Ex nihilo

It’s Latin and it means “out of nothing”

This is our speciality. We’re working with a couple of clients at the moment where this is literally the case.  We are taking disused, abandoned or empty spaces and helping to turn them into useable venues – the ultimate in recycling!  There is a lot to think about though when you take over an empty space.

The first of which is making the event venue safe and secure for those working at, performing in or attending the event or show.  This will include thinking about making sure that people can get out in the event of an emergency, making sure that you have the right levels of first aid equipment and trained people on hand, as well as ensuring that you have the means to fight small fires with the correct types and placements of fire extinguishers.

You also need to make sure that you have the right permissions to use your chosen venue for your event – you will almost certainly need to apply for a premises license, and if the event or show is on for more than 28 days you may need to apply for event planning permission or planning change of use.

When working in a venue that wasn’t designed for your intended use, you need to ensure you hope for the best, but plan for the worst – you should have in place an event management plan, emergency management plan, evacuation plan and daily checklists for all operations – your licensing officer will undoubtedly insist you have these before you are allowed to open.

This is exactly what we do – help people to make something from nothing, for theatre shows, concerts and festivals, as well as corporate event and private parties – so give us a call and see how we can help make your event a success.

As someone who spends a lot of time working with – and only sometimes against – local authorities to get events up and running I think that this should be seen as a good thing.  Reducing red tape and the amount of paperwork can only help Britain as we move forward, rather that the usual strangulation in red tape.

All this being said, I still believe that there is a huge difference between someone putting together a street party for a few neighbours and the events we get involved with.  Cutting red tape is one thing, but you wouldn’t catch me out at an event without my trusty H&S manual and insurance certificate in hand – its just seeing sense and applying it.  Twenty people for a street party is one thing – twenty thousand for a festival is something else!

The Department for Communities has posted some handy guidelines for planning a street party on their website – however they list the key points:

• It should be straight forward to close your road – the council need to know but shouldn’t make it unduly complicated.  If councils really need more information, they will contact organisers. If councils ask for excessive information, they should be challenged.  In addition – many councils will charge nothing for Royal Wedding street parties. If your council is charging, you have every right to challenge them.
• There is no requirement from central government to have public liability insurance. Many councils do not insist on so you can challenge those who do (although it can’t hurt to give Doodson Broking Group a call on 0161 419 3000 for a quote – just to cover yourself).
• There is no requirement for a food license.
• It isn’t too late to ask for a road closure – ask your council to be flexible.
• Its never too late to plan a party – there are some hints and tips on the Street Alive website.
• Ask your local council if you can borrow road cones and signs.

Find out more from the Department for Communities Royal Wedding website
See the BBC News story

1) No address – if you don’t put your physical address on your website how do I know that you are for real?  You could be a scamster, working in Nigeria or just trying to rip me off…  You want me to trust you with my business/ email address/ contact info then put yours on your website

2) No real phone number – as above, if you don’t put a phone number on your website, why should I trust you?

3) Mobile number as main point of contact – sorry, unless you are a freelancer, if you put a mobile number on your site then I just think of you as being a small organisation.  As I say for consultants and freelancers this is fine, but if you want me to consider you as a serious player, get a landline number (even if you then divert it to your mobile!)

4) Out of date information – if your last news story on your website was before this time last year, you need to update your site because either, you aren’t doing enough stuff to be credible or you are so busy you haven’t updated your site – either way, this makes me question whether we should be working together.

5) Poorly written copy – as someone who needs to work with people who have a great attention to detail, errors on your website (often your main marketing material) really aren’t acceptable.

6) Tired or out of date looking – I guess this one is more subjective, but I can usually tell by looking at a website if its not been updated for a long time – often just by the way it looks.  If you want your visitors to think of your organisation as forward thinking then make sure your website reflects this.

7) If you are taking payment from me, please make sure its on a secure server – it should start https – if you want my credit card details, you could at least look after them!

Just my thoughts – what do you think?

Picture Credit: renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

1)   First Name, Last Name, Email address – these are a given and when combined with an email marketing campaign (more on that later) are the key information that you need.

2)   Address – use this information to locate your customers – are they clustered anywhere in particular?  As I mentioned before – if the majority of your contacts (paying customers or not) are in one location, then you should focus your events in that location – they will be more likely to attend if they don’t have to travel too far

3)   How they travel to events – if the majority travel by car, you should consider venues with good motorway links – whereas if they travel by train city centre venues might be best.  Also – if people travel by train they may not want to take lots of materials or giveaways with them – so think about offering digital giveaways

4)   User feedback – if you are are organising an event why not get the delegates to define some of the content?  Ask delegates what questions they have and then have a panel discussion – or ask festival goers which bands and acts they would like to see – nothing better than a user-defined event

5)   Reason for attending – whilst for most entertainment events (concerts, festivals etc) it will be obvious why people are attending, business events can be more difficult to define – are delegates there for networking, information or to eductate themselves?  Finding out can help to shape your event

So if you want to personalise and tailor your event, ask the audience and find out what they want.

Photo Credit: renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

1)   How many people is your event for – and will the venue hold that many people?

You might be surprised to learn how many people look at venues that are far too large or far too small for their event.  This isn’t just in terms of each of the main spaces you will be using, but also how long it takes people to get from one part of the event to another – if you only have ten minutes between sessions starting and finishing, make sure people can get from the room they are in to their next location without being late.

2)   Where are your audience?

Look at your customer/ client/ audience database and see where they live.  If 80% of your potential event audience live in London then don’t chose a venue in Scotland – make it easy for your event customers – put your event close to where they are coming from.

3)   How do your audience travel?

If your audience travel by train then a city centre venue will be best – however if they drive then a venue out-of-town could be an option.  How do you know what transport your customers use?  Ask them!  OK, so you won’t know for the first event but make sure you collect data from your event attendees and use it.  Find out as much as you can about your customers or potential customers and use this to determine where your event should be.

4)   Accommodation

If your event is longer than one day is there somewhere on site or nearby that people can stay?  Are there a range of options to suit all budgets?  If you choose a venue that doesn’t have any accommodation nearby then can you organise transport between the two?

5)   Timings

Don’t forget when booking the venue to allow enough time for your event production company to load in the lighting, staging and other audio visual equipment.  The venue will need time to lay furniture as well so it might mean that you have to book the venue for longer than your event timings to have enough time to get everything done.

Can you think of anything?  Comment below!

Photo Credit: xedos4 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We were approached because of our specialist knowledge of site specific theatre production – or theatre production anywhere that isn’t a theatre!

We’re using a number of personal contacts and resources in our hunt for a venue for this production – but if you have a space available that will fit the bill, please get in touch.  I can’t say too much more about the project at the moment, but it will prove to be a very interesting piece of theatre.  We’re delighted to be assisting with the site production elements of the piece – and once we can tell you more, we’ll post it here.

If you are looking for an unusual event venue, whether it be for a conference, exhibition, launch party or theatrical show – let us know and see if we can help.

Photo Credit: Paul / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

As a small but very busy event management company its difficult to keep up with everything AND then keep a blog going that is useful and interesting, but here goes. I’m going to keep all the posts pretty short in order that a) people want to read them and b) I can actually write enough of them to keep momentum.

In 2009 Entourage Live were commissioned to deliver the site management, licensing and planning permissions for threesixty° Entertainment’s stunning new production of Peter Pan, to be held in Kensington Gardens.

With a Cirque-Du-Soleil style temporary structure (giving a 1100 seat auditorium), external bar structures and full theatrical ‘backstage’ installation, Entourage were tasked with ‘making it happen’.

Our Event Managers worked tirelessly with Royal Parks, Westminster City Council and numerous contractors to build a state-of-the-art, WestEnd specification theatre, in a tent, in a field, in less than four weeks.

Running for 18 weeks and seen by over 150,000 people the show was the second biggest selling in the West End that season.

The result was a resoundingly successful show which subsequently went on to run at The O2 Arena (Greenwich) (again under the watchful eye of Entourage Live) before being shipped (by our Logistics Team) 6,000 miles to San Francisco to start a National US tour.

Entourage provided event management support staff to the San Francisco and ongoing Orange County tour dates, with planning well underway for the next location, Atlanta, Georgia.

Entourage Live is pleased to continue this relationship, working directly with the Board of Directors and Show Producers to deliver strategic, event and production support.

Entourage Live worked with Theatre Tent and the show’s Producers to design, build and commission a temporary theatre venue, fit for their Pantomime performance with full (over audience) flying, digital projection and full theatre facilities.  Following months of planning and licensing work the venue was built in less than two weeks.

Gaining both a Premises License and Full Planning Permission was just half the battle.  During the two weeks, well over 100 people were put to work transforming a disused coach park into a fantasy Pantomime land.

Entourage Live managed all aspects of ‘making it happen’ – working on all details with the clients to ensure that the show was delivered on time and on budget – as they say ‘The Show Must Go On!’  From seating and flooring to power, rigging and the venue itself, Entourage were able to manage and deliver all aspects of the event.

Entourage are pleased to be working with Evolution again in 2010/2011 to provide an even bigger and better temporary theatre venue for this year’s show, Robin Hood.

With no suitable venues available close enough to their desired location, Entourage Live were tasked with building a temporary party venue.  The desire was simple…  A large enough space to feed and entertain 1,200, in a location that would be accessible yet not disturb any neighbours.

Entourage provided full event licensing support, built and commissioned a 2700sqm temporary party venue (with additional kitchen space, temporary toilets, support offices and backstage facilities) and created a weekend to remember.

Entourage Live also provided all technical equipment, production management and onsite support staff.  With a field kitchen for 4,800 meals over three days – Entourage were also able to ensure that every meal was covered.

And despite the worst thunderstorm of the year, the weekend went off without a hitch and 1,200 people were left remembering that the UK created the best weekend party in memory.