How not to fall victim to animators at seaside resorts?! Costumes, make-up and event program

Irina Davydova

Reading time: 11 minutes

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The profession of "animator" appeared not so long ago, but we hear this word all the time - in connection with children's birthdays, vacations, and so on. When choosing a hotel for a vacation trip with kids, parents will always ask if there will be animators there.

What kind of profession is this, and who is this animator - a nanny, toastmaster, an actor or someone who combines several talents at once?

We understand.

Who is an animator - types of animators and the essence of their work

The term "animator" came to us from of English language, where this word means an artist playing various characters at various events.

In our country, animation, as a direction, is still only gaining popularity and followers in its orderly ranks.

Animators are actors who must "be able to do everything." Their main task is to entertain the audience in the roles assigned to them at a particular event.

Animators can be "classified" as follows:

• Corporate animators. These specialists help the main presenter at the corporate party to amuse the audience at competitions and games. However, animators often work without a leader, including his duties in the list of their own and doing an excellent job with any task.
• Children's animator for kids . Specialists who have to entertain babies up to 4 years old should be professionals in their field, because kids are afraid not only of clowns, but also of strangers in general. In addition, children quickly get tired and are not able to be too mobile and agile.
• Children's animator for older kids (from 5 to 10 years old). It is already easier for this specialist to charm and amuse, because the audience is easy-going. Children already have their favorite characters with whom they enjoy playing, making crafts, participating in quizzes, and so on. Most often, animators for children of this age also have to master the art of twisting and face painting, arrange a show of soap bubbles, etc.
• Animator for teenagers. He, too, is having a hard time. Teenagers are a critical audience, and it is extremely difficult to entertain them in our time, when children already have time to see and try almost everything by the age of 15. Therefore, a teenage animator should be able to talk to children in the same language as them.
• Youth animator. Today, the tasks of such a specialist most often include quests - that is, the choice of a scenario, the complexity of tasks, and so on. Naturally, the animator in this case is the “one on the board” guy.
• Animator-promoter. This specialist should create a mood among the participants of the event already at the entrance. This specialist advises / informs guests, points out the right directions, takes pictures with guests, distributes information booklets, and so on.
• Animators in hotels. Not a single 5 * hotel is complete without animators. Moreover, the animators good hotel there are for kids, and for older children, and for the adults themselves, who, oddly enough, also need to be entertained.

There are also specialized animators. For example, those who specialize only in soap bubble shows or twisting, science shows or magic tricks, master classes or theatrical performances with clowns, and so on.

Summarizing, we can say that animators today are yesterday's "mass entertainers" who should give smiles and a good mood.

Video: How to become an animator?

Job benefits:

1. Creative and interesting work.
2. The possibility of combining with the main work.
3. Opportunity to work abroad (for example, Turkish hotels often require Russian-speaking animators). That is, you can relax and work.
4. Acquaintance with different people, including "useful".
5. Free schedule.

Of the shortcomings:

• Income instability. Salary always depends on the availability of orders.
• Sometimes you have to work for 10 hours - and on your feet.
• Nervous tension. The more serious and solid the company that needs to be entertained, the higher the responsibility that falls on the shoulders of the animator.
• Emotional burnout. The animator must be cheerful, active and easy-going. Otherwise, he simply will not stay in the profession. And no one is interested in whether the animator has problems in his personal life, and whether he feels well. The animator must amuse the audience - period. Of course, not everyone survives.

• Who is an animator and on what projects is he needed?
• How and where to look for a professional animator?
• How to make the event more effective with the help of animators?

The answers to these and other questions in our article.

Who needs animators and why?

Animators are professional artists who are involved in various projects to entertain guests. The mechanics of the work of animators can be quite diverse: they distribute leaflets, take pictures with children and adults, meet guests, etc.

Often, animators are hired to work at corporate parties, children's parties, parties, festivals, exhibitions, HoReCa promotions or events in honor of the opening of a new outlet. Depending on the specifics and the general concept of the event, animators can purposefully gather the audience and attract it to the site, organize prize drawings among children and adults, or conduct a game program with contests, bubble shows and magic tricks.

Promoters-animators can work alone or in a team, but in the second case, the complexity of the work lies in the fact that you need to catch the “common wave” and work together at the same pace and mood.

Where to look for animators?

As with the selection of any other category of promotional personnel, there are two ways to solve the problem. The first and most budgetary of them is the independent selection of animators. A personal search for employees will save you a certain amount, however, in this case, you take full responsibility for the selection of personnel and all possible risks of the project.

You can find animators on your own on job search sites: SuperJob, HeadHunter or other HR resources. Also, a good option would be to post a vacancy in specialized unified databases of promotional staff - Promobank, Eventcatalog, etc.

To determine the level of acting skills and communication skills of animators, conduct a live casting. So you can personally verify the ability of the promo staff to find a common language with the audience, evaluate their artistry and sociability. Also, when choosing an animator, carefully read his resume and carefully study the portfolio. Try to attract experienced employees to projects - this minimizes risks during the project and helps to avoid common mistakes.

If you decide to entrust the search for animators to specialists, the agency takes responsibility for the work of the staff and its timely high-quality replacement in case of force majeure, freeing you from additional troubles. To whom to entrust the selection of animators and how not to make a mistake with the agency, you can read in one of our

Staff Selection Criteria

In addition to the standard requirements for external data and personal qualities, animators, as a rule, have other special requirements related to the specifics of their work.

1. Sociability. The most important criteria for choosing promoters for such projects are communication skills, free communication skills with the audience and creativity. Animators in the process of work have to sing, dance, act out simple scenes, so a quiet or constrained promoter will not be able to make the event bright and memorable enough for the target audience.

1. Artistry. Working as an animator implies constant active contact with people, the ability to arouse interest in the event and involve them in the game, invite them to take part in competitions, etc. Despite the fact that it is not necessary to have a special education to work as an animator, graduates of theater colleges and universities, as well as professional actors with experience in similar projects, are especially highly valued at such events.

1. Endurance. Maintaining a positive attitude and an active rhythm of work throughout the event is not an easy task, and a tired or lethargic animator is unlikely to be able to maintain the necessary atmosphere at the right level. In addition, often animators have to work in life-size puppets or complex frame costumes, which means it is better to choose physically fit and hardy promoters for such projects.

Due to its specificity, the work of animators is valued by employers higher than the services of other categories of promotional personnel. The average rate of an animator depends on work experience, theatrical education and professional skills, the scale of the action, the total amount of work and seasonality, and averages from 500 rubles per hour.

Costumes, make-up and event program

As a rule, based on the theme and goals of the event, with the help of costumes, special make-up or life-size puppets, a certain appearance of the animator is created, a unique image that makes it brighter and more noticeable. Thus, an animator at a children's party can become the hero of a famous cartoon, at a promotional action - a live mascot of the company, and at the opening of a store - a character stylized to match the general theme of the evening.

When describing the scenario of the evening, be sure to take into account the interests and tastes of the target audience, otherwise the guests will simply become uninteresting and even the most sociable animator will not be able to improve the mood of the public.

Animators - staff to create a special atmosphere of the event. Depending on the specifics of the project, they can perform various functions, from distributing leaflets to hosting an evening. Involve sociable and physically hardy promo staff on the project, and use themed costumes and makeup to create a brighter image.

So, we have been working / studying all year - and now we have waited! We've come to rest! And the first thing we will encounter on the seashore is a beautiful tanned animator who will start asking us questions, amuse us and generally “make life brighter”. So. Few people know what is the reason for such hospitality. Of course, that's what they do. But there is also a downside to this "work". The information used in the article I received while working as an animator in several hotels, and from animator friends.

Firstly, novels with tourists are not at all uncommon for "ringleaders" in a hotel. But, as a rule, every animator tells his "lover" that their romance should be kept a secret, because this is fraught with dangerous consequences - he can be fired. Meet you only outside the hotel. Only after the end of the working day. And in the hotel itself, they gently coo with other tourists, telling you tales about "labor duty" in the evening - to be polite and sociable with everyone. This is complete nonsense. Remember once and for all: the duty of the animator is not to "glue" the girls. Dancing with them at the disco, treating them to cocktails, chatting at dinner - all this is "amateur performance". Finding an explanation for your "secret" meetings is very easy: do you see that brunette in red at the bar counter with whom he was chatting 5 minutes ago? and this blonde who does not take her eyes off you while he is next to you? .... get to know them - you have a common man!)))

Second, when contacting an animator, be prepared for cheap courtesies. That is, you have gone out of the territory. Do you know where he will take you? do not know? Read reviews about the hotel on the Internet - you will surely find a lot of interesting things. as a rule, the animators of a particular hotel have their own "place". At the hotel where I worked, the guys took tourists to the beach, which was 1 km from the hotel. the waves are quietly splashing there, the moon is shining brightly, dogs are running and you can cut yourself on the glass in the sand - but this is all nonsense, because he will take you to a place equipped in advance - some quiet corner that you will stumble upon "completely by accident"!. ..but there is another option that the most impudent guys scroll through - they stupidly rent a room in another hotel. And you will have a hot night with this "ringleader"

Thirdly, the sweetest thing... Girls, I got to know this kitchen from the inside and I just started to pound from anger and resentment for our girls! So. The traditional game of animators from Turkey, Bulgaria, Egypt, Malta, etc., which is in EVERY hotel! ... Everything is simple to the point of banality: we are being filmed on a bet. The rules are as follows: as soon as new tourists arrive, all the animators communicate with them in turn. Then they decide among themselves who gets which girl. And the game begins. Cats and mice in a resort scenario. Here, someone has enough imagination, but at one point, usually at an evening disco, he comes up to you and says that his working day will soon end and he wants to continue communicating with you further outside the hotel. You agree - and that's it. the mousetrap slammed shut. Then I tell you in a nutshell: if he divorces you to leave the hotel, he won the argument. The subject of the dispute is whether he will be able to sleep with you. BUT!!!... It is assumed that if you went out with him outside the hotel, you slept with him. And no one can prove otherwise.

After the "magic night" there are two options. The first is the "continuation of the banquet" the next day, but this option still flows into the second - a total ignore. These are the rules of the game. The achieved goal is of no interest to anyone.

And then he starts over with a new victim. And you may be told during the last slow dance that he was caught by the head of their animation team when he returned home late after your date. And now they are threatening to fire him.... Oh God, what a horror...! Yes, maybe he caught him... but most likely he did not threaten him with dismissal, but patted him on the shoulder in a friendly way, whispering something like: "well done, man !".

Recently, not only animators, but also animators began to breed. In Europe, the Pinki-Girl movement was born, which has grown from simple fun into an unspoken community of girls who know their worth and do not allow themselves to be bred. Now this is a very common form of recreation among girls. That is, they do everything so that the animators take them off. They arrange a meeting outside the hotel ... and do not come. Banal, you say? You need to know the rules of the game of animators very well - for them this kind of joke is a personal insult. It's a lost bet, coupled with a "loser" label that won't go away until the girl leaves the hotel. The main rule of Pinki-girl is not to leave tails. That is, do not say unequivocally that you will come to a meeting, respond to signs of attention so that you can always step back. ... "I??? Yes, I never and nothing!!!"...

If you are not ready to play by the rules, then here are some tips to avoid rumors and gossip about you and the animator.

1 - if you flirt with him - know what the bartenders say about it. I learned Turkish in connection with work and was horrified when I listened to the conversations of the bartenders. A girl comes up and orders a cocktail. While it is being prepared for her, two bartenders are having a dialogue: "isn't this the whore Niko fucked yesterday?" - "yes, it's her, the boobs are cool" ... Are you ready for this? If not, no smiles-shooters eyes in the direction of the animators.

2 - if nevertheless it happened that you were called to leave the territory. hotel - clearly make it clear that you are not one of those. To do this, it is enough to answer sharply "No". And you can not explain anything, turn away and leave. Otherwise, your refusal will be interpreted as an attempt to inflate your worth. Remember, animators are not used to rejection.

3 - if, nevertheless, you are deeply in love - which happens with Russian tourists very often - and went out of the territory with him, think carefully whether it is worth sleeping with him. He will tell everyone early on that there was sex, so is it worth it for you to take such a desperate step. After all, you will leave and never see him again. NEVER, and do not flatter yourself with hopes. And at home you are probably waiting for people who love you. You should not betray them for the sake of a ghostly short-term romance with a priori-bad outcome.

Our expert is Elena Moiseeva, event organizer with many years of experience, co-founder of the London agency Chaika Events - organized more than five hundred children's parties in her life. Especially for Workingmama, Elena prepared a checklist of the most important items for self-preparation of a children's holiday.

We all love to look at beautiful pictures on the pages of professional eventers and decorators. They have breathtaking scenery, expensive themed accessories, luxurious costumes, gourmet dishes. As holiday planners, we love coming up with exciting design concepts, but the truth is, it's more for parents, grown-ups. Children are interested in something else. The key point in organizing a children's holiday, 80% of success is a professional animator.

Professional animator

A good entertainer is the cornerstone of your party. This is the only thing you can't skimp on. If you have beautiful decorations, a complex candy bar with cake pops and macaroons, but at the same time the children scatter in the corners and sit buried in their smartphones, everything will crumble to pieces, and no decorations and expensive balloons will help. And if an experienced animator works at the holiday, who is able to get and keep the attention of children, then you can get by with a couple of pizzas with a cake: everyone will still remember how fun it was.

Finding a professional and really talented animator is a little easier than finding a unicorn. But it's worth the effort.

Start looking now, even if your next children's birthday is only a year away. Where to looking for? Gather contacts at other children's parties, at restaurants where there is a children's corner, at festivals where a children's area is organized. If you see that children are running after someone with burning eyes, run after him too and write down the phone.

You can search for animators on the websites of the organizers of children's parties, on Instagram. Watch the video, read the reviews. Keep in mind that an hour of the animator's work costs more if you call him for just an hour. Because he still needs to travel, take props with him, think over the program. It is best to invite an animator for the entire holiday. Otherwise, the rest of the time, before the arrival or after the departure of the animator, the children are provided - and this usually means real chaos.

There is nothing worse than a five-in-one animator. When the same person and face painting does, and dogs from balloons, and shows from soap bubbles. Because while one child is being painted, the other 25 have fled in all directions. Additional skills are good, but, as a rule, they cannot be combined. An experienced animator should rally everyone, involve all children in various activities. And parents at this time should rest and drink champagne.

Where to find animators:

invitations

In today's frantic pace, when children have five circles and an active social life, it is necessary to invite guests to a children's birthday as early as possible. It is not shameful to send Save The Date (an invitation with a request to stake out the date) and two months in advance. This is important if you want exactly the people whom he would like to see come to your child for the holiday. If you delay with an invitation, you can end up in a situation where all your friends have already been invited to another party.

You can order invitations on the international website etsy.com . There you will find a huge selection of beautiful templates for any topic. For a few dollars you will receive personalized email invitations - you just need to send your text.

Electronic invitations can be sent by email or WhatsApp, or you can use a convenient program Paperless Post , which will immediately give you statistics: how many people accepted the invitation, who will not be able to come, who will come with brothers and sisters, etc.

Place

If you are not ready to hold a children's party at home (and we understand you perfectly), then look for a spacious place. This is the main criterion. Children need to move, they need a lot of space to play. A cafe or a game center can convince you that the room is designed for 50 people, but you can safely divide it by two: usually the capacity is calculated based on the fact that people are calmly standing in buffet mode, and not playing hide and seek and catch up.

The best option: a combination of indoor and outdoor areas. There you can move, hold all sorts of sports games.

A garden or some kind of area is perfect. The more space the better. Yes, and try to see the site in advance, do not focus only on photos or descriptions.Start your search with "30 places in Moscow where you can celebrate a holiday" to the site.

Food

News: on birthdays, children practically do not eat anything. Therefore, there is no point in excelling in haute cuisine. For food , which goes well at parties, has a funny name: finger food. That is, everything that can be taken by hand. And second: almost everything should be with the prefix "mini". Mini pizzas, mini burgers, mini rolls, mini hot dogs. There is practically no chance that a child in the excitement of the game will finish the adult portion - most likely, he will take a bite and immediately quit. Miniature portions will reduce the amount of undereating.

Are you in favor of healthy food? Cut into stripscelery and carrots . Children, of course, will not eat this - but your soul will be calmer.

If you want to surprise your guests, and you have a small budget for this, install the mini-versionchocolate fountain . Such a design can be purchased for quite reasonable money. It is very easy to assemble. You will also need special chocolate, which is heated directly in the bag in the microwave or steamed, and poured into the fountain. Put strawberries, marshmallows, skewers nearby - voila! – on the sweet table it will be the highlight of the program!

Duration

For children aged 3 to 7 years, the optimal duration of the holiday is 2-2.5 hours. Longer is already physically difficult for both children and adults. Children cannot keep their attention on something for a long time, so activities should alternate every 15-20 minutes, breaks are required.

It is better to start the holiday with active games, and at the end, by all means, make a disco.

Because after eating a cake, children necessarily release energy, which urgently needs to be directed in the right direction. If you also pick up all sorts of bright accessories in a Fix Price store: colored wigs, bright glasses, bracelet beads - the disco will become a hit that will take at least half an hour and will be remembered by everyone.

Music

Music should be played at the festival all the time, from beginning to end. Well, except for some special activities. Music sets the mood, sets the tone for the whole party. Now almost everyone has smartphones and tablets. One of your friends will probably have a portable speaker, ask to borrow it for a few hours. Feel free to upload the playlist to Spotify or YouTube. By the way, one more news: it is naive to believe that children love children's songs. In fact, they've been in love with Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake, Pharrell Williams and Bruno Mars since the age of three. So they don’t need to put on “A smile will make everyone brighter”, dancing to modern pop music will be much more interesting for them.

Decor

In Russia now you can find almost any scenery. True, to achieve a picture like from the page of a professional event decorator, you will have to spend a lot of money. So, fashionable paper decor (flowers, garlands, etc.) will cost a pretty penny, because you need a lot of it so that the room does not look dull.

If your budget is small, useBalloons . They can put the name of the child and the number indicating the age. Meter balls-numbers look very cool. Brilliant figures of impressive size look great in the photo and you can immediately see how old the child is. You can also buy regular latex balloons. Individually, they look lonely, and in bouquets of 5-7 pieces, excellent compositions are already obtained.

A small note: the design of the eventballs with helium - not the most budget option. There is a shortage of helium on the market now, and this gas has become very expensive. So if you buy a bunch of inexpensive balloons, remember that you will have to spend a lot on helium tanks.

Decorations can be made by yourself. On the mentioned site Etsy.com, ready-made "soup sets" on various topics are sold: "Frozen", "Cars", "Spiderman", "Paw Patrol", etc.

You buy a ready-made package with files that will need to be printed, cut, pasted. There will be stickers on bottles of lemonade, and garlands, and banners.

Activities

Children under 8 years old love to search for treasures: solve riddles, find clues and clues. Treasure hunting can be done in a variety of subjects, and you don’t need a lot of money for this. Children will be absolutely happy if the found treasure is chocolate "coins". The possibilities are limited by nothing but your imagination. The search for clues is a team work that unites very much. In addition, treasure hunting is very motivating for children to behave well, to complete tasks - they are interested in it.

If the budget is limited, and there is no money for some special effects and shows (soap bubbles, chemical experiments, etc.), activities from the “do it yourself” category are great.

There are sites that offer great DIY kits to create all sorts of things in 15 minutes, from superhero masks to fairy wings. Children love to cut, glue, paint, decorate everything with all sorts of colorful stickers. You just need to give them simple blanks, help a little along the way, they will create a craft that they will gladly take home with them. Such activities easily and naturally adapt to the theme of the party. For example, if you are having a space party, you can all paint a largecardboard rocket .

Present

Gifts are usually given at the very beginning. Make sure there is a special table for this. By the end of the holiday, the table is gradually filled with gifts, and at the end of the holiday you just take them with you. There is no need to open gifts in public. In order not to offend anyone, you will need to immediately read all the postcards - there is no time for this. Let the child be busy with his holiday, enjoy the moment. Gifts are a pleasant continuation of a birthday, a separate joy that you already experience at home.

Photo/video

If you want to get a good photo report from your holiday, you should not rely on yourself and your phone. Most likely, you will not be at all up to filming. Good children's photographers/videographers tend to be expensive and charge by the hour. However, you can meet on the forums with budding talents who need photos and videos for a portfolio - then the cost can be purely symbolic, but you must be ready to give permission to use your photos for promotional purposes.

Or ask one person from among the adult guests to be responsible for this particular part.

The end of the holiday

Do not delay the end of the party. After the cake has been served, children need to be entertained with a disco or sports games so that they “let off steam” - and we remind you that until the last minute the little guests should be under the control of an experienced animator. There is no need to hope that everything will somehow “go by itself” later. Everything will just go haywire. There is nothing worse than when, after a “carbohydrate overdose”, children rush about, tearing off balls and jewelry on the way, and the birthday boy’s mother runs after them, trying to calm everyone down and prevent fights and injuries.

If you understand that it's time to wrap up - just turn off the music, thank all the guests and say goodbye.

Happy holidays to you!

***
Nadya Makoeva

It is difficult to imagine today a children's birthday or other holiday without animators, it is they who set the tone for the holiday and make the child happy.
Most often these are cartoon characters, fairy tales, this should be an image that is familiar to the child. A simple clown costume has long been out of fashion, besides, it is banal, and sometimes even scares children. But this must be approached responsibly and seriously.

How to choose the right animator

First of all, you need to decide on the place of search for an animator. You can find a person by an ad in a newspaper or on the Internet. But this approach is unreliable, since it is not known what kind of person is behind the ad.
It is best to contact a professional event planning agency. The company's specialists will be able to offer some of the brightest and most popular characters that children will like. For example, sun-ekb.ru offers more than 30 characters for every taste. There are also modern cartoon characters - Rainbow Dash and My Little Pony, Dasha the Traveler, Puppy Patrol, and popular hit characters - Spider-Man, Elise Holon-Heart, as well as classic characters - clown, bunny, pirate, Indians. There you can select one or more animators.

The main thing is in the details

When ordering an animator, it is important to take into account every little thing, the availability and scenario of the program, you need to indicate the age of the child, the number of guests, the possibility of drawings and gifts for children. All this is done in advance. In order for the holiday to be as bright as possible and the children were delighted with the animators, several points must be taken into account:

• The most important thing is to choose the character himself. It should be familiar to children and attract attention.
• Costumes should be bright, made with high quality.
• The presence of a program for holding a holiday, if you have wishes, ideas, then you should not keep it to yourself. Each animator is a creative person and will listen with pleasure to the ideas, wishes of parents and include them in their program. Each child is different, so the approach should be appropriate.
• It is important to pre-arrange gifts and awards for children if competitions are held.

With this approach, the holiday will be successful, the children will have a lot of fun and will be satisfied. It is important to understand that if you turn to an agency for help, then professionals with extensive experience will be happy to tell you how to choose the right animator and advise on organizing a holiday. After all, the most important thing in this case is a contented and happy child.

If you do not want to spend a lot of time looking for a good agency, you can contact "Sunny Me" - they definitely know a lot about holidays and animators! They have been holding and organizing children's holidays for several years. Photo reports from events and reviews from parents are constantly posted on their website. Turning to them, we will 100% get a great holiday, moreover, inexpensively!