Task One: Research and Understanding

1. The Events Management Process

Events Management

To plan an event there are 4 stages:

Plan

Source

Manage

Measure

Planning stage

Planning is the first stage to creating an event. You need plan all aspects of the event for management right down to caterers.

The first step is to make sure there is an initial idea in place by researching and there are meetings throughout the process. Once the initial idea is in place then the cost will come next.

Through the planning process the management staff need to have been sourced, as they will be the one who will be planning throughout. Communication is key when planning.

Venue is key throughout the planning process. This is because different venues will have different equipment, which mean items might not have to be sourced when the planning gets put into place.

Sourcing stage

The sourcing stage in basically putting the plan into action. For example you would then ring the venue and ask if you can put the event on. If the venue is allowing the event then you would ask what equipment they have and if they will provided you with any staff, for catering to technical crew.  The cost of the venue would also be included in the phone call.

Legally requirements would also have to be planned and sourced as you can’t continue the event through the rest of the process.

Once the cast and crew have been decided then the process can be continued. An example of this would be if you where the stage manager you would then get your crew to go out and source the props.

The sourcing process can also come under the rehearsal process. One reason for this would be when the cast is rehearsing they miss out a prop then they would go out and find the appropriate prop.

Manage Stage

The measuring stage is the rehearsal process. This is when the cast and crew have been finalised and they start rehearsing the event.

When all job roles have been decided they would start rehearsing and the crew would start plotting. For example when the sound designer has been given the script then they would source the sound effects.

Also in the manage stage the event would happen.

Measure stage

The measuring stage is the overview.  All show reports have been collected and audience and client have reviewed the event.

 

2. Example of an Events Management Hierarchal structure

Hierarchy Structure

In order of importance:

Client-

The client is the person who wants to put an event but needs guidance on how to do it. The client would liase with the Events Manager.

Events manager-

The events manager would be in charge of the whole event and would work closely with the client. The events manager would check on all other departments to make sure they are all tasks.

Production Manager-

The production manager would be in charge of the production side, this includes the technical side through to the front of house team. They would liase with the events manager and the client if necessary.

Legal administrator-

The legal administrator is there to make sure that all the legal requirements are met. For example if the event is a show, that they have the rights to put on the show.

Administrator-

Administrator keeps count of all the spending within the company and is responsible for the employees pay. They would keep hold of the books and make sure all sales are right.

Budget manager-

Budget manger is in charge of the budget. Once the budget has been decided then they will delegate money to the managers and they will spend the money accordingly. The budget manager will have the overall spread sheet with all the money that has been spent and what money is left.

Stage Manager-

The stage manager would be in charge of the venue and the technical team. They would take charge in the rehearsal process. They would be also incharge of running the event on the day/night.   

Technical Team-

The technical team includes the sound designer and operator, lighting designer and operator, Assistant Stage Manager and Deputy stage Manager. The techncial team my also need to go into rehearsal and are needed for technical rehearsals as they are their rehearsal.

Marketing

Are in charge of selling tickets advertising and produce posters, programme and distribute them. Once a week ticket sales would need to be checked. Marketing would also be there on to day of the event making sure that everything was in place such as, Posters, Programmes and signage.

Front of house team-

The front of house team would not only be there on the night they would also be selling tickets.They would also be incharge of food and drinks and giving out programmes.

Costume Designer-

In the planning process the costumes designer should have an idea on what costumes needs to be designed and they would liase with the budget manager on costs.

Set Designer-

The Set Designer liases with the director and is in charge of everything which is visual and stylistic, including the set furniture and props. Also gives input and lightings and costumes, which also are talk about with the director.

 

3. Example of a generic Events Management Checklist

 

 

 A checklist is useful in many ways. This includes the planning process and on the day of the Event. It helps you keep organised and helps crew keep to there individual deadlines. On the night it would be a equipment checklist, this helps us keep an eye in the equipment and know that the equipment will be brought back from were we sourced it from. There would be at least three checklist which would be from the Front of House Team, Technical Team and Marketing Team and then the Events Manager would have a whole list.

 

Task Two: Applying My Knowledge

 

 

 

1. Example of Arley Hall calendar of events

 

 

 

 

Calendars are very important it helps you stay organised and keep to your deadlines. This calendar was specifically the Front of House teams and helped us keeps to our individual deadlines. As you can see it shows refreshment deadlines, car parking plans, when all has to be completed and when meetings are.

 

2. Example of Arley Hall teams minutes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 These are meeting minutes, these are taken everytime we have a meeting. They are in place to remind us what has happened and so that we don't forget what was happening. They are also in place if anyone misses a meeting, they can keep upto date and catch up with what they should have been doing. 

 

3. Arley Hall Legal documentation

 

This Documentation is the booking conformation for Arley this is just for us and it proves that we have booked the space for the event. It also shows the deposit of money we have paid sercures the event.

 

 

 

 

This document is the terms and conditions of Arley, this is in place to make us aware of task we need to do, an example of this would be 'if we use the kitchen and then we need to leave it they way we found it' if we didn't follow this we might be charged for not following rules.

 

 

 

4. Staffing and resource lists for Arley

 

 

These are resourcing list. These are in place to keep us organised and to be aware of what needs to be done. It also keeps me as a manager organised and I can delegate my roles easily when written on paper.

 

A staffing list is very important, it is used for keeping a check on the crew that are attending the event. This list wasn't my responsibility it was the Events managers responsibility.

 

 

 

 

 

 



Task Three: Practical Application

We are putting on a christmas show called 'A classical Serenade' We are putting this event on to raise money for the charity. We need to raise £3000 so we can travel to Moldova and help the children.

The role I was given was the Front of House Manager (FOH) This role includes organising my team who are John and Lucy. I also need to make sure that we have 'Things To Do List' I also need to voice my Idea's at the meeting. Planning is so important before the event. On the day and night of the event I am in charge of the whole event from greeting the audience to assisting the choir, Car Parking, Raffle and Ticket sales to selling tickets.

In the planning stages me and the FOH team had to check tickets sale and keep a check on it. We also had to source to refreshments such as Wine and nibbles. I think the way that the Front of house team dresses has a massive impact whe the audiecne are greeted by us. I also think that there should be some kind of dress code weathers thats blacks or cotumes which fits within the event.

On the night the Front Of House team will be incharge of the floats checking from how much was in the beginning to how much there was in the end. Also as the show starts you would then prepare the refreshments and drinks. You would have to make sure that there were enough drinks and refreshments for the audience each night.      


4th November


This is the first Meeting we had after the client brief. The group decided on deadlines and ashleigh said she would like everything to be ready for the 2nd of December from all groups. The marking team needed to start the campaign straight away due to the fact the posters need to be put around college, this would be achievable by making a list to keep them organised and to keep the group up to date. Me as front of house manager said that the Car Parking might be a problem one reason why I know this I have done past events at this venue. In this meeting I was told that by the 29th of Nov I had to have a list of what staff I am needed for the event for Car Parking, FOH serving refreshments and taking tickets and greeting the audience as they arrive. The way I came around this was by asking the first years, once I found out I then told Ashleigh (Events Manager).

I also got ask by the marketing team what signs I need for car parking. The reason why we need this is because there is generic car parking signs and the car parking isn't the right sign.




5th November


When the meeting started I got told off Ashleigh that the room that we are aloud to use is the staircase which is next to the gallery. Arley Hall staff will also be provided which is an added bonus. Another point which was needed is that we need to source the mince pies but they must be for free as we are working to a small budget. I gave this role to john as part of my Managerial role I have to delegate                            roles within my group. 

 8th November

In this meeting we first saw the intial idea for a poster, the poster looked good but the font I thought didn't stand out and didn'tfit within the theme. I suggested that maybe to tone down the font and make the font stand out. Also within the meeting I ask if john could drive the front of house team round to get refeshments and items of the table. We started to talk about car parking again and I said that disable parking can be an issue so I decided that at the front of Arley Hall we are going to make our own signs to put at the front of Arley. Front Of House have said that we want 5 people to help with car Parking and I told Ashleigh (Events Manager) that we need that ammount. The reason why I need 5 is because its on a country road and I dont want anyone on there own in the Dark. Also with Car Parking comes health and Safety, so in place ALL car parking staff will have torches and Hi-viz jackets.

12th November

Within this meeting I was pretty annoyed due to the fact John who I delegated the role of getting mince pies/cakes didn't ask anyone about them, so in replace of this I took it upon myself too ask any memebrs of the Production class to see if they could ask anyone to make cakes/Mince pies. Jordan's suggested that his dad could maybe donate either a raffle prize of maybe refreshments. The tickets prices where dissuced I said that the price should be quite high for a college event because of the quailty of the Chior and were the event is being held. The price I said should be £10.00 which should include refreshments and mulled wine or juice.

15th November

In this meeting I put forward that it is crutial that I have additional staff for Car Parking and to help with selling tickets at the door and refreshments. This would help the event run smoothly instead of limiting the staff to be doing all of the roles on the night. As the Front Of House Manager I want to make sure that there are managers of the individual roles so I have chosen John to be the head of car parking and Lucy to be head of tickets and refreshments and on the night I am just going to be overseeing everything on the night.

19th November

In this meeting I put forward that maybe the marketing team should have scrolls instead of full programmes, one reason for this is it save cost of printing. when I put my point across they didn't really like the idea as they said it would include the 'Thank yours', to over come this I said that we should have boards around Arley Hall saying that. This problem was easily resolved and we decided to go with scrolls.

22nd November

Front of house meeting only'

In this meeting we looked at the best price for refreshments, to help this process I ask Lucy and John to look at websites and then referee back to each other. Also in this meeting we looked at how we where going to dress the table and what we could use to fit in with the running theme. One way we could visualise this is by drawing out a plan which we could then give to the creative team, helping us and them to make sure that we could fit in within the codes and conventions.

26th November

In this meeting me, John and Lucy reported back about the refreshments, it was clearer to all of us that Iceland would be good for the mulled wine as it is 3 pound per bottle (70cl) this would mean that for 17  bottle which cost 25.50 would cater for 90 guests. overall We will need to cater for 120 guest including the choir. I came to the conclusion that not everyone will want mulled wine so juice would also be on the menu for refreshment, the juice was 3 pound for 2 litres which would cater for over 80 guest. When we first talked about having mince pies, we found it hard to find over 100 for cheap price, so Lucy (who on the night will be in charge refreshments) is going to ask Sophie from college to see if she can make mince pies.

3rd December

In this meeting Lucy ask Sophie from college to see if she can make mince and she said yeah, the only problem is that she can't make the amount we ask for as we didn't give her enough notice and she can only make 20 and they have to be cup cakes but Christmas style to still fit in with the theme. This just shows from a managers point of view is that I need to lead my team better and that I need to ask members of the public earlier. Luckily whilst the meeting was happening a member of the class said that they can make 30 mince pies. So in total at the moment we have 45 cakes. In total we need over 120 cakes or mince pies.

10th December

This meeting didn't take place as me and my FOH team went out and sourced all of the mulled Wine and Juice from Asda and Iceland whilst we where in Asda we realised that we needed napkins for the cakes and picked them up. As a Manager I should have had a list of what I needed to take. when we got back from sourcing all of the refreshments Mark our college teacher said that one of his family members would make 70 mince pies, this meant that would that there would be over 115 cakes and mince pies which is more that enough.

13th December

This was the last meeting,

In this meeting I spoke with the events manager Ashleigh and gave her my list of what is needed to be taken on the Van and what times the cakes would be arriving to college to take the venue. One reason why it is important that we need check lists is take make sure that all equipment used would be brought back from the venue. I had the list written down so that I could make sure even if me and my FOH crew were there anyone could get the equipment and put them in the van.

2. Evidence of the Arley Hall Event

 

 

STUDENTS from Priestley College have rallied together to raise money to help underprivileged children in Moldova.

The group of 16 students, aged from 16 to 20, have raised more than £1,200 to help buy vital necessities and aid for orphans living in the poverty-stricken country.
The production art and international baccalaureate students baked up a storm at a charity cake sale in October, raising more than £200.
But it was a night of music at Arley Hall that bumped their grand total up to £1,200.

With performances from the Bridgewater Singers and baritone Mark Edgington, the night was heralded as a success by the students.
Jordan Simpson, from Great Sankey, said: “It all went amazingly well and all our hard work has paid off.
“We raised more than £1,000 in one night so we hit our target for the evening.”
The students are now hoping to raise a further £1,700 and then plan to raise enough money to cover their expenses to travel to Moldova to help with teaching and construction in the country.

 

 

These pictures and text are from the Warrington Guardian. On the night of the event the marketing team arranged for the Guardian to come and visits to take pictures of the event. The reason for this is because we can more publicity and get the Charity known.

3. Budgeting and Costing's

 

 

 

 

 

This is the costing's that I put on the board for the refreshments. One reason why it is on the board is due to the fact that everyone can see what it costs and so the events management team can put it in the spread sheet. The mince pies and cakes are not on board that is because they are being donated but we still have to take into consideration that it will cost the maker of them and for the ingredients.

 

 

Task 4: Reflection

1. Arley Hall Reflective Evaluation

Positives

When putting on the Arley Hall Event there where many positives and there where also negatives. We managed to raise over 1000 pounds, which is an achievement in itself, and it all goes to a good cause.  On the night of the event everything ran smoothly and everyone pulled it together and worked closely as a team. Once the event had finished there where many compliments from the audience members about how friendly the crew where and they thought that car parking was a good idea and all the audience members felt happy from the moment they arrived at the event.  As the FOH manager I knew that it was my job to make sure that all the crew where friendly to all members of the audience and that everything was organised on the night and ran in an order. I felt that everyone that was there to help out from the first years had a clear understanding of what their roles where on the night and they knew how to do the job on the night. One reason how I knew this was I ask one of the crew from the first years and she said that she knew what she was doing start to finish. Another positive point was the food cost; this meant that by the end of the night nearly all of the food had gone which meant that the planning process of the refreshments went well.  As part of an agreement we had to Arley Staff to help us and they feed back they gave me and the FOH team was brilliant, they said that where were better than most FOH teams that come and Arley Hall. This positive feedback really made the FOH team very happy and proud of  what we achieved on the night and the Arley Hall staff are professionals. Two days after the event the Deputy manager from Arley Hall emailed and said how pleased she was with the team.

 

Negatives

Even-though there where many positives there were also negatives. There were mostly negatives leading up to the event. Organisational skills weren’t our strongest point; even though we had ‘To do list’ they weren’t in enough detail, if they were in enough detail maybe the planning process would have been a lot better. Me as a manger should have offered more responsibility to the FOH team instead of leaving most jobs up to me. Deadlines where a problem throughout all teams, not all deadlines were met, this included the cakes, there should have been no excuse about finding last minute cakes, in the industry this would not be acceptable. When we had our evaluation meeting it was brought to my attention that all team did not inform each other of what they were doing outside of class, this meant on the day of the event even though it ran great not every group knew what the other groups where doing. Another problem that we faced was that when the tickets where being sold the system really wasn’t working, this was because the information wasn’t being written down properly and as the events management team where working on that side of things when it came to the night Lucy didn’t really understand why we had that system in the first place. I can understand why the system was put there as it gave a professional look to the event as you had too ring the college, but having this system in college didn’t work as the cash office didn’t really have the time to be taking all the information down on the phone in such a small time. Another negative point about tickets sales was that the posters and flyers hadn’t been put out on time so they only had to weeks exposure time, this put pressure on us students to sell more tickets even thought we had a college of 2 thousand students and we only needed to sell over 100 tickets. One reason how we over come this was by the events manager Ashleigh went into teacher briefing and informed them about the event, which helped ticket sales.

 

When is came to packing for the event the checklist wasn’t in that much detail which meant that we missed equipment off the list, if it wasn’t for the fact there was a second mini bus coming back to Arley we wouldn’t have been give the opportunity to get the rest of the equipment. One way we could overcome this would be by making sure that we take the checklist more seriously and spend more time on the equipment list. The Raffle was important to the FOH but because there were only three of us we gave the responsibility the events management team. Communication wasn’t all that good in the planning process as the teams really didn’t speak to each other and when a team had a problem no one let the events management team know.

 

Future Improvements

Communication Skills

Communications is key when working in such a big team, we could make this better would be all having each others numbers and emails.

 

Lists

To do lists need to be in more details for example having the date and time the task was set for and when It needed to be handed in or created and who is responsible. 

 

Checklists

Checklists need to have more thought put in to them, an example would be instead of having writing the list as the manager, it would be better to give it to someone else to look over.

 

Budget Control

From the start I should have had a spreadsheet of the costs I was spending so it was easier when the event finished to see what money we had made.

 

Deadlines

In future I am going to use a calendar to clearly mark the deadlines that have been set and so that everyone can also be informed when the deadlines are due.

 

Roles and Responsibility

This would in tail that I make sure that I have a meeting with my FOH team and they all understand what roles they have been given on the day and night of the performance.  

Conclusion

Overall I personally feel that the performance ran smoothly on the night and had many positive comments from the audience. There were also many downfalls. I ever am chosen as FOH manager again I will ensure that my downfalls are correct; this would include the planning stages.