SHR6E037P~002 GAL23084370 Portfolio: Event Evaluation

Event Evaluation

· Event Atmosphere

The event was intimate, with the attendance all being friends of performers. The lighting was dim, with a mirrorball and fairy lights completing the cozy look. People attended the bar and some artists enjoyed a drink with their friends before performing, which helped blend the crowd well. The frontman for each band gave an introduction and comments before specific songs, again making the evening more personal. The crowd size fluctuated throughout, but for most acts the paying crowd were inside listening, even to the acts they didn’t come to see. An established headline act would have drawn a larger crowd to the event, improving the atmosphere inside the venue, which was sometimes lacking due to the awkwardness of a sparse crowd. Despite this, the feedback we received was positive and the event was smooth as promised.

· Box Office

Two of our six members remained on the box office throughout. They had the names of ticket holders on a laptop, our bank details visible for card payments and a float for cash sales. The line to enter was obviously minimal, but we prepared for the unlikely scenario that two people would need to be present at the box office just in case. We made 3 advance ticket sales, 1 advance group sale and sold an extra 16 on the door. With 6 group members plus 1 cameraman on guest list, the total audience was 30, excluding the peformers who stayed to watch the other acts. With some of our group also performing on the night, having a secure float, laptop and entrance allowed us to focus on the performance. The box office was a secure, successful aspect of the event.

· Security

With a predicted maximum crowd of 50 people at an event called ‘Smoother Sounds’, featuring calm reggae and jazz, we had enough resources to maintiain a safe event without security guards. CCTV outside the entrance, along with 2 members at the front and 2 venue staff, had no issues to deal with but would have been more than equipped to do so. A secure room was used to store bags of valuables and equipment while the event took place. There were no security issues during the night and the event felt secure throughout.

· Health and Safety

The entrance of the Attic is close to a road. For this reason we ensured barriers were put up to separate the line from cars. We already knew the Attic had fire extinguishers from previous visits but we checked for these again on the night as a fire could happen at any time, regardless of the audience size. We brought a first aid kit with us, which was kept securely in the green room. This was in the direct line of sight of the box office and safe. The entrance door has a small step which should not cause any accidents due to the bright light above. There was also a visible note to ‘mind the step’ on both sides of the door so we deemed this risk acceptable. The stage ramp begins quite close to the crowd as the venue is quite small. Therefore we stuck hazard tape to the edge of the ramp, providing a visible warning in the dim conditions. We also taped down cables to greatly reduce the chance of performers tripping, using white tape to again keep them visible in dim lighting. We identified limited minor risks in our assessment and dealt with these before the event began, keeping the event fully safe throughout.

· Production

We chose to keep the same lighting throughout all performances; dim mood lighting. Between sets the lights returned smoothly, aiding the atmosphere as it prompted conversations before bring them naturally to a close when the lights dimmed again. Our sound production was sufficient for the size of the event. 4 wedge monitors were used, with all band members satisfied with the volumes during sound check. All instruments were mic’d, with sound check starting early enough to allow drummers to swap snares and cymbals and bands to play multiple songs. The speaker system was bought for crowds of 200 in mind so it was more than sufficient for our crowd. I had a jack lead issue during our first song but I had a spare lead prepared. I walked off stage, grabbed the lead and joined back in. There were no other production issues throughout and the one issue that did happen did not seem to influence the atmosphere of the night, making the production a successful element of the event.

· Artists Liaison

We prepared equipment transport with all acts in advance and requested they spoke to us about any changes. I have provided evidence of the following: planning with Simeon; one request I made to the guitarist of my band before the gig, which saved us asking the venue; a last minute request from Isaac about adding a keyboard which we assured him would be fine. We transported cables, the drum kit, amps and our band’s instruments, along with music stands and other production equipment such as DI boxes. Most of the group travelled in an uber XL while I travelled in one member’s car, carrying instruments and equipment in the back. We gave the venue’s green room to the artists, containing sofas, a piano, a guitar and mirrors for makeup and hairstyling. Artists also kept instrument cases, spare leads and other non-valuables here as it was close to the stage and also a secure space. Overall, good communication was maintained from both the artists and promoters, keeping the pre-event preparations and the event itself running smoothly and without any confusions.

· Stage Management

We arrived at the venue well before the bands. After completing our security and health and safety checks, we helped the sound technician set up the backline, including the toms, kick and cymbal stands, positioning wedges, amps and instruments with the bands’ stage plots and tech specs in mind. The technician worked with us as we directed the stage layout before setting up microphones and music sheets for the first band’s sound check. We also ran over set times with the venue owner: traffic issues on the night caused set time changes. We reorganised the order to ensure that the right band and audience members would be present at the right times. With a larger crowd this would have been impossible, so we were fortunate for the small turnout. Due to the traffic, we also started slightly late but, as we had left considerable time between sets, the group and the venue staff were happy to delay the opening. The crowd doubled in the 20 minutes after the original start time of 8PM, so we began the event then. The stage setup was smooth due to the good communication with artists and the detailed planning of equipment hire, transport and stage plots. The change over between sets was also smooth as the stage layout worked for every act, with instruments such as the keyboard being carried on and off stage when necessary and the drums and piano remaining throughout. While the event did start late, it improved the size of the audience for the first band and made the event more successful. We finished on time due to more good preparation, so overall this was another successful aspect of the event.

· Promotion

We agreed to use video content, images, audio content, in person promotion and a poster as our main materials to use while marketing. The members of our group in Jah Glory recorded audio of the practice session and took photos, with Isaac Aylward’s practice session being video recorded too. We recorded a video of Simeon introducing himself and talking about the gig and repeatedly used high quality photos of the acts online. I asked my friend to make a poster for our event, going through all the details (green theme, act names, visuals, description etc.) with him to ensure the poster matched our group’s aims for it. I also asked if he could take photos at our event for the post-event promotion in preparation for our next event. Our poster contained an edited photo of our headline act, Simeon, again aiming to repeatedly visually remind people of our night. In-person promotion was mixed success, with a number of visitors to our stall seeming interested but not purchasing tickets. Our audio and visual content provided the majority of our online marketing and the poster definitely stood out compared to the others around university. Not enough effort was made to promote ourselves through societies or other student groups. It seemed as if the majority of students hadn’t heard of our event, or had seen our poster and moved on. Overall, promotion was a weak area for us as the resulting ticket sales were minimal. We would probably promote using the same methods as before with additional routes such as promotion around Leeds more and finding relevant student hubs through clubs and societies in order to attract a wider audience.

· Online Marketing

We first created an event Instagram page and Facebook page, although the Instagram received a much better reach, while our Facebook reach was negligible. Our online marketing plan can be grouped to blowing up the Instagram, inviting people directly and the visual bombardment described previously. We hoped the world would see, watch and hear our artists, then translate that into ticket sales. The first post on our event page was a collaboration with the artists, bringing 100 likes and 6 reposts, our best posts. This initial post contained photos of all performers and appeared on their personal pages, aiming to target their friends and give the page fast engagement so it would continue to show up on people’s feeds. I added a second post including the poster to my story for a visual reminder of the event. My personal account was also used to post the audio file of our band, with text saying “4 days until I’m on bass for Jah Glory”. Using our performers and promoters to our advantage, Jah Glory had the biggest support on the night; a promotional success for us but hints the need to expand our promotional audience. We posted Isaac’s practice video collaboratively with our event account and his personal one. I also posted a story on the day with the set times to remind any potential ticket buyers. The story likes on the previous two stories had been successful, but this story received likes from new people, some of whom came on the night. Had I not posted the reminder, they probably wouldn’t have come, making our incessant online presence somewhat worth it. As for direct promotion, I have evidenced below three different cases of this. One was the cameraman, who I offered a guest list ticket to in return for poster design and camerawork. Secondly, I invited my friend out, going to each others’ gigs to support each other as always. Thirdly, despite facing some issues with a clashing drum lesson, my friend came after being reminded on the day by my story. Overall, therefore, I played my part in the online marketing as well as I could with a small personal page, but I managed to bring the largest crowd out of any act, as shown (partly) in the event atmosphere evidence, where I am standing in a big group of friends. I was satisfied with the promotion of the rest of the group but the number direct invitees definitely needed to be higher from the acts as, not only were our ticket sales low, but they were mostly performing mostly to other bands and their fans instead of their own fans, which was a hindrance to event atmosphere

· Financial outcomes

The venue cost was £180, with an extra £30 for piano hire. We also paid the performers £15 each (with friends of one promoter performing for free) and collected Uber fees, totalling £348.62. We made £139.50 in total sales, leaving us with roughly £209 to pay – £34.85 each. We expected to lose money when we had 4 ticket sales the day before the event, but the jump from 4 to 23 in one day was an unexpected success. Not paying for physical tickets etc. were good money-saving choices as most people wanted to pay on the door by transfer. Saving money on paid instagram promotion may have been a mistake, as we should have targeted non-friends more. Paying for ubers was a necessary cost as it allowed our event to run smoothly, as demonstrated in artist liaison. The event did not need to take place at the Attic as we did not nearly fill it out. We should have chosen a smaller, cheaper venue and held our intimate gig in an even more intimate space. The lack of a headliner almost guaranteed a small crowd, so a smaller venue would have been a safe choice. Overall, the financial outcomes were the least successful aspect of the night as we ended up making only half of the money required to break even. Multiple changes would have to be made in order to have a financially successful event in the future, but the mistakes from this event taught us enough to make us consider hosting another in the future.

Event Evidence Video

Event Atmosphere

Small crowd for some acts:

Better crowd for other acts:

Intimate lights and mirrorball, dim lighting otherwise:

Box Office

Box office – crew perspective:

Box office – tally:

Box office – float:

Security

Security – view of door from ticket desk:

Secure room for equipment:

CCTV and light at entrance:

Health and Safety

H&S – barriers outside:

H&S – fire extinguishers:

H&S – first aid kit:

H&S – mind the step:

H&S – hazard tape

H&S – taped wires:

Production

Production – sound desk:

Production – drum mics:

Production – wedge monitors:

Artist Liaison

Artist liaison – equipment preparation

Artist liaison – last second liaison

Artist liaison – changing tech specs last minute:

Artist liaison – collected gear from university:

Artist liaison – moving gear:

Artist liaison – green room

Artist liaison – green room instruments:

Stage Management

Stage management – outdoor sign

Stage management – sound check

Stage management – uber recepits

Promotional Materials

In-person promotion:

Video of Isaac performing:

Poster design:

Audio recording:

Online Marketing

Please embed your online marketing evidence below. This can include websites, social media, forums, blogs etc.
More than 3 pieces of evidence needed in this section to show a range of marketing and promotional techniques utilised.

Online marketing strategy: