Task Four: Reflection

1. Arley Hall Reflective Evaluation

A Classical Serenade: Evaluation

A Classical Serenade raised over £1,000 for the children of Moldova which is a major accpmplishment.

The event ran very smoothly and there were no major issues on the night of the performance. The Front of House team were worried about Car Parking from the start of the process however this proved not to be a problem as the car park was sufficiently staffed with competent people and there was no issue raised with the drivers that attended. The Front of House team were effective in both greeting the audience members and accommodating them during the interval. All systems were organised, for example the raffle, coat collecting and the waiting on. Nothing went wrong and it was clear from hearsay that all audience members were kept happy throughout the event.

From a technical side, nothing went wrong either. It was a good idea to have raised staging as all members of the audience could see the performance with no issues. All lighting and sound cues were on time and there was no apparent problem with the sound. The only issue was with the space between the audience members and the Fresnels on booms. As they were very close to seats, the lights heated up and some audience members were hotter than others. In the next event the lighting designer should be very aware of the space left between the lanterns and the seating for audience.

Although the event was a resounding success, the planning and sourcing process was not without its stresses. One of the main reasons for this was a unanimous failing in the group’s ability to meet deadlines, or rather be honest with their own capability. Throughout the process, meeting were held by the Events Management team and deadlines for specific tasks were set and agreed by the relevant teams. The Events Management team endeavoured not to set deadlines but rather discuss and have them agreed by the other teams so that no one was left feeling too stressed and pressured and could be honest with the Events Manager by stating so if they could not meet a deadline, and so could be given more time. Throughout the process numerous members of the team agreed to deadlines, and then when the day of the deadline arrived, the team member who agreed to the deadline, stated that they had not completed the task due to other commitments.

This created a knock on effect and slowed the process down as time needed to be allocated to finishing incomplete tasks, but also newer tasks. One of the main instances of this was with the set design. A deadline was set, and agreed to by the set designer. This gave him 2 weeks after the initial meeting to design the set. Within those 2 weeks, we had arranged for the set designer to visit Arley Hall to take measurements of the space and get a visual ‘feel’ for the place. Also, he could liaise with the lighting designer to discuss how the two designs could complement each other. However when the deadline arrived, he simply stated that the set had not been designed and he would get it done as soon as possible. The set designer was given another week to sketch some initial designs and return to the group with a concept. Within a week the set designer approached myself and the Events manager asking for dimensions of the room. After stating that he should be aware of the dimensions of the room as he was given time at the venue, and was sent a blue print of the grounds by Shelagh, he confirmed that he could meet the deadline. When the deadline approached he stated that he wanted 8 pieces of rostra.

As this was the only piece of information that he had given us, it was decided that the responsibility of set designer be taken from him and I would do this myself. After producing concept ideas and creating a scale drawing, I became aware that the space was not big enough to accommodate the 8 pieces of rostra initially decided upon. This then had to be changed to 6 pieces.

Although the set was eventually designed, it was completed 3 weeks later than the initial deadline, this created complications with the lighting designer who had to slightly alter his plans as he had been under the impression that 8 pieces of rostra were being used.

This is a perfect example of how one person’s disregard for deadlines can affect the planning and sourcing process of managing an event. In future, I believe that the team should be honest with themselves and each other and if they do not believe they can meet a deadline they should say so. Failing this, if they feel they need assistance in any way they should not be embarrassed and let their egos get in the way and ask for help to ensure their role is fulfilled and the rest of the event can be managed effectively. Also, I feel that should a deadline not be met. The person responsible should be held accountable, and should be punished by having the responsibility taken from them. This may then lead them to meet further deadlines and would also move the process along much more smoothly.

Each department had its own manager. However an issue with this was that the teams were not managed effectively and communication was virtually non-existent within the teams.

It became clear within the Marketing team that there was no communication and that the Marketing Manager was trying to single-handedly market the event. All design concepts, fonts and images were saved on his computer and were not sent to his team members. This then created issues when he was absent or unable to attend a meeting as the Marketing team then had nothing to work with. This was also an issue with the Technical team. The Technical Manager kept all lighting and sound designs, all inventory lists and plans in his own file. As no other member of his team had relevant documents, when he was absent, the technical team were useless in meetings as they could not share any information.

To overcome this, it should be agreed that any document, information or file that is created by any member of the team, it be shared with every member of the team, and also sent to the Events Manager. This way in the event of any absences the group can continue as normal. This would help has absences are inevitable, but this does not mean that our progress should stop when this happens.

The Marketing Manager did not communicate with his team or the group effectively as when posters and flyers were printed, they had been designed and had on them information that was not agreed on by the group. An example of this was when we decided that the price for tickets be only split between adults and children. We agreed that as the event was a charity one, we would not charge a ‘concessions price’. However when the tickets were sent to print, they came back with ‘Concessions’ printed on them. Also, it was agreed by the team that the flyers should have a map printed on the back as Arley Hall is a very difficult place to find. However when these came back from print, the map was not on them.

Although this may have been a personal preference of the Marketing Manager I feel that next time, it is important to put personal opinions aside and if a decision is voted on, the majority vote rule. Also, before anything is sent to print, it should be proof read by several people as certain documents were printed with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.

Another issue throughout the course of this management process was that there was not an awful lot of order in the meetings. Everyone spoke over one another and this became difficult when taking minutes, therefore they are not as detailed as they could be. In the future I feel that each meeting should have an agenda. And only things on the agenda be brought up at the meeting, and have a section of the meeting, preferably the end, asking what the team would like to be brought up in the next meeting. This can then be placed on the agenda for the next meeting. This way we will avoid discussing irrelevant issues, for example discussing dress code in our second meeting when this was the least of our worries at the time. Also, the chair of each meeting should run the meeting in the next event. Team members should only offer relevant information when asked by the chair of the meeting. Or perhaps team member should raise a hand when they wish to speak, this way everyone gets their opinions across and quieter members of the group are not overshadowed by louder ones. It may also be beneficial to have ‘Manager’ meeting each week to. This would be a smaller and quieter meeting and more may be sorted and discussed. However, this would only work if Managers are effective in delegating tasks to their team.

I feel that an issue with the selling of the tickets came with selling them through the cash office. As the lady who works in the cash office at the college has other tasks to do, the spreadsheet she was given to fill out was not filled out as we would have liked. Therefore, when we were inputting data, trying to figure out how much profit we had made in ticket sales, it became difficult to figure out if we were selling out. Therefore I feel that next time if our event requires ticket sales, they should be sold through a member of either the marketing team or the events management team. This way whichever system this person comes up with, can be followed and an accurate price can be calculated each week with how many tickets are being sold.

Also, from a marketing perspective I feel that tickets and posters were printed far too late. It was unanimously decided in initial meetings that the event should be marketed as soon as possible. However as deadlines were missed, posters did not go up until weeks after initially decided. I feel that we did not sell out for this reason. In the future to ensure that all tickets are sold we should market the event as soon as possible. I do not believe you can market something too early, especially when the aim is to raise money for charity.

Another issue raised throughout the process was that as we were students organising the event, certain things were restricted to us. For example, when requiring cameras from the media department, we were denied their usage. However if a member of the production Arts staff approached Media, it was agreed. As we are student, certain aspects of running the event (for example booking transport through curriculum reserve) is just not possible as it needs a member of staff to oversee his. In future as soon as it is figured out that a staff member needs to sort this, it should be passed on to a relevant staff member. As all too often when a deadline was not met, the excuse used was that he/she could not do it as it had to be organised by a staff member, yet this staff member had not been contacted.

Although the Event was a success and we did raised money for the children of Moldova, I feel that the process could have been as easy and satisfying as the event itself, however was not due to missed deadlines, group members dishonesty and a lack of regard for the amount of work put in by others.