The success of any event is dependent to a large degree on the quality of service that guests receive. To organise a successful corporate event, VIP experience or private occasion, hiring the right personnel to look after clients and guests is absolutely key.
If you have an event that needs professional staff, Caroline Dandridge’s Artista is the go-to company, sourcing personnel from a diverse range of occupations for almost any event.
The roster of skillsets on her books include front of house, hosts and hostesses, choreographers, dancers and roller skaters, presenters, speakers, announcers and entertainment. In addition Artista can offer models, make-up artists and stylists, photographers, cameramen, private house cooks, magicians, silhouette artists, pipers and many more.
“Artista is the professional face for any event offering a personal service with exceptional attention to detail,” says Caroline. “Whether it is an occasion for 10,000 people or a dinner for ten, we can assist your event effortlessly and with style, integrity and discretion. However simple or elaborate you want your party to be, we have a team of professionals that will cater for your every need.”
Diverse events
Artista has worked on a miscellany of events, including product launches, conferences and Q&A sessions, company annual general meetings, award ceremonies, major sporting events, private dinners, charity parties and even a memorial service. Artista can also supply hosts and hostesses for reception work, cloakroom and placement, meet and greet, directional assistance and promotional activities.
Caroline has sourced bands and tango dancers in the realm of entertainment, as well as presenters like Matt Chilton, Trish Lynch, Mike Cattermole for TV shows and current affairs programmes. For sporting events, she has placed hostesses at pavilions for rugby, cricket and golf tournaments, and also at Formula One motor races and Excel car shows.
She adds that undertaking the meet-and-greet service is more than just being a pretty face and simply standing, smiling and being courteous. To do the job properly and professionally requires a knack of understanding and anticipating people’s needs, being proactive and quick-thinking and having a personal, yet unobtrusive manner.
“Some of the work may not be particularly technical, such as directing people to conference rooms or the toilets, taking their coats or registration; but the important aspect is to make people feel welcome and put any worries at ease,” she says.
The perfect fit
Caroline has a portfolio of faces, languages and occupations to suit any occasion. Artista has been fortunate to work with The Global Partnership at many in-house events, with the firm providing the important front-of-house service to welcome guests and ensure a smooth start to proceedings. Most recently was at November’s Michaelmas Investment Club and a wonderful summer party and BBQ at the rooftop terrace Sky Bar in Holborn, where Mike Herbert, sourced by Artista, charmed guests with his extraordinary ability to capture face profiles in silhouette portraits.
In addition, Artista has supplied high-quality and experienced hosts, hostesses, models and presenters at many of the UK’s most prestigious occasions. In the last quarter of the year, she has provided staff for James Bond Evenings occurring to mark the premiere of Spectre and the combined launch of George Clooney’s new tequila brand Casamigos and Cindy Crawford’s autobiography Becoming at the Beaumont Hotel. Also, for the opening of Swiss luxury technical watch brand Breitling’s new 1,583-square foot boutique on Bluewater’s upper Rose Gallery.
High-profile clients have included Gulfstream Aerospace, Moët Hennessy, The Economist, Land Rover, Ascot Racecourse, Barclays, Bentley Motors, Honeywell and Residential Land. Artista has been commended for their smartly presented staff looking after guests, whose sheer charm and diligence, delivered excellent client service, surely the secret of any successful event.
Geography is no barrier for her, as she has helped service clients throughout the world. “We cater for a lot of high-end clients worldwide, who require us to be discreet and unobtrusive. Artista has staffed weddings and placed hostesses on luxury yachts in the Mediterranean together with private house cooks to prepare lavish meals for private dinners,” she says.
Expansion
As Artista nears its tenth-year anniversary in 2016, Caroline is adding the final touches to a new website that will launch by the end of the year. Moreover, she is introducing Artista Refined, a course teaching better etiquette. A show reel for the website is being prepared and Artista is currently offering Christmas presents for people to attend etiquette courses.
“We completed a highly successful trial day and will start to run the courses at the beginning of 2016. Everyone seems to think they know the right way to behave in any given situation and half the time they do not, so the courses will teach proper conduct and provide insights into the conventions for appropriate social behaviour,” she says. n
For further information please call Caroline Dandridge on +44 (0)1488 648763 or visit www. artistaevents.com.
