Evaluating the 10 year birthday event
DV8 10 YEARS
This was our big 10th birthday celebrating representing how DV8 has gone from strength to strength over the last 10 years. All past students and tutors were invited as well as current staff and tutors. We chose the Blind Tiger on Grand Parade to host our event. Our first task was to make the venue our own by branding DV8 style. This involved setting up banners, bunting, and posters. We also had the chance to get a real feel of the venue for the event itself. Our most impressive decorative feature was our giant birthday card, which got people signing, adding messages and sharing memories. Soundchecks followed later from a few of our acts.
Throughout the event I was given the role of stage-managing. This involved ensuring that all acts understood the set times and programming. I did have to chase up acts to ensure that they knew when to go on stage. I also had the chance to photograph guests with the poloid camera. I enjoyed the stage management role because it gave me a different view on the event and a position I hadn’t been given before.
The event was slightly behind schedule but this was due to the fact that two of our acts didn’t turn up because this was such short notice the schedule was not modified. I also felt the host spent too much time introducing acts and talking on stage. As a team we failed to manage the compare well enough. Due to the little timing that we had the compare wasn’t briefed. Lastly the use of our e macs was unsuccessful this was because of many reasons. The positioning of the macs wasn’t as obvious and open as it could have been. The content of the event didn’t focus on any guests really using the macs.
The event was a success overall! 100 guests came through the doors, which met our expectations. Guests signed the birthday card, agreed to have their photos taken and got involved. All acts understood what they needed to do and our big headline act were amazing.
I enjoyed the responsibility as a stage manager. It was an exciting role because I made connections with some the acts. I felt I wasn’t just treated as a fan but as a person with responsibilities. From the position by the stage I could oversee the whole event that helped me to ensure any problems were resolved quickly. I have learned that working in events can begin to be stressful especially if you are working with a new team and in an unfamiliar venue but the positives outweigh the negatives. The event ran to plan and everyone enjoyed themselves we even had the opportunity to have a skank out while The Meow Meows were on! Due to our excellent organisation skills we left time to have our own fun. I would like to think about in future working at more events in this particular rule.