Issue 46 January/February 2011 £4.75 Challenges ahead for event teams THE year ahead will present both chal- lenges and opportunities for the events industry, it has been claimed. According to experts, issues such as impending budget cuts and the impact of the upcoming 2012 London Olympics could prove challenging for those working in events. The team at Mobile Promotions are currently looking at projects for 2011 and beyond and have recently had their first meeting with a client looking to work with them in 2012. But managing director Robin Carlisle told The Main Event that it has taken a while for Olympics-related jobs to reach small and medium sized compa- nies and the industry should be doing more to help – something which he is championing for 2011. He explained: “The Olympics finally look to have landed on our doorstep – I had been saying it had passed us by. But the associations and industry mag- azines should be doing more to help fil- ter it down. “One of the challenges will be as a business owner, finding out what the Olympic year is going to be all about. “Going forward for the event industry, we need sustainable events. Not just those that come once in a blue moon.” TAO Productions’ Andy Cotton is also predicting a mixed bag for 2011 follow- ing the announcement that the HSE is to reconsider the issue of temporary structures in the events sector and the application of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 to their erection and dismantling. He added: “This may be a good thing or it may again increase costs for sup- plying temporary structures to smaller events. I wonder where this will end and what other legacies will come from the 2012 Olympics that will be detri- mental to the industry in 2011 and onwards.” But both Andy and Robin added that it is not all doom and gloom and the industry has a lot to feel optimistic about, moving forward into 2011. Andy said that the UK has the best industry in the world and will lead the way in both professionalism and inno- vation, while Robin claims that the opportunities are out there for compa- nies who are innovative in their think- ing. ■ For more of Andy’s New Year industry predictions, see his column on Page 10 City launches events charter GLASGOW has become the first UK city to launch a dedi- cated major events charter. The charter has been intro- duced by Glasgow’s Strategic Major Events Forum – a part- nership between all of Glasgow’s main public agen- cies, which works closely with the private sector to develop the city as a first choice major events destination. It is fully endorsed by the city’s events industry and guarantees the provision of support for organisers consid- ering bringing major cultural and sporting events to Glasgow. Chair of the forum Scott Taylor said: “Glasgow’s Major Events Charter outlines the 12 principal reasons why events organisers should choose Glasgow as their host city, from providing fast track access to key decision makers to ensuring their objectives and key priorities are deliv- ered with maximum effect.” Previous major events held in Glasgow include the MOBO Awards and the annual International Gymnastics Grand Prix. X Factor star John Adeleye joined 18,000 fans at Sheffield’s bonfire night spectacular After Dark. The event forms part of a busy winter season for organisers Yellow Bus Events whose portfolio also includes Fright Night and comedy festival Grin Up North. In our interview with managing director Scott Barton, he revealed how these events went, why the company decided to re-brand and what challenges organisers are set to face over the next year. Full story, Page 4 The Main Event is the official magazine of the National Outdoor Events Association
Transcript
Issue 46 January/February 2011 £4.75
Challengesahead forevent teamsTHE year ahead will present both chal-lenges and opportunities for the eventsindustry, it has been claimed.
According to experts, issues such asimpending budget cuts and the impactof the upcoming 2012 LondonOlympics could prove challenging forthose working in events.
The team at Mobile Promotions arecurrently looking at projects for 2011and beyond and have recently had theirfirst meeting with a client looking towork with them in 2012.
But managing director Robin Carlisletold The Main Event that it has taken awhile for Olympics-related jobs toreach small and medium sized compa-nies and the industry should be doingmore to help – something which he ischampioning for 2011.
He explained: “The Olympics finallylook to have landed on our doorstep – Ihad been saying it had passed us by.But the associations and industry mag-azines should be doing more to help fil-ter it down.
“One of the challenges will be as abusiness owner, finding out what theOlympic year is going to be all about.
“Going forward for the event industry,we need sustainable events. Not just
those that come once in a blue moon.”TAO Productions’ Andy Cotton is also
predicting a mixed bag for 2011 follow-ing the announcement that the HSE isto reconsider the issue of temporarystructures in the events sector and theapplication of the Construction (Designand Management) Regulations 2007 totheir erection and dismantling.
He added: “This may be a good thingor it may again increase costs for sup-plying temporary structures to smallerevents. I wonder where this will endand what other legacies will come fromthe 2012 Olympics that will be detri-mental to the industry in 2011 andonwards.”
But both Andy and Robin added thatit is not all doom and gloom and theindustry has a lot to feel optimisticabout, moving forward into 2011.
Andy said that the UK has the bestindustry in the world and will lead theway in both professionalism and inno-vation, while Robin claims that theopportunities are out there for compa-nies who are innovative in their think-ing.
� For more of Andy’s New Year industrypredictions, see his column on Page 10
City launchesevents charterGLASGOW has become thefirst UK city to launch a dedi-cated major events charter.
The charter has been intro-duced by Glasgow’s StrategicMajor Events Forum – a part-nership between all ofGlasgow’s main public agen-cies, which works closely withthe private sector to developthe city as a first choice majorevents destination.
It is fully endorsed by thecity’s events industry andguarantees the provision ofsupport for organisers consid-ering bringing major culturaland sporting events toGlasgow.
Chair of the forum ScottTaylor said: “Glasgow’s MajorEvents Charter outlines the 12principal reasons why eventsorganisers should chooseGlasgow as their host city,from providing fast trackaccess to key decision makersto ensuring their objectivesand key priorities are deliv-ered with maximum effect.”
Previous major events heldin Glasgow include the MOBOAwards and the annualInternational GymnasticsGrand Prix.X Factor star John Adeleye joined 18,000 fans
at Sheffield’s bonfire night spectacular AfterDark. The event forms part of a busy winterseason for organisers Yellow Bus Eventswhose portfolio also includes Fright Nightand comedy festival Grin Up North. In ourinterview with managing director ScottBarton, he revealed how these events went,why the company decided to re-brand andwhat challenges organisers are set to faceover the next year. Full story, Page 4
The Main Event is the official magazine of the National Outdoor Events
The Event Production Show Page 16NOEA Page 17Classified Page 19
Givingreal valueis the only
way forward
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‘Outdoor eventsmust bring Londonto life in 2012 ...’By Christina Eccles
BRINGING London to life throughoutdoor events will be a key part ofthe 2012 Olympic Games, accordingto the CEO of LOCOG.
Paul Deighton said that althoughthere is still plenty of work to bedone, plans for the Games are righton track.
He revealed that the focus now –with less than two years to go – is onmaking sure everything is completelyready.
And a vital part of this is ensuringthat events taking place throughoutthe Capital during the Games are asspectacular as the action going oninside the stadiums.
Paul explained: “The principal thingis ensuring we are absolutely ready.Everything we are doing is focusingon what we have to do to be ready
and how we are going to deal withanything that could happen.
“Up to now, it has mostly beenabout building the venues and rais-ing money. Now we are pulling planstogether and ensuring full integrationbetween all the parties involved indelivering the Games.
“The city also has to be ready so weneed to make sure the two planswork together. We are right where wewant to be but there is an enormousamount of work to do.”
He added that making the wholecity feel a part of the Games is impor-tant. As is leaving a tangible legacyfor the country.
He added: “Bringing the city alive isa fundamental objective – usingthings such as live sites, live enter-tainment spaces, putting on concertsand cultural events and dressing thecity.
“The event could leave a wonderfultourism legacy. There is the opportu-nity to send images around theworld.
“If we get it right and get the wel-come right, it will be a wonderfulthing for the British visitor economy.”
One of the biggest revenue streamsto come from the Games will be themoney generated from tickets andPaul added that one challenge hasbeen getting the pricing right.
“The biggest revenue chunk to bedelivered is from ticket revenue. Wehave to strike that balance betweengetting enough money and having asufficient range of prices so peoplecan afford to come – it is a difficultbalance. We want to make sure thevenues are full.”� Paul was speaking at the InternationalSports Event Management conference,held at Twickenham Stadium.
Industry’s best honoured at awardsTHE best of the UK’s festival industryhave been honoured at a glitteringceremony in London.
The seventh UK Festival Awardstook place at the indigO2 and attract-ed the people behind some of thecountry’s top events.
The full list of winners were:� Best Toilets – T In The Park � Best Metropolitan Festival –Gaymers Camden Crawl � Best Family Festival in associationwith Showsec – Camp Bestival � Best Breakthrough Artist in associ-ation with Rizla – Mumford & Sons � Best Dance Event in associationwith Peppermint Bars –Creamfields � Feel Good Act of the Summer inassociation with Be-at TV– PaoloNutini � Best New Festival in associationwith Access All Areas – Vintage AtGoodwood � Headline Performance of the Year
in association with Jagermeister –AC/DC at Download Festival � Virtual Festivals’ Critics’ Choice –Biffy Clyro at Glastonbury � Overseas Festival – Snowbombing � Anthem of the Summer in associa-tion with HMV – Florence & TheMachine ‘You Got The Love’ � Line-Up of the Year in associationwith XL Video – Rockness � Promoter of the Year in associationwith IQ – Team Glastonbury � Best Small Festival in associationwith Doodson Entertainment –Kendal Calling � Best Medium Festival in associa-tion with Smirnoff Flavours – GreenMan � Best Major Festival in associationwith Tuborg – Bestival � Lifetime Achievement in associa-tion with Music Week – Geoff Ellis, Tin the Park� Outstanding Contribution to
Festival Production in associationwith TPi – Neil McDonald � Best Sponsor Activation in associa-tion with Brand Republic – CocaCola � The Grass Roots Festival Award inassociation with Robertson Taylor –2000 Trees � A Greener Festival Award in associ-ation with agreenerfestival.com –Croissant Neuf Summer Party.
Managing director of UK FestivalAwards James Drury said: “This year’sawards were the most hotly-contest-ed we’ve had, with over half a millionvotes, demonstrating just how impor-tant festivals are to the UK public.
“Despite the continued challengesof the economy, it’s been an incredi-ble year for festivals and the awardsis all about celebrating that. The win-ners should be rightly proud of theirachievements, as should the rest ofthe industry.”
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EVENT organisers will need to offerreal value for money to make a suc-cess of 2011, according to industryexpert Scott Barton.
Scott, MD of Yellow Bus Events (for-merly Sheffield Events), has spokenout about the challenges organisersare set to face over the next year.
He said: “We have to accept thatthere will not be any easy money tobe made in the near future – peoplewill increasingly be looking for quali-ty and value for money, so that iswhat we need to provide.
“It is also essential to rememberthat what people want is changing allthe time and if you don’t keep up youare going to be left behind.”
Scott’s company has embracedchange with a recent rebrand, replac-ing their tried and tested SheffieldEvents name with the more unusualYellow Bus logo.
This was partly due to ongoing con-fusion with a local listing website of asimilar name, but mainly to help thecompany take its work to a wideraudience.
THIS year was the sixth Grin UpNorth comedy festival organised byYellow Bus Events and it was thebiggest yet.
The acts put on their shows in ven-ues right across the city centre, mean-ing that the company has to workalongside the city council, its eco-nomic regeneration agency, localpublic transport and local businesses.
Scott said: “In this difficult climatethere seems to be a greater appetitefor comedy – people want to becheered up. Attendance grows eachyear but the core of it is about quality– we want to bring in the biggest andbest names. It is also great for thepeople that live in and aroundSheffield, great for the economy andgreat for the image of the city.”
When the event was first introducedit was the company’s first move intonon-outdoor events – however, lastyear it contributed £6m to the localeconomy, and so far it looks like thisyear will have brought in even more.
Scott added: “People will alwayswant to have a good time, if the quali-ty is there and the price is right.
“These days people judge eachother not on what they have got, buton what they have done – so by pro-viding great events where peoplewant to be seen, we can tap intothat.”
Putting on FrightNight for halloweenand After Dark onbonfire night resultsin the busiest weekof the year forYellow Bus Events.Both events havegrown year on year,with Fright Nightattracting sponsorship from theArts Council andAfter Dark bringingin a record 18,000visitors.Scott said: “I thinkthat fewer peopleare choosing to dofireworks at home,but at an event likethis you get stageentertainment and a£20,000 display tomusic for a cheapticket price.“I also like to thinkof Fright Night as acultural Trojan horse- getting people whowould not usually beinterested in streettheatre and art andreaching out tothem.”
The newly-rebranded Yellow Bus Events is celebrating a successful year, with even more planned under its newname for 2011 – The Main Event found out more.
Giving real value isonly way forward
‘People want tobe cheered up’
Scott added: “Our long term strate-gy is to keep moving on to newevents, as well as building up thosewe do in the area and we felt that theold name was limiting us.
“However, we also plan to stay as asmall business so we can keep thefun and quality that we are known forand take pride in everything we do.”
Over the last year Yellow Bus Eventshas branched out into a wide rangeof new events including working withMetropolis Music at Chelmsford’s VFestival, teaming up with localauthorities who have cut back ontheir in-house organisation and willhelping out with street entertainment
provision for the Showzam! Festivalin Blackpool.
Scott added: “We are gettinginvolved in a lot of new things, fromplanning a ten city British StreetEntertainment Festival next year tousing our ‘Yellow Bus’ for anOlympics promotional tour withPeter Jones from Dragon’s Den.
“However, we will also continue tofocus on what we do well - for exam-ple with Fright Night and After Dark,we take two established calendardates and take them to the next level.
“Together with a planned drive onour own marketing, we should beable to make them bigger than ever.”
Comedian Ross Noble who appeared at Grin Up North
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Call for uniformpolicy on policecosts at eventsBy Christina Eccles
THE industry is calling for more uni-form regulations on police costs –claiming it is unfair that some eventsare charged so much while others donot have to pay anything.
A panel of organisers aired theirviews at this year’s UK FestivalConference in London and told dele-gates that the amounts they pay forpolicing are vastly different at eachevent.
And they revealed that they wouldlike to see fairer guidelines imple-mented across the industry.
Director of Kendal Calling AndySmith said: “In Cumbria, there arethree music festivals. They are allabout 8-10,000 capacity but all in dif-ferent divisions.
“Despite the fact that ACPO hasguidelines, there isn’t really a coordi-nated approach. 20 miles away, thereare other festivals that don’t pay any-thing but we pay several thousands.”
At the Green Man Festival in Wales,organisers pay no police costs –thanks to hard work and negotiationbetween the police, local authorityand festival director Fiona Stewart.
She explained: “I previously workedat the Big Chill and each time I did anevent, I got an analysis of the eventfrom the local authority and police.
“When we came to Powys, theyknew the relationship I had withHereford Council and contactedthem to give a reference.
“I argued the case and proved thatthrough many years of organisingevents, I had a record of managingthem to a good standard.
“I feel very strongly that we have theright to do our business and work inan environment that supports that –and we should argue back.
“The whole issue with policing sad-dens me a lot because it has becomevery unfair and complicated.”
CEO of Kilimanjaro Live Stuart
Galbraith organises the SonisphereFestival, which takes place atKnebworth.
He added: “This debate has gone onfor four or five years – policing costsvary enormously around the countryand it is decided by geographicalplaces rather than the event. We havepaid up to £400,000.
“There are a lot of constabularieswho have the attitude of anywherebut here.
“The police are the only contractorwhich have a monopoly. If you can’tagree costs they have the power tostop the event.”
But organiser ofNewcastleGateshead’s EvolutionFestival, Jim Mawdsley said thatalthough raising the issue may bene-fit some festivals, a standardisedapproach may mean that thoseevents who currently pay little or nopolice costs may lose out.
He added: “Each constabulary willhave their own view and own inter-pretation. Promoters could mitigaterisks by using their own specialisedsecurity staff. But the danger is if weflag it up too much, we could end uppenalising those who pay low costs.”
Festival director Fiona Stewart
EVENT and concert production com-pany, Liz Hobbs Group, has been list-ed as the 20th fastest growing privatecompany in the UK.
The Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track100 ranks Britain’s 100 fastest growingprivate companies, based on salesgrowth over the last three years.
The company has enjoyed annualsales growth of more than 108 percent over the last three years, withturnover rocketing from £706,000 in2006 to nearly £6.4m last year.
CEO Liz Doogan-Hobbs said:“We’re delighted to be officiallyrecognised as one of the UK’s fastestgrowing companies and to be rankedso highly makes us even more proud.
“We see this success as testamentnot only to the quality of our eventsand the business we have won andcompleted, but the loyalty and com-mitment of our customers that wevalue so highly and the hard work ofour team who put in so much effortto make us what we are.”
Rod Stewart concert staged by Liz Hobbs Group
Liz Hobbs’ firm named 20thfastest growing company
Master class offers tips ondelivering more-for-lessSHEFFIELD Hallam University is tohost a new master class designed togive event managers the tools todeliver first class events in a climateof funding cuts.
The event will include talks fromindustry experts such as three timesevent organiser of the year MikeRichmond, executive producer ofBlackpool’s Showzam festival VanessaToulmin and Mark Spincer, managingdirector of Doncaster Racecourse.
Delegates will also have the oppor-tunity to take part in a series of work-shops where they can debate ideasand share their own challenges andsuccesses with industry peers.
The Event Management MasterClass is presented by The EventManagement Hub at SheffieldBusiness School and runs in partner-ship with Welcome to Yorkshire andSheffield City Council.
Event Management Hub projectleader at Sheffield Hallam UniversityPhil Crowther said: “The master classis a great opportunity for eventorganisers to learn from leadingevent specialists and discover newways to deliver more-for-less in thechallenging economic climate.Attendees will gain real-world practi-cal skills that they’ll be able to imple-ment immediately.”
05 21/12/10 15:03 Page 1
2 6 LOCAL AUTHORITY SPOTLIGHT
ANOTHER popular event in the city isthe Australian Breakfast, which cele-brates links between Lincoln andAustralia.
The city is twinned with PortLincoln in South Australia and tomark Australia Day and the traditionof breakfast on the beach, holds itsown event. However, as the day is
commemorated in January – which isthe Australian summer – the Lincolnversion has to be held inside to beatthe cold. Features of the event, whichis also held to raise money for charity,include the actual breakfast, withfood provided by local businesses,live entertainment and a link up withthe city’s Australian counterparts.
FORTUNATELY, not all of Lincoln’sfestive events programme was affect-ed by the weather.
The Christmas Lights Switch-ontook place a couple of weeks earlierat the end of November to coincidewith the start of late-night shoppingin the city.
The event attracts an estimated3,000 people who gather to watch theofficial switch on by the mayor and acelebrity, which is usually someonelocal, and a civic procession from theGuild Hall.
For this event, important changeswere also made to improve the expe-rience for visitors and as a reaction to
feedback from previous years.A stage was introduced for the first
time to give people a better view ofthe entertainment, which includedstars of local pantomime DickWhittington, and the switch on doneby the Mayor of Lincoln and localactor Colin McFarlane.
Civic manager Kate Fenn said: “Wehad a stage because of feedback frompeople who said they couldn’t see.This improved the overall experience.
“We also improved the area wherepeople could stand, which made iteasier for people to get into the shopsif they wanted to. It’s important to getfeedback from local people.”
THE Christmas Market is the City ofLincoln Council’s flagship event,attracting about 160,000 people overfour days and marking the start of thefestive season.
The event is also worth about £10mto the local economy – so cancellingwas not an easy option – but afterdays of heavy snow, with more fore-cast and following consultation withthe event safety advisory group therewas no option.
The decision to cancel was made onthe Wednesday morning, with themarket due to start the following day.
Working to a short timescale, themost important thing became gettingthe word out to ensure stall holdersand visitors did not turn up to thesite.
Social networks proved invaluablefor this, enabling the communica-tions team to spread the messagequickly. Within an hour, the cancella-tion had even become a trendingtopic on Twitter.
Senior communications officerCaroline Ashman explained: “Thedecision was made about 11am andby 11.30 we had sent an email to allthe stall holders, rang round themedia and updated the websites andsocial media.
“We had a press conference at mid-day after that did a ring round ofradio stations and appeared on pro-grammes including Radio Two’s travelnews.
“It was a successful campaign andwe had nobody turn up at the Parkand Ride.”
Following the cancellation, stallholders were offered a full refund or astall at the next market and the coun-cil claims that the amount of peopletaking up the offer of a stall for 2011,shows that traders still have confi-dence in the success of the event.
A virtual market was also set up sothose who would have been tradingat the event could sell their goodsonline.
About 40 stall holders and business-es signed up to www.lincoln-christ-masmarket.co.uk to advertise for free,with links directly to their own web-sites.
The focus is now firmly on thefuture, with discussions already tak-ing place around the 2011 event.
One option being talked about isextending the market to run over alonger period of time – so if badweather strikes, some of the eventmay be able to continue.
Economic sustainability andtourism services manager RobBradley added: “We are disappointedas it is a very big event in Lincoln andmarks the start of the festive season.It is also important as it generatesabout £10m into the local economy.
“But we are looking forward to thefuture. Our feedback shows that peo-ple have faith in the event and want itto go ahead.”
The 2010 Lincoln Christmas Market was cancelled for the first time in its 28 year history after severe weather hitthe area. In this month’s spotlight, The Main Event discovers how the team at the City of Lincoln Council copedand are bouncing back to plan for the future ...
DisappointedLincoln teamlooks to future
Christmas light switch-onattracts thousands
Celebrating Aussie links ...
06 21/12/10 15:03 Page 1
7
Director of Kendal Calling AndySmith: “Quite a few festivals have aplan where initially they will losemoney. But that’s really not the planto take.
“What we did was start with such acapacity (900 people) that it would beimpossible not to sell out.
“We have also been working withsuppliers for a few years so are slowlybuilding up trust with them.”
Director of the Green Man FestivalFiona Stewart: “My advice is to lookat the bottom line all the time.Festivals can be vastly different incosts to run, so do your legwork.
“You should be breaking even inyour first year and recouping somekind of money in the second. If youdo have backing and can afford tomake a loss, then fair enough butmany of us are small organisationsand if you are not making money in
your first or second year, then go in adifferent direction.
“Every time you employ someoneelse to do what you could do yourself,you are eating into your money. Alsoget good relationships with contrac-tors and develop these relationshipsthrough trust.”
CEO of Kilimanjaro Live StuartGalbraith: “With Sonisphere, weknew we were trying to come in at a50- 60,000 capacity and the only waywas to invest.
“In year one we lost money, in yeartwo we broke even and in year threewe will make a profit.
“A touring proposition is a lotbroader base to work from and givesus more buying power. We knew if wewere to compete in the UK market,we needed more than two festivals,otherwise we would be likeReading/Leeds or the V Festivals.”
Organiser of the Evolution Festivaland board member for theAssociation of Independent FestivalsJim Mawdsley: “We can save moneyby working together and also have afriends scheme where suppliers pitchto us. AIF is also really important forproducing a collective response. Asan organisation, we can have meet-ings with people which as individualswe might not be able to do.
“The economic impact of Evolutionis measured at £3.5m and we get localauthority investment of £100,000.There is a strong cultural programmein Newcastle and there are people inboth councils who are keen to helpout. Even if it is not financial, localauthorities can give support in termsof licensing, road closures etc. Thereare other things they can do for youas well as giving money.”
Director of Peppermint Events and
Bars Alex Brooke: “We offer a tailoredbar operation, which means cus-tomers invest in the festival throughthe bar operation. It is not a one sizefits all option.
“There are always a number of keyobjectives. What we always try to dois work out what the client wants todo and not pigeonhole them.
“There is a lot more of a require-ment for tailor made solutions. It isnot always the most profitable thingto do but might be the best thing forthat festival. It is about sitting downwith a client and looking at what theywant to achieve and how we canmake them the most money byachieving that.”
� The panel was speaking at thisyear’s UK Festival Conference, whichwas held at the O2 in London.
In a tough economic climate, festivals are always looking for ways to make themselves more profitable. In a specialfeature, a panel of experts reveal their tips on how to get the most from your event.
Experts share their secrets tohosting a successful event
THE theme has been unveiled forthe second Manchester DayParade, which takes place through-out the city in June.
A Voyage of Discovery is designedto give groups the chance toexplore the historical, political, sci-entific, digital and personal storiesof their city, taking them on a voy-age that starts in their own streetsand ends in the city centre withthe massive parade.
The event will once again bedelivered by Walk the Plank and
co-founder Liz Pugh said: “We’reextremely happy to be working onManchester Day Parade again.
“It’s a chance for people in andaround the city to experiencebeing part of a large scale celebra-tion.
“What’s special about the paradeis that the creative ideas and inputis provided by Manchester’s resi-dents, who then work with artiststo turn the ideas into amazing cos-tumes and floats.”
Theme unveiled for secondManchester Day parade
A Voyage of Discovery is the theme for the event next June.
More than 200 delegates attended EventScotland’s International Events Conference tohear an array of speakers from the sporting, culture and tourism sectors.Chaired by broadcaster Dougie Vipond, the day offered delegates the opportunity to eval-uate the industry’s work, the positive impacts created around the events industry and thechallenges faced. Speakers included VisitScotland chairman Mike Cantlay, EventScotland’sCOO Paul Bush and MOBO Awards founder Kanya King. The day closed with 2010 RyderCup captain Colin Montgomerie answering a series of questions on the recent victory atCeltic Manor and his thoughts on the world famous event coming to Gleneagles in 2014.
ARENA Structures and IMG workedtogether to deliver an ice rink in oneof London’s most challenging loca-tions.
Arena provided its 10m x 40mHorizon double-decker structureadjacent to the temporary ice rink atThe Natural History Museum, withcustomised interiors and bespokesteel and glass staircase, to accom-modate the VIP bar and downstairschanging facilities.
The company also changed the sizeof the decking to increase space forthe rink, which allowed more peopleto skate at any one time.
A customised 2.5m balcony over-looking the ice-skaters was designed
to extend from the public bar – withclear glass in the handrails so peoplecould sit inside but still see what wasgoing on.
A joined up approach between allparties involved ensured that every-thing went smoothly, but projectmanager James Thomas told TheMain Event that the project was notwithout its challenges.
He explained: “This was the secondyear we had done it, so we knew whatwe were dealing with.
“We tweaked a few things becausethe site is tight – we found it is betterto bring things in slowly rather thanhaving everything there.”
Arena and IMG deliver icerink in challenging location
07 23/12/10 15:39 Page 1
2 8 ADVERTISER’S ANNOUNCEMENT
SHOWCASING the best of theevents industry, The Main EventScotland is the ultimate meetingplace for anyone striving to makemaximum audience impact withtheir next event.
The Main Event, Scotland’s award-winning exhibition for the eventsindustry, provides the ultimateevent solution for everyone fromPA’s to event managers.
Whether the plan is to host a con-
ference, corporate day out, teambuilding exercise, meeting, charityfunction, party, conference or agroup day out the Main Event catersfor all.
Exhibitors will be showcasing newand innovative ideas, includingindustry-first launches as well as thevery best in catering, venues, light-ing, entertainment and the latestproducts and technologies.
There will also be a range of activi-ties and attractions. Throughout theevent, Forth One’s Grant Stott willbe hosting a number of topical andeducational seminars at the MCLTheatre, providing visitors with“food for thought” and handy tipsfrom industry experts.
Show highlights:� Over 100 exhibitors, including
MCL, Visit Lanarkshire, Sound andVision and Field and Lawn, plus ahost of first-time exhibitors such asNorthern Networking Events, TheNational Trust for Scotland,Blooming Occasions and BlueParrot.
� Attend free seminar sessions atthe MCL Theatre with our top UKspeakers who have worked onevents for clients such as Louis
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Event a must for those wanting tomake maximum audience impact
08 23/12/10 15:41 Page 1
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Are headlinersparamount toany festival?By Christina Eccles
AN INDUSTRY debate has broken outover the value of attracting big nameheadliners to festivals.
According to experts, for someevents, it is all about the artistes –with festivals competing for thebiggest names.
And in some cases entering intoexclusivity deals to ensure they getthe acts they want.
Head booker at Festival RepublicNeil Pengelly said that securing theright headliners is key for a festival.
He explained: “Headliners are para-mount to any festival – it is alwaysthe first thing people look at.
“Although a lot of people might notcare who is headlining, the key thingto get right is the headliners.”
But experts also added thatalthough securing the right headlineacts is important for some festivals,others can sell tickets on the back ofan established reputation or becausethey have something unique to offerfestivalgoers.
CEO of MAMA Festivals Gary Turnerexplained: “When we look at theamount of headliners there are, thereis not the biggest pool. Remember
what your festival is and what actual-ly suits it. The creative element of afestival is becoming more important,especially in the middle tier of festi-vals that can’t get the massive head-liners because of financial con-straints.”
Director of X-Ray Touring Jeff Craftadded: “It depends on the artiste aswell. Some don’t want to headline asthey don’t want the attention thatcomes with being a headliner.
“There is a massive market for festi-vals all over the world and the key isto find the audience that wants tocome to the event. But there aresome that are so well established,people are buying tickets withoutknowing who the headliners are.”
Jeff also said that live income is nowa major source of revenue for acts –but there can be a danger that thesame bands constantly touring thecircuit means less choice for organis-ers.
“This is one of the reasons whyreunions are becoming more popu-lar. In this climate, a reunion is addedvalue because the act has not beenseen for a few years. It is difficult tofind acts who are not on a constantcycle of touring all year round.”
Area identified as ripe for growthG4S Events has opened a new region-al headquarters in Cardiff after iden-tifying South Wales as a key growtharea for events.
The company – which recently pro-vided security services for the RyderCup at Celtic Manor – believes thattourism and leisure in the region willgrow and it will become a regulardestination for major live music andsports events.
Managing director Mark Hamiltonsaid: “Cardiff and Swansea have thefour biggest stadia in Wales; theMillennium, Cardiff City, Liberty andthe SWALEC.
“In addition, Wales regularly attracts
huge events such as internationalcricket and rugby fixtures, music concerts and of course The RyderCup.
“As the UK’s leading independentevent security provider it makessense for us to be part of these excit-ing events, which is why we are open-ing a major office in the area and willbe investing significantly in the localeconomy.”
G4S’ new office will be led byregional operations manager RobinKeevil, a former police inspector, whohas extensive experience in the policemanagement of critical incidents andevents.
A team from Festival Republic has raisedover £125,000 for charity after pedaling itsway across Africa. At the last count, thefundraising total for the Kenyan OrphanProject was £125,000 – which is already£25,000 over the target. Managing directorMelvin Benn said: “We had an amazing fivedays cycling and two days of project visit-
ing and the pain of the ride soon disap-peared when seeing the reward it wouldbring to such vulnerable children. Visiting aschool for example where 490 of the 630pupils attending were orphaned as a resultof AIDS deaths of parents says everythingabout why we need to support them. Itwas massively worthwhile.”
TEMPORARY access solutions spe-cialist Eve has secured a three-yearsupplier agreement with the LondonMetropolitan Police Service.
Having supplied the force with itscrowd control, security barriers andfencing products for over 20 years,the new contract will see Eve supply-ing, storing, maintaining and deploy-ing its barriers across the capital for a
wide range of high profile events. These include state visits, Trooping
the Colour, London football matches,the Notting Hill Carnival, Rememb-rance Day and New Year’s Eve cele-brations. As part of the contract, Eve’sWimbledon based depot will be onstandby for emergency situations,enabling them to deploy the barriersand fencing within two hours.
Eve secures police deal
09 23/12/10 15:41 Page 1
2 10
FOR four days in December, the cas-tle courtyard was completely trans-formed into a magical, indoor 1,000seat theatre, staging a programme ofleading musical entertainment, pro-duced by Raymond Gubbay.
Emma and Shan came across theirfair share of challenges to get theevent off the ground, but both aredelighted with the reaction to thenew festival and are already lookingforward to 2011.
Emma said: “We have been thrilledwith everybody’s response and com-plimentary feedback on the festival.We certainly had more than ourshare of challenges in getting theevent off the ground this year,including the great British weather!But apart from the arctic conditions,an enormous heating bill and dimin-ished numbers on the Wednesdaynight, we couldn’t have wished for abetter four-day event in our first year,thanks to our wonderful team of con-tractors who all went beyond the callof duty to make it such a success. Wemust just mention PinnacleMarquees, FTAV Sound and Lighting,Hoff Heating, Ripley Castle and ofcourse the team at Raymond Gubbayand the incredibly talented artistswho all did a superb job.”
Shan added: “I think festivalgoers
were perhaps slightly nervous and abit uncertain of what to expect, giventhe description we gave in the mar-keting material of `a temporarystructure inside the castle courtyard’and clearly bearing in mind the win-try conditions. It was very rewardingto see the expressions on the guests’faces as they entered, evidentlydelighted and very relieved to be hitby a warm, enticing, festive environ-ment as they entered the foyerthrough the castle gatehouse.
“It is always very difficult with anew event to properly paint an accu-rate picture of the setting, atmos-phere, production quality etc, espe-cially when using such a uniquevenue format, but we know that nextyear our job promoting the event willbe made 10 times easier now that wehave great photographs, testimonialsand most importantly confidenceand great enthusiasm from our mar-ket and the media.
“We have been extremely pleasedwith the end result and the feedbackwe have received from the event, butlooking back it wasn’t all smiles. Idon’t think the weather could havebeen crueller to us, which created alot of extra work and headaches dur-ing the build. The third day was theworst when we arrived on site to find
more than six inches of snow on theroof of the structure which created abig safety issue with the enormousstrain it was putting on the legs androof with the tonnes of extra weight.After two hours of having the jumboindustrial heaters on full heat and ahuge diesel bill later, we managed tomelt the snow enough to allow theteam to continue work.
“We would like to thank our spon-sors and partners; Jaguar, Welcometo Yorkshire, Thorncroft, Black Sheepand Ackrill Media who’s supportmade it all possible.
“If we can raise the necessary sponsorship, we fully intend to runthe event for a second year inDecember 2011 and for many yearsto come.”
For the last few months, the directors of the White Rose Winter Music Festival at Ripley Castle have been sharingtheir diary – reporting on the event’s progress from the early stages to completion. In the final entry EmmaRamply and Shan Robinson reveal how it went ...
Festival blossoms despite the freeze
EVENTS in 2010 suffered from theworldwide recession and 2011, Iexpect will be no different.
Local authorities will find it hardto produce free events for theircommunities. When they are facingsuch large cuts in budgets, theywill have a choice between empty-ing the bins, say, or their localcountry council subsidised show –the show may have to go.
They will look to the private sec-tor to take on such events, but howlikely is it for promoters to want toundertake previous non-profitcouncil events?
The quango that is PRS, will notbe disbanded like most otherquangos in the government cuts.With them increasing their per-centage upwards from the currentthree per cent in 2011 taking evenmore money from the beleagueredpromoters; their slice of the cakegets bigger while the promoters’profit decreases.
They haven’t realised that in thisclimate they need the promoters totrade for them to get their percent-age or they may be just too greedyto care!
It has been announced in localauthority circles that following theHSE's involvement in theOlympics, this has led them toreconsider the issue of temporary
structures in the events/entertain-ments sectors and the applicationof the Construction (Design andManagement) Regulations 2007(CDM Regulations) to their erec-tion and dismantling. This may bea good thing or it may againincrease costs for supplying tem-porary structures to smaller events.I wonder where this will end andwhat other legacies will come fromthe 2012 Olympics that will bedetrimental to the industry in 2011and onwards. It’s okay for theOlympics, which has billions ofpounds of taxpayers’ money towaste but what about the industryas a whole? Yes new venues but anymoney left in the economy to putevents in them, I doubt it.
The corporate marketplace for2010 has really been conspicuousby its absence and unfortunatelythere is little sign of a dramaticrecovery for the next fiscal year.
There has to be a turn around forthe corporate marketplace as mostof the companies that have bat-tened down the hatches to getthrough the recession must start totrade out of the situation, whichwill mean product launches andexhibitions, but I don’t see 2011bringing in many corporate partiesor staff incentives.
So is it all doom and gloom or is
there some light at the end of thistunnel? On the plus side we have aRoyal Wedding so someone’s got toorganise it, there’s at least one cor-porate job to go for, global warm-ing means we have more snowevery winter so my drive looks niceand the big music artists are charg-ing more and more money with bigback end percentage deals so theyand their agents are all going to beokay and they will still be able topay for their four or five homes (I
do worry about them!)Seriously, we have the best indus-
try in the world and the UK eventsindustry will again blossom for2011 and beyond, as we alwayshave, we will lead the world in pro-fessionalism and innovationdespite the politicians and civil servants, so I wish you all a HappyNew Year and I’m off to have a festive Bailey’s and a bottle of valium.
As a new year begins, Andy Cotton shares with The Main Event his predictions for the industry in 2011 ...
Tough times ahead for 2011
10 21/12/10 15:05 Page 1
11
XL Video UK haslaunched its newwebsitewww.xlvideo.comwhich has beendesigned as a proac-tive communicationsportal for all those interested in the compa-ny and its services.
This fast, easily navigable, slick visualinterface gives a comprehensive overview ofXL Video's products, services and activities,and features full technical info on the widerange of video and AV equipment availablefor hire. The different sectors in which XLworks – including concert touring, theatreand the arts, TV shows, outdoor festivals –each have their own individual sections.There are contact details for all the relevantproject managers, so inquiries can be direct-ed straight to the relevant personnel.
XL Events, the award-winning corporateand live event arm of the company also hasits own section, covering the specialistdesign and technical facilitation servicesoffered to corporate agencies, productioncompanies, exhibition organisers, publicand special events of all types and the TVand broadcast sectors.
The news and gallery section is regularlyupdated and visitors can also sign up toreceive regular e-newsletters from XL Videohighlighting recent projects and newlyacquired equipment. A prominent careerssection is designed to encourage freelancecrew to contact XL Video and offer theirskills and expertise, and it also details train-ing opportunities for those wanting toincrease their knowledge in practical, handson contexts.
The relationship between festivals and brands was explored in a panel debate atthis year’s UK Festival Conference. The Main Event went along.
ACCORDING to figures, sponsor-ships in the UK are worth over £1b– with many brands working hardto link up with UK festivals andengage with audiences which theymay otherwise find hard to reach.
But to ensure a successful part-nership, it is vital that both thebrand and the festival are clearabout what they want to achieveand how they are going to do it.
Head of music partnerships atBrandamp Dave Chase explained:“When a client comes to us, gener-ally via an agency, they want to tar-get a particular audience. We comeback to them with what’s on themarket at the time and also look atalternative solutions. We always goback with a clear view of what thefestival can offer and whether it isrelevant to them.
“We also work with festival organ-isers to present ideas and look atthe financial values that the festivalis looking for. But festival organis-ers need to create as much infor-mation as they can about whattheir product is.”
Tuborg’s brand manager ChrisThornhill added: “Brands go intofestivals for a number of reasons.For example, Tuborg is a relativelyyoung brand so a lot of our objec-tives are around growth. The mainthing we have at Live Nation festi-vals is that we use the main stage
screen. If you are looking at brandswith more maturity in the market,they are going to be looking at ele-ments which will help them to gainloyalty and tailor activity to meetthese demands.”
The panel also advised organisershow they can get the most out offorming partnerships with brandsand extend the relationship beyondthe festival itself.
President of Be@TV Ray Smithadded: “Utilise the web as a plat-form to amplify activity and extendthe legacy beyond the festival end-ing. A lot of time the brand associa-tion ends [after the event] but bypresenting it online, people canrelive the moment again.”
This year’s Beach Break Live wassponsored by Dell and managingdirector Ian Forshew revealed why
the partnership worked so well.The brand set up an internet cafe
at the event and as it is attended bystudents, this proved really popularwith the crowds who could goonline to check exam results anduse social networking sites to talkabout their experiences at the festi-val.
Ian added: “We worked with Dellthis year at the festival – we had tolook at what they are about andwhat the festival is about.
“We included the internet cafeand the students liked the interac-tion they were having with thebrand.
“Success for us is a positive effecton the event’s budget, the customerexperience and building a lastingrelationship with the brand movingforwards.”
How it works for festivals and brandsNew websitelaunched by XL
11 21/12/10 15:05 Page 1
2 12 ADVERTISER’S ANNOUNCEMENT
ADD revenue to your event withoutselling more tickets, without increas-ing prices and without cutting backon costs.
How much revenue would you liketo add? We have helped to increaserevenue by up to nine per cent atsome of the largest venues in thecountry.
How? By having a dedicated teamaimed at improving your profit con-
trol by reducing wastage, theft andunexplained losses.
Casual staff are the backbone of theevent industry but they tend to be untrained and the chances ofthem reducing your profits areincreased.
The Venners LIVE Profit Controlteam provide accurate and individual stock results for each areaof sales.
Rather than produce figures that areonly relevant after the event, we pro-duce results just after the units close.
Action can then be taken with yoursecurity and operational teams toensure that any poor results are notrepeated again.
The Venners database allows stockresults to be linked to staff, so thatconsistently poor performers can behighlighted and targeted.
This database shows up anomaliessuch as the manager who regularlyrecorded wastage of 100 burgersevery time he worked and the man-ager who consistently had stock tocash losses of less than one per centbut always had over 10 per centwastage.
Not only are the Venners teamskilled in producing these accuratefigures, due to the number of eventsand systems seen, they are alsoskilled at reducing the wastage seen at sites, advising on queue times and problems and aiming toincrease turnover by operationalpractices.
Your operational staff will befocused on increasing sales. Byadding Venners to the team you alsoget a dedicated focus on increasingyour profit – the key to a successfulevent.
Add revenue to your event byimproving your profit control
12 23/12/10 15:43 Page 1
13
THE lights switch on is the town’smost popular event – drawingcrowds of over 20,000 people tomark the start of the festive season.
But this year, organisers BarnsleyCouncil took a whole newapproach by splitting the eventinto two separate parts.
One part of the event took placein the town centre and was aimedat families with young children.Attractions included 2 Grand fromBritain’s Got Talent and the actuallight switch on performed by TVcharacter Peppa Pig and the mayor of Barnsley Coun MargaretSheard.
Teenagers and older fans werealso catered for with a new, wrist-banded event in the town centre’sCounty Way car park, headlined byX Factor contestants Lloyd Danielsand Belle Amie.
And although organisers admit-ted changing a successful formulacould have been a risk, the gamblepaid off as 25,000 people visitedover the course of the day.
The council’s arts and eventsmanager Lynn Mealings explained:“We catered specifically in thetown centre for families and youngchildren and had the teenage massappeal on County Way with the XFactor acts.
“The key for this was splitting thecrowd and avoiding crowd surges.We had the families in the towncentre so programmed to thataudience. And on County Way, weknew what would keep young peo-ple interested and that the draw ofLloyd Daniels was greater than thelights in the town centre.”
The County Way site had previ-ously been trialled as an eventspace earlier in the year when ithosted a Love Music Hate RacismConcert starring acts such asChipmunk and Roll Deep.
And Lynn told The Main Eventthat the council learned valuable
lessons there which they couldimplement on this event.
She added: “We did the LoveMusic Hate Racism concert atCounty Way which was very suc-cessful.
We learned about crowd manage-ment from the concert and alsowhere to locate the food outletsand fairground to give plenty ofspace for moving everybodyaround.
“Also as the site is hard core floor-ing, it is easier to clear up after-wards. The get out is much fasterthan it would be if the event washeld on grass.
“We also had wristbands, whichenabled us to track exactly howmany people were coming on site –overall we had 6,222. The wrist-bands were also great advertisingfor sponsors.”
As the car park is also open to thepublic seven days a week, the teamalso had the task of working to atight timescale to load everythingin and out.
They started in the car park atmidday, the event started at3.30pm with the firework finale at7.30pm – and everyone was home
by 9pm. Lynn also said that the two sites
worked really well at splitting thecrowd and once the town centreevent had finished, the crowdsthere had the option to come alongto the other event.
“After the lights at 5pm, weretained a significant number ofpeople in the town centre andeveryone else came to the CountyWay site to continue the event andsee the fireworks at 7.30pm.
“The retailers were also happybecause they had a lot of familiesin the town centre. A lot of shopsstayed open and it created a reallynice atmosphere. It also meantpeople could have a pit stop inbetween sites and made it feel likethe whole site was joined up.”
Sponsors were also a vital part ofthe event – with companies whocame on board including ASOS andlocal radio station Hallam FM.
Lynn added: “Our partners helpus to maintain a good profile in dif-ficult economic times – we couldn’thave put that amount of cash intoour event. Establishing these rela-tionships now is really important.”
Changes were made at Barnsley’s annual Christmas lights switch on to improvethe experience for visitors and utilise the town’s newest event space. ChristinaEccles found out more.
Split event catersfor all tastes
13 21/12/10 15:06 Page 1
2 14 WINTER EVENTS AND ICE RINKS
A never before seen animation and a performance from X Factor winner Joe McElderryentertained the crowds at Manchester’s Christmas lights switch on.The 20,000 plus crowd at Albert Square were treated to a world first from Moët &Chandon, as flying champagne corks virtually ‘cracked’ the Manchester Town Hall Clockbefore the building filled with champagne. The evening came to a sparkling end with a 10-minute fireworks display and also included special guests from Coronation Street andthe cast of hit musical We Will Rock You.
Rihanna switched on the Christmas lights at London’s Westfield Shopping Centre, support-ed by Arcstream AV’s spectacular laser show. Managing director Neil Dickinson said:“Westfield was looking for an effect which would engage the huge crowd this eventalways pulls in, and lasers are a brilliant way of creating an effect in a large space. Weused 20 diffraction mirrors placed throughout the atrium area sending beams literallyeverywhere to cover the massive audience.”
Dancing on Ice winner HayleyTamaddon launchedSheffield city centre’sfirst ice rink.The rink – sponsoredby Real Radio – wassituated in the PeaceGardens and couldhold up to 120 people.Hayley – who is starring in pantomime inSheffield as PeterPan – joined SheffieldCity Council’s cabinetmember for culture,sport and tourismCoun Roger Davisonat the rink.
Jamie’s team addswarmth to a Winter WonderlandJAMIE Oliver’s Fabulous Feastsswapped summer festivals for HydePark’s Winter Wonderland – providingvisitors with festive food and drinkand a special gingerbread makingworkshop.
The team set up a full kitchen forthe event – which took three days intotal – serving up warming treatssuch as slow roasted pork, pasta,soups, stews, mulled wine and hotchocolate.
They also made clever use of one ofthe park’s existing bandstands byturning the space into a gingerbread
house where families could decorateand take away their own gingerbreadmen.
Using good quality ingredients wasalso high on the agenda for the com-pany, who made a big effort to sourcelocal and organic produce.
Managing director Glen Chadwicksaid: “The organisers came to us totalk about the event and said theyhad a bandstand they would like todo something with.
“In previous years they have hadSanta up there but this was an oppor-tunity to do something different.”
X Factor winner Joe McElderry switched on Sheffield city centre’s Christmas lights at anevent attended by 35,000 people. Joe was joined on stage by Scouting for Girls, coun PaulScriven, leader of Sheffield City Council, Real Radio hosts Dixie and Gayle and CalendarNews’ Christine Talbot to press the plunger and illuminate the city. Other highlights at thefree event included a performance by CBeebies stars ZingZillas, reindeer, huskies and fair-ground rides.
DE BOER had a busy festive seasonafter responding to growingdemand for its temporary accom-modation alongside ice rinks.
The structure specialist was hiredin towns and cities across the UK tomeet the public’s ever increasinglove of skating over the Christmasand New Year period.
Key accounts manager KateMorrison said: “De Boer has beenproviding accommodation to tem-porary ice rinks for many years. Asthe popularity of skating continuesto grow, clients are increasinglyturning to us as an experiencedpartner that can help them create afestive experience to remember.”
Structure specialist ice and busy
THERE’S a buzz around a quiet back-water in Lincolnshire … a gentle humof excitement generated by the imminent launch of the new Flying Hire generators into the festivals and events world throughoutBritain.
Flying Hire can now present thenewest, most reliable, state-of-the-art means of powering outsideevents – fully synchronized, programmable load sharing 220KVagenerators.
Managing director Lindsay Nearnsaid: “The success of every eventdepends on 100 per cent reliablepower.
“Flying Hire provides temporarypower that is guaranteed not to fail.Our brand new fully synchronized,programmable load-sharing genera-tors are precisely what the eventindustry requires.”
Established 10 years, Flying Hire demonstrates proven high quality service to their customers.
Expertise and dedication is key tothe success of Flying Hire.
All equipment is fully serviced and maintained to a very high stan-dard.
Managing director Joe Nearn added:
“We have the knowledge, togetherwith direct backup from JCB, to usethese generators to their full capabilities; load-sharing to adaptefficiently to power requirements andeliminate risk of overload, telemetrymonitoring/communication via SMS, GSM or Wi-Fi allowingFlying Hire to maintain ultimate con-trol.”
Event lighting is supplied in theform of high quality tower lights.Coupled with dusk till dawn autostart they provide a non-man opera-tion for events.
These provide floodlight to darkpublic areas in order that events cancarry on safely beyond daylighthours.
Their impeccable attention to cus-tomer service is what sets Flying Hireapart. Peace of mind begins from thefirst phone call.
Advice on requirements and a real-istic quote are provided in a friendly,professional manner.
A confident working relationship isdeveloped throughout the setting up,running to removal at the end of asuccessful event.
For more information contact www.flyinghireevents.co.uk
or 01522 778899
Flying Hire poweringforward into 2011
14 23/12/10 15:44 Page 1
WINTER EVENTS AND ICE RINKS 15
1. PurposeAgreeing the purpose of your icerink before you start to plan meansthat you are going to get a bettercustomer experience. The mainquestions you need to ask yourselfbefore you start anything else is:� Is the purpose of your rink toattract more shoppers and people?� Is the brief designed to entertainor act as a community focus?� Is the purpose to utilise an assetor space that otherwise would beunderused? � Do you want or need to attractfinancial sponsors to the ice rink?
The answers to these questionswill help to determine how youneed to proceed.
2. Location/access to siteIce rinks need to be visible to the
general public and require highvolumes of footfall. Marketingalone to create awareness of theice rink will not be sufficient tokeep the ice rink busy. There needsto be easy access to the locationfor the technical build and also forthe general public. Your customersneed to see a clear way to get onthe ice.
3. SiteAn ice rink must have a flat surface– so the flatter the surface wherethe ice rink can be built, the easierit is and less expensive it will be foryou. Power supply onsite couldpotentially reduce costs by 30 - 40per cent if you don’t have to usepower from generators. Water isimperative. It may sound funnybut the amount of venues whohave expressed the desire to havean ice rink but when asked wheretheir nearest water supply is locat-ed, they have no idea. To build anice rink you will need A LOT of
water.
4. Population/ target marketYou need to keep the ice rink busy– a busy ice rink attracts moreskaters and looks better, so consid-er your local footfall and that willdetermine the size of your ice rink.Divide the sqm of the ice rink bythree and that will give you your“on ice capacity” at any one time,e.g. 300sqm ice rink will hold 100skaters per session. Think abouthow many hours in the day youwant your ice rink to operate? Ifevery session was to last 45 min-utes for example how does thataffect your revenue, staff costs andthroughput?
Also considering your target mar-ket – who you do want to attract/who will you attract? This will pro-vide you with the best approach totake when marketing your ice rink.For example, building your ice rinknext to your Santa’s Grotto willattract a lot of families, not neces-sarily young adults; build an ice
rink in a cinema complex and youwill attract a lot of teenagers.
5. FinishingIncluding other elements such as
decorative lighting, music, pavil-ions for boot changing and carpet-ing will all add to the experience ofyour customers who come toskate. Additional income can comefrom selling food and beverages. Aresearch report in 2007 found thatonly 1/3 of revenue came frompeople actually skating.
If your venue also provides foodand refreshments near the ice rink,customers will most likely havesomething to eat at your venuebefore or after enjoying their 45minutes on the ice rink, thereforeincreasing your revenue. Themedmarkets and other concessionscan bring in significant revenue aswell as adding to the overall attrac-tiveness of your ice rink.
� John Burgess is live events accountmanager at Stage Electrics.
Ice rinks can add a festive sparkle to outdoor winter events but to get it right,there are several things which organisers would need to think about. StageElectrics’ John Burgess shares his top five.
How to make ice rinkproject glide not slide
A GROUP of the UK’s most respectedfestival organisers closed the 2010UK Festival Conference by sharingthe secrets of their lasting success.
Organiser of the Isle of WightFestival John Giddings, Live NationUK’s chief operating officer JohnProbyn and Creamfields’ JamesBarton addressed delegates at theevent.
The panel shared their experiencesof organising major events as well asgiving the audience an insight intosome of the highlights and chal-lenges they have faced along the way.
John Probyn – who has worked on
events including Download, Wirelessand Hard Rock Calling – revealed thatone of the most challenging times inhis career came at Download whendisgruntled fans, who were left dis-satisfied by a headline performance,took matters into their own hands.
He explained: “One year Guns ‘n’Roses played Download and weended up with a riot in the campsite.It was one of the darkest moments ofmy career watching the festival col-lapse – we had nine vans of riotpolice.
“Our audience is predominantlyaged 18-25 and know their music.
The act they had waited for did a badperformance and that triggered it.
“But we learned from it. We satdown with security and police andhave never looked back. We had avery upset audience and we handledit wrong.”
James has been at the helm ofCreamfields for the last 12 years andachieved one of his proudestmoments two years ago when theevent sold out for the first time.
And he added that even though thefestival has grown over the years, thefocus has always been on the music.
He added: “Anyone who comes to a
dance gig, has to be committed todance. Creamfields is all about themusic and that particular sound.They are there to listen to the music.”
The trio also shared their predic-tions for the future and James tolddelegates that there is ‘a lot to beoptimistic and positive about’ fornext year.
John Giddings added that going to afestival is a brilliant, shared experi-ence and as long as the event keepsselling tickets, he will keep doing it.
John Probyn said that top of hisagenda for next year is selling moretickets and reducing artiste fees.
Sharing the secrets of lasting success ...
Conferenceto focus oncrime at majormusic festivalsTHE driving forces behind some ofthe UK’s biggest events have beeninvited to attend a conference focusing on crime at major music fes-tivals.
The conference – hosted by FestivalRepublic – is now in its third year andfollows on from the success of theprevious two events.
Its aim is to discuss the crimeencountered during the 2010 festivalseason and to look forwards toimprovements and continued intelli-gence and tactic sharing for the 2011season.
The festival promoters and forcesbeing invited to attend include repre-sentatives from Glastonbury, Leeds,Reading, Download, Isle of Wight, Tin the Park and V Festival, with theconference chaired by FestivalRepublic’s Melvin Benn and ChiefSupt Andy Battle of West YorkshirePolice.
The list of speakers confirmed andtopics to be covered so far include:
� Reg Walker, Iridium Consultancyand Commercial Protection Unit –with a review of crime and operationsduring the 2010 festival season.
� Inspector Marcus Griffiths fromWest Yorkshire Police – on the "MultiAgency tout response vehicle" opera-tion at Leeds Festival 2010.
� The dispersal zone activated byThames Valley Police against touts forReading Festival 2010.
� Peter Nicholson, security co-ordi-nator, Festival Republic – on the dif-ferences in approach from a policeand a promoter perspective.
� Steve Barnes, National MobilePhone Crime Unit – on mobile phonecrime during 2010 in the light of theiradditional engagement with festivalsand their respective police forces.
� Rape prevention campaign at LeedsFestival 2010.
The free conference will take placeon January 20 at the Royal BerkshireConference Centre at the MadejskiStadium.
15 21/12/10 15:06 Page 1
2 16 THE EVENT PRODUCTION SHOW
EVENT branding specialists Sunbabawill be exhibiting at the EventProduction Show in February, fortheir 12th year.
Showcasing their full range of prod-ucts, providing information andoffering advice on the most appropri-ate printed branding for your events,Sunbaba’s core value of providing a
service that amazes will be on fullview.
Keen and committed to reducingthe environmental impact of theirproducts, staff will be on hand tosuggest sustainable alternatives anddiscuss their new material reprocess-ing scheme in partnership with theTREEHUGGER Truck Service.
This service enables us to collectany unwanted recyclable materials,following events in and around theLondon area, and reprocess thematerials to be used again.
Sunbaba is a crucial stop for anyevent organiser passionate to reducethe environmental impact of theirevents, and will be assisted by our
team, to make recycling unwantedbranding as straight forward and has-sle free as possible.
Emphasising their problem solving capabilities, the stand willhave a Rubix theme, showcasingsome of our favourite past projects,so make sure you stop by and checkit out.
Exhibitor Sunbaba: providing a service that amazes
THE Event Production Show is on target forthe largest number of exhibitors in its 20-yearhistory, organisers have revealed.
2010 saw the show’s footprint increase by1,500 sq metres and confirmed bookings for2011 already reflect a five per cent uplift inexhibitors year-on-year.
Staged in Olympia’s Grand Hall in London,the exhibition attracts organisers representingevents ranging from outdoor festivals to exhi-bitions, as well as contractors and suppliers inthese fields.
Spokesman Sarah Brownlee said: “The UKevent sector is in transition as we get ready toproduce some of the highest profile events onthe world stage, from the 2012 LondonOlympics and the Golden Jubilee along withthe eponymous Glastonbury.
“The Event Production Show has long beenknown for its audience of pedigree buyers andwe are looking forward to widening the reachof the audience to include sponsorship man-agers and in-bound European buyers as theyseek to capitalise on the UK’s decade ahead.”
� The show take place at London’s Olympiafrom February 2-3 2011.
More exhibitors than ever headingfor The Event Production Show
John Probyn, Harvey Goldsmith and WayneHemingway will be among the keynote speakers atThe Event Production Show’s Access Sessions.They will also be joined by Jamie Oliver and hisFabulous Feasts team which include Glen Chadwickand David Hornby.Speakers at the event will be looking at issues suchas legislation, ticket touting and cashless festivals atthe show, which takes place in February at London’sOlympia.
NOEA will also be holding a ses-sion at the Event ProductionShow, focusing on a number ofissues currently facing the indus-try.
The session – entitled Green,Safe and Legal - are you? – takesplace on Wednesday February 2between 10.00am – 12.00pm.
The schedule includes:
� Welcome and Introduction –Rob Corp, special events manager,Cardiff Council
�Who carries the can whenthings go wrong? –
Philip Day, solicitor, HorseyLightly Fynn
� The challenges of street partiesfor Local Authorities –
Rob Corp
� How sustainable is your event? –
Michael Bell, Bellensen Associates
� Lord Young – Is he right? does health and safety stifle cre-ativity? –
Richard Limb, Capita Symonds,president of NOEA
� The Role of the Local AuthorityEvent Organisers Group (LAEOG) –
Andy Grove, events officer,Basingstoke & Deane BoroughCouncil
If anyone wishes to raise a partic-ular issue, please let NOEA knowin advance.
� For further information and tobook places please email NOEAat:[email protected]
NOEA focuseson issuesfacing industry
THE Event Production Show isgoing green – with a wave ofnew environmentally friendlyexhibitors confirming theirpresence.
These include ticketing supplier Brown Paper Ticketsand Ascot Structures – manufacturer of the UK’s firstseries of environmentallyfriendly structures – BambooTents.
Spokesman Sarah Brownleeadded: “Going green and CSRare at the top of the agenda,subsequently our visitors arelooking for solutions across the event spectrum; be it tick-ets, marquees, toilets or cater-ing.
“As the exhibition is targeteddirectly to event producers,we are encouraging sustainableproducts to get involved as we get ready for one of theUK’s biggest decades in liveevents.”
Show goesgreen ...
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Diary dates
Challenge the Convention – Collaborate: Create: ControlThe barefoot entrepreneur takes on NOEAOur key note speaker this year isthe Barefoot entrepreneur RobertAshton.
Best-selling business author andsocial entrepreneur Robert Ashtonis a man who challenges conven-tion.
He sees things differently andquestions the status quo.
What other people have saidabout Robert:
“I like Robert – he's a human-scale entrepreneur on a talk-circuitdominated by supposedly super-human entrepreneurs who most ofus find it hard to relate to. He talksa lot of sense.”
Rob Greenland,Social Business
Consulting
There are various sponsorshippackages available from the Gold Package at £2,000 whichincludes sponsorship of an award, stand space and two delegate places with overnightaccommodation to the Bronzepackage at £750.
If you are interested in becominginvolved at the convention and youdo not need to be NOEA memberto sponsor we would like to hearfrom you.
Four independent judges havebeen chosen to choose the winnersfor the NOEA Award.
Adam Parry –Event IndustryNewsManchester-based AdamParry is nostranger toNOEA, hav-ing workedfor over twoyears on NOEA’s official magazine,The Main Event.
Adam now works for EventIndustry News (EIN). EIN offersbusy event professionals the facilityto access the latest news 24 hours aday via the Internet.
“I feel privileged that I’ve beenasked to be part of the judgingpanel and very much look forwardto working with NOEA on their2011 awards.”
Neil Marcus –director, RedMan Events
Neil hasworked in theevent indus-try since leav-ing schoolback in 1979.He set up RedMan Events in 1998, an event man-agement partnership working for awide range of clients worldwideand specialising in large-scale proj-ects. Red Man prides itself in mak-ing the events it works on stand outfrom the crowd. In addition Neilhas been lecturing at Degree leveland Masters, and is currently withThe University of Wales Institute,Cardiff.
Hugh EdwinJones –GwyneddCouncilHugh beganhis workingcareer in theentertain-ment indus-try in 1974,when he joined the ‘NationalTheatre of Wales’ as a trainee tech-nician. In 1978 he moved into the-atre management.
He joined Gwynedd Council in1992 as the first film commissionerin Wales. In 2000 he was appointedGwynedd Council’s first eventscommissioner, and became its firstchief executive. In 2010 he acted asproject manager for GwyneddCouncil for the 2010 BBC Radio 1Big Weekend. Hugh is also a mem-ber of the Executive Board of LocalAuthority Events Organisers Group(LAEOG)
Jane Russen –Star EventsGroupJane Russenjoined StarEvents, orStar Hire as itwas then inApril 1994 as sales administrator.In January 1999 Jane was promotedto sales manager and in 2003became director of the mobilestages where she is now director ofgroup sales with international part-ners in Spain and Italy with StarEvents Group China, being a whol-ly owned subsidiary of Star EventsGroup.
February 2 and 3 2011 – Event ProductionShow, OlympiaFebruary 23 – 24 2011 Annual convention,Holiday Inn Birmingham AirportMarch 11 – Main Event GlasgowTbc April Wales ConferenceTbc Sept/Oct Northern Ireland Conference
NOEA held their Annual GeneralMeeting and regional conference atBucks New Uni, with a view to high-lighting the importance of involvingundergraduates in work experiencewith companies to promote anduphold the future of the event indus-try.
Those who attended braved thethreat of imminent heavy snow tomake it to High Wycombe for aprompt start.
The conference, hosted by presidentRichard Limb, incorporated presenta-tions from Sheila Russell of DerbyUniversity, Steve Ruffle from Safechildand Philip Day of Horsey LightlyFynn.
A group of eight students studying arange of event management coursesat the University assisted in the plan-ning and running of the conference,gaining valuable experience in bothmanagement and networking.
The conference incorporated pre-sentations around student involve-ment in the industry, from both theview of Sheila Russell, who workswithin the industry, and two final yearEvent and Festival Managementundergraduates, Emily Eaton andSarah Dunham, who also spoke abouttheir experiences on placements andhow to, in their eyes, further improvestudent/industry links.
Other presentations included a fivepoint plan on safeguarding childrenand vulnerable adults at events andwithin organisations and an outline ofwhat the new amendments to theLicensing Act could mean for theindustry.
While the AGM was held for theNOEA members, the students whohelped to put together the conferencewere given the opportunity to sit andspeak with the other delegates, whichall involved found very insightful.
NOEA holdssuccessful AGMand regionalconference atBucks New Uni
