Special Effects: Are they really special?

By Gloria Nelson, CSEP

The incorporation of special effects can be very dynamic, but are planners reluctant to use them because they perceive them to siphon off too much of the investment allocation?  One of my personal favorites are FlutterFetti wands that are tubes filled with tissue or mylar confetti and start as inexpensively as about $1.00 ea.  These are GREAT for themed events that have moments of involving the attendees, whether it's to honor someone's achievements, a company's goal that's been hit....a myriad of reasons.   Special effects can be very simple or as sophisticated and "high tech" as what you'd see on Broadway, at a rock concert road show or at the Academy Awards.

What are some of the basics?

• Balloon Drops/Walls (Walls are exceptional in tandem with some type of reveal.)
• Confetti/Streamers  (Strategic time and placement is imperative and they can be self-launched through the purchase of a system, or integrated through your production company.)
• Dry Ice or Chemical Fog (This infuses either a stage or even areas where foods are served giving the environment an ethereal feel.)
• Pyrotechnics (For both indoor and outdoor use and includes anything as simple as a flash pot box or a gerb to categorized "shells", but always use caution and work only with insured and licensed tried and true suppliers.)
• Flying  (This has nothing to do with planes, but everything to do with bringing in an object or a person from the air.  This is not to be confused with the term "flying" when suspending speakers from trussing or rigging points.)

Why use special effects?  They add drama and create emotional impact.  Within the realm of the "experience economy" and a definite part of today's marketing mix, this is becoming more and more the norm in our worlds of edutainment and infotainment.  When used properly, they'll bring your event or meeting "over the top" without taking your investment allocation down the stewardship drain.

Special effects should be used:

• To support the goals and objectives of your program.  They should be seriously considered and evaluated based upon ROI during the design/planning phase of your project.
• They should have a dramatic effect and be used at what David Spear, CSEP would say in his world of pyro, "poignant moments" to create an emphasis within your program.
• Integration in appropriate proportion to the overall event mix.  In other words, have a balance in the program, but think of how effects support the entire design and marketing commuinications message concept(s).

What do you want to watch out for in the process?

• Use caution when sending out RFP's.  Don't be stingy with information as the more you share in collaboration with your potential strategic partners who handle these aspects of your event and are open for their feedback of how to make your program better, you and your ultimate "end user" will gain the greatest benefit and accolades.
• Make sure all your suppliers are appropriately licensed and insured.  Note that if you want proof of insurance with an insurance certificate, which is appropriate, this will advise you along the way between contract and deposit to the date of event if the status of the insured changes.  However, if you wish to be added as an additional "insured", this could result in additional fees dependent upon the rating and escalated risk and this cost will be passed along to the end user.
• Be cautious with quotes or proposals that come back imbalanced in comparison to others.  These items should raise red flags if their "overloading" you with their "stuff".   It is within the norm, however, to have a strategic partner put together their proposal and also offer "additional options" you may wish to consider if your investment allocation permits, that make sense within your event or program.

Please feel free to share some of your treasure trove and challenge cups here in what you've incorporated, what worked, didn't work and why so we can experience the benefits from peer-to-peer sharing!

Comments

[Joan Eisenstodt]

Great helps, Gloria - things that tho' I've been around a long time (!) it's nice to see as reminders of what can be done simply. I appreciate your putting in the "why" of doing so - it's a good way for planner (and suppliers) to explain it - not just "well, it will make it splashy" - we need more to justify any expenses these days. Thanks for being a guru and this week in print!

[Sandy Biback]

Wow, Gloria, great resource information, and all in one place! Thank you

[Kelly Rush]

Gloria,
I'd love to talk more about this really. I suppose the first question that comes to mind is "how do you show the return?" If we have to justify the expense in terms of impact, how does one begin to do so? Are we using purely anecdotal information? Is it really possible to do so? How do we take into account the state of the audience "at the moment"?

[Gloria Nelson, CSEP]

Kelly, I'm going to reply to your email that you sent directly as well offline, but also want to commend you on your poignant question that needs answering, especially in today's world of SOX. One of the programs that I like to deliver is titled, "ROI and ROE on Intangibles: How do we measure the fun factor?" It is indeed possible to measure the return, but this needs to be approached in a numeric and also intrinsic or innate valuation as well. Examples: Employee Recognition Dinner Could we tie in a meaurment tool with retention or lack of turn over as a result of the event and cost savings in rentention? This would take the researching of pre-event to present or starting from a "scracth" proposition; performance measurement in other areas of rewarding people like we used to do years ago for "wellness bonuses". We didnt' encouage folks to come to work sick, but to keep themselves healthy and paid them 50% of what was allowable in the form of cash if they didn't use their days and came in healthy vs. sick. What about "water cooler" buzz on how an event impacts people, especially morale? It costs so much to train new hires so retention could be one facet from an HR valuation; marketing communication message retention....some items integrated into a program may have a "mid term", or 60 day out measurement tool that could be used in the delivery of a general session to see how much is retained. It has been proven that when this type of multi-sensory presentation takes place, retention is higher...test the waters and not only provide the drama if affordable and appropraite, but incorproate audience response to see how much "sticks". Grade the retention again down the road.

A dear friend did an award winning program and it was the integration of a "Monster Garage" sort of corporate theater set with Grinders to push and brand the import of achieving their third and final year stretch of hefty goals. What they did was rig one of the own trucks with jet engines and took one of the "trades in cabs' from a competitor and at the conclusion of the closing session, the only female officer in a primarily dominated male company drove the truck into the convention center jumps out and heads to the lectern. Wild applause broke out. Pretaping had been done, but to the attendee, it all looked like "live feed" from the outside. Long story short, they picked up an 18-week truck cab, fired up the jet engines on the back of their truck and "burned the competition" at this female C-Level officers command! The place went crazy!!!! Now...this wouldn't work for every client, but those attendees were so "revved up" when they left that sales meeting that the numbers of their sales were staggering. The investment paid off immediately and they will mark the progress and "propel their team" to the finish line.

With events it's far more challenging to look at how to "measure" the line item, but it can be done.

The same can be said in the noprofit sector. If you had the zazz and do it with good stewardship, you may not see the increase in numbers of attendees, but an increase in the number of those who became "engaged in the bidding process in comparison to years past and then how that corrolates to the net profit or total dollar raised in silent and/or live auctions.

Another means of building concensus that we use regularly is the interactive entertainers to obtain "live up to the moment" information onsite on how they are perceived with the guests and their level of enjoyment of the overall composition of the event. While attendees are dining and the green room is filled with talent and staff, that's a great time to take a barometric reading of your event while it is in midstream and "download" that feedback from all who are actually working the event and either asking in an informal way if guests are enjoy certain aspects, or politely easedropping and being a visual voyeur of hte pleasure people have captured on their faces. Professional photography can also commemorate and document as well, AND serve double duty with follow-up eblast, newsletters, etc. that tie in with the brand, message or product or event itself.

Don't forget to also evaluate the process from planning through post-event evaluation. Anyone who has heard Hugh Lee speak on ROI as it relates to meetings, has seen the "back of the site" tools utilized to grade the process effectively and change gears if needed....so there are many ways to measure the effectiveness before, during and after. Look for Michele Weirzgac, CMM to hit the road as well...she's going to present some powerpacked information for those in the industry to take home and "make it work" so you dazzle your stakeholders with data.

Knowing your audience is key, as it is to everything. If you were to do an anniversary celebration to thank your top clients (this was actually my CSEP exam essay question) and you could invite 1000 people and do a simultaneous product launch, how many customers would you invite vs. top level management and what about former company officers along with the most valued supplier partners? How would you handle a simultaneous product launch and would branding be an effective means of meausuring "awareness" as it was subliminaly imposed in as many places as possible without looking like the bad side of a bus that had an ad with 15 layers of grafitti over it? I mean no slanderous statement with the latter, but I am attempting to draw a visual picture.

One of THE coolest and least expensive means of recognition is to get upper management into what I'd call a military arch formation. Give them all FlutterFetti wands and have the stage call for the honoree to come forward through the arch and have the go from 9-12 in the flick of a wrist and it makes the front and center festive and memorable. If it's a company wide celebration, you can do it on a one, two, three count and have every join in on the fun.

If a sales meeting were taking place and new products were being debuted....wouldn't it be poignant (as David Spear, CSEP would say) to have those three heavy duty bulleted models spelled out verbally with moving from stage left to right or vice versa with a gerb firing with each three dramatic new styles launched to "emphasize" the names? Bet they wouldn't be forgotten by the staff or the media present!

Those are just random immediate thoughts, but I think it would be great to hear others chime in on how they've used effects and how they measured the ROI quantitatively as well as qualitatively. ~GN

[opal]

this sucks!!!

[Canada Goose Jacket]

a lot of editors have started to understand more about alternate options, they will obtained a little cameras, spend some money to hire nearby residents and individuals across the actors within the facilities