Greetings of the Season

All the very best to all of NSN's readers. We keep reading that 2009 is going to be a very tough year. If we believe this, it will be. However, like my son, if you believe in magic or a vision, you will receive what you wish for.... So let's all wish for a creative and successful year.
All of our best wishes
Susan

Lower Key Entertaining

With all that has been happening in the Financial Sector and signs of a recession, entertainment budgets have been cut. A number of our clients have said they are not having Christmas parties this year, or that they are very low key.

Other clients, who used to have regular Client entertainment at expensive venues, with very high budgets are still entertaining: but now within their own offices.

For some companies: they want to avoid the furore that followed banks that continued to wine and dine their senior execs, whilst employees were being laid off - and the Government bailed out their companies out.

However, we understand that part of the business process is to entertain clients - even if it is not at the same scale as before. We are able to work with your budget; offering Live Entertainment solutions for the venue, scale of event and budget. Without compromising on quality, you will still receive a level of service and entertainment that is of a high quality - and one that still maintains your standards in entertaining clients.

Do give us a call to discuss your future plans; we'd love to help!

The Romantic Tenor releases his first CD

We are absolutely delighted to announce the release of THE ROMANTIC TENOR's first CD. This comprises of a variety of Italian Romantic Songs, with a beautiful string quartet accompaniment - also a range of wind instruments.
To buy the CD online, or to listen to samples go to
http://www.nsn-productions.com/romantictenorcd.html

BBC Three Counties Radio Broadcast

Today I was on a current affairs programme with the wonderful Eddie Almond, and two musicians from NSN Productions Limited: Neil Simon (The Romantic Tenor) and Amy Barnes: a fantastic saxophonist who regularly plays at the Five Star Hotel - Hanbury Manor.

We discussed some current stories from the Sunday Newspapers. We also discussed creating great parties for the Christmas period without spending a fortune. There has been an expectation of having to spend a great deal of money in order to 'have a good time'. We cited an example of a swish party at Blenheim Palace, that execs and customers from RBS had this week. Umm, hasn't the Government just bailed them out??

It does not cost £30K + to host a party for 80 people, and as I have mentioned before on this blog, a disco might sound like a budget answer - but in fact you can get a great jazz quartet, a ceilidh band - or even Murder Mystery entertainers for that price or less!

Over the next few days, I will be sending out ideas for creating a great Christmas spirit with REAL ENTERTAINMENT - that won't break the budget!

NSN on Three Counties Radio

On Sunday morning - 16th November, we are on BBC Three Counties radio from 12 noon until 2pm. We will be discussing current affairs: main news items locally and nationally. Neil and myself will be accompanied by 2 of our talented musicians: Amy and Neil who play in a jazz duo. They regularly play at Hanbury Manor. They will perform at the end. Also Neil Simon - The Romantic Tenor will perform a song from his new album.

Ice breaking with success at conferences

Ice breaking at conferences is a challenge: people often don't know each other, might have travelled long distances - or just be unsociable!
However, our experience has been that within minutes of participating in our ice breaker activities, delegates are energised, enthused and they are ready to participate in a conference.
Key times for effective activities are just after lunch, and the last session before supper (where there is an evening do too).
Our activities include singing/creating a 'conference' choir, drumming, and movement. The activities are all positive with no one being made to feel awkward and the outcome is FUN!!

Wedding Music

We provide live musicians and entertainers for a number of weddings. It is always a pleasure to work with brides who are so happy and excited about their special day. And wonderful when we hear how music has transformed their wedding day.

We also hear from many people at network meetings who say "I wish we had heard about you" and then tell me a dreadful story about how a musician didn't show up/cancelled two weeks before the wedding because they had a better offer/walked through the wedding ceremony to set up for the party.... The list is endless. I am always horrified - and they agree that if they had spent a little more money, they would have been totally satisfied.

Weddings are very emotive with people quite rightly wanting the very best. It is also a worrying time, and you need people around you that are trustworthy and will do the job well. We only use professional musicians who I have personally interviewed and auditioned. I know that they are representing my company and they have to be excellent musicians and great communicators.

I have been reading "How to have a wedding in a credit crunch" articles in the press recently. I do agree that there are savings to be made, but getting in experienced music students for 10% less than our prices is only going to lead to disappointment. Unfortunately, you do get what you pay for with musicians.

I always give brides a variety of options so that they can compare the price of a string quartet or trio with a harpist and classical guitarist. I am not judgemental about what they choose - but it does give them the option of saving some money whilst still experiencing live music. Also, because we are an established company, we are not going to 'disappear' - which is something that happened to some local brides that had paid the deposit for a guitarist... I send out a FAQ sheet which gives advice on saving alittle money on the refreshments for the musicians (supply sandwiches from Waitrose not paying for a high priced meal from the venue) and also making the most of the musicians when they are at your wedding.

If you need any advice on musicians for your wedding, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Welcome

Welcome to our blog. We provide Live musical entertainment - specialising in small to medium sized events. We have a wide range of musical styles from classical - the Romantic Tenor - through to cross over music with jazz musicians and crossover artists and world music. The latter is a particular passion of mine and I am delighted to include Gospel Singers, a Steel Band and flamenco musicians on our books.
Over time, we will be recording news of our artists, our company and events we do - and showing you what a transformation live musical entertainment make to ensure your event is a resounding success.