Hosts and Hostesses: 2 Astonishing Key Roles in Events

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Event Hosts and Event Hostesses are highly valuable for an event: they are indeed the image of the company they represent.

They welcome, inform, offer and therefore represent the first point of contact between the audience and the company they represent, no matter the event format or industry.

That’s why these professionals are not just pretty faces: event hosts or event hostesses can positively represent the event and make participants feel at ease.

Indeed, they contribute to the first impression and image your audience will have about your company and event, and therefore, they help you succeed in the process.

You should not underestimate these roles and chose them with care. Suppose you are planning an expo, congress, conference, or any other kind of event. In that case, you can decide to select event staff by yourself or rely on a professional event staffing agency. Being an event host or event hostess is not as easy as it looks. Behind those “pretty faces,” there are personalities, hundreds of events experience and skills, carefully hand-picked and matched to the right event and client by a professional event staffing agency.

Let’s find out what event hosts and event hostesses do and what are the skills required.

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The job of Event Hosts and Event Hostesses

Hosts and Hostesses are professional roles supporting event organisers during events of all kinds. They can get involved prior or post the event and especially during the event.

Their role involves welcoming and guiding the audience, offering information and assistance when needed.

A participant doesn’t know in which room the workshop is taking place? Or did they lose the conference schedule? Event Staff will be their info point to get any information.

Besides, the event staff is often needed to promote a business brand or product too. Stands need this role, be that in expos or shopping malls. We will look into this further down.

Conference Hostess

Usually, hosts and hostesses co-work with other professionals, such as the Venue Manager or the Event Organiser.

Did you rely on a professional agency to source your event staff? In this case, you will deal with experts that already have training and experience. However, an ad-hoc training for each event is needed too.

Usually, before any assignment, the organiser or the company provide a briefing, to define what tasks are needed. During this meeting, the event staff will absorb all information: starting from the type of event to the tone of voice required.

Before the event, staff usually helps setting up; for example; they can support with:

★ Making speakers tables ready (placing name tags, water bottles)

★ Setting up a welcoming area;

★ Placing directional signs.

During the event, they can support primarily on welcoming participants by:

★ meeting and greeting guests, making them feel at ease;

★ if necessary, registering them and assign them their badge and any goodie bags or swags;

★ distributing any brochures or schedule;

★ proving information on directions, meeting rooms available, cloakroom, services and food;

★ guiding guests around the event venue;

★ answering any questions guests may have about the event

★ being available for the event organisers to flag any issues or call for assistance when needed quickly.

At the end of the event, event staff deals with closing activities, such as certificates of attendance or guest surveys. Finally, event hosts and event hostesses can guide guests to the exit and help reset meeting rooms.

When events last several days, event staff can guide guests in their transfers, such as or from the airport.

Promotional Hostess

As we mentioned above, in addition to the usual hostessing tasks, we can add promotional jobs. In this case, we are talking about a Promo Hostess.

Usually, expos require these roles or a company building up a stand in a shopping centre or anywhere else, to launch, for example, a new product or service.

In this case, these professionals need to have an excellent knowledge of the product and company they represent, to offer it to potential clients with expertise and answering all their questions with precision.

The event host or hostess will engage their visitors, motivating them to take a specific action (trying a perfume, tasting a new coffee)

The host or hostess rile, will become a brand ambassador, aiming to promote and market (the technical term is called field marketing). Therefore, they need to draw the audience to the product, transmitting its values and objectives. However, it’s fundamental not to insist.

A promotional hostess or host deals with:

★ engaging with the target audience;

★ distributing literature (and any gadgets);

★ answering any questions.

Besides, in some instances, a promotional hostess can demonstrate the product or service to the public. When in shopping centres or shops, the promo hostess can offer free samples too.

They often fill in a daily report. As much as event hosts and hostesses get involved in exhibition stands build-up, promo staff can contribute with stand set up and break down. They are rarely seen as part of the sales team as this is typically dealt with the company itself unless proper training took place.

The Importance of Event Staff

We will never get tired of saying this: be that expos, exhibitions, conferences, gala dinners, charity balls, or congresses, Event Staff are vital for a successful outcome. These are indeed the most active roles to engage with visitors, guests and the audience. Therefore, they represent the company’s face and a professional event staffing agency offers experts in this, based on their skills, personality and experience.

Imagine arriving at a trade show, maybe even from a different country, disoriented as you don’t know the venue. How would you feel not having any source of information? What effect could a poor welcoming give you?

Any corporate event’s objective is to be remembered as a positive experience and leave a favourable memory to participants, strengthening the company’s image.

Welcoming smiles, kind and friendly staff who know how to give information, and make participants feel at ease will make a great first impression, reflecting on the organisers.

That’s why it’s crucial event staff are friendly, professional and approachable. All characteristics that can easily be associated with the company they represent.

Appearance

Now that we understood what event hosts and hostesses do, we can look into how they should look. Grooming should be to the highest standards. Clean hair and tied back/updo. Makeup – Wedding style, well applied, pale colour lipstick. No false eyelashes. No facial piercings. Jewellery to a minimum.

For what concerns the dress code, in some cases agencies or companies provide uniforms; in other situations, the event staff will use their clothing, with plain white long-sleeved round neck top, smart black business trousers, elegant black shoes. For certain events, extra accessories will be provided, such as scarfs or hats.

Soft Skills

As we mentioned, hosts and hostesses interact with the public face to face and to do so they need specific personal and soft skills:

★ proactive, polite and friendly. Approaching the public should be done kindly and positively at all times, demonstrating knowledge and professionalism.

★ Patience and self-control. Even with demanding customers or during stressful situations, a professional hostess will never lose her temper.

★ Able to work as part of a team.

★ Excellent communication skills. During an event, staff approaches many different people, and it’s crucial to be always welcoming and available to assist them.

★ Problem-solving skills. Events rarely go as planned. That’s when a hostess needs to deal with problem-solving, especially on behalf of attendees. Professional event staff never answers “I don’t know” or “I don’t deal with that”. Instead, they ask a colleague or guide who’s asking to find help with their query.

★ Organisational skills.

★ Sales skills. Persuasion is vital, especially when promoting a brand, product or service at a stand.

★ Flexibility. Event Hosts and Event Hostesses don’t just deal with hundreds of different events, but they also have demanding hours. Events can last a whole day, an entire weekend or even weeks. Event Staff spends many hours standing on their feet and staying focused. Managing stress and smiling are essential requirements for this job.

Professional Skills Needed

Being an event host or event, the hostess doesn’t require technical skills or educational titles. However, this doesn’t exclude the fact that having good cultural knowledge and fluent language skills are necessary. The event staff is often required to know other languages, especially for international events such as trade shows or conferences. In the UK, the most foreign languages required are Spanish, French and Italian. It’s prevalent for event staff to be the assigned translators, and be the primary contact for foreign visitors.

And finally, it’s essential to gain experience in the field, which companies always appreciate. Some hostesses or hosts specialise in trade shows (medical, F&B, IT and many others), increasing their technical knowledge.

Training

Usually, when event staff works for an event staffing agency, internal training is always held, shadowing more experienced teams in the field.

Also, they should receive a briefing by their client or the company they will work for, understand better the event and the assistance needed, and the organisation and logistics. It’s crucial to pay attention to all information shared and have an in-depth knowledge of the meeting and its every aspect. Before any event, it’s quite useful to plan an inspection of the event location, memorise its rooms and layout, and give better information to visitors later. Besides, it’s a good idea to identify with visitors to anticipate their requests.

About Rox Event Staff, Event Staffing Agency in London

Rox Event Staff is the only event staffing agency in London that helps you take the headache out of staffing and event marketing in one place.
We operate nationwide across the UK with over 2,000 dynamic COVID-19 trained events staff on our growing roster. We have dedicated account management, event marketers, staff’s right-to-work checks, training and skills tests on all workers, taking care of payroll too.