Week Four - 14/02/10 - 20/02/11

During week four a visit to the Fruit venue was organized for the group. This was done because the venue subject was beginning to lose momentum and this visit was meant to help give members of the group a better understanding of the proposed venue space. This investigation of the venue helped as it showed exactly how big the space was and see the state of the facilities. Most importantly though the visit allowed the group to get a feel of the venue and whether these “feel” would suit the “feel” of our event.

“To elicit inspiration, the professional event coordinator needs to “feel the place” by experiencing the venue” (Silvers, 2004, p65-66).

Photographs were taken of the venue (see below):




Whilst down there we were able to confirm capacity which was 130 seated. Also it was noted that the projector available was only 720p resolution not full HD. This would affect exactly what format the films would be filmed in however this was not an issue. What was a pressing issue at the time was that certain members of the group were unhappy with the venue at that time. This indecision made the group indecisive and was unable to collectively agree on fruit as a venue.

What is becoming apparent is that the lack of a venue for the event is holding up the other aspects of the production such as theme, planning of the event, contacting possible guests, sponsors, and fundraising. The Hollywood theme is what the group wants for the event however there are difficulties of visualising it with out a venue. Planning the event evening can only be done in rough form because no defined dates can be given. Contacting guests and sponsors would require that we have a definite date to give them so they may plan accordingly. Being unable to contact sponsors means that the group cannot plan any fundraising accordingly and is struggling to work out rough costing.

Bibliography:

Silvers, J (2004) Professional Event Coordination. New Jersey, John Wiley and Sons Inc.

Week Three - 07/02/10 - 13/02/11

This week for showcase management has again been about the venue selection for the event.

The KC stadium was approached again to enquire about a smaller venue at a reduced price. They offered their sports bar capable of seating 400 people at a cost of £120. However the group would have to provide the audio visual equipment for the showcase itself. Considering this the group have decided to remove the KC stadium from the venue shortlist. This means that VUE cinema and Fruit are the only venues that remain on the shortlist. Emmeline decided to contact Fruit to organize a viewing of the space for the group to gather a better feel.

Although the venues are making slow progress this has also allowed for the group to consider other options within the event itself.

During the meeting on the 7th of February it was decided that Melanie, Chris, and me were assigned to taken on the role of putting together a behinds the scenes show reel for each film including interviews of cast and crew. This will require organisation to film and edit in time for the event but will be possible with good organisation.

From this past week it has shown that although the venue is becoming more focused and taking more time, the group is still making progress in other areas by assigning tasks to other people. Although this is showing adequate use of group members it should be stressed that without a definitive venue the progress will be slow.

Week Two - 30/01/11 - 06/02/11

This week the group is still deciding on the venue for the showcase. After giving the information to the group at the meeting on Monday the 31st of February it was decided that the KC stadium, thought it had good faculties, was too expensive at £8.50 per head. However after explaining that this was the most expensive option at the KC it was concluded that an enquiry about lowering the price needed to be made. Also the freedom centre venue was agreed to be the most suitable venue out of the selection due to its price of £300. Also the facilities available would suit the event.

The Hull truck and reel cinema venues were dropped from the list due to being to expensive and unavailable. The Vue and Fruit venues had to be followed up for the next meeting.

This process of keeping a possible venue and dropping them, shows that the group is considering what is within the realistic limitations of the event.

“With an open-ended budget, anyone can plan a great event. But your financial resources are limited. An event planner can always plan a great event with any reasonable budget” (Hard, About.com).

It also shows that the group is looking at the facilities available at each venue and working out whether the price exceeds the possible benefits. This shows a professional attitude that is flexible and will consider all the available information whilst planning the event. Planning should be flexible because it must allow for the event to evolve as new information is received (Conway, 2004).

Bibliography

Hard, R. (2010) How To Narrow Event Space Venues for Your Event [internet]. Available from: [Accessed 08th of February].

Conway, D. (2004) The Event Managers Bible. Oxford, How to Books Ltd.

Week One 24/01/11 - 30/01/11

Being the first week of the module there wasn’t a great deal to complete. However the group was able to organize itself for a production meeting to discuss ideas for the showcase. The way the meeting was structured was one member of the group to chair the meeting and another member to take minutes. These were important as the chairman managed what topics to be discussed and monitored the conversation to keep members on track with the subject. The minute’s taker was very important by recording any decisions made during the meeting and any tasks given to particular people. These minutes will document the progress of the production. During this meeting the task assigned to myself was to contact a list of venues to find out costs, capacity, facilities, and equipment.

During the meeting there were concerns brought up about the facilities available may affect the amount of attendants. For example car parking may affect how many visitors can get to the event.

“Vehicles will belong to three groups: Staff, exhibitors and the public. You will have to make arrangements for sufficient space for them to park safely and within reach of the central event site” (Conway, 2004, p97).

If there is not enough room for visitors then how are the organisers going to be able to park close enough? This is also true on other facilities such as: toilets, capacity, catering, bars, as these will affect how many and what age visitors can come. Each facility that is present or absent can affect the event. This required me to ask in detail what facilities were available at each venue, whether they would be able to open them for the event, and whether this would add any extra cost.


Bibliography

Conway, D. (2004) The Event Managers Bible. Oxford, How to Books Ltd.