Event Evaluation

Portfolio: Event Evaluation (SHR6E037P~002)

Event atmosphere

Event atmosphere is a key aspect of live music management as “you can’t just plan your events by just taking care of the logistics and communication. You also must design a specific atmosphere” (unkown, eventplanner, 2024) to make a lasting impression on your audience.

A key strength of our atmosphere was the musicians stage presence, each artist showed great energy & confidence complimenting their great musical talent, this is important as timidness creates an awkward environment. Unfortunately, there was a small case of self-belittling.

Although the majority of Jasons set was amazing there was a problem with timing, this led to them re-starting the same song and worst admitting their mistake to the audience. “The mindset for a performance should be that everything you do is gold” (Feist, 2013) your responsible for re-assuring your audience and self-criticism will always have a negative impact.

This taught me that a musician’s performance will always be (somewhat) unpredictable but in future events I would keep more in contact & talk through any risk factors. A good idea would be to attend a few rehearsals where we can work on breaking attention and practicing recovery.

Box office

Another valuable aspect of a successful live music event is the box office. The box office ran very smoothly due to our efficient organisation; we placed a table just by the stage entrance making sure everyone had tickets before entering the venue. We prepared a list of online tickets to check bookings efficiently and a card reader alongside pen paper to account for any tickets purchased on the door. Shania had great customer service which is important as it makes a great impression as soon as you walk through the door.

Although Shania did a fantastic job working the box office, she was missed as the rest of the team had to pick up the pressure, especially as 3 out of the 5 members were performing. Therefore, I learnt how each member is vital in creating an effective team, if I was to manage this event again, I would hire someone outside the crew, offering them a free ticket or drink, to work the box office. This is a superb idea as it’s a cost-efficient way of spreading the workload.

security

In live music management security is a necessary factor to keep the venue, the artists and the audience safe. It is our duty to ensure a door supervisor is employed to provide “public safety, drug awareness, and specific skills for controlling entry to venues, managing crowds, and dealing with emergencies. Communication and conflict management” (Randle, 2025) to ensure everyone’s safety.

We provided an adequate level of security as the Library (pub) employed two SIA (Security Industry Authority) licensed door supervisor. Qualified by a provider such as the BIIAB (British Institute of Innkeeping Awarding Body) who has been qualified in first aid (St Jhon Ambulance/British Red Cross). Unfortunately, we did assume at least one member of the bar staff was also first aid trained as this is enforced by law.

It is useful to know that the pub and the Lending Room are owned by the same company but are two separate buildings. So, on evaluation I now realise we could have done more to provide better security as we shouldn’t have assumed that the venue would assist us with a SIA supervisor.

This taught me to never assume as this assumption could of have risked someone’s health and safety. Even though the library did provide door supervisors I believe, in the case of an emergency, the distance between the pub and the venue anything could happen.

In the future I would have contacted the venue prior to ask for a door supervisor at the venue not just the pub, I would also of double checked that the bar staff would be first aid trained.

Health & Safety

It’s a legal requirement for a live music manager to assess any electrical equipment, trip hazards, injury control and fire risks to guarantee health and safety.

Health and safety ran effectively due to our thorough risk assessment we provided all team members with; the risk assessment is a document containing potential risks and remedies used to mitigate them.

To do this you need to understand “a risk has two parts: the condition and the impact” (Feist, 2013) to give an example we found an amp obstructing the fire exit – this was the condition, this could impact the audiences ability to evacuate, to mitigate this potential risk we simply placed the gear in a more suitable place. We discovered a messy cable; this obstructed the walkway; to mitigate the risk we taped the cable down. We also noticed a spilt drink, this is a potential slip hazard; to mitigate this risk we cleaned the mess and placed a wet floor sign. Throughout the night we also checked fire extinguishers in case of a potential fires, lighting sockets to prevent over heating & enforced the venues “only plastic cups” rule to prevent harm from broken glass.

Unfortunately, we made an assumption about equipment testing; although everyone was made known prior the event we didn’t double check on the night. In future id examine all gear to ensure everything has been patch tested to further prevent any faults. This again, taught me to never assume.

Production

Production is a vital part of events management, a good ear, understanding the mix, sound system knowledge and great sound engineering makes a performance more enjoyable by maintaining clear sound to both artists and audience. A good lighting Technician engages the audience with striking visuals which showcases the musicians and produces dramatic effects. This creates a mood that matches the tone of the music.

On the day of the event, the production operated smoothly throughout, the quality of sound was clear and well balanced due to Kai’s (the technician) skills and experience. As for lighting, our use of warm tones & gradual transitions complimented the mood of indie folk while adding to the aesthetic of the decor we provided.

If I was to find a negative id say the lighting was predictable. If I was to do this again Id add focused lights, to give an example Id use a spotlight on Thomas Jason during his ballad, this would add diversity by enhancing vision while creating drama and emphasis. I learnt that variation is important, changes in the production create contrast and makes key moments stand out meaning a more interesting event.

Artists Liaison

Artist Liaison is a fundamental part of live music management, our job is to manage riders by providing any travel, catering and accommodation to guarantee “the artists are looked after on-site” (unkown, ukmusic, 2026).

We provided an acceptable level of Artist Liaison. Located near the stage is a green room, large enough to accommodate artists and equipment, we provided artists and crew with a venue spech that contains information on how to get there, where to park and even goes into detail on how to avoid bus lanes.

Unfortunately, as half of our management team were also our performing artists we decided to put our energy elsewhere as we where all happy with just having the green room & individually providing our own food, travel & hospitality.

Next time, for the sake of practice, id have had the artists create riders so we can plan travel, catering and accommodation, which is essential when hiring touring artists. This has taught me that artists riders help communication to the management team which helps them accommodate accordingly.

Stage Management

Stage Management is an important skill for scheduling the day, artist need to know timings in order to stay punctual and maintain good workflow throughout.

We did an excellent job of Managing the stage, in fact we even had extra time (before doors) to check equipment preventing any faults prior. It was all because of our advance which we distributed to artists and all team members. An advance is a document that gives all information on load in, soundcheck, doors, set times and curfew without this we could not have kept on time.

If I was to be critical, All I could say is the headliners set finished at 10:15, fifteen minutes later than scheduled. Next time Id move doors slightly earlier or cut breaks between sets, although it wasn’t much of an issue as we still had time for a stress-free load out. This taught me that adding flexibility into the schedule is a good way to account for any risks.

Online Marketing & Promotion

Promotion is a live music managers most vital skill, physical promotion and online marketing are useful ways to drive ticket sales.

The promotion ran very smoothly due to Shania’s poster which we used to create our Instagram & tick tock content. Using statistics from streaming analytics, audience research reports & cultural studies we understood that Instagram and Tick Tock are the two best online platforms for our target audiences age, gender, location and interests. The 49 tickets we sold online proves our social media marketing had great success, especially at this level of event, where it’s not uncommon to gain most ticket sales on the door. What also helped our progress was using not just the artists, but the whole team members and the Lending rooms social media account. W even got Bi Plus Leeds Social Group to market on their account. A key strength of our promotion was physical, we printed posters and flyers and displayed them around university’s and local businesses this helps as it further advertises to audiences that may never been targeted via social media.

Sadly, we didn’t market on other social medias, next time id use Facebook to market to the percentage of our older audience of Indie folk listeners. I believe this would have success as Facebook largest percentage of listeners are aged 25 – 34 (31%) & second largest are 55+ (24%).

Although we posted over several accounts we could of individual increased our quantity, we each posted around 2-3 times a week with either posts, reels or stories. In the future I’d try post 3-5 times a week as I understand this drives your reach by 12%, “the more you post in any given week, the higher your reach” (Lang, 2025). This taught me that limiting your platforms will affect your potential audience and being more consistent in your online marketing schedule will attract a larger audience.

Financial outcomes

Our financial outcome was successful: we sold 49 tickets for £5 each which gave us a profit off £245. Now what was peculiar is we only got 7 tickets on the door (OND), in my experience there’s usually a higher percentage of door sales at events of this level. This shows that are marketing had clearly created an incentive for people to buy tickets early. All together we sold 56 tickets which is only 28% of the lending rooms 200 capacity,

I do deem anything higher than our 30-ticket fresh hold a success but next time I’d further develop our online marketing & promotion plan in hopes of building a bigger interest, filling the space & doubling our profit. So adding up the online and OND tickets we gained a gross profit of £315

After the event we added up all expenses – the lending rooms £130 venue hire, the PRS £7.69 & the card readers ticket fee totalling in £2 – came up to the small amount of £139.69. We then took away the expenses from our gross profit which left us with £175.31.

As our artists technically were our management team, we had to add their percentage of the venue hire to their fee.

Headliner (£100.66)
2^nd support (£87.66)
1^st support (£100.66)

We ended up paying the 1^st support and the headliner £13 more as a team member was having money issues so Leo and Thomas financially supported us. In future Id make sure everyone was financially stable before agreeing to manage. I believe each team member who wasn’t performing should of paid the venue, this would separate the expenses and artist fees giving us a more realistic experience.

Bibliography

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