Planning an award ceremony is not a straightforward feat. It calls for precision, creativity, and attention to detail. While you could easily follow a general flow chart of award ceremonies created by someone else, it’s much more rewarding when you are able to develop the show from its inception all the way to execution. Here’s how to plan an award ceremony the right way.
Pick Your Venue Carefully
Unless you’re specifically picking an outdoor venue for some reason – the weather looks fine; for instance, try to pick something indoors, so the sound doesn’t get carried away by the wind.
Take a hotel, for example. There are plenty of good reasons to host the event at a hotel. Most people are familiar with hotels and feel comfortable there. The most important advantage: bookings at hotels are easier because they’re easy-to-use templates that save time, money, and effort.
Audiovisual
Another important part of an award ceremony is the audiovisual setup. It is critical to select a good sound system and projection screen that will be able to project images clearly, without any distortions. You might also want to consider an LED display or HDTVs because of their versatility.
The most efficient way to do all this is by hiring a company that offers turnkey series. As the folks at ontourevents.co.uk explain, a turnkey series option is when one company handles lighting, staging, audiovisual, et. This way, you only have to deal with one company and not have to keep track of several.
Seating
If you’re planning a large ceremony, you should definitely try to make sure that your guests will be comfortable. Make sure everyone has a seat and not just standing around for the entire duration of your award ceremony!
On the other hand, if you’ve got enough money to spend on this kind of thing, there are lots of options to choose from.
Ballroom-style banquet seating is usually only good for large banquets or receptions.
Theatre boxes are a great option when money’s no object! They allow a clear view of the stage from far away while still providing protection and privacy. However, they can be really expensive to rent for one day and may not be worth the cost unless your ceremony itself is going to last more than an hour. You should only take this route if you’ve got someone important attending. If possible, look for venues with theatre boxes already built-in; it’ll save you some time and effort!
Alphabetical seating is a great way to go if you’ve got a large number of tables and don’t want double-ups. Just tell your attendees what order they need to be seated beforehand!
Date Of Event
If you’re planning on having an award show, make sure to tell all of the people receiving awards when it will take place, so they have ample opportunity to prepare. The best way would probably be to specify this date as being in a month or two in advance, but it’s up to you ultimately! If you do not give them enough notice, though, don’t be surprised if there is some disappointment about the news; some people may decide not to attend due to being occupied with other things at the time.
Rules For The Ceremony
Once you have decided who your host is going to be, it’s important that you decide on the rules for presenters and nominees.
Generally speaking, there aren’t many rules which are set in stone regarding this; it all comes down to preference! However, there are some rules which should definitely be established prior to the show going live. It is a good idea to tell them if they need to dress formally or casually (but not both).
Also, if they must bring their own script or use one that has been provided by someone else may also have an impact on their performance as well. You may also want to specify whether or not they need to memorize lines or if they’ll be reading from a teleprompter.
If you are looking to plan an award ceremony, be sure to pick your venue and seating options carefully. Be mindful of the date of the event so that it coincides with all other aspects of planning for a successful ceremony. There are many factors involved in staging a successful awards show – from what kind of food is served during the reception or dinner right down to how you seat guests at tables on either side of the stage – but if you take the time upfront to plan wisely, everything will go off without a hitch.
