
When EJ Oelling, vice president of ABX for software company 6sense, was planning an event on a golf course in Texas, she thought carefully about the flow—and realized there could be a slightly awkward moment as the stage switched from the live band to the DJ. “I needed a way to distract people from the stage during that transition,” she remembers. “We’re always trying to push the envelope to make memorable moments, and thought: ‘What can we do that’s different?’”
Enter: drone shows.
Luckily, the venue had worked with a drone vendor before, with whom Oelling and her team quickly met to begin storyboarding the idea. “That idea of creating a distraction—and a real moment—is what drove us,” she says. To further the idea, the team used Klik SmartBadges that pulsed to the beat of the music, which got everyone to look down as the drones ascended into the sky. “We were able to choreograph that movement in a really cool way,” Oelling says of the surprise-and-delight moment. 6sense's drone show spotlighted the company's mascot, Revvy.Photo: Courtesy of 6sense
Drone shows have surged in popularity in recent years. But if you’re an event professional looking to use them, it can be a bit intimidating to know where to start. To help, we asked Oelling and other event professionals who have used drones—along with the president of one of the country’s preeminent drone companies—to share some of their biggest tips.
1. Understand the storytelling power of drone shows.
Bernard Ozarowski, president of Pixis Drones, remembers the first time he saw a drone show, before he worked in the industry. “There was an NBA logo 30 stories high in front of the Statue of Liberty. I’m a lifelong Knicks fan, and to see something that big made me feel like a kid again,” he recalls. “I looked around at the NBA executives I was standing near, and I saw the same look of childlike glee in their faces.”Ozarowski quickly realized the power of drones as a storytelling device, and eagerly joined the Pixis Drones team. “I think a lot of people viewed drones as a fireworks replacement in the early days, and of course they can do those sort of large community event-type of things,” he says. “But they also bring so much more to the table—artistically and creatively. You’re able to give people a really emotional experience.”
Eric Wielander, vice president of strategy and creative for creative agency Eventique, recently produced two influencer events that included drone shows. “There is a grandeur of telling a story that lives in the sky, a space that is otherwise untouchable and unreachable,” he points out. “This has been unattainable terrain until fairly recently—so while we're seeing an uptick in drone shows, we're in a moment where they're exciting to see and we're a ways from entering a saturation point.”
2. Carefully think through your storytelling.
“When it comes to the show itself, tell a story,” advises Heath Rudduck, chief creative officer of PR agency Padilla. “You have an incredible three-dimensional canvas above you, so bring some theater. That means art direction is key. Don’t try and make it too complicated.” 
At Pixis Drones, the process starts with a kickoff call between the creative team, client services, operations, and flight teams. “We like to do a lot of back and forth and create a storyboard, then we take those images and turn them into drone form,” Ozarowski explains. “We’ll revise until you’re excited about it, and then we’ll take that animation and sync it to music, spoken words, a speaker, or anything else.”
One thing that’s crucial to think about, he notes, is transitions. “What you don’t want is to have an image, and then the drones turn off and reposition for 20 seconds, then there’s another image, rinse, repeat. You want to keep people engaged.”
For the New York Giants’ 100th anniversary, for example, Pixis Drones depicted Super Bowl XLII’s famous “helmet catch.” With the drones, “We showed Eli Manning throwing the ball, then we stayed with the ball in the air as it flew over MetLife Stadium and had audio of the play being broadcast—all keeping the audience engaged as the drones repositioned to become David Tyree making the catch.”
3. Safety is crucial.
Drones have unfortunately been making headlines in recent months after an accident at a Christmas light show in Orlando, where a drone flew off course and struck a 7-year-old boy in the face and chest. Ozarowski—whose company was not involved in the incident, and who did not want to speculate about what went wrong—stresses the importance of safety, particularly when choosing an event location. “There are some locations where we’d tell you, ‘No, we can’t do proper safety in this spot,’” he notes.Essentially, drones work with something called geofences, which Ozarowski describes as “an invisible net in the sky.” If a drone hits the soft geofence at the perimeter, it gets a signal to return home, he explains. If for some reason that doesn’t work, the drone hits the hard geofence and stops working entirely. Drone vendors also calculate things like tailwinds, elevation, and effects of gravity to build a safe perimeter.
“There are a lot of cool locations we can bring to life,” he says. “But occasionally, it means we need to spend a little more time toward getting a road shut down, or some extra budget for security to make sure the area where we’re flying is cordoned off.”
4. Work with a reputable drone vendor.
Drone vendors shouldn’t be afraid to answer safety questions head-on, adds Ozarowski, who suggests asking questions like: “‘What is your emergency plan?’ ‘How do you address these sorts of issues?’ ‘What are your standard operating procedures?’ Make sure you’re able to have these conversations in an open and honest way.”His advice for choosing a vendor? “Always pick the one who says the safest things. Pick the one who wants the biggest safety perimeter, the one who is most concerned about road shutdowns—because that’s how you ensure an event has a spectacular moment and no stress for you, as the planner.”
“Do your research and work with a seriously reputable team,” agrees Rudduck. “There can’t be any shortcuts, especially because you have a brand’s reputation attached to the show. Just as a damp squib can ruin a pyro display, so too can a stray piece of technology.”
Beyond safety, Wielander considered two key elements when vetting the drone vendor he ultimately chose: Whether they had experience flying shows in the markets he was looking at, and whether their design team had ideas for the show they wanted to put in the air. “There are more significant nuances when running a drone show—the stakes are greater than whether or not an AV vendor has worked in a particular venue,” he explains. Eventique produced Clarins' Double Serum Launch Event during F1 last fall. The concept for this event was to create a watch party for a drone show that would visualize Clarins' Double Serum moisturizer and bring the brand to life in the air, with the Austin, Texas, skyline as the backdrop.Photo: Courtesy of Eventique
5. Recognize what’s possible within your budget.
The cost of drones can vary wildly depending on the scale of the show. Oelling, for example, originally wanted to display a QR code with drones—until she realized just how many drones that would require. “The vendor was able to build the story with us based on the budget we had and the time we wanted to fill,” she says, estimating she ended up with 200 to 400 drones. “It’s OK to start small; it can still create that special aha moment if you really figure out the purpose of the drones, rather than adding them as an afterthought.” Ozarowski agrees, noting that his team sometimes works with just 100 drones on smaller events like weddings, all the way up to several thousand for larger events and big brands. “It’s kind of like pixels on a television, where the more drones we have, the more we can do with the images,” he explains. “But we bring the same level of commitment to every show.”
Adds Wielander: “We're still in the early stages of drone show activations, so if your show isn't utilizing a large number of drones and has a ‘low resolution’ effect, you're likely to get away with it for now—but sooner than later, those shows are going to look basic and archaic. Work with your partner to agree on the right number of drones to effectively get the visual and detail your story will need.”
6. Don’t neglect the guest experience on the ground.
A positive drone show experience, of course, goes beyond just the display in the air. “If you've come to a decision that a drone show seems like the best format to illustrate a brand reveal and be a main feature at your event, first of all, never lose sight of the fact that the guest experience on the ground still has to matter,” Wielander says. Some things to think about? Other than safety, think about sight lines, and timing your event so it’s dark enough for the drones to make a major impact, notes Oelling. “Look into sound ordinances, because you really want music to go along with the show to tap into all the senses,” she adds. Pixis Drones' 500-drone show for Paris Hilton's 11:11 Media launch garnered over 2.5 million views and 170,000 social engagements. Watch a video here.Photo: Courtesy of Pixis Drones
7. Leverage content for social media and beyond.
“If you're seriously considering the investment, make sure you or your client has a plan on how to reach a wide audience with the drone show content,” advises Wielander. “You're likely producing a show for a limited audience on the ground, so to get the most value out of the event, the show has to get pushed out by the audience and brand. The savvier the story in the drone show, the better.”Rudduck agrees, noting that from a PR perspective, video is by far the best way to capture a drone show. “It’s a living, moving display of aerial brilliance that deserves more than a snap,” he says. “And I’d also suggest capturing aerial video via a drone, which adds a whole new incredible dimension.”
For a lot of clients he works with, Ozarowski sees the events teams collaborating with their company’s marketing and sales teams—which can sometimes make the budget stretch further. “We make social reels for clients as part of their packages, for example, which means the drone shows can be leveraged on social media, on a website, in newsletters,” he says. “A lot of times, drone shows are used as a way to celebrate something, and they can be a great value-add for a lot of different departments.”