Planning an Efficient Schedule
Award ceremonies like this are known to run long, which is more acceptable when there's good, relevant content filling up that time. That was often not the case at last night's ceremony.
Several film montages about animated features and movie heroes were aired throughout the night, which were nice but didn't really contribute anything to the show. Bette Midler performed immediately after the "In Memoriam" tribute rather than during, which not only took up unnecessary time but took away from what could have been an even more touching tribute. Host Ellen DeGeneres kept the show moving pretty well, but some of the skits, like the selfies with celebrities, went on longer than they needed to and only added to the show's run time.
The one thing last night's show did very well was not cutting off acceptance speeches early, which happens frequently at these shows. The event is an awards ceremony, so the honorees should always get priority over filler content. As an event planner you have to find the right balance between the required content at your event and the extra entertainment. Guests will be bored if they have to sit there for hours without entertainment, but if the entertainment makes the event run long they won't be happy with that either. Detailed scheduling and rehearsals can help you find the right balance.
Feeding Guests at Lengthy Events
Several film montages about animated features and movie heroes were aired throughout the night, which were nice but didn't really contribute anything to the show. Bette Midler performed immediately after the "In Memoriam" tribute rather than during, which not only took up unnecessary time but took away from what could have been an even more touching tribute. Host Ellen DeGeneres kept the show moving pretty well, but some of the skits, like the selfies with celebrities, went on longer than they needed to and only added to the show's run time.
The one thing last night's show did very well was not cutting off acceptance speeches early, which happens frequently at these shows. The event is an awards ceremony, so the honorees should always get priority over filler content. As an event planner you have to find the right balance between the required content at your event and the extra entertainment. Guests will be bored if they have to sit there for hours without entertainment, but if the entertainment makes the event run long they won't be happy with that either. Detailed scheduling and rehearsals can help you find the right balance.
Feeding Guests at Lengthy Events
Unlike similar Hollywood ceremonies where attendees get a full dinner during the show, Oscar attendees have to sit through a 3+ hour ceremony with rumbling stomachs. Sure, they'll get plenty of food at the Governor's Ball immediately following the event, but during the event they're left hungry. Throughout the course of last night's show, DeGeneres made a point to continuously ask guests if they were hungry until she eventually brought out several pizzas and served them up to appreciative guests in the audience.
While it's by no means a requirement to serve food at every event, when you're hosting an event this long event attendees will be more understanding about it when their stomachs are happy. Serving hot apps while guests are entering is a great solution at an event that this because it will be enough to hold them over until they get a real meal after the event. It's best not to serve them during the show so that they aren't distracted and don't get unexpectedly caught on camera chowing down.
Making Sure Presenters are Prepared
While it's by no means a requirement to serve food at every event, when you're hosting an event this long event attendees will be more understanding about it when their stomachs are happy. Serving hot apps while guests are entering is a great solution at an event that this because it will be enough to hold them over until they get a real meal after the event. It's best not to serve them during the show so that they aren't distracted and don't get unexpectedly caught on camera chowing down.
Making Sure Presenters are Prepared
One of the most important things to do when you have several presenters at an event is to make sure they rehearse. Doing that will help prevent embarrassing blunders such as John Travolta's horrible pronunciation of Idina Menzel's name (who is Adele Dazeem?), or Bill Murray incorrectly stressing that he was presenting "the 2013" award for cinematography. While going through rehearsals, it will be obvious if guests need help with pronunciations or if the teleprompter timing needs to be adjusted. If a presenter can't make it to the rehearsal, make sure they get the script in advance and ask them if there is anything they need help with. Of course, you can't expect that even the most rehearsed presenters won't get nervous and make a mistake, but planning in advance will help prevent blatant errors.
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