The Talent Pool

NationallySpeaking.com works differently than traditional talent agencies. Zelinsky helps vet entertainers for clients and makes suggestions to fit the client’s needs. She urges event planners to personally interview all of the entertainers she suggests and when they’ve chosen one, she notifies the entertainer. The client and the entertainer work out a contract and schedule together. Zelinsky is not involved in the contract; her company is paid a commission by the entertainer.

Is it cheaper to go directly to the entertainer and skip the agent? Marsh Edelstein, owner of Marsh Edelstein & Associates, Inc., an entertainment agency located in St. Louis Park, cautions that entertainers aren’t necessarily businesspeople and that they hire an agent specifically so they won’t have to deal with business negotiations. “If they deal with a great agent, they don’t have to deal with the band,” Edelstein says. This frees up the entertainers to concentrate on what they do best. Edelstein’s company represents the variety band R Factor, along with strolling violin players, caricaturists, hypnotists, and masters of ceremonies.

Before contacting a talent expert, you should know the date, venue, budget, audience demographic, and number of attendees for your event. From there, the talent expert may ask about the event theme or special requirements, such as incorporating the company’s name into the act. Then the talent expert will try to match entertainers with the client’s theme and event objectives. After checking the entertainer’s availability, the talent expert will come back to the client with a proposal that includes two or three choices for the client.

To help an event planner make entertainment choices, Steck says he likes to know the past three to five years of entertainment that his client companies have had for a particular event. “I want to complement what’s been done in the past, and help them make smart decisions in what they are going to be producing this year and the next three to five years as well,” he says. For instance, if an event planner wants to have Jay Leno perform at an incentive trip for top salespeople, Steck says that the planner should be prepared to book another national entertainer the following year. That way, he says, “the next year’s group doesn’t say, ‘Where’s our Jay Leno?’”

Edelstein says he often steers clients toward choosing a variety band that can play all types of music, from swing and jazz to rock and rhythm and blues. The audience at a business event is likely a diverse group, so you may not want one type of entertainment all night long.

Zelinsky says that because she knows which of her entertainers works best with small groups, large groups, an audience full of managers, or a group of frontline workers, she is able to provide planners with targeted options. Once she makes a recommendation for an entertainer or a speaker, she gives the event planner video clips to view and puts the planner in touch with the entertainer directly so they can arrange conference calls to go over details of the event.

Talent experts provide a range of logistical assistance, so be sure to find out which details they will or will not handle. “We get involved with the [talent’s] ground transportation, air transportation, their hotel room, and air freight for musical instruments or gear we need to bring,” Steck says.

He can work with a lighting director, sound engineer, road manager, production manager, video crew, stagehands, venue staff, and decor and floral companies to ensure that all the details—from making sure the talent’s gear is set up on stage, to scheduling set-up times at the venue—are in place. Spotlight Entertainment has worked with event planners to book stars such as Tony Bennett, Dennis DeYoung (the singer and songwriter for Styx), and Glenn Frey (one of the founding members of The Eagles) to Minnesota and other locations.

To secure entertainment, planners should contact their talent expert six to 12 months before the event, although it may be possible to find entertainment in less time. “The shorter time you have [to book an entertainer], the less selection you get,” Edelstein says. He also notes that the more detailed information he and the event planner can get down on paper, the more likely the event will go smoothly.