Some people dread going to organization gatherings. The participants may be stuck in meeting rooms all day, forced to mingle and network with people they don't know, or perhaps don't care to know, or listen to the same speech that has been given for the past 5 years.

How can you make your next sales retreat, association meeting or company function a time for your guest to favorably remember? One answer is to make it unique, fun and exciting with outstanding forms of entertainment!

Many event planners are concerned about hiring entertainment for their functions. They worry that the material covered by the comedian will not be corporate friendly, the magician will be pulling quarters from behind the guests ears and making bad jokes, or the juggler who claims that their flame throwing baton act is completely safe, really isn't. This may be due to a previous experience with an unprofessional performer or a horror story from a colleague.

However, it is important to keep in mind that the right entertainment can add tremendous value to your event and make it a fun, memorable positive function. It can get your group involved working together as a cohesive team; it can get them laughing and feeling good about your event. And possibly more important, providing entertainment for your guests can also help you relay your events message to your group.

When creating a positive event with entertainment, it is important to remember the following:

	The entertainment should be corporate friendly. The performance should be clean and free of inappropriate comments.
	Your guests should not be humiliated in any way, shape or form.
	The act should have good intent. Getting your audience laughing together is a wonderful thing, but the laughter should not be at the expense of other's.
	The entertainment you hire should be novel and creative. No one wants to see the same thing they have seen before! You want to bring your audience something that is new, something to hold their interest.

Keeping these four things in mind, you can make your next event a memorable function that not only succeeds in entertaining your audience, but if you decide, can also support your events message and objectives! A great return on your investment!