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Roll out the red carpet

As the nights draw in and summer fades, it signals award season is just around the corner. Many industries host awards ceremonies in the autumn and there is always a buzz in our team when delivering awards events.

Award ceremonies are held to recognise industry achievements and celebrate individuals and teams for going the extra mile, succeeding in something or recognition and appreciation.

Award ceremonies were typically held as an evening event but not anymore. We see many daytime award events that don't lose any of the glitz and glamour, just heartwarming events that relish in recognition. Some awards ceremonies are held as part of a conference, and some delivered as standalone events.

Here’s a rundown of things to consider when organising an awards event:

• Choose the correct format. Is it a big showcase event or a more subtle event? Your staging, lighting, theming, awards programme can then follow and complement this format.

• Find the right venue. Ask us! We have worked with hundreds of tried and tested venues all over the UK and internationally that we can help guide you on what might fit the bill for your location size, budget, and ambience.

• Set the scene – is this a red carpet event? Have you considered a branded media board for photo opportunities? Think about your social media interaction/tags.

• Consider live streaming or filming of the event. What message do you want to portray? When planning and producing media and content it should be driven by your message to the viewing audience. Think about how you want to use content and a good creative team will then take a brief and breathe imagination into it.

• Find the right host or compare to bring the ceremony to life. It doesn't have to be a celebrity - but there are some good ones out there who can really bring an awards ceremony together. Consider an industry guru relevant to your business, someone that will engage the crowd. You might even consider adding audience participation to the brief!
  

• Entertainment – this should be relevant to your event. A daytime, lower key event with a big emphasis on filming and intimate speeches would have different entertainment to a larger scale, evening awards event for hundreds of guests. We have worked with comedians, live music bands to complement a theme and even close up table magicians and illusionists. There are lots of great entertainers out there that can work to a specific brief.
  

• Sponsors – Get sponsors involved that mirror your purpose and objectives. Having the right sponsors onboard can give kudos to a category, overall purpose or CSR initiative, for example.

• The guest list - Think about your guest invite list outside of those nominated. Influencers, industry gurus, partners, anyone from your network you think might be relevant. The event should provide a great opportunity to network and get positive PR and exposure.

One piece of advice is if hosting regular awards ceremonies, switch up the format to keep it fresh. You can still incorporate your trademark elements but also the element of surprise will keep your guests engaged.

We have a short reel here you can watch that highlights awards events and there is also a link to some of the events we have hosted that might inspire some ideas or raise a few questions to the art of the possible – which we are only too happy to answer.