Douglas Macmillan Hospice Ruby Ball Corporate Entertainment Case Study

Live entertainment can make or break a large corporate event such as a charity fund raiser ball. In 2013 Alive Network had the opportunity to sponsor a fantastic cause and provide a range of live bands and entertainers for the Douglas MacMillan Ruby Ball.

The Douglas MacMillan Hospice is situated in Stoke on Trent. It has been running since 1973 and offers palliative care for the over 16’s. In 2013 alone, they treated around 2500 patients. Their aim is to give every patient the best possible quality of life. Although they initially set up as a cancer care facility they now offer care for a range of life limiting diseases. As well as patient support in the hospice and at home, the charity also offers care for the patient’s family and bereavement services after their loved one dies. The facility is completely funded by donations.

Tailoring corporate entertainment for a successful event

The Dougie Mac flagship fundraising ball was held at Keele Hall in Staffordshire. The entertainment was tailored to suit the layout of the venue and the flow of the evening, so that where ever guests were situated there was always something amazing to keep them entertained. The mix of entertainers gave a kind of feast-for-the-senses experience which the fund raising team hoped would both boost donations and increase interest in the event for subsequent years. As it turned out, a large number of guests commented afterwards on how much better they felt this event was compared to previous years, and the organisers attribute much of this feedback to the live entertainment.

So, how did live entertainment bring this corporate event to life?

On arrival the guests were greeted by costumed stilt walkers on the cobbled courtyard of the venue. Dressed to suit the ‘ruby’ ball theme, the stilt walkers added a visual wow factor and set the tone for the rest of the night. As the guests entered the venue two fantastic fire artists performed a mix of fire breathing and fire poi. The fire artists looked stunning against the October night sky, adding an air of excitement for what the evening would hold.

For the drinks reception and meal our very talented pianist Gary Davies performed jazz and classical background music. Although it’s often not a point of focus for guests, background music is a wonderful way to enhance the atmosphere at your event and has a tendency to be ‘felt’ rather than intruding too much.

Chilled champagne was served by two fantastic living tables, which are essentially a performer in costume, sometimes illuminated, who have had a large table built in to the middle of their dress! They look amazing and make picking up a glass of champagne an exciting talking point for guests.

Walk-about mix and mingle entertainment was provided by the costumed stilt walkers and also by one of our top close-up magicians, David Penn. David is one of the most talented and sort after close up magicians in the UK and as usual, he went down a storm at this event. Guests were blown away by his tricks and he caused a real buzz throughout the drinks reception and into the meal. A good close-up magician can be a real ice breaker when it comes to getting guests talking and David achieved that in spades.

In a separate upstairs space within the hall we provided a mobile casino where guests could play roulette and black jack to win prizes. This was accompanied by live music from one of our high quality Rat Pack crooners Russell Shaun and his big band. This room had quieter, sophisticated and glitzy feel, with a few guests commenting that it felt like you could have been in Vegas!

Having two function rooms operational during a corporate event is fantastic if you have the space, as it enables you to provide a little more variety. In this case, for guests who didn’t want to leap around to a party band in the ball room, they could have a quieter dance in a more intimate setting.

Live corporate event function bands from Alive Network

Live music is where Alive Network comes into its own and we have an amazing range of live corporate event bands to choose from. In the main ball room our fantastic rock and pop function band Live Wires played two fun filled sets that kept the audience dancing into the night.

Live Wires are 4 young guys with a high energy show who cover a range of rock, pop and chart music from the 1960’s to present day. They are local to the Staffordshire area and so familiar with the charity, and only too keen to support the cause. They’ve performed a many high profile corporate events and can tailor their performance to suit the occasion and the audience with ease. They had the dance floor from start to finish - and guests didn’t stop talking about how brilliant they were.

The importance of a really great headline band at your corporate event

As Marc states in the video, live music is always an important addition to any corporate event party, but none more so than the headline band. Background acts and walkabout entertainers are great and have a role to play in the success of an event, but whereas each guest may only come into contact with a magician or fire performer for two to three minutes, the headline band are on stage for more like two hours, and so will form a significant part of your guests experience and memory of the event. For this reason, it’s worth investing in a brilliant band that will do the job really well.

Summing up…

The idea of a charity ball is to make money for the worthy cause. The general feedback from the organisers of this event was that having top quality corporate entertainment sponsored by Alive Network greatly enhanced the event, and that as a result guests donated more money than usual. In fact, the charity made double the amount of money than the year before and they also sold 10 full tables for the following years’ event!

If you are looking to turn your next corporate event into something a bit special and would like some fantastic corporate entertainment ideas that will keep people buying tickets year after year, then please call Alive Network or contact us through our website.