Are Celebrity Presenters Worth The Investment?
Celebrity speakers can be thought of today almost in the same terms as the high-priced specialist athlete, like a relief pitcher. At a crucial point in the event, they are brought in as though from the bullpen. Everything that has happened all night rides upon their shoulders. When it's all over, there's a huge bill to pay.
Fees have become so large that potential celebrity speakers sign themselves to agencies that specialize in providing someone who come to your gathering and expound. You visit these agencies' sites and the speakers' photos will be laid out for you like used cars. Beneath them will be their various accomplishments or quirks.
The fees might surprise you. A cast member from a popular TV series could cost $10,000 to $15,000. That price might get you a veteran tight end so long as he's not All-Pro, or an astronaut. An astronaut who was an alcoholic till he got religion, however, might run $30,000. Few things add to one's value as a celebrity speaker like overcoming an addiction. People make money merely from being relatives of people who overcame addiction, so long as they're somewhat famous.
You might have to fork over thirty to fifty thousand dollars for the star of that beloved 1960s TV comedy, or for a fairly well-known - or not too well-known - captain of industry. This escalates up to ex-Presidents, who can get more than half a million dollars for an appearance.
It's only natural to ask whether it's all worth it. The cost has grown so exorbitant that it might demand a solid, numerical response. A charity or other fund-raising event should be able to determine the value of its $20,000 celebrity quite easily. At the end of the night, it will know whether it raised $20,000 or more than it otherwise would expect. If it did, the charity can reason that the fee was well worth the expense. If not, it can reason otherwise.
Whenever the event is meant to turn a profit, it is capable of such a judgement. If you're holding a baseball collectibles convention, it's easy to determine if it was worth it to pay $100,000 to a three-time MVP when you might've landed last year's batting champ for half that amount. By contrast, it's hard to determine value if the event doesn't have a goal that can be measured in income. That should be a concern, because speakers expect payment in something a lot more fungible than prestige.
For instance, every college graduation has a graduation speech. There is no one present who would refuse to attend because the speaker lacked sufficient star power. Colleges are infamously strapped for money. The time may well have come to reconsider paying anything over $10,000 for the entertainment of a captive audience at an event that will not, itself, turn a profit.
A conference of businessmen might reconsider the expensive pharmaceuticals CEO whose face graces magazine covers. The mid-level R & D scientist who led the team that designed the breakthrough vaccine might be more inspirational even if he doesn't speak as well. The time might have come to cut down on costs by broadening the field of celebrity speakers.
Fees have become so large that potential celebrity speakers sign themselves to agencies that specialize in providing someone who come to your gathering and expound. You visit these agencies' sites and the speakers' photos will be laid out for you like used cars. Beneath them will be their various accomplishments or quirks.
The fees might surprise you. A cast member from a popular TV series could cost $10,000 to $15,000. That price might get you a veteran tight end so long as he's not All-Pro, or an astronaut. An astronaut who was an alcoholic till he got religion, however, might run $30,000. Few things add to one's value as a celebrity speaker like overcoming an addiction. People make money merely from being relatives of people who overcame addiction, so long as they're somewhat famous.
You might have to fork over thirty to fifty thousand dollars for the star of that beloved 1960s TV comedy, or for a fairly well-known - or not too well-known - captain of industry. This escalates up to ex-Presidents, who can get more than half a million dollars for an appearance.
It's only natural to ask whether it's all worth it. The cost has grown so exorbitant that it might demand a solid, numerical response. A charity or other fund-raising event should be able to determine the value of its $20,000 celebrity quite easily. At the end of the night, it will know whether it raised $20,000 or more than it otherwise would expect. If it did, the charity can reason that the fee was well worth the expense. If not, it can reason otherwise.
Whenever the event is meant to turn a profit, it is capable of such a judgement. If you're holding a baseball collectibles convention, it's easy to determine if it was worth it to pay $100,000 to a three-time MVP when you might've landed last year's batting champ for half that amount. By contrast, it's hard to determine value if the event doesn't have a goal that can be measured in income. That should be a concern, because speakers expect payment in something a lot more fungible than prestige.
For instance, every college graduation has a graduation speech. There is no one present who would refuse to attend because the speaker lacked sufficient star power. Colleges are infamously strapped for money. The time may well have come to reconsider paying anything over $10,000 for the entertainment of a captive audience at an event that will not, itself, turn a profit.
A conference of businessmen might reconsider the expensive pharmaceuticals CEO whose face graces magazine covers. The mid-level R & D scientist who led the team that designed the breakthrough vaccine might be more inspirational even if he doesn't speak as well. The time might have come to cut down on costs by broadening the field of celebrity speakers.