We have all been there before with those awkward elementary school events where dancing is involved. This time of year is prime for Daddy/Daughter Dances which for a lot of schools means dads on their phones, daughters running around the gym with their girlfriends and grinding through two painful hours of uncomfortable dancing. What if we showed you another way?
I personally have two daughters and have been to my fair share of these exact same events. When my oldest daughter Maclaine had her first Daddy/Daughter event I was excited to get dressed up and show my little lady the perfect date night. A flower, dinner and even a new suit were all on tap and I expect those are the norm for most dads. We pulled into the school anxiously awaiting to get to the gym. Briskly we walked down the hall and through the doors to find this: the same old fluorescent lights and basketball goals. The only real difference was now the gym just had a bunch of girls with their dads....but ultimately it was pretty lame.
When you own an entertainment company; I knew there was an opportunity. We got together with our creative team and came up with a way to utilize our resources to have incredible school events. Yes, every school has a limited budget. They also have limited success with their current strategy of events. In the last 30 days alone we have had our Daddy/Daughter Dance Tour on display at three different schools within a 15 mile radius.
So, what did we do different? Well, it was pretty actually pretty simple. We thought elementary school students see the school gym daily. When they come in for PE classes they see the basketball goals. When they come in for assemblies, they see the fluorescent lights. It was not feasible to think the schools were going to build an event center so we had to create that experience. After meeting with the PTO and school administration we decided to raise the basketball goals (less than 10 minutes) and turn off the lights. From there, we brought in our inventory of professional level decor lighting. This included uprights all the way around the gym, a custom created logo of each event shining on the wall that they could see right when everyone walked into the event. This alone was a step up and almost everyone makes the comment "it looks like a different space". That is exactly what we wanted them to think and sometimes perception is reality.
Next, we brought in party motivators. Many companies rave about their line dancers and instructions. Kids get enough teaching and instruction in school all week long; how about an interactive and engaging party motivator? Our party starters have a microphone and get the girls singing on the microphone all while dancing and creating the vibe on the floor. Within moments, the entire floor is packed with both girls and dads. As stated previously...that is exactly what we wanted to happen and guess what....they did not do that before, so one more time perception is reality.
Everything else at this point is really icing on the cake! From our best in class dance lighting all the way to the confetti drop; each and every moment is created and planned for maximum benefit. What is the real take away? All three of these schools are now selling tickets to this event to drive PTO revenue and with a maxed out floor, this can become a revenue generator for your school. Check out some of the pictures below and we look forward to meeting with you and partnering together with your school to create the most successful event as possible. This is what we do for elementary events....just wait until Prom Season! Love what you do and you will never work a day in your life.
