Rationale
Within this rationale I will be presenting the process in which my group, Intertwined Events, used management techniques to organise time management, finances, contingency plans, production, and marketing and publicity for our event on the 12th of march 2026.
Our event is Zoe Cures Headliner at The Attic, with cohesive folk supports, Aaron Brookes and Nico Paul. We have planned an event intended to provide intimacy and ambience to compliment the atmospheric folk music from our chosen artists.
Time management
“For smooth event implementation, planners must know how to manage their time as well as they manage an event. This is a skill that many individuals lack despite being proficient at planning events”. (Allen, 2009).
For a successful project it is imperative to have an efficient time management plan. As a team we have divided the time management plan into two sections; the projects lifecycle overall, and the timing on the day. We had regular weekly meetings to keep up to date with workflow and stay on track. We have made sure to give ourselves a month of planning and two months of promotion, as this project will have a longer lifecycle to competently execute all areas of responsibility. The responsibilities of event planning have been split up amongst the group to speed up the process and ensure all areas are paid attention to as to not waste time by working on one aspect of the event at a time and do “what matters most when it matters most” (Allen, 2009). For example, because I have had experience with organising my own promotional material in the past, I oversaw marketing and promotion which includes constructing an EPK and poster for the event, as well as ideas for other forms of promotional material. Grace has been tasked with Finances, and arranging a costings chart for the event because of her prior experience with band finances, Will and Dane oversee event management and production for the event, and Hollie oversees artist and venue liaisons. Each member has been picked for specific reasons and experiences with their task area in the past. For example, Hollie has been chosen for artist liaisons as she has a strong sense of charisma and works at the attic and so can bridge the gap between the venue and artists, as well as answer the artists questions and requests with a better sense of judgement and understanding from the venue.
Communtication Plays a significant role within our group work, and when discoursing with our chosen venue. we made sure to conduct ourselves with professionalism when in correspondence over email. We began our active process through reaching out to The Attic after a group meeting in which we discussed which venue we would like to use for this event. We chose this venue after researching grass root venues in Leeds. “The Attic is a community-focused, multifunctional and creative space in Leeds City Centre” (Luanchpad, 2024). We found “community focused” attractive as it corresponds with our values as a group for this event. Within this meeting we also moved on to discussing which artists we would like to ask to perform, as we believed having these considerations in place would save time in the process overall. Within these meetings we also oversaw each-others work to make sure we agreed with each group members written messages, emails, and decisions, as a group. After hearing back from the events manager of the venue and pencilling in a date, the 12th of march, we planned a group meeting to write an invitation to the artists over email, that everyone felt conducted us in a desired manner. Over the Christmas break we made sure to keep up to date with our weekly meetings by arranging Zoom calls and sharing information on a group chat. When our artists confirmed that they could play, we reached out to The Attic to consolidate the 12th of march. With our efficient use of time management, we could use this information to collate an advance at an earlier stage, which aids in our professional image. We produced an advance that hold information such as the phone numbers of all those involved, including artists, sound technicians, and members of staff at the venue, as well as other contact details, a rider and production requests for the event. We worked hard to collect this information early on to give us more time as a group to work out what we are missing from the advance, and iron out any questions or technical requirements me may have for the venue and artists.
The plan for timings on the day starts with collection of the equipment from the conservatoire at around 14:00 and drive to the venue to arrive at 14:30 to arrive at 15:00. We will set up equipment between 16:00 and 17:00 as there is a sound curfew until where we are not allowed to make loud noise in the venue. Arriving 2 hours prior to sound check gives us plenty of time to set up not only the stage plan but also carry out our seating plan before the artists arrive for load in at 16:00. The first soundcheck will be Zoe Cure at 17:00. To ensure that we have enough time to soundcheck each artist and fit in a contingency plan for soundcheck, we have given 3 hours between the artists between 17:00 and 19:15, starting with the heavier bands first, for example drums will take longer to set up and check. There will be a half hour allowance of time after sound check that we can either run over into, if need be, or to use as a break before the gig to do our final checks, if any. The artists will also need a break at this time to have food and preparation time. Doors for the gig are at 19:30pm, and the first performance, from Aaron Brookes, will begin at 20:00pm. Between acts there will be a 15-minute break so that the audience can get a drink, and we and the artist can set up and prepare for the next act. After the final performance we will pack down. We have been given a curfew at 23:00 so we will begin packing down straight after the final set, from Zoe Cure. The equipment will be packed into the car by the whole team and store it overnight at our homes ready to take back to the conservatoire at 09:00 on 13th march.
Having checked over the advance within our appendix, I have found an error stating that Aaron brooks sound check will go on until 19:55. I have brought this to the attention of the group, and we have corrected this to 19:15. This mistake has taught us as a team to take extra care in proofing each-others work so that we can keep on top of small errors in the future and maintain a sense of professionalism.
Production
Whilst researching artists, we came across another artist who had performed at the attic before and took inspiration from their stage set up. Eva Kiss, an indie artist in Leeds, had an unplugged show which she filmed at The Attic in September 2025 (EvaKiss, 2025). Their set up was placed in the middle of the room with the audience sitting around the performers much like a setting that resembles an “in-the-round-stage” (Backstage, 2023). We found that this created the intimate setting that we envision for this event and decided we would like to do the same. We have conducted a substantial risk assessment on our venue of choice. “The primary step in risk management is identifying the potential hazards that may occur during an event” (Hartanto, 2023). The risk assessment is essential to making sure the event runs smoothly and safely, so that the audience can enjoy themselves without the possibility of a hazard. For example, we have thought about how the change of seating plan might affect the audience, or those sitting on stage on the sofa’s as they might have a falling risk. To prevent this risk, we have planned to put visible tape on stage to mark the line so it can be seen in the dark.
In terms of hospitality, we are repping the event and managing the door ourselves on the night. This will save money from hiring someone and allow us to meet our guests as they arrive, creating that intimate atmosphere right from the start of the night. We have booked the green room to give our artists a space to relax and keep their belongings, as well as extra equipment and cases. We have decided that we will not provide a rider, however the venue has agreed to provide the artists and their bands with one free drink each at the bar that we have paid for in advance from our own expenses. We have also requested water jugs with glasses for the artists and audience members. For an event this size in a grassroot venue, this is the standard for artist hospitality in Leeds based on experience that myself and others in the group have gained first hand with their own bands. We have requested an engineer and to use the in-house PA system at the venue, as well as the stage lights, making sure to list our technical requirements in our event advance. For example, we have requested various light changes within sets in a separate correspondence with the technician, so that we can achieve contrasts in atmosphere.
Contingency Plans
“Contingency planning is the process of defining a course of action for an organisation to take if a disruption to normal activity occurs” (Indeed Editorial, 2025). Contingency plans are necessary to ensure the stability of an event. For example, if a problem arises, contingency plans should already be in place to ensure that the issue doesn’t cause too much disruption and there are other options or solutions that have already been solidified for each risk addressed before the event takes place. An effective contingency plan addresses a process of “evaluating Data” to identify a “trigger”, “team breakdowns” to address the issue with group, establishing “goals” that can “guide the teams efforts if a disruption occurs”, and finally create a “response timeline” which are put in place to “Make it easier for teams to manage contingency plans one step at a time”. (Indeed Editorial, 2025)
An example of one of the contingency plans we have in place is the case in which an artist has to drop out of the gig last minute. This possibility was brought to our attention by Zoe Cure who has let us know that a loved one had passed and thus we Identified this “trigger” within a “team breakdown” and worked out how to be prepared for her to drop out of the gig at a later stage if needed, regardless of her explaining to us at this current stage that she will still plan to do the gig. Due to these circumstances, she may not be able to do this headliner at a later stage, this is understandable but well must continue with our plans however we can and the show must go on, so to speak, and we will have a different route we can go down already set up in this case. If Zoe were to drop out of the show, our “goal” is to ask Nico Pual to take over the headline slot, as he is an artist at the same level of well-known in Leeds who will still bring a crowd. We will ask between 3 other artists that we have found who were in our initial group of considerations for the support slots. These artists include Sair, Matilda Clothier, and Eva Kiss. Each will be asked within a week of a drop out, and if they too cannot perform or if the drop out is too short notice, we have made it possible so that either Hollie, or I will be prepared to fill the support slot for the show, making a “response time” more flexible.
Finances
Our project will be a non-profit event. The key aim is to support Leeds artist community and the Leeds grassroots music scene. Through a nonprofit system we can ensure the artists are paid fairly for their time and efforts. This benefits everyone as it upholds the music community and those artists will be able to further fund their own music and future shows. We have arranged a costings chart for the event. See our appendix work, the costing chart shows that the venue is £180; however we have managed to get a discount, and the booking fee has been lowered to £140. This will allow us to use extra expenses in other areas such as decor and artist payments. We have planned out the finances of this project so that there is low risk through methods such as providing tech and equipment from booking them out of the conservatoire, repping the event without extra cost, and discounted event space through connections. The sound technician will come at an extra cost of £40 as well as the ticket fee for online sales using ‘Fatsoma’, which could cost up to £80 (Fatsoma, 2026). These Extra costs will be covered by our own expenses before the night, with the assumption that we will at least break even to cover them. If this is not achieved that is an example of a low risk factor within our event that we have made sure will not damage our personal expenses too badly, through contingencies such as splitting the cost between us as a group. The tickets for the event will be £8 online and £9 on the door. The price for this event is on lower end to attract student audiences, but also as we understand that the venue itself is out of the way and may cause our attendees to spend money on travel. Having a cheaper online option will also encourage prebought tickets and will give us a rough estimate of our audience size. If not for repping the event ourselves it is unlikely that we would have the chance to at least break even in the way we have aimed to, and in this case, we would have raised the Ticket prices to accommodate this difference. The savings we have made make a substantial difference in the risk of our event and are a credit to our teams’ skills in networking, self-sufficiency and each member’s prior experience with repping and organising.
Marketing and publicity
I was appointed with the most responsibility over this topic as I have previously planned and accomplished my own successful event as an independent artist in the Leeds scene. In October I performed my first headliner at Oporto which I organised and promoted by myself. Because of my organisational skills and a time management plan over the span of 4 months, along with successful promotional content, I was able to sell out my headliner, selling over half the tickets online weeks prior to the show and the rest on the door. This experience has given me many skills and tools which I have brought to the group.
For this project we will be using Gorilla marketing, which is a personal DIY approach to marketing. Bob baker states that he believes “the best way to approach a career as a musician who writes and performs original music is to take control, get your hands dirty and market your music yourself” (Baker, 2001). To use this technique for our project we will involve a DIY approach such as creating our own posters and creating content to go out on all our Instagram accounts. Our content will consist of the artists music and clips of the poster that has been edited to have a motion to it that is intended to hold the attention of the viewer. This style of content is easy to share on stories which will be a significant boost to our marketing on social media such as Instagram. We also discussed the use of stickers and flyers that hold our logo and the event date and a QR code that holds a link to all the ticket information, to be placed around Leeds in places like bathrooms where people are sitting looking at walls and want something to occupy themselves. We decided against flyers however as they are a negative environmental risk as it is loose paper that could get knocked and cause littering. We won’t be creating an Instagram account for our events team as it is a one-off event, but if we were to carry on as a management team after the assignment, we would create a page where we can keep our followers up to date with events. Instead, through promoting the event on the Instagram accounts of all 6 of us on the team, as well as the artists and their band members, we will be sure to reach a wide range of people, especially those who are following with an interest in either the artist, or music in Leeds in general. The audiences will see these posts more often on multiple different accounts and Instagram stories and remember the event. The quality and quantity of the content are equally important as we want to keep up with promotion that is consistent, with a professional appearance. Content such as reels that include the artist’s music and a small interview with the artists, as well as reminder posts will create a consistent promotion and intimacy with the potential audiences.
We are using QR codes as it makes it easier for people to find our event info or ticket links, instead of taking the time to look it up themselves, which is becoming more unlikely in our audience age bracket, especially from primary research regarding what we ourselves have experienced at the conservatoire by our fellow student peers. I have reached out to the café staff to book a table on the 10th of March to promote our even first hand as a final push for online ticket sales. This method works well, especially at the conservatoire. You can convince someone to come to the event in person and give them a more personal treatment, as if they are being invited. I have found through my own experience that the people I have sold tickets to appreciate this more than buying online. The table will be decorated with items from our own homes, such as scarfs and plants which are attractive to the eyes to create an impression of the event. I have also emailed the Leeds conservatoire student union to put our posters up on the tv’s in the café bar. This approach allows us to present our professionalism to our audiences, who will assume we are a supported and well-known event.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this event is intended to provide profit and benefit to artists in the Leeds scene and successfully support Zoe Cure in promoting her Ep release throughout march.
Technical Specifications
Artist Biographies
Zoe Cure:
Singer-songwriter Zoe cute tethers herself to a world that’s raw, intimate, and unafraid of imperfection. With delicately deep vocals, haunting melodies and lyrics that ache, her artfully crafted songs explore all things felt and invisible; from universal grief to personal joy and the spaces therein. Inspired by the likes of Laura Marling, Adrianne Lenker, Radiohead and Neil Young, Zoe’s musical world is a reflection of steady growth into confidence and a willingness to find strength in vulnerability.
Nico Paul:
Canadian-born, Leeds-based singer/songwriter Nico Paul explores simple yet poetic lyricism, combined with intricate instrumentation and rich vocal harmony. . Ranging from cathartic chamber pop to desolate, introspective folk, his debut EP “What is Lifted” dissects the intimate relationship between grand fantasy and harsh reality. Perfect for meditative listening & walks in nature. For fans of Leonard Cohen, Weyes Blood, and Sufjan Stevens.
Aaron Brooks:
Aaron Brooks is an alternative/indie folk artist based in Leeds. Focused on a blend of abstract evocative lyricism, distinctly gentle but rhythmic fingerpicking and emotive vocal performances, their music reaches to capture a complicated but universal range of human emotions.
Aaron Brooks
Nico Pual
Zoe Cure
Risk Assessment
Replace this example with your risk assessment as a PDF.
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