Special Event Production

Special Event Production

This page intentionally left blank

SPECIAL EVENT

PRODUCTION

THE PROCESS

Doug Matthews

AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON • NEW YORK • OXFORD

PARIS • SAN DIEGO • SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO

Butterworth-Heinemann is an imprint of Elsevier

Butterworth-Heinemann is an imprint of Elsevier

Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP, UK

30 Corporate Drive, Suite 400, Burlington, MA 01803, USA

First edition 2008

Copyright © 2008, Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,

or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier’s Science & Technology Rights

Department in Oxford, UK: phone: (44) 1865 843830, fax: (44) 1865 853333,

E-mail: permissions@elsevier.com. You may also complete your request online

via the Elsevier homepage (http://elsevier.com), by selecting “Support & Contact”

then “Copyright and Permission” and then “Obtaining Permissions.”

Notice

No responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to

persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise,

or from any use of operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas

contained in the material herein.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress

ISBN: 978-0-7506-8243-5

Typeset by Charon Tec Ltd (A Macmillan Company), Chennai, India

www.charontec.com

Printed and bound in Great Britain

08 09 10 11 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For information on all Butterworth-Heinemann publications

visit our web site at books.elsevier.com

Epigraph

Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.

Will Durant

American historian (1885–1981)

This page intentionally left blank

Contents

Preface xiii

Acknowledgements xv

1 An Introduction to Special Events and Special

Event Production 1

1.1 Reasons for Special Events 3

1.1.1 Religious 3

1.1.2 Political 4

1.1.3 Social 4

1.1.4 Educational 5

1.1.5 Commercial 5

1.2 Categories of Special Events 6

1.2.1 Meetings and Conferences 7

1.2.2 Expositions and Trade Shows 7

1.2.3 Celebrations, Ceremonies, and Spectacles 7

1.3 The Players 8

1.3.1 Event Manager 8

1.3.2 Event Planner 8

1.3.3 Event Coordinator 8

1.3.4 Event Producer 9

1.4 The Phases of Event Organization 11

1.4.1 The Concept and Proposal Phase 12

1.4.2 The Marketing and Sales Phase 13

1.4.3 The Coordination Phase 13

1.4.4 The Execution Phase 13

1.4.5 The Followup Phase 13

1.5 The Responsibility Areas of Event Organization 15

vii

2 Creativity 19

2.1 What is Creativity? 20

2.1.1 Characteristics of the Creative Person 20

2.1.2 Lifespan Development 21

2.1.3 Social Environments 21

2.2 The Cognitive Process 21

2.2.1 Preparation Phase 22

2.2.2 Incubation Phase 27

2.2.3 Illumination Phase 29

2.2.4 Translation Phase 29

2.3 The External Environment 29

2.3.1 Quantity Equals Quality 29

2.3.2 Suspending Judgment 30

2.3.3 Relax and Have Fun 30

2.3.4 Continue to Learn 31

2.3.5 Practice 32

2.4 Creativity Techniques and Methods 32

2.4.1 Conceptual Combinations 33

2.4.2 Analogies 34

2.4.3 Reversals 35

2.4.4 Classical Brainstorming 36

2.4.5 Lateral Thinking 36

3 Budgeting 41

3.1 Preparing the Production Budget 42

3.1.1 Developing a System to Track Expenses 43

3.1.2 Developing a List of Expense Categories 44

3.1.3 Researching and Categorizing Actual

Expenses 44

3.1.4 Tracking and Updating Expenses 45

3.1.5 Handling Contingencies and Unexpected

Expenses 46

3.2 Managing Cash Flow 47

3.3 Making a Profit 48

3.3.1 Markup of Supplier Costs 48

3.3.2 Hourly Fee 49

3.3.3 Combination Markup and Fee 51

3.4 Budget Layouts 52

3.5 Other Financial Considerations 55

3.5.1 The Employee/Contractor Decision 56

3.5.2 Event Insurance 56

3.5.3 Taxes 57

3.5.4 Workers’ Compensation 58

viii CONTENTS

4 Proposals 61

4.1 What Wins Business? 62

4.1.1 Creativity 62

4.1.2 Professionalism 63

4.1.3 Experience 64

4.2 Preparing a Winning Proposal 64

4.2.1 Content 65

4.2.2 Format 68

4.2.3 Use of Technology 71

4.3 Delivering a Winning Proposal 73

4.3.1 Mail, Courier, or E-Mail 73

4.3.2 Live Presentation 73

4.3.3 Timing and Followup 73

4.4 Ethical Considerations 73

4.4.1 Copyright and Intellectual Property 74

4.4.2 Other Ethics Issues 75

5 The Production Team 79

5.1 Assembling and Organizing the Team 80

5.1.1 Assembling the Team 80

5.1.2 Organizing the Team 81

5.2 Working with the Team: Concept and Proposal Phase 83

5.3 Working with the Team: Coordination Phase 84

5.3.1 Running Efficient Meetings 84

5.3.2 The Producer’s Tasks during the Coordination

Phase 86

5.4 Working with the Team: Execution Phase 87

5.4.1 Conflict Resolution 88

5.4.2 The Producer’s Tasks during the Execution Phase 91

5.5 Health and Safety Issues 93

6 Contract Management 97

6.1 Definition of a Contract 98

6.1.1 Elements of a Contract 98

6.2 What Should be Included in a Contract 99

6.2.1 Terms and Conditions 99

6.2.2 Clauses 102

6.3 Issuing and Signing Contracts 104

6.3.1 Issuing Contracts 104

6.3.2 Signing Contracts 105

6.4 Breaking a Contract 106

6.4.1 When Does a Breach Occur 106

6.4.2 What Can Be Done 107

C O N T E N T S ix

6.5 Resolving Disputes 107

6.5.1 Alternate Dispute Resolution 107

6.5.2 Small Claims Court 109

6.5.3 Litigation 109

6.6 Sample Contracts and Riders 109

Appendix A Simple Producer/Client Contract 112

Appendix B Complex Producer/Client

Contract 114

Appendix C Complete Producer/Client Contract

with Budget, Schedule, and Change Forms 117

Appendix D Rider to Equipment Rental Contract 125

Appendix E Participant Waiver for Equipment

Rental Contract 127

Appendix F Producer/Supplier Contract 130

Appendix G Rider to a Producer/Supplier Contract 132

Appendix H Alternate Producer/Performer Contract 134

Appendix I Alternate Rider to a Producer/Performer

Contract 136

7 Risk Management 137

7.1 Theory versus Reality 138

7.1.1 Theory 139

7.1.2 Reality 141

7.2 Compliance 142

7.2.1 General Standards for Workplace Safety 142

7.2.2 General Standards for the Safe Design and

Use of Equipment 142

7.2.3 General Guidelines for the Operation and/or

Use of Equipment 143

7.2.4 Regulations 143

7.3 Insurance 145

7.3.1 The Realities of Insurance and its

Relationship to Event Production 146

7.3.2 Bringing Event Production to Insurers 147

8 Production Management 151

8.1 During the Event Coordination Phase 152

8.1.1 Site Inspection and Venue Liaison 152

8.1.2 Site/Venue Layout and CADD 160

8.1.3 Production Schedules, Running Orders,

and Scripts 162

8.2 During the Event Execution Phase 164

8.2.1 Supervising Event Setup 164

8.2.2 Running the Event 166

8.2.3 Supervising Event Strike 176

x CONTENTS

Appendix A Sample Event Requirements Form

for Venue/Site 178

Appendix B Example of an Actual Production

Schedule for an Awards Show 180

Appendix C Example of a Combined Script and

Show Running Order 184

9 Event Followup 185

9.1 Following Up with the Production Team 185

9.2 Following Up with the Venue 186

9.3 Following Up with the Client 186

Appendix A Sample Event Evaluation Form 189

Event Production Toolkit 191

Master Checklist for Event Production 191

Glossary of Special Event Technical Production

Terminology 198

Index 243

C O N T E N T S xi

This page intentionally left blank

Preface

For the past 10 years, I have been giving seminars, guest lectures, and college

courses in Canada and the United States on various topics within what has

come to be known as the ‘special events industry.’ Recently, I was asked to

re-vamp a new program in event management at Capilano College where

I teach near Vancouver, BC, Canada. I quickly realized that there were no

relevant textbooks that took event production to the next level of knowl￾edge, a level that universally all attendees at my seminars and lectures had

been seeking for a long time. Although many excellent texts have been writ￾ten, until now there has been nothing that spans the gap between being too

technical and thus suitable only for technicians, and being too general to

provide enough useful material to make a student ‘job-ready.’

This then was my goal in writing these two books. In attempting to

achieve this, I have taken the approach that a certain amount of theory and

technical background is an essential subset body of knowledge that must be

part of the larger set of event management skills that all event producers

and event managers should possess. It is not unlike any other profession

that requires basic knowledge in a number of core subjects: engineers who

study chemistry, physics, thermodynamics, and electrical theory; lawyers

who study tort law, criminal law, contract law, property law, administrative

law, and civil procedure; architects who study history, design theory, con￾struction technology, materials technology, and environmental technology;

doctors who study surgery, pediatrics, women’s medicine, and neuro￾science; and airline pilots who must understand how aerodynamics and gas

turbine engines work in order to qualify as captains. Taking the core

courses does not mean they will use them continuously; it simply means

they possess a minimum body of knowledge necessary to practice the pro￾fession competently. I have thus set out to make these books the logical next

step in the evolution of that body for special events.

These books have been designed both as textbooks and as general refer￾ences for the industry at large. First of all, they are purposely not intended

xiii

to duplicate the many excellent references that have already been written

about the field of event management, where details of the basic responsibil￾ity areas may be found. Instead, they concentrate solely on event production.

They are not entry level ‘how-to manuals’ for those who are still trying to

decide whether this industry is the right career path; they are for those who

have already made that decision and are some years along the path. In these

books will not be found basic management theory or simplified explanations

of technical equipment, nor will areas more the purview of event managers

such as sponsorship, marketing, ticket sales, catering, or transportation. The

emphasis in these books is on reality: real-life war stories that prove that

even the best producers make mistakes and that is just part of the learning

process; real-life production challenges that are intended to place the reader

in the position of an actual producer; a continuous stress throughout on the

importance of compliance with safety standards and best practices of risk

management (note that whenever possible, references to both Canadian and

American standards and regulations are applied); and an approach that offers

the raw materials but encourages producers to use them to build their own

new concepts, rather than presenting the finished ideas on a ‘silver platter.’

The two books divide into first the administrative aspects of event pro￾duction (Special Event Production: The Process), following them in the log￾ical order that one would approach event organization, and second the

resources used in event production (Special Event Production: The

Resources), where theory and reality are blended together. Special Event

Production: The Process only scratches the surface of special event produc￾tion, concentrating on the general process. The true ‘body of knowledge,’

the details of all the specific resources used in production, namely entertain￾ment, décor, audio systems, visual presentation technology, lighting systems,

special effects, staging, tenting, and other technical resources, can be found in

Special Event Production: The Resources. However, to give producers a

head start, included at the end of Special Event Production: The Process is

an Event Production Toolkit. This includes a Master Checklist for Event

Production incorporating most of the essential steps necessary to ensure a

safe and successful event. As well, a glossary of event production technical

terms is included with the toolkit that summarizes the meanings of many of

the technical terms that can be found in Special Event Production: The

Resources, although it does not incorporate detailed explanations and

photos.

This is a dynamic industry and production, in my opinion, is the most

exciting part, the part that I like to say ‘causes applause!’ I hope you enjoy

your journey into learning more about it.

Doug Matthews

November 2006

Vancouver, Canada

xiv P R E F A C E