Customer Appreciation Events

If you are the owner of a small or large business, you understand the importance of customers. After all, without these important contacts, you wouldn't have much of a business, right? Therefore, it's important that you take the time to make sure all of your customers feel appreciated from time to time. One of the best ways to do this is by hosting a customer appreciation event.

Customer appreciation events do more than just let your customers know how much you value them. These important events can also be used as powerful marketing tools used to help you obtain new customers or showcase new product and services to existing customers. It also gets your customers into your store or place of business for 3-4 hours. However, before your customer appreciation event will be successful, there are several things you will need to remember.

Plan Ahead - As with any important business event, a customer appreciation event must be planned out properly or else it won't be successful. The last thing you want to do is throw something together in a couple of weeks. This is especially true if you want to host a customer appreciation dinner or a customer appreciation party. Therefore, make sure you give yourself ample amount of time to plan. Many business owners allow six months or more when planning a business event such as this. You will need time to work out all the details including: what kind of event you are going to hold, where to hold the event, how many people to invite, etc.

Build Up the Anticipation - If you want your customer appreciation events to be successful, you have to get your customers excited about attending. Do this by talking about the event with customers, posting flyers, mailing out "Save-the-Date" postcards and follow up by mailing out professional invitations a week or two before the actual event. Offer ways for your customers to earn additional casino "funny Money". Also, consider offering customers who bring guests a discount on their next purchase.

Make It Fun and Enjoyable - More than likely, you've suffered through a boring event before. This is what you want to avoid. Therefore, you need to make sure you give your guests a reason to attend by making it fun. For example, everyone enjoys free food and drinks, as well as, fun casino night entertainment. Another good idea is to give away door prizes at the event, such as free products/services or gift cards to your store.

How to plan a Casino Night Party

This guide will help you to plan a successful Casino Theme Party in ten steps. Download a free Casino Party Planner.

Establish a budget for your casino night

Casino Party Budgets range from $25 to $100 per person, depending on location, food and beverage, and decor. Food will often comprise 40% of the budget, with 40% allocated to the Casino Vendor, and the additional 20% allocated to facility rental, entertainment, prizes, and decorations. These amounts will vary depending on your organization's preferences.

Select the right casino night vendor

This first step is critical to the success of your event. You want to make sure your casino party vendor carries professional looking equipment and not just table toppers (layouts that sit on top of a banquet table). In addition, the vendor should have at least 8 - 10 years of experience and should own their equipment.

There are many newcomers to the industry that just imitate their competitors, and don't have the experience to run a proper event. Qualified casino vendors will be able to give advice on table and prize selection. Some vendors will give a few choices in renting the equipment, such as full service (providing everything, including the dealers), limited service (providing the tables and a Pit Boss and they would train your volunteer dealers), and table rental only.

Date & time selection for your casino night

The date of your event may be determined on the facility and vendor availability. Often this step is planned months in advance, especially if it's a popular time of the year (such as the first two weeks in December). Most casino parties will last for about four hours, with about 3 hours of actual gambling time and the rest for food serving, cashing out at the end of the night and prize giveaways.

Casino night location

The location you select should be easily accessible to your attendees. The facility should also be able to accommodate the casino tables, food and beverage, entertainment and your attendees comfortably. Some facilities, such as hotels, will not allow you to bring in outside food vendors.

Casino table selection

The number of tables you select should be based on the number of attendees expected. Most casino planners expect 65% of guests playing at any given time. The other 35% will be watching, eating, enjoying the entertainment, or socializing. Your casino vendor will be able to make a recommendation on the types of tables needed for your sized event.

Theme Selection - Popular casino night themes

Disco	Western	1920's Gangster
Hawaiian Luau	Hollywood Academy Award	Star Trek
Roman Toga	Harley Biker	Mexican Fiesta
James Bond	Mardi Gras	Casablanca
Gone with the Wind	Star Wars	Wizard of Oz

 

Once you've decided on the theme for your casino party it's time to get creative. Invitations, decorations, costumes, food, party favors, and entertainment should all fit the theme chosen. Even the play money handed out to guests could match the theme of your casino night event.

Food/Beverage selection for a casino night

Most often, the food at casino parties is served buffet style. Some events will have a sit-down dinner and then move to the casino party area. Space is often a consideration when planning the food and beverage selections. You need to plan for lines (sometimes long) at the buffet and bars. The bar may be either an open or a cash bar. Many events will supply one or two drink tickets to all attendees, and then have them pay for any additional drinks. Often, the casino vendor will be able to recommend a good caterer, if needed.

Casino night entertainment

The most popular entertainers at casino parties include DJ's, Magicians, Fortune Tellers, and Caricature Artists. A DJ, while not necessary, will be able to make any necessary announcements. Magicians will often be able to perform strolling magic, and demonstrate gambling sleight of hand. Fortune Tellers are always a popular choice of entertainment. The Caricature Artist will provide a keepsake for your attendees.

Casino night decorations/party favors/invitation

A theme makes it easy to choose all of your decorations, party favors and invitations. A sit-down dinner will often have themed centerpieces, as will cocktail tables. Some events will have red, black and white balloon trees scattered about. Party stores will often carry a selection of these items.

Casino night prizes

The number of prizes to be given away is often based on the number of attendees, in addition to the budget supplied. Often, many organizations may have donated prizes from their vendors or members. Many of your attendees will be very competitive at the gambling tables, competing for the best prizes. A nice Grand Prize will attract more attendees to your event.

There are two ways that prizes are given away at casino parties - raffles and auctions. With the raffle method, typically, attendees are given one raffle ticket for a certain amount (such as $250.) in either chips or play money held by the player. For example, if a player has $1,000 in chips at the end of the night, they would receive 4 raffle tickets with the example above. The auction method would have the dealers add up the total amount won by each player, and then an auctioneer would then begin to "sell" the prizes.

Casino Party Planning

A casino party can be a great idea for any individual or company planning an event. Different types of casino events include bachelor/bachelorette parties, birthdays, poker tournaments, corporate events, graduation parties, reunions, and more. Finding a casino party planner who specializes in fun casino events in your area does not have to be a discouraging task. In most large metropolitan areas across North America, you will find several companies who specialize in casino entertainment.

There are a few key questions you should ask potential casino party companies. If you don't receive satisfactory answers, beware! All casino party companies are not equal and reputable, good quality companies will be happy to answer all your questions.

1. Does the company offer a wide selection of casino games such as blackjack, roulette, craps, poker, pai gow etc..?

2. Is the equipment comparable to what you would see at the casino? The casino game tables and accessories should not resemble home edition models that you can buy on Ebay for the same cost of renting them. You want your guests to feel like they are in a real casino! Ask for pictures from actual casino events. Many companies use stock pictures of casino equipment on their websites. If they had quality equipment why not show it off?

3. Do you have liability insurance?

4. Can you provide references?

5. How long have you been in business and how many parties do you stage each year?

Event Staffing is another important characteristic of a quality casino planning company. To ensure the success of your casino party, you should have casino dealers who are knowledgeable about the games, very entertaining, and personable with your guests. Hosts/hostesses are sometimes a nice added touch, as well as pit bosses and/or tournament directors.

Finally, what other party services does the casino party company offer? A good casino event planning company may offer many additional party services that will compliment your event. This can save you time and money if you are able to get a full-service, quality package from one provider. Ask the casino event planner about extra services such as dress themes, food and drink servers, background music or DJ's, event planning consultation, lighting, additional entertainment, and more.