want to attend to be entertained, network, socialise and party, but of course want to be recognised in front of a larger, vibrant and respected industry audience. This has manifested in a growth of entries since we took over of up +44% for eCommerce (Paid) and up +92% for S&FEA in 2019.
So how do we do it …
Interactive Opener
Interactive Opener - https://youtu.be/n5FVx1CUd_U
It begins pre the event. We contact all the finalists that have booked a table and invite them to ‘be the stars of the show’ by being part of the event opener. We select a well-known song and encourage them to video their teams singing along, displaying company branding for additional PR. We’re not after an MTV style output, but to give the opportunity for the attendees to have fun, build excitement before the night and of course, so they can cheer along at themselves and their colleagues on the large screens as the final edit plays.
Karaoke Walk-Ups