Dinner and Dance by event planners in Singapore has been an annual event that all employees look forward to every year, for the past twenty years. This form of ‘employee benefit’ that also allows the company to appreciate their staff for a year of hard work and achievements, at the same time giving all employees a chance to let their hair down, dress to the nines, dine and drink with their colleagues and families.
However, for the past twenty years, the dinner and dance concept hasn’t really gone through any form of evolution. Even the programming and sequence has been the same every year. This predictability has stagnated the experience of the employees during these events.
The Covid19 pandemic outbreak and circuit breaker measures by the Singapore government have put an abrupt stop to these events being held, most possibly till 2021.
As Tembusu event planners in Singapore, we have put our brains together to give our Dinner and Dances a big reboot, in view of creating new experiences amidst the challenging social and economic climate.
1. Virtual event planners in Singapore
- Many event companies have already done some events where everyone is at home, including the Emcee, performers and even the event coordinators. While we may be late to the game, we are not jumping in as we want to create events that are better coordinated and professionally executed. Thus we believe that there must still be a ‘main stage’, a studio where we can put all our event planners professionals together and run a web broadcast professionally and seamlessly. We are now waiting patiently for the circuit breaker measures to be lifted and to allow us to run these virtual events professionally at the studios.
- The ‘main stage’ will amount to nothing if the audience are not ready to participate in the virtual event. It is thus imperative that all members of the audience are able to receive a ‘Welcome Pack’ which comprises instructions and even equipment to enhance their experience while they are ‘attending’ the virtual event.
- Engagement is always an important element in any event. We have been cracking our heads as we truly believe in the need for face to face engagement, immediate reactions from the audience without the dreaded internet latency and lag that can be felt by everyone. No matter how we leverage on technology, this may not be possible anymore. We are now thinking about a series of engagement segments/activities that will allow the audience to remain captivated throughout the duration of the event, such as a game show format, requiring the audience to band together in small groups in order to solve puzzles and win prizes!
- With everyone at home, island-wide homes delivery services have taken off at an amazing pace! We have been working with various partners to be able to deliver welcome packs, door gifts, and even dinner bento boxes and lucky draw prizes to audiences up to 500 pax, within a reasonable time period. This will bridge the gap of having very little reality touchpoints when everything is almost virtual.
2. Evolving Dinner and Dance Events for the new normal
Eventually when we are all allowed to attend social events, social distancing will still be the main dish on the table for event organisers. At the same time, we think that this is also a good opportunity to give the programme format for the dinners a big reboot!
- Many companies will likely work on a 50% Work from Home and 50% back in office rotation work basis for the rest of the year. If social events within a company are allowed to return, we event planners in Signapore think that there will be a need to hold two sessions of dinner and dance so that the two ‘halves’ of the company do not physically meet. Tembusu has done many of these two-session dinners for large corporations and organisations that run two shifts due to the nature of their business. The two-session does not need to be similar and can be of different themes with unique entertainment options.
- The programme format for the dinner has always been: Pre-Dinner Activities -> Formal Segments (Speeches/Awards) -> Dinner -> Fun and Games -> Lucky Draw -> Home. We are now looking into changing this in order to reap the following benefits:
- A longer session for fringe activities in order to allow more guests to enjoy them, instead of missing out on the activities which usually ends within an hour.
- A dinner arrangement and menu which allows for a hybrid of sit down dinner courses and buffet lines to encourage more movement and cohesion amongst the guests.
- An ‘after-dinner’ segment dedicated towards stage entertainment and a transition towards the ‘dance’ component of the event, with drinks and dessert bars in full operation. This will allow more flexibility in creating the ambiance required to amplify the entertainment value of the stage performances and for the audience to better appreciate and enjoy the performance.
We are looking forward to be able to put all the concepts and ideas we have for this reboot into actual plans and execute them for our clients. To know more about how we can be part of this ‘new normal’ journey, contact us now!