Welcome to my series of interview-based blogs spotlighting some of my favorite vendors.
They are talented, creative, responsive, and responsible: a pleasure to work with!
This post is dedicated to Alessandro Costabile of Kaleydo Entertainment - a Tuscany-based company specializing in creating unique events, bringing in fantastic expertise and capabilities in lighting, music, and entertainment.
Please introduce yourself!
I am Alessandro Costabile, and, together with my brother Marcello, founded Kaleydo Entertainment.
Our parents passed on their love for music to me and my two brothers and we all started playing at least one instrument at an early age.
I was born in Florence, where I still live with my beautiful wife.
Can you briefly walk us through your story - how you started and how you got to where you are today.
As I mentioned before, music has flowed in through our veins since my brothers and I were children. Over the years of studying musical instruments, we got to know some of the best musicians in the Tuscan landscape. Getting them involved in our project was the most natural thing that could have happened.
Kaleydo is the result of the internal split of our old entertainment agency. Marcello and I have been in the entertainment world for almost 20 years now but in 2018 we decided to create a company of our own that best reflects our way of being and doing. Thanks to our passion, hard work, and a fantastic team of experts, we can say, after a short time, that we are satisfied with the final result.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Fortunately, we have never faced major difficulties in our journey. Having an exceptional and trusted team of musicians, technicians, DJs and collaborators is certainly vital to maintaining tranquility. Our "behind-the-scenes" philosophy is to rely on well-structured internal organization and professionals who support our cause and carry it forward with pride.
It must be said that the pandemic has put us to the test. On an emotional level, it hurts to have lived every day witnessing many people who had to leave us because of this cursed virus. From business standpoint, we are now aware that 2020 will be remembered as the darkest ever. We are hopeful because of #postponedontcancel. This hashtag is of immense importance to us and to our entire sector, because postponements may allow us to recover some lost ground in autumn 2020 or more likely, in 2021.
A big unknown factor will be to understand if the new requests for 2021 will be in line with those of previous years. We are quite optimistic.
Kaleydo– what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
One of our biggest strengths is that we have a complete vision of every event. This guarantees harmony between our services and the work of the other vendors involved. Collaboration between suppliers is very important to achieve the common goal of a fluid event, without problems - an event that is perfect from a logistical and organizational point of view.
Another aspect that I would like to highlight is the ability to understand the customers, satisfy their needs by advising, when necessary, what is best for them and what is not recommended. Then listen, while placing at their disposal the famous "expertise" which is also highlighted on our website.
Finally, and this is perhaps our unique signature feature, is to be present, always, "on the field".
There is no event where my brother Marcello or I are not present.
We are there during the setup phase, to "kick-off" the works, throughout the event, and at the end of the evening. Human relationships are at the crux of what we do: we believe in being there for the customers, for our technicians, musicians, and for all of our other fellow vendors.
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
Although this moment in time is not among the most productive due to Covid-19, we are working hard on new projects. The ad hoc realization of structures in wood, iron, or other materials, for example, is a part of our work that excites us so much. Pinterest or Instagram are full of photos with fairy-light tunnels, and we are proud to say that we were among the first to create these productions in Italy!
Right now we are focused on being able to satisfy our customers who, due to the somewhat uncertain moment, are perhaps more afraid and consequently more demanding with their requests. The act of reassuring them, making them feel calm and understood is very important to us.
Despite the difficulties, there is a great desire here in Italia to go back to work, to create, to be busy with positive things. And we too are contributing to the restart of this sector. For this reason, Marcello, together with a team of other professionals, is on the board of FEDERMEP, the first association at the national level that represents all the professionals and companies in the "Private Events and Weddings" sector. We are looking forward to a bright future for the event industry. People need to celebrate the big, happy moments of their lives, and we love helping them do it!
