Arley Hall Reflective Evaluation

Evaluation:

Back in October 2013, we, Production Arts, were provided with a Client Brief for an event that we would be organising and running close to Christmas. The event was named ‘A Classical Serenade’ and I had been given the role of the Events Manager. As the manager, I was responsible for chairing the meetings we had as a group, and controlling / managing timings (aka deadlines) for the entire event throughout the planning process. My other responsibilities were to create a risk assessment for our event at Arley Hall and to purchase any licences we may have needed. Lastly, my job role included being in charge of the overall budget, including that of each department. I had an Income and expenditure spread sheet to manage this.

Our aim from the beginning was to raise £1,000 at this concert for children in orphanages and also families in Moldova. This is because for our Events Management Unit we will be hosting numerous events throughout the year, hopefully raising a total of £3,000 for Moldova. The money will be taken, by us, over to Moldova in July 2014. It was important that £1,000 at least was raised through the Classical Serenade. The Client Brief was as follows:

Charity Event
Concert
Monday 16th December
Arley Hall
Audience Capacity: 100
Title: A Classical Serenade
Concept: A professional and elegant evening that reflects the setting of the house with reference to the Christmas season. An intimate and welcoming environment for the audience.

I feel the planning process in general was executed well, however it could be improved. I was organised because I had a calendar on which I wrote in deadlines in every meeting we had. Problems arose however when deadlines were missed. For example the date for which the marketing posters should have been completed by was overdue by a week. This led to more complications because tickets could not be sold without people knowing about the event. I was fortunate enough to have support from my 2 assistants, Paul and Jordan P.S, who helped other teams complete their tasks in time. For example when Paul aided Matt (set designer) with the plans – this was helpful because I could not organise transport until I knew what set we needed to take with us.  Paul and I also helped the FoH team collect raffle prizes by asking a variety of shops in Stockton Heath Village for donations, a handful were very generous. I think it was worth stepping in because it ensured tasks were done and completed sooner rather than later and so deadlines were indeed met.

The technical team did well to meet deadlines. When we had a meeting on the day of a deadline, the lighting designer, Joel, had his plans drawn and knew what he was going to do, as I had asked. This meant his design was complete and ready weeks before the event. As for the sound, it was not set as a priority for the technical team, therefore was left until last. However mics for Mark (the performer) were arranged at the beginning of December, which was within plenty of time. On the other hand I asked for the Christmas songs that would be played during the interval to be put onto a CD by a certain date and it was not done because our sound designer did not here this job given to her. Next time we would double check that everyone understood their tasks that they had been given by getting them to write down so it is not forgotten about.  

As for marketing, a number of their deadlines were pushed back due to reliance on others (such as those in reprographics) who were kindly printing our posters, tickets, signs and programmes free of charge. I understood that a lot of hard work and time had to go in to every task they were set, therefore I tried spreading out their deadlines as much as possible. However this was not possible at all times because it was their responsibility to get A Classical Serenade recognised and sold. They did an excellent job of the designs because they looked professional, and a continuous theme ran throughout every piece of work.  

On the morning of the event, there was a lot still to do such as rolling scrolls (programmes), printing off a register with a chart explaining how each member of staff was getting there and home, codes of conducts had to be signed by everyone and Front of House needed to print off  a list of raffle prizes and a list of refreshments and prices for those also.

I also put together the checklist from all departments, include the management team. We should have realised just how important these lists were prior to leaving the college. Because it transpired when we arrived that some things were missing and several items had to be collected again, such as Box Office equipment for FoH, card for FoH and cables for the technical team.

An updated running order was also created that morning by me. Looking back I should have made it much more detailed as it was extremely general and did not contain all of the information that it should have done. For example, I did not schedule in a time that we would have a break; even though I knew it would be ‘roughly 5:00pm’ it needed to be written down.

Before arriving at Arley Hall / leaving Priestley, it had been decided that all staff involved would meet in P1.10 at 1pm, ready to leave at 1:15pm. A register was taken by Paul, who along with myself arranged who would be travelling in which minibus. We left for Alrey, the cakes made by a member of staff at college were taken carefully by a student who was driving herself and another to Arley to avoid them getting damaged on route. Any other valuable items such as the hamper basket raffle prize were not put in the transit van because there was a high risk of it breaking.  

When we arrived at Arley, I quickly went over who would be helping with what (First year prods) Gemma, the FoH manager took a group and Jordi took the others to help set up the technical equipment. Paul, JPS, Jordan, Anna and I were supervising and helping when needed. I think I should have stepped back more and observed to ensure everyone was working as a team, which at some points we were not. We had 2 hours to set up as we arrived at 2pm, and at 4pm Mark would be having a rehearsal with John, the pianist. Luckily we did come together as a team and the second years did help the first years out for time management. Everything was (apart from some refreshments) set up by 4/4:15pm)

In the dining room, behind the gallery, I helped set up a table for the raffle. Here there was the money for the float (that Gemma had organised) there was £35 worth of change. We also displayed the prizes over the table in an organised and clear way. We had the sheet and pen to write down the details of those who bought tickets. We then scattered pieces of holly over the table as a hint of decoration. Either side of the table were the easels, thanking those who donated to the raffle, and those who helped us with refreshments. We placed fairy lights around them to add to the Christmassy effect and to brighten up the room even more so.

TV screens were placed in the small dining room and the dining room, on which the dvd that Paul created was played. We used the dvd to show people exactly what we were organising this event for and to show them exactly how desperate the children and families over in Moldova are.

As the sound was being checked in the sound check, it became apparent that the set list was in the incorrect order on Qlab. This should have been organised by the technical department / sound beforehand. We know that this will happen next time.

Afterwards we all got changed into out black ‘uniforms’ (with a hint of red). Everyone looked very smart and it really suited the theme/style of the evening. I am happy with my decision of Black with a hint of red because I think it gave something a little different and it also provided a Christmassy touch, tying in with the snow and Christmas trees for the set and also the holly for decoration.

We catered for the choir and Mark and John by asking if they had any requirements. We provided them with jugs of water and were on hand at any point if they had any queries. I went into the ‘green room’ to ensure they were comfortable on a few occasions because we aimed to be as professional as possible.

Before the audience began to arrive, Gemma and I set up the coat collecting system. Whereby we asked a guest if we could take their coats, we hung it up on a peg (2 raffle tickets per peg) and gave the second ticket, matching the peg on which their coat hung, to them to keep hold of. Lauren (first year prod) did this well whilst I supervised. Lucy, Andy and Toby were also greeting guests as they arrived. Lucy asked to see their tickets / gave the tickets out to those who had them left on the door, and collected the stubs off the end. Joe also helped by opening the door and using the clicker to count the number of bodies we had. It was vital that no more than 100 people entered. This was my biggest worry as 6 tickets were spare; however 99 tickets had been sold through the cash office. I concluded that these tickets must have been those of people who could not make it on the night and had given up their ticket. I was hoping I was right but this should not have been a concern. I should have felt confident that nothing would go wrong.

Next time the ticket sales will be monitored even closer than this time and then double checked the day before and on the day of the event. I think this will definitely ensure that we are confident and are not as stressed when the day of the event arrives.

After the audience had had their coats collected, Toby handed out the programmes which were displayed in a basket. The audience members were led through the house by IB students, whilst at the staircase straight ahead the choir sang. However this part was disorganised because we were unaware of how many songs the choir were singing and the IB students were unsure about when to let the audience through to the gallery, where the concert was taking place. In future this too would go on the running order.  The second year production arts, plus all of those on car parking duty wore radios. This was a good decision because it ensured the communication worked well.

Once the audience had taken their seats, directed by IB students on the door, the concert began. Next time this must also be on the running order. This is because there was further confusion as to when Mark was to go onto the stage. In future there will be someone who tells him he can go and that we are ready to start.

When the doors closed, we had 93 people in and as the people on car parking could not see any more cars in sight, they decided to close and we indoors closed the box office. We then moved our float to the small dining room, where the refreshments (juice, mulled wine, mince pies and cakes) were being sold. Just before the interval, it was decided that Paul and I would go onto the stage to talk to the audience about the raffle and our refreshments. We also thanked our tutors for their support and help over the past several weeks and we thanked Arley Hall, along with the choir and John for helping us with our course and for our charity. I think by advertising the raffle it boosted our profit by a large amount because people were more intrigued and wanted to win one of the prizes.

At the interval, everything was under control as Gemma had a team of +6 helping her. However as we were setting up, e.g. pouring juice into plastic cups, I realised there was a mistake in the ‘deals’ that the FoH team had created. The maths was incorrect as it turned out people would be paying more for a drink and snack than they would by buying them separately. Therefore we took away the ‘deals’ and stuck to selling everything separately. I was not present for much of the selling of refreshments but I heard the customer service was excellent and even though the queues were long, it was well organised and well presented.

The raffle went well as it was extremely popular, with very long queues. Jordan helped by creating a second queue for people. We sold strips at £5 each because the prizes were worth over £10 each.
Unfortunately we began to sell single tickets when the raffle began. We would not do this again because it made it complicated when 4 tickets in a strip were left. The prizes were drawn a few days later and the winners were contacted on the day we broke up for Christmas. Therefore they will not be distributed until January. If we were to do a raffle again we will ensure this is done sooner and not as close to a 2 week break.

Again, as the interval ended, it was unclear when the second act was about to begin. This should have been more organised and again, put on the running order which was my mistake because I did not realise just how important it was to not only have a running order for the set up, but it was just as important to have one for during and post-concert as well. I will make a more thorough running order next time. To announce the second act, it was suggested that someone tapped a glass to raise attention as it was more appropriate than shouting loudly.

The second act was underway and we totalled up the amount of money we had all together. Impressively it added up to over £1,000. I was ecstatic because it was my aim from the beginning. After this buzz of energy, we decided to work as a team to ensure we were all packed away ready to leave as early as possible. We cleared away the raffle table, easels, TVs and fair lights from the dining room and then everyone was helping to tidy / wash up in the kitchen. We were very lucky to have been able to use the kitchen and it was very beneficial because it meant we could heat up the mulled wine before the interval, and wash up afterwards, as well as having plenty of space to work and prepare drinks etc.

As the guests left, we thanked them for coming and wished them a Merry Christmas to be polite and to continue our professionalism right through until the end. We ushered them out also to avoid congestion. At the door, Toby was stood with the bucket to collect any loose change. We knew we had raised a great amount of money and persuaded people to spend a lot but we also knew that every penny counts and it did increase the amount we raised.

Overall I was very proud of how the event ran and it was very successful. The feedback we have received has been extremely positive and already people are asking ‘when is the next one?’ Our grand total from the night was an amazing £1,407 combined with the money we raised doing the Mad Hatters Tea Party, we are currently up to £1,638 . I am confident we can raise £3,000 by June.

Other improvements for next time:

1. I think I underestimated the importance of a checklist. There was an issue here because there were things that were missed off the lists. In future lists will be made much more in advance and checked over and over multiple times. They can also be added to when they need to be.

2. Running order - again I underestimated. I did not understand how to add more detail because I was under the impression the technical team knew what they had to do exactly and who would be helping them. I know now never to be 'under the impression’ and to always know something for certain. I will also make 3 running orders in future. 1 = for the start of the day / set up. 2 = during the event. 3 = Post event. This will ensure everything is done to a good standard and will be much more effective because more will get done in a shorter amount of time. The biggest lesson from this is: Double check everything!

3. Registers - I felt that this was left too late on this occasion because it was the morning of the event when the registers were created and code of conducts were signed. In a future event I would push harder for parental consent slips to be signed at least a week before the day. I would also stay on top of who needed a letter also because that way it would be clearer who is yet to get permission. Following on from this, I think it would be better to know how each student was getting home earlier than on the morning of the event. This is because it was stressful for tutors to organise who could come back to college by the minibus, and whether they had enough room for these people. I do not think it would work perfectly if we were to organise this sooner because plans change and people can change their minds about who they are going with. But it is a thought to consider more thoroughly prior to the event.
Additionally, Codes of Conducts would be signed earlier because again it was last minute. This is because it was left as an afterthought. I would not let this happen again and set a deadline specifically for code of conducts to be signed by everyone on the trip.

4. Promotion - Although I felt the advertisement was to a high standard and we did well to gain public awareness, I think there could be ways of improving advertising. This is through the handling of posters and flyers. I think we printed enough of each and they were distributed in appropriate places, however what I think would be more successful would be to physically speak with members of the public and hand out flyers / posters in person. I think this is better because there is more contact and we are more likely to gain interest whilst educating others in greater detail about what the event is for. It shows passion and commitment on our part also.

5. Communication: Between teams and from us to our acts. Talking to John, the pianist slipped our minds because we / the tech team were focusing on the major pieces of equipment needed and what they needed to bring from college, which they had been told to do by us. However it was unclear how the keyboard was being plugged in. Luckily John had the correct wires, but this should have been checked prior to the set up.  Another issue with communication would occur when a member of our team forgot to do a task they had been set and fail to remember it being delegated to them. This affected us all because it meant deadlines were pushed back. We could not do the work for them, therefore everybody carries some responsibility. Our attempt to control this problem was through taking minutes in meetings. In future I think it would be worth voice recording minutes to ensure there is no controversy over what was said on a particular day - there will be evidence. We / I could maybe make it clearer for individuals who have important jobs to do.

At Arley, every manager got involved in the set up and aided whereever possible. We felt it was necessary to ensure everything was ready for 4:30pm. However we now realise that on the day managers should take a step back to observe others setting up. This promotes better teamwork because if the manager(s) see something, such as people working individually on their own thing, they can suggest they pull together with others instead. The events planning process runs smoother when team work is present.