207 Records – Entertainment

Valentines Day is one that many people look forward to. This is mainly because it is a day of great fun and entertainment. There are so many people that continue to make the day more special every year. The day is not an ordinary one because it is set aside to celebrate and rekindle love in people. Therefore, it calls for entertainment. To have fun on this day is what all people with a heart to love should do. However, it is vital to keep in mind that having fun has its own limits. There are so many people who continue to make the mistake of having fun while hurting them. For example, getting high on harmful drugs is a sick idea of fun. When you want entertainment, you look for something that will leave you in one piece. Therefore, entertainment on Valentines Day should be safe. When you are safe, you will definitely be happier with your life. This is not to say that you do not go wild. Go wild with all good things. For example, if you have never stood up before people, it is a good time to think karaoke. Good and clean entertainment on Valentines Day is what all people need. Entertainment on Valentines Day will be determined by the kind of things you love. For example, if you are a soccer fan, it is time to buy tickets for the valentine’s match that will be playing near you. Keep in mind that entertainment to different people can mean different things. What will make one happy might not make the other happy. For couples considering entertainment on Valentines Day, it is probably a good thing to compromise. This is the time to look for something that will work for both of you. In many instances, couples give up their idea of entertainment to enjoy the company of each other. They also take the time to come up with their very own entertainment. Your lover is a person who should be your focus on this special day. For this reason, you have to do things for each other. Celebrate love together and you will be entertained. Lovers can also go down memory lane and rekindle some of those lost frames; there is nothing more entertaining than this. Entertainment on Valentines Day for your children needs to be very creative if they are going to enjoy themselves. Consider their ages and make sure that everyone is happy. There is nothing more interesting than having all the right information in regard to suitable entertainment for your kids. Let this information come from the children. Younger kids will be happy to play with others while bouncing on castles. Teenage kids might want to go out with their boyfriends and so on. Kids should have their fair share of entertainment so that they can fully be happy on this special day of love. Keep in mind that good entertainment will always leave you refreshed and happy to face the future.

One of the things that tend to stick in cruisers’ minds is the onboard entertainment. Gone are the days of second-rate entertainers and the same old shows. Today, a lot of effort is put in to organising entertainment on cruise ships and the entertainers could well be stars of the future. Who remembers Jane McDonald appearing on the documentary The Cruise? Also, Claire Sweeney, who appeared in Brookside, started off her career singing on cruise ships. You could also be wowed by stars from the present and past – I was pleased to see that Kelly Monteith (the American equivalent of Dave Allen) is going strong and can be seen on some Royal Caribbean cruises.

Inspired by my recent trip to see Royal Caribbean’s Jewel of the Seas, I decided to find out more about the entertainment onboard having heard so much about it. Royal Caribbean prides itself on its entertainment programme. You could be forgiven for thinking you’re actually in the West End rather than in the Coral Theatre onboard Jewel of the Seas. Shows include “From West End to Broadway” featuring musical numbers from Cole Porter to Les Miserable, “City of Dreams” with music from artists such as Elton John and Celine Dion, and “Tango Buenos Aires” starring Argentine dancers and musicians. Shows are put on twice each night to tie in with the two dinner sittings, so you won’t miss out, and are not repeated during the cruise – just the thing for theatre lovers.

As well as being wowed in the Coral Theatre onboard Royal Caribbean’s Jewel of the Seas, you can take part in numerous activities throughout the day, including gaming lessons (perfect for trying to make your fortune in the casino), game shows and piano lessons.

I went behind the scenes to ask Bobby Brown, the Cruise Director on Jewel of the Seas, a few questions about the entertainment onboard the ship. Born in Scotland, Bobby started his entertainment career at a very young 5 years old, competing in ballroom dancing competitions around the world. In 1998 he moved to London where he met his wife and together they competed professionally in ballroom dancing, reaching the rank of 19th in the world (a future dancer on Strictly Come Dancing perhaps). Bobby first started working in the cruise industry when he joined Sun Line Cruises in 1993 before moving to Royal Caribbean in 1995. How long have you been in charge of entertainment on Jewel of the Seas?

Since November 2006, but I have been with Royal Caribbean International since 1995, when I started as cruise activities staff on Legend of the Seas. I moved to assistant cruise director in 1996 on Majesty of the Seas and was then promoted to Cruise Director in 1997. I have served on Legend of the Seas, Majesty of the Seas, Rhapsody of the Seas, Vision of the Seas, Brilliance of the Seas and Jewel of the Seas. How far ahead do you plan the entertainment itinerary?

Guest entertainers can be booked as much as one year in advance, although we do have changes in the entertainment schedule sometimes just days before the start of the cruise. Guest activities are finalized only days before a cruise starts as we keep up to date with the final figures for guest demographics. What is your favourite part of being in charge of entertainment?

Seeing smiles on the guests’ faces and hearing their comments about how much they enjoyed the entertainer. Which show has been your favourite so far?

Ben Vereen (US star of stage and TV), Gordy Brown (singer impersonator who is big in Las Vegas) and Scott Record (US singing comedy impressionist). Who is the most famous person you have had onboard providing entertainment?

Ben Vereen. Inside Cruise: For those of you haven’t heard of Ben Vereen, he started his career in Broadway during the 1960s and has also appeared on TV (including Star Trek: The Next Generation and Grey’s Anatomy) and in films (including Funny Lady and All That Jazz). Who would you like to have as part of the entertainment?

Scott Record, an incredible act. His show is unbelievable and I have seen him get a standing ovation in the first 10 minutes of his show. He is the only act I know that sings New York, New York as if it was skipping on an old juke box!How many entertainment staff are onboard?

In all there are 71 onboard made up of 4 singers, 8 dancers, 25 musicians,11 technicians, 10 youth staff, 2 sports staff and 11 activities staff.

Phew! With such a range of quality entertainers and acts onboard you’ll be hard pushed to be bored on Jewel of the Seas.

Are we no longer in the Information Age?Are we destined to be “gamers”?Whether you’re in marketing — particularly the digital side — or just looking for a job in marketing and related fields, you may have noticed the growing emphasis on entertainment. Entertainment activities becoming more the focus of our digital and offline lives.

And, as you’d expect, entertainment marketing seems to be following that growth. I don’t mean entertainment marketing as in promoting movies, actors and actresses. I’m talking about entertainment marketing for the sake of having fun with a brand wrapped around that fun.

The traditional, age-old tactics of marketing to customers and prospects via one-way communications is falling by the wayside. Ads of all type. Direct mail. Mass-distributed news releases. Yes, they will always have a place – some place – but those tactics of marketing communications are becoming a smaller part of the total marketing effort. Today’s successful marketing is individually-focused and better targeted to people’s own interests. Mass marketing is slowing going the way of the dinosaur.

The strong potential of wrapping marketing around entertainment first hit me a couple years ago after reading an article in BusinessWeek. Here is an excerpt: 

We’ve all read a lot about viral videos and how to create them. Of course, the main aspect of viral videos is their entertainment value. No one will share a commercial with friends and family – unless they see it as entertaining first and foremost. Any marketing push in the video must be secondary and indirect.

But, a successful viral video is not easy to develop and is not right for marketing every company, product or service.

The trick in the entertainment and marketing combination is to develop some level of connection with your audience. Create tools, services and experiences that complement your company, products or services while being part of your customers and prospects’ entertainment habits and interests.

One good example of this approach is Southwest Airlines. According to a June 26, 2008, MediaPost Marketing Daily story, Southwest Airlines “has signed on to sponsor the Midnight Gaming Championship (MGC) 2008 video gaming season to capture mindshare from tomorrow’s professionals, now ages 16 through 25…. The marketing message tied to the sponsorship focuses on educating consumers about several Southwest services such as the downloadable computer desktop widget ‘Ding’ that offers exclusive fares on flights; along with the company’s weekly email, Click ‘n’ Save, that reaches 6. 9 million subscribers; and Rapid Rewards. ”

Southwest Airlines is marketing its services that are tied to the interests and habits of its targeted 16-25 years of age demographics. There’s a connection between what Southwest is pushing and its audiences’ habits.

There are other ways to connect marketing messages with customers and prospects’ lifestyle. One is video – and not on TV. The use of online video is becoming more and more popular. And, video is being used for entertainment purposes more and more, according to a June 25, 2008, eMarketer article. Based on a study it conducted, Solutions Research Group “predicted that total hours with video-based entertainment would grow by nearly one-third to an average of about eight hours per day by early 2013. ”

Another key stat from the eMarketer article is the trend to online rather than offline video:

Marketing is evolving to have companies become connected with their audience much more so than just communicating to them. And, as more of the audience members are focusing on entertainment, it’s up to the marketers and communicators for companies to develop ways to connect brands with their audience around their entertainment preferences.

A flat panel television is a light television set that hangs from the wall or ceiling and only three or four inches thick. The most ordinary flat panel televisions are either plasma or LCDs, which stands for liquid crystal display.

These flat panel televisions are very popular because of not only the size but also elegance and performance. This innovative technology dominates the television market and they are now more affordable as the prices have decreased. As with any new technology, there are a few disadvantages but certainly far more advantages when it comes to flat panel televisions.

The most basic advantage of purchasing a flat panel television is its weight and size. One person can not only carry it easily but also hang it up like a picture. You can lug it from room to room, place it almost anywhere instead of having to purchase a television stand or entertainment centre to house the old type televisions.

Behind direct view televisions, plasma flat panel televisions have an excellent picture and the LCDs are extremely close. When it comes to satellite programming and displaying cable, LCDs sometimes lack a little.

The selection of flat panel televisions is practically limitless with a huge selection of sizes. Plasma flat panel televisions start at 42 inches so models smaller than that are LCDs. Unlike plasma televisions, manufacturers designed LCD flat panel televisions to combine and interact with your PC while still operating as a television. Never use your plasma television to display video games or as a computer monitor as burn-in could be a problem.

Both plasma and LCD flat panel televisions have an above average life expectancy of over fifteen years and unlike rear projection televisions, they have no lamp to replace so are more cost efficient.

Shop intelligently and enjoy the new flat panel televisions of your desires.

Last year we had a new dilemma. Our old TV died, and we had to get a new one. In a way, with the new digital conversion to take place this year, this was good. But a new TV was not the dilemma, the dilemma was a new entertainment center. In the past, a new TV did not mean that you had to change the large pieces of furniture in your house, but with the new style flat TV, this time it was necessary.

Now, I love our new TV, and so do all the men in the house who have to carry it. Our old 27” TV must have weighed around 200 lbs. , but our new and larger TV weighs less than 50 lbs, so change is good. But the TV would not fit into our entertainment center, so shopping for a new one and finding the perfect one for our family room was our quest.

When it comes to entertainment centers, people have different requirements. The main requirement of my old entertainment center was one that could completely shut away the television. But that was when we lived in our old house and we only had a living room. With a separate family room now, that was not such an important feature. The main feature I was interested in this time was one that saved space. Our old entertainment center was very deep to close away the TV and took up a lot of floor space. We definitely did not need this anymore, so I was happy for the extra room. Our family room is narrow, so I only wanted something to hold the TV and the extra components.

Shopping for entertainment centers was fun, and the variety was larger than I expected. The new style TV has spawned a new style of entertainment centers, and old styles are available also. The main styles available included:

For our needs, the two best style of entertainment centers were the basic TV stand and the TV lift cabinet. Some of the lift cabinets were very nice, they looked like fine pieces of furniture and were offered in many styles. If our TV was in the living room, I would definitely go for this option. But we settled for a basic pine TV stand. It is the perfect size, does not take up any excess room, and has enough shelves underneath for components. It is also only about half the width of our previous entertainment center, so the room now seems bigger. Yes, we are very happy with our new entertainment center and TV, plus, it is nice not to worry about getting a digital conversion box!