Mark Girton

Starting a new event is challenging and can be risky. Do some research in the local community to see if there are competing events in the timeframe you are considering. Who is your team? Nothing replaces experience. You need the concept first, then can you sell it? how do you operate it? what is your budget? Most first year events are break evens or losses, are you willing to do this? What are your goals? what will make it successful in your eyes? is it a for profit? a community event? a fundraiser? Can you find any partners who will help ensure people show up? What is the venue/site? do they do events on a regular basis? what can they do to help keep costs down? All in all, there are no guarantees. Welcome to the Event Industry.

In my experience, nothing replaces the experience of working Live Events. School, study, research and training are great and can help you improve, but nothing replaces an audience. There is as much Art to dealing with crowds as there is Science. How do they flow? Is the weather affecting them? Are they happy? Angry? Etc You have to experience these things to understand them, and to effectively deal with them. Each event and audience has its own personality. Even the same artist or sporting event can have a different fan base each day. Go work 100 events and you will begin to learn about Live Events. Nothing replaces experience.

Always stay positive. “I am an optimist, it does not seem to be too much use to be anything else.” Winston Churchill Find the good, even when it’s tough. Leadership needs to see what can happen, not what can go wrong. Teams follow and respond to a positive, healthy, and encouraging leader far more than a grinding taskmaster. A positive culture and atmosphere will always put-produce one of fear and intimidation. A positive leader creates loyalty and longevity. Teams can retain key personnel for much longer than average by making sure the team is happy in their lives. Believe in the team, listen to the team, develop the team, and the team will run through brick walls for you. Being positive always wins.

Who is responsible for Sales? The Salesperson? Senior Management? The reality of it is, EVERYONE on the team should always be thinking about selling. No one sells, no one works. Life is better with almost every organization when the numbers are adding up properly. Even non-profits who are not looking to make money have to sell to survive. Teach your teams the importance of Selling and the basics of Selling. Everyone has contacts who are potential clients, utilize the entire team. We don't need everyone to complete the process end to end, but bring potential clients to the team and try to get things done. You never know where you are going to find that next client.

Put the big stuff in first. Family, friends, your life. We work so that we can live our lives, we do not live so we can work. Yes, our business requires a major commitment of time, odd hours, travel and sometimes we go weeks/months without seeing home. It's part of the job, but that does not mean you cannot find balance. Sometimes you have to say "I can't make that". It's not easy, and sometimes it requires a heart to heart with the employer, but you can always find another employer if you need to, you can't make up for missing a birthday, or a wedding. This requires YOU to be strong enough to stand up and say, "I need to do this" regardless of any potential consequences. Your life > your job.

In my experience with Live Events, nearly everyone has to handle multiple responsibilities. There is always "the next gig". I have always believed that if you see people calm and relaxed in the hectic times, it is either one of two things, 1 - they are clueless as to what is happening, or 2 - they planned well and are prepared for almost anything that may arise. Planning ahead is essential, and I always try to have an Ace up my sleeve when under duress. What I mean by this is, I try to have some significant resources available for the unexpected. Typically, this is a strong team member that can handle anything we can throw at them. If you have a good plan, and a strong backup for the unexpected, you can relax. Well planned = well done.