Corporate entertainment pricing in New York City

Something interesting happened recently. I received an inquiry from somebody who was pulling together office party ideas in NYC for an upcoming function, and I was immediately excited – not only was the company an extremely prestigious multinational professional firm whom I have not yet had the opportunity to work with, but they were specifically looking for a live trivia event, which is what my event production company, TrivWorks, specializes exclusively in. Awesome!

I listened attentively to what the prospective client was seeking, all the while growing more and more thrilled: they wanted a highly experienced, professional trivia host (check!), customized trivia questions (check!), and the ability to adapt the overall format to their specific needs (check!). The event would be for 200 partners & associates of the firm, so there also needed to be a dedicated grading staff (which we always provide) and a proven background in corporate events (big, giant, enormous check – this is literally all we do…!) Oh, and one more thing – this event was being planned last-minute for some reason, so it had to be pulled together FAST (which we also do).

I explained our offerings, and was greeted with an enthusiastic response, bordering on relief (“This is JUST what we’re looking for!”). When it came to the point of the conversation to discuss budget, however, well… that’s when things got – interesting.

I started TrivWorks in direct response to the global financial crisis in 2009, and remain fully committed to working within each client’s budgetary limits to create the most fun & enjoyable experience I possibly can. An expanded service menu allows me to provide a diverse range of offerings and experiences, and in keeping in line with industry standard, there are several key factors which ultimately affect my pricing – primarily the number of attendees, duration of event, level of customization, and whether the client wishes to utilize a celebrity or “Special Host,” each of whom has their own separate appearance fees on top of what I charge.

Typically I will ask an inquiring person to give me a budget range – even if rough – so that I can then develop several tiered service packages for them to review, which are appropriate to what he/she is looking to allocate. I truly want my clients to have the most enjoyable and memorable experience I can give within their spend, and will bend over backwards to make it work for them. For this particular person on the phone with me, however, they didn’t know what that number was – only that they definitely wanted trivia, and what I had to offer sounded great.

When told the inquirer some preliminary numbers, however, the response was one of shock. “But that’s SO expensive…!” was the exasperated reply.

I have to admit, I was confused – not surprised, but confused. This person was in charge of planning events for the firm’s Manhattan office (which, after looking up afterwards, I learned had made $1.3 BILLION in profit last year). What puzzled me about the response was that the numbers I had mentioned were, well…they were actually quite reasonable. I know what other entertainment and team building companies in Manhattan with similar offerings (scavenger hunts, Escape The Room, team cooking classes etc.) charge for their services, and my fees are in fact exceedingly sensible – way lower, even – by comparison. I’d even taken into account the event was last-minute, and would treat this as an “introductory rate” scenario in order to convert them into a long-term loyal client.

They agreed to receive a proposal, which I promptly sent over – however, I got the news the following week that they were, in fact, going in another direction. The one and only reason? Pricing. When I asked who they had hired and how much they were charging, well – THAT’S when I was surprised.

They had hired a bar trivia company with virtually no company event experience, who charged them…$1,000. For a 2-hour event. For 200 people.

Now, I’m certainly not the cheapest option out there for what I do – far from it. But how much are these folks  ultimately spending? Well, $1,000 divided by 200 people, that works out to: $5 per person. And not just any people, mind you – these are the EQUITY PARTNERS and associates of a prestigious firm!

What’s that old line about getting what you pay for? I can’t speak to the type of experience this group will have with the vendor they chose, however…$5 per person? Seriously? What can you expect to get for $5 bucks? What does someone who charges $5 say about themselves? About their level of experience, or competence, or professionalism? Would you really trust a $5 person in front of a room full of your bosses?

You may be reading this, and saying… “Well…yeah.” And you know what? That’s perfectly fine – not everybody’s looking for a high-caliber experience every time. Sometimes the budget just is what it is, and you have to go with the cheapest option; in this case, the planner was actually seeking something extremely informal, and having a pub quiz host from down the street run a little trivia show, rather than my more professional option, worked out fine for them. I can’t fault them for that.

However, the bigger question is: how much SHOULD this stuff cost?

Again, you get what you pay for. In my industry – in fact, ANY industry – there will always be those who are willing to charge next to nothing for what is perceived to be a similar service. But we all know in our guts that when you try to do something on the cheap, it rarely works out well in the end. What type of experience are you looking to deliver? How important is the audience, or the event itself? What is the purpose of the function, and what do we want attendees to say about it afterwards?

These are all questions only the planner can answer, a job made even more challenging when there are no budgetary guidelines given, and limited understanding of how much stuff is “supposed to cost.” If you’re in this bind, I suggest shopping around a bit – you’ll quickly get a sense of how much you’ll generally spend for certain services, and then hopefully be able to make an informed decision based on a multitude of factors – price being but one among them.

For more articles on the subject of NYC entertainment vendor pricing, I recommend clicking here.