Ken Henderson: Entertainment Is His Business
-- Tradeshow Week, 8/7/2008 3:48:00 PM
Ken Henderson, CEO of Best Agency, has helped provide live entertainment at Las Vegas venues for 10-plus years with his “full-service entertainment agency.” Tradeshow Week Contributing Editor Diane Taylor spoke with Henderson about his company’s role in the world’s entertainment capital.
Question: What do your ads mean by “full-service?”
Answer: We provide models, talent, productions and events that market a client’s product, company or venue. We don’t book hotel rooms or provide transportation. We’re strictly entertainment.
Q: Does your company have a particular niche?
A: We are the production company for the Roman characters at Caesars Palace, the gondoliers and singers at the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, the dancers and models in Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino and the 18 weekly fashion shows at the Fashion Show Mall. We have more than 200 employees, and all but 15 of them are involved in these ongoing productions. Two of our people do nothing but create and maintain the costumes we own.
Q: Do any of those performers ever find their way to tradeshows and corporate meetings?
A: Sometimes. At least five or six times a week, Caesar and Cleopatra or the Venetian singers make appearances at meetings and other special events at the hotels. Also, because of our work at these venues, our company is often cited when the hotel is asked to recommend an entertainment company for corporate parties. We provide much of the entertainment at the Venetian’s Tao nightclub, for example.
Q: What other kinds of entertainment do you book for events?
A: Live music is always in demand, and a number of Russian acrobats who can perform cirque-type entertainment are popular, too. Celebrity look-a-likes, Elvis impersonators, classical musicians and voice-overs by professionals, such as Robin Leach, are all part of what we offer.
Q: How do find the right act for the right event?
A: Our staff will talk with clients about budgets and preferences. Many don’t want to divulge budgets, thinking that means automatically all the money will be spent, but we don’t work that way. We want a fair price for the entertainment and the client.
As to a selection, clients may simply believe us when we say that a particular entertainer or group will be great for them. Others will want to see videos, and some will want to meet with an entertainer personally.
Q: What is your typical budget for a tradeshow or corporate meeting?
A: We have a client now who will probably have a $1 million entertainment budget, but typical figures would be from $1,000 to $50,000.
Q: Are your entertainers under exclusive contracts with you?
A: Not usually. Like models, entertainers will register with a number of local agencies, hoping to keep busy enough to earn a living.
Q: How did you get into the business?
A: For 10 years, I worked at Caesars Palace as a director in the hotel division. I became the guy who took on jobs no one else wanted to do, so I had been known for creativity. When I left Caesars to join my wife’s new modeling agency, I bid to provide Caesars’ Roman characters and to rewrite the entertainment at the Bacchanal Restaurant. We were successful in that bid and expanded from there.
Q: Are you and your wife still in business together?
A: This is tricky. We are no longer married but, yes, Carrie Henderson is a full partner. She is involved with the philanthropic part of our business, providing entertainment for the many charity events we support. I’m responsible for the day-to-day business.
Q: What is a good day for you?
A: When the corporate office is buzzing, and the staff has no fires to put out.
