You are planning an event or putting together a party, and you have a speaker or an entertainer planned, but everyone seems to want to sit in the back of the room. Here are some ideas to encourage your guests to sit closer to the front:
1. If it’s theater seating, you can rope off the back rows until the front fills up.
2. If it’s banquet seating, put reserved signs on the tables towards the back of the room until the forward tables are full.
3. Close the back doors so that your guests have to enter towards the front of the room.
4. Put gifts/incentives for the attendees on the seats in the front.
5. Have greeters escort people to their chairs. You can even use a senior person or a featured speaker or entertainer to do this for more impact.
6. Set up less chairs than you will need, and once they fill up, have the rest of the chairs ready to be set up immediately.
7. Have an usher greet everyone by saying, “We have a full room today, please fill in the seats at the front.”
8. In the case of an informational presentation, such as a corporate event or a convention, put power strips for laptop and cell phone charging in the front rows.
9. Make a game of it. Hide the speaker podium behind a screen in what appears to be the “back” of the room. Once everyone is seated, bring the podium out and tell everyone to turn their chairs around so that now the back has become the front. The gasps will be heard for miles, but it will create excitement and energy, which your speaker or entertainment can build upon from the very beginning of their presentation.
10. If you’re having entertainment for your event, have the entertainer start their show by moving people towards the front. I’ve personally done that from behind my piano, sometimes using a flashlight to direct attention to the folks in the back. If the entertainer is good, it can be pretty painless.
11. Make it fun! Hire a fake paparazzi corp that will photograph only those in the seats you want to fill; or, hire impersonators to interact with guests in the front of the room; or, put signs on some of the rows, “For Diva’s Only”, “Pretty People Only”, or something else that is fun and interactive.
12. Tie helium balloons to the chairs on the back rows. People will get worried that they will have to do something with the balloons, and will gravitate towards the chairs without the balloons, the ones up front!
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We can't thank you enough for making Jared's Birthday a hilarious, memorable occasion. Your customized birthday roast was TOP NOTCH!!! Everyone LOVED you guys.
Donna & Jared – Party Hosts
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The Dueling Pianos act on Saturday night went fabulously well! They did a fantastic job of getting the crowd involved and I could not be more pleased from start to finish. JOB WELL...
Tiffany H. – Events Coordinator
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it was AWESOME! we had a BLAST!!! The guys were great and so fun and talented. Thank you for being so professional and reliable.
Kelli CC, Corporate Planner
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Thank you both very much for all of your hard work in making our Carnegie Hall event last week a huge success. It was on of the most most unique, fun holiday parties...
Jessica L. – Event Planner
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Outstanding Job…Everyone had an amazing time…Our party was probably the best we’ve had since we’ve begun. Fun times!
John L, Marketing Specialist
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I am speechless. You guys are no joke. Thanks for rocking out our event at the Filmore Philadelphia. You are an excuse in your own right to throw another event!
Mark M. – Host
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Dozens at the wedding told us personally they were the best wedding entertainment any of them had ever seen! Eddie was great to work with, and he and Debbie and Micah truly rocked...
Andrew R – Groom
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Dan and Gray were absolutely incredible, the best, fun, perfect!!! Dan did a great job of MC'ing the wedding reception and they could play ANYTHING! Best decision ever!
Melissa P. – Mother of Bride
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Chris and Jed were UNREAL!!! I have never hired entertainment that was so good!! Super professional and they knew how to work a crowd better than anyone I've seen.
Justin R. – Event Planner
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You guys absolutely killed it. Never before have I seen so many people on a dance floor for the entire reception. You went above and beyond. You made our reception perfect.
Kennedy S. – Bride
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Everything was FANTASTIC with Frank and Nicky! I can't thank you enough for making this such an amazing wedding reception that we will never forget. Words can't describe how thankful we are
Christina K. – Bride
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Everything was fantastic! Dan, Heather and Chris did a spectacular job. And they accomplished something no other act has ever done - got the crowd willingly involved and up dancing.
Carolyn F – Director of Marketing
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SPECTACULAR. The show really exceeded our expectations. I wasn't sure what to expect as this wasn’t a “piano bar” scenario and I was blown away. We are beyond thrilled with the entire experience.
Crystal S. – Dir of Events
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They were spectacular!!! Everyone loved Debbie and Nate. It truly was an amazing evening. Thank you so much, looking forward to working with you again some day!!
Lisa M. – In house Event Planner
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In one word – FANTASTIC!! Nate and Sam were terrific! The crowd loved them. The interaction between the audience and Nate and Sam was great! Thanks again for the superb talent!
Gary J. – Foundation Director
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They were so amazing! Everyone had a great time. Your guys were so talented, funny and wildly entertaining! All of my team members were so surprised and elated to have them perform for...
Angela G., Corporate Event Organizer
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They were so engaged from young to old, that I am considering to retire as the event planner after your team’s performance- leaving the bar high and at the best selected performance to...
Dana K. – HR Coordinator
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You are wonderful, thank you! Your customer service is unmatched compared to the other vendors out there! Much appreciated!!!
Kristen G. – Guest Experience Manager
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Your boys killed it!!!!!!!!!!!
Gerry G – Party Host
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Everything went great. They are absolutely hilarious and would highly recommend them.
Darren R. – Event Host
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Everything was awesome and your guys did a fantastic job. We will more than likely have you guys back again next year.
Kevin G. – Company Chairman
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Last night was terrific. Steve and Eddie have amazing chemistry and the energy was awesome. It was a great event
Hugh M. – Entertainment Buyer
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Tyler and Josh were fantastic! The team really enjoyed themselves as they began to participate. Please thank Tyler and Josh for a great show!
Kaitlyn B. – Corporate Booker
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Our club had an absolute blast!!! By far our best event in the past year. They were great and really did awesome crowd work. We enjoyed them and WILL book with yall for...
Amanda M.
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The show was great! Everyone was impressed with the performance. I can’t thank you guys enough!
David C.
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For the past 30 years, we have had many different types of entertainment at our banquet... but this was the BEST we have ever had.
Kent L. – Executive Director
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We are hearing everyone raving about how AWESOME you guys were. It was better than I imagined!!!! I truly can’t thank you enough for being so GREAT at what you do.
Becky D. – Event Planner
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Fantastic entertainment! Eddie and his company are top notch professionals. Reliable, professional, and absolutely phenomenal performers. Could not have been better!
Kevin M. – Corporate Event Organizer
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It was the best gala we have had in the 4 years I have been with the Foundation. They helped us to raise some good money for our women’s center. I have had...
Tammy J. – Executive Director
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I just wanted to share that last night was one of the most fun and memorable events we've ever had at the hotel and the performers were the absolute best. I've been flooded...
Alisa C.
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A-MAZING. They were absolutely the stars of my event 🙂 thank you for everything!
Justyce P – Event Organizer for Corporate Event
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THANK YOU! so much. it was an amazing night and the members were overjoyed. I have heard nothing but compliments.
Shannon F. – Events Manager
