Events Management Process

The first stage of the events management process is the planning stage. It will involve putting togther an objective (the aim of the event) and the formation of deadlines to help control time management. Then the production team need to discuss the Who? What? Where? and When? concepts. This is important because it needs to be clear for everyone what is happening to avoid confusion. The date and time is especially important in getting an audience - hopefully a full one. The age at which the event is aimed at will be considered when setting an appropriate time / day. e.g. children's wont be at 9pm on a Monday night.

The organisers need to know where the event will be and whether it is suitable. There will be a max. audience number which affects the planning. 

The next stage is research. There needs to be research to ensure the event is safe and not copyrighted / is lawful. There must be research done into the location e.g.max audience numbers, how long they have the venue for etc.  Effective research is important to pull of a good, professional event. 

Equipment is important because usually things will need to be hired in for the event or borrowed - everything will need sourcing. 

Health and Safety is a critical element in everything involving events management. If something is done incorrectly or not thoroughly enough, the organisers may find themselves facing hefty fines.  Part of the objective must be to follow the law to ensure the safety of staff, the public and anybody else from coming to any harm. Safety of the workers / audience is the most important thing for a manager to consider. Measures must be put in place e.g. wearing hard hats and gaffa taping wires down / fire exits shown clearly. 

 Risk assessments are an important part of the H&S element and must be carried out thoroughly For example, if there is a trip hazard – the equipment (cables) can be gaffer taped or moved if possible. 

Staffing is also important. There might be a lot of jobs to do so the appropriate number of staff has to be planned.  Depending on the size of an event, some of the duties and responsibilities of certain staff may be separated and shared out between other team members / crew e.g. The Manager may take on some of the responsibilities for the front of house.

Managing is another stage, which involves responsibilities being given out and putting into practise what has been planned. Managers need to organise things like briefings, advertising, signage, insurance, requirements, security and a budget. All of these are important because nothing can be forgotten about because there could be serious consequences. Other elements are first aid, disability parking, setting up (get ins and get outs)

The last stage is the post production stage. including the get out. All hired equipment has to go back to the company it came from safely which will require care. Lastly the final brief / evaluation is done to reflect back on how the event went and how to improve next time. 

Hierarchal Structure

Event coordinator: The events coordinator sits at the very top of the hierarchy; therefore they have the highest level of authority and are responsible for managing all staff members below them. It is their role to coordinate the detailed work required in order to ensure the event runs smoothly and according to plan. They work in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors and can work for event management companies, in-house for an organisation or freelance. Coordinators may manage events such as festivals, conferences and promotions. The role of event organiser is usually hands-on and often involves working as part of a team. Event organisers must be able to complete a wide range of activities requiring clear communication, excellent organisational skills and attention to detail. They must work well under pressure, ensuring the smooth and efficient running of an event.

Event Organiser: responsible for a great deal of the important tasks, such as choosing the location, organising transportation, catering and the finance side e.g.budgets. They need a set of skills including good verbal and written communication and the ability to keep calm under pressure. 

Event Manager:  responsible for all team members and there to help their employees if they need it or have any problems. 

Event Assistant Manager: Assists the Manager with any jobs or errands that need carrying out. They may also make phone calls to people who can help advise or help with research. On some occasions they may be responsible for the crew, if for example the manager is busy, the assistant will tell the crew what their job is.

Artistic director: hires the directors and designers which is a big job because they must have confidence that the people they employ will achieve high standard results. They produce the initial brief for all departments involved in the events management process. They need good communication to contact their team. 

Ticket sales manager:  responsible for all ticket related issues, including designing the tickets, printing, data entry, organisation of the tickets and much more. They have to promote the event and believe in it in order to make a sale.  

Catering Management: The catering manager is in charge of hospitality and ensuring guests are treated well during the event. 

Lighting Operator: The Lighting Operator is involved in all rehearsals and plotting sessions. Sometimes they write their own cues and operate the lighting desk on the night of the performance. They can sometimes be responsible for setting up and shutting down equipment at the start / end of the show. 

Sound operator: Like the Lighting operator, the sound operator operates the sound desk (Mac – Qlab) on the night of the performances. 

Director: has overall control of the production, liaising with the designers to create the style and concepts necessary to the production. Directors are responsible for the entire cast and working with them. 

Production Manager: Overall control of the staff ensuring they are trained in a safe working environment. They set up the Risk Assessment, liaise with directors and designers over budgets and designing deadlines and oversee all ordering of materials.          

            Stage Manager (SM): Has overall responsibility for the stage management team and watch the rehearsals and                   run the technical rehearsals with the production manager. The stage manager is in charge of the safe storage and return                of props, sets, costumes and furniture.

Set Designer: creates the visual and stylistic elements of the sets, furniture and props. They will build a scale model of the set, produce a ground plan and drawings to help others to visualise the ideas in the design. They will also oversee the painting and building of sets.

            Props Master: In charge of all props within the budget and keeping them in a good condition. 

                 

            Lighting Designer:

The lighting designer creates the lighting settings for the whole event. They decide on the appropriate types of lights, positions for the lights, auxiliary equipment, effects and other specialist equipment.

           Front of House/Box Office Manager: Responsible for everything outside the auditorium, i.e. looking after                the audience. They sell / check tickets and sell programmes and refreshments. 

               

           Sound Designer: designs the overall sound for the production which may be bought, recorded or sourced. They               also choose the positions of the speakers and look after the auxiliary equipment and have to make sure the quality of                   sound is at a good standard in all situations.

                                          

          

An Events Checklist

Timeline and checklist for event planning from AshleighG

Calendar

This is an example of the over all calendar of the event. On it are deadlines which I had to stick to to ensure I did not fall behind and things werent left until the last day. Deadlines such as my initial designs had to be done by the 20th.

Team Minutes

We had meetings every week to stay on top of our deadlines / the planning process. This was good because everyone knew where we were up to and what was happening. But I think it would have been less time consuming to just have little meetings in our individual teams (e.g. technical team seperate to front of house) We recorded minutes so we had written documents as to what was said so we could look back to confirm something. 

Legal Documentation

Legal documentation is important because it ensured we were protected in the health and safety element and that everything had been done by the law. The risk assessment shows how the risks / hazards were dealt with. 

Evidence of the Arley Hall Event

Here is the news paper article that was written for us by the Warrington Guardian on the night of the concert.

On the night:

Our raffle table.

Front of House Box Office.

Easels with the names of those we had to thank for the raffle prizes.

TV screens playing our Moldova video

Newspaper article.