What does your event actually need?

A seated audience, a long evening, and a fundraising ask to land somewhere in the middle of it. Whatever you book has to hold a room mid-meal and warm it up before the moment you need people to give.

Mixed seniority in one room and a programme that runs content-heavy, so the entertainment has to lift the energy without cutting across the message. Brief whoever you book on the company's current mood — the gap between a good set and a great one is almost always research.

Delegates arrive already saturated, and every session is competing for the same tired attention. Entertainment earns its place at the sag points — straight after lunch, or as a closing act people actually stay for.

Money spent on entertainment has to justify itself against the cause. The acts that earn their fee here are the ones that make guests stay longer and give more — not the ones that simply fill a slot.

Everyone is already in a good mood and nobody wants a formal programme. Keep it loose and keep it short — the entertainment is there to start the night, not to run it.

The audience runs from toddlers to grandparents and the day changes gear several times — arrival, meal, evening. Most couples end up booking two things rather than one, and the acts that work are the ones who can read a family room.

A crowd who mostly know each other, which makes anything participatory land far better than it would with strangers. Space is usually the real constraint here, not budget.

The running order is the real challenge: a long list of categories that can lose a room fast. A genuinely good host is worth more to this event than a headline act.

A short window and one specific message to land. Entertainment should pull people in and hand over cleanly to the thing you are actually launching, rather than competing with it.

Attention spans are shorter and there is no room energy to feed off, so anything you book has to work straight down a lens. Shorter sets, more interaction, and test the tech properly the day before.

An audience that drifts past rather than sits down, usually outdoors and often across a whole day. Roaming and repeatable sets beat one long headline slot almost every time.

Members who know each other well and a programme with real business to get through. Anything that nods to the shared world of the room will outperform generic material by a wide margin.

Tell us about your event and performers will come to you with their fees.

Tell us about your event and performers will come to you with their fees.

Tell us about your event and performers will come to you with their fees.

Tell us about your event and performers will come to you with their fees.

Tell us about your event and performers will come to you with their fees.

Tell us about your event and performers will come to you with their fees.

Not everything fits a category, and plenty of the best events do not. Describe what you are planning and how the room will be set up, and you will get sensible suggestions back.

Tell us about your event and performers will come to you with their fees.

Tell us about your event and performers will come to you with their fees.

Tell us about your event and performers will come to you with their fees.

Tell us about your event and performers will come to you with their fees.