Month: November 2015

It’s the event organisers worst nightmare – the one question that makes them wake up in a cold sweat in the days leading up to the event. What if nobody turns up?

There’s not much you can do about last-minute illness and childcare problems, but luckily, there are lots of things you can do to boost attendance at your next amazing event. So, if you’ve got an incredible event tent and you need people to fill it, follow these 10 handy tips:

1. Make sure your event has a unique ‘hook’. You need something that will pique guests’ curiosity so much that they will turn up just to satisfy it. This could be a weird and wonderful venue, such as a giant outdoor marquee in an unusual site, or a secret mystery guest (drop loads of hints though so they can start to speculate who it is).

 

2. Lay on transport. It may put a bit of strain on the budget, but making it easy and indeed fun (how about organising a double-decker London bus for your guests?) to get to the venue makes it more likely they’ll come along.

 

3. Keep interest levels high. Post regular updates through your social media channels to keep energy and excitement levels high, and nudge guests into reaffirming their RSVP – this will remind them that they’ve agreed to go.

 

4. Give away freebies. It may be a cheap trick, but you’ll be amazed how many people will turn up just to sip some free champagne or take home a goody bag.

 

5. Focus your attention on influential, high profile guests. If an industry leader, celebrity or other high-profile guests is 100% definitely confirmed, everyone else will follow.

 

6. Consider charging for tickets. You might think that a free event will attract the most guests, but more people may actually come to an event where they’ve paid for a ticket in advance. This is because there is nothing to lose by backing out of an invite for a free event, and people can simply change their mind on the day. Consider a small ticket fee and make sure you’re offering as much value as possible to guests attending the event.

 

7. Collaborate. Working with another high-profile partner can work wonders at boosting numbers on your guest list, helping you look beyond your own customers and natural audience to bring in new markets.

 

8. Invite far more people than you can fit in your venue. Unless you’ve got a vast event tent with loads of room, you might think this is a risky strategy, because what if everyone turns up and you’re over capacity? This is very unlikely to happen – in fact, you’ll actually find that you’ll lose around 50% of your guest list as the event approaches.

 

9. Sell the event as a crucial networking opportunity. Make the event appear unmissable, selling it as a once in a lifetime chance to meet and mingle with all the movers and shakers in a particular industry.

It’s that time of year again – the UK Festival Awards, and Amazing Tents is super excited to be heading to the ceremony in London on 26^th November. There isn’t a ‘best stage cover’ or ‘best event tent’ prize at the UK Festival Awards 2015 (although we’re quietly confident of success if there was) – so why are we going?

The answer is simple – our world-renowned SaddleSpan tents have been spotted at pretty much all of the UK’s major festivals and music events, including many of those featured in this year’s shortlist.

For example, our SaddleSpan S5000 Concert tent, the ideal stage cover due to its precision-designed shape and structure, was a central feature at Leopallooza in Cornwall, which scooped the Grass Roots Festival prize in 2014’s awards. Amazing Tents also popped up tents at Latitude, which had the best line-up in 2013 and is up for Best Medium Sized Festival in 2015.

We’re deeply and passionately involved in the UK festival scene, and the 12^th annual UK Festival Awards are a great way to celebrate the achievements of all involved in putting together our country’s very best events.

Congrats to Creamfields and Download for a huge 9 nominations between them

Some festivals are heavily featured in the shortlists every year, and two that consistently perform well are Download and Creamfields. While radically different, both are nominated for Best Major Festival, Best Toilets and Best Hospitality in this year’s award, with an impressive 9 nominations between them.

Rock festival Download, which Amazing Tents has worked closely with in the past, has a massive nominations in total, after enjoying success back in 2013 when it was named Best Major Festival. Forward-thinking Download is also up for Best Use of New Technology, due to its use of RFID Cashless Dog Tags.

Our work with previous winners Creamfields

Meanwhile, dance festival Creamfields has its category – Best Dance Festival – pretty much cornered, winning this prestigious award in both 2013 and 2014. The Cheshire event is nominated in this category yet again, along with nominations in 3 other categories including Best Major Festival and Best Toilets.

The Amazing Tents team is quite familiar with this long-running and hugely popular festival, after transforming the hospitality field in August 2014 with our S5000 TriSpan, S5000 Enclosed and S5000 Concert tents to the delight of VIP guests. That’s why we’re chuffed to hear that Creamfields is shortlisted for a brand new award – Best Hospitality, sponsored by Snoozebox. After having worked wonders in the hospitality area of this particular festival before, we can confidently state that Creamfields excels in this area and has a very good chance of scooping the prize.

Best of luck to all of the fabulous UK festivals shortlisted for this year’s event. We’re sure to see lots of familiar faces at the official ceremony at London’s Roundhouse on November 26^th, and we absolutely can’t wait to celebrate the continuing success of the incredible UK festival scene with you all!