A Hierarchical Structure of the roles played in an events management team
Production Manager
The Production manager is responsible for the smooth running of the process.They must insure that every aspect of the event is in order, overseeing every department. They must be certain that everyone working on the project is trained correctly and full filing responsibilities. Furthermore the Production manager is heavily involved in communicating with the Legal team, insuring that the project meets with local authority guild lines. For example alcohol licensing as these restrictions can impact heavily on the desired revenue. The production manager also overseas each meeting which takes place, arguably they play one of the most important roles as they piece each part of the event together. As I am the production manager for the Centenary event It was my responsibility to insure that we had our venue confirmed. This included making site visits and meeting the owners of the venue. Furthermore it is my job to work with legal on solidifying both a licensed bar attender and a temporary alcohol license. Finally I am in charge of leading each meeting, this means I have to be up to date with the agenda and listen to what each department has to offer.
Events Manager
The events manager's role is to over look the whole process in terms of creating and planning. Liaising predominantly with the creative team to develop the strongest possible idea. Further working with the production manager to oversea the progress on each department. Its is important that the Event manager is up to speed with everything that is happening in the creative process as they are often used to communicate across departments via the production manager.
The Creative Team:
Director
The director is the creative decision maker. Choosing what happens when and why. The director works closely with the rest of the creative team in order to channel a clear vision and theme for the event. The director also works a lot with the Production manager in terms of logistics and Design.
Producer
The producers role is to find initial funding for the event and piece together each department. They work with each department closely, insuring that everything is running as is should be.
Designers
The designers create the overall aesthetic of the event. They take the directors vision and the producers budget. Creative posters, flyers, programs, logos ect. The designers also work with the set designers and marketing, channeling a clear and consistent vision for the piece.
Writer
Working with the rest of the design team the Writer refines the ideas and comprises clear story/stories/Journey for the event. The writer can also be known to oversea the wording of marketing material such as Flyers and Posters.
The creative team -
The creative team decide and manage the theme which runs through the whole event. Making decisions about everything that is deemed as ‘Creative’
The Design Team -
Working on everything that needs to be specifically designed for the event. Aiming to create a strong and familiar public image alongside Marketing.
Marketing and Promotions-
They have a huge responsibility in terms of the whole process as they are in charge of making people aware of the event. They must use a variety of different resources in order to reach many different demographics. It is there job to make people turn up.
Legal-
The legal team are responsible for managing everything the event requires in terms of complying with policies and restrictions put into place by local authorities. They must complete required contracts. Furthermore they must work with logistics to make sure audience capacity and health and safety in contractually followed.
Logistics-
The logistics team are in charge of the technical equipments being transported safely, along with the welfare of the cast and crew. They must also comprise a timescale for the event and insure that everything works like clockwork.
Technical Team-
The technical team must oversea everything in terms of lighting, sound and set. They are responsible for setting up equipment and using it within the show.
Accounts -
The accounts team manage the money. They are responsible for for setting a budget and insuring that it is followed by each department as the production process is carried out. without the accounts team, it would be near impossible for the event to keep to budget. It is a vital that the team is efficient and accurate.
Measurers-
This is an evaluative role within the company. The Measurers are responsible for reviewing the event and looking at how it ran. Where could improvements be made next time? Where there possibilities for more revenue to be made. Measurers also look at the efficiency of how to show/event is moved out of the venue, they must look at methods of packing up and moving the show out. Cleaning and storage is another element. They work closely with logistics in terms of working on making the company more efficient with every event.
What defines a Performing arts event?
Events companies can run a variety of different events including theatre performances, music festivals, gigs, club nights, private parties, open mic nights. The list goes on. In order to operate efficiently the company must adapt to cater specifically to each event. Each department is responsible for bringing something new to the table each time, in particularly the design and creative teams.This will maintain a strong public image in order to sustain a steady and loyal audience. The events could result in a variety of different ways, this all depends on the variables.
Plumb and Sons: Fresh meat and poultry and the club night
Our event, Plumb and Sons: fresh meat and poultry is an immersive theatre experience based in a victorian style butchers. We are using the centenary of the start of WW1. We aim to take our audience members back to 1914 and remember the goodbyes that were said. We are doing three performances in one day, there is a 50 person audience capacity for each show and we are charging £10 for each ticket. The venue is incredibly atmospheric and relates directly to the post victorian world we are aiming to create. The venue has an old shop front and the interior is cosy but period in its decor. Creating a piece of immersive theatre would have been tricky to pull of in a plain church hall or studio as we would have to find additional funding for lighting and props. This additional expenditure would have had a knock on effect in terms of the revenue we wish to generate from the fundraising event, further communicating the importance of venue. The W Plumb venue is also accessible from one tube and one over ground station. This means that audience members will be able to easily locate and vacate the venue frequently. The venue is already equipped with a sound system, this is really beneficial because if this was not the case a large part of the technical teams time would be taken up by transporting and fitting the appropriate equipment. What is even more beneficial about W Plumb is that we are able to (as i mentioned before) run three shows in one day, This means we can have a total audience of 150 people over the three 60 minute time slots. Through changing this variable we have tripled our ticket sales.
The club night will be held in a club in angel, next to the tube station. which like Plumb and Sons allows people to come and go easily. However due to the time of the event going from 9pm until 4am we could find less people are keen to stay late due to most public transport finishing at around 12. Despite this we are aiming our night at people aged 18+ meaning most people will be keen on the idea of a late finish. Furthermore we have decided to place the event on the last friday of the school term before the christmas holidays. If we had placed the event at an earlier date a lot of our contacts would possibly still be away at university therefore we our using this variable to our advantage by placing it on a prominent date at time we know the maximum amount of people will be attending.
In terms of staffing for both the club event security, bar staff and the clear up is included in the £500 price tag of the event. This means us as an events company will be running the night. This is something which we have carefully considered as a team as we are trying to minimize our outgoings in order to make money. The entertainment factor will be supplies by both Sacha and Cameron as they are DJ’s. This means we have complete control over the atmosphere of the event and can cater to our audiences taste. It is also beneficial in terms of profit as if we were to hire entertainment such as a DJ we would be paying a £30 hourly rate which would take £210 out of the money we make from entry fees. Another variable which could effect our event would be how we market it. If we marketed our event as a ‘Motown and funk night’ we would attract a completely different group of people than if we decided to go with a ‘Grime and hip hop’ night. This would directly effect not only the kinds of people who would turn up but also the atmosphere of the event. The venue has a capacity of 250-300 people meaning this is a larger scale event. By choosing this venue we are creating a far less personal event than Plumb and Sons. This is an obvious but important demonstration of how a variable can shape an event without it effecting the atmosphere i in a positive or negative way.
Relating this back to out Plumbs and sons event, the kinds of people we wish to attract are older richer people. If our tickets were priced at £5 instead of £10 younger people would be more inclined to come along.However we are looking at attracting people who will spend money on the bar. Therefore we have chosen more mature subject matter and a more sophisticated theme. The Plumb and sons event will be again, staffed by us as an events team. Due to licensing we have to have a licensed bar attender present in order to be able to serve alcohol. This means that we are having to hire a Bar attender for the evening. If we didn’t do this then we would be unable to serve alcohol making which would have an effect on ‘party like’ atmosphere and directly hit out ability to generate more profit from bar sales. All of these variables effect the event and I think have all been carefully thought through by the team.
November 12th - Confirm the lecture theatre is booked. This is vital as its the only venue would be able to use. Moreover its free.
November 14th - Gus Will create the Facebook event and send invites out to all the people we are in contact with. This is really important so we get people to know about the event early on.
November 19th - We must have a completed poster up and around our local community as soon as possible. The poster design will be approved by the whole company. We are looking for something that looks professional, festive and informative.
November 21st - The Approved poster must be printed and distributed around the school and in local schools and cafes. We have to make sure the poster is approved by reception in terms of distributing it around the Brit school.
November 24th - Tickets will go on sale. Every member of the company must ensure that they are updating social media frequently to make sure enough people know about the event.
November 26th - A meeting will be held to discuss the refreshments which will be sold in the event. we must come up with an organized list so that finance can go away and find the most cost effective way of supplying everything.
- An additional meeting will discuss the logistics of the event. Specifically how we will lay the cinema out? who will be doing what such as selling refreshments and checking tickets? we will also look at what equipment is required and who will operate it.
The logistics, Technical and creative team will c create plans to go forward. This will include lists of everything that is required to be bought, donated or rented.
November 28th - The first of three ticket sale checks. This allows us to ensure we are selling the event to people. Keeping an eye out early means it wont be a last minute struggle to get ticket sales up.
December 2nd - Flyer distribution will take place outside local primary schools at the end of the school day. We will also have people distributing flyers at Brit. Personally asking people to buy tickets will make them feel more obliged, especially people we know.
- The creative team will place an order for the required refreshments. This will be delivered on December 11th at 1pm.
December 3rd - Following a ticket sale check we will hold a meeting to discuss weather our promotion techniques are effective enough. This will allow us to find different ways to market the event if ticket sales are not exceeding our expectations.
December 4th - Year 10 and 11 have an assembly on thursday mornings. As they are our target audience we will attend and promote our event. This will ensure that every single year 10 and 11 has heard about it.
December 5th and 8th - Ticket checks will happen on both these days. It means we will be well aware of how much we need to push the show over the days leading up to the event.
December 9th - As a company we will distribute flyers again, this time in different locations around the community. This will be our last attempt to do person to person promotion.
December 10th - There will be an equipment and logistics check in the lecture theatre. This is so we can ensure we have the correct number of chairs, the equipment is working properly and we are complying with all health and safety. Doing this makes sure there are no disasters on the day and we can work efficiently to give our audience a good feeling about Bridge Theatre.
December 11th - At 2pm the refreshments will arrive. The company will collectively set up the space following the logistical plans put in place aiming for a 4.30 start.
