A doNOWdo Survival Guide
An elephant can look quite small at a distance. But the closer it gets the bigger it seems – particularly if you are the person who has agreed to take care of it. It’s the same with organising an event. A small diary entry months in advance can be deceptive. If you have just realised how big it really is, then The doNOWdo Guide to Setting Up an Event is here to help.
THE BASICS
1. Fix a date....
This does not mean talking a pin and sticking it in the diary at random. Do some basic research.
- Does your proposed date clash with something that attracts the same kind of people?
- Is it during the school holidays? May be advantage if it's specifically for kids but families go away during school holidays, so fewer people are around. This also affects your pool of potential helpers
- Have you allowed yourself enough preparation time – For a large event (700+ people ) you need at least 9 months.
2. ...and a time
Don't start too early in the day. Allow time for setting up. If the event is on a Sunday, people won't roll up before midday. There is no point in having everyone in position for 10.00 a.m.
3 Staffing
- Find out NOW who will help. Have your antennae out and be super-sensitive to hints of “I’m not keen”. If people are going to let you down you need to know now, not when the toilets don’t turn up on the day. If you can't get enough help, you must scale down the event.
- Assign roles to each person. Agree a list of tasks to be undertaken by each person. Have weekly meetings to check progress and report back.
4. Identify a venue
This may be obvious – like where you work. If you need a site, consider its suitability.
- Access – is it easy to get to?
- Is there enough parking? (More on parking later)
- Is it well known? – and does it have appropriate associations in peoples minds? e.g. A school may be well-known and convenient but if yours is not actually a school event you may lose punters who think it’s just for pupils and parents.
- Is it secure? If you need security guards it gets pricey.
- Is it big enough? Is it too big - will your event be lost?
Does it have buildings you can use or must you hire marquees?
- Are there enough electricity points? – remembering the danger of too many trailing cables. Marquee suppliers can provide extra electric points, also tables and chairs.
If it is not your premises who is your point of contact? The caretaker? The groundsman? Walk the site with them and agree basic points well in advance. Do they have people who know the site can help on the day? Agree who pays for their overtime.
5. Do you need a licence for what you are doing?
There are various licences you may need, depending on the size and nature of your event.
- A Temporary Event Licence – is issued by the local authority. It is designed to cover small scale events of less than 500 people and lasting less than 96 hours. This can cover you to sell alcohol and provide late night entertainment. Costs vary but are in the region of £25. You must apply at least 10 days before the event.
- A Personal Licence - If you expecting more than 500 people and want to serve alcohol, you need to have suppliers with a personal licence – e.g. external caterers.
PRE-EVENT TASKS
1. Advertising
It doesn’t matter how good your event is, if people don’t know about it, they won’t come.
Decide how you are going to advertise and allocate a budget.
- Internet advertising. You can create a free listing on doNOWdo
- Posters – If you are having posters, decide on how many and get them printed well in advance. You need an army of people to put them up.
- Flyers can be effective. If yours is a local event, many local papers insert flyers for a fee.
- Local radio – if your event is of local interest you may be able to get it covered by local radio. Just remember the media is fickle and you may get cut if a more interesting story comes along.
2. Getting people there and away
Decide how you expect people to come. If parking is difficult, encourage people to use public transport in your advertising. doNOWdo’s Free Listing has a slot for filling in directions.
Parking and access
- If you are having a dedicated car park, make sure it is well signed.
- People park in stupid places unless you stop them. Put No Parking signs in places you must keep clear.
- Retain an emergency access for ambulances.
- Make sure you have stewards to direct the cars (local scouts and guides are sometimes willing to help, provided you have an adult as chief steward). They should be clearly identifiable in high vis waistcoats. These can be bought from builders merchants e.g. Jewsons
If you have to “borrow” a field as overflow parking, consider what happens if it rains. If is raining before people arrive, you can close the field. But if it starts raining during the event, people get bogged down as they leave. Arrange to have a tractor or large 4 W-D available to tow people out. Don’t forget the rope.
- Get in a few bales of straw to throw under tyres for extra grip.
- Agree in advance with the farmer who is covering the cost if the field needs re-ploughing and re-seeding afterwards. (If it needs reploughing anyway he may not charge you)
- Consider access for high sided vehicles, such as burger vans and ambulances. Are the routes around the site free from overhanging branches?
- Get spares keys cut to the main access gates/doors and give them to all key personnel.
Signage
You can pin up home-made signs or go to the AA, who supply and erect yellow signs. Note: For safety reasons, the AA will not erect signs on dual carriageways or motorways unless you are really important, so your advertising needs to tell people which junction to get off at.
3. Catering
You must book caterers well in advance. There are 2 ways of organising food.
Hiring caterers yourself -There are plenty of caterers who do weddings and corporate events. For this you need an accurate idea of numbers.
Inviting mobile caterers to take a slot at your event - The caterers take on the guess work of numbers and pay you a % of their profit for the day (10% is about the going rate). This is a risk for the caterers and it's only fair to give them your best estimate of expected numbers. They don’t like too much competition. So, for an event of 700 people you might have one burger van; one whole-food-cum-veggie option; a hog roast and a snack / ice cream van. Mobile caterers don’t advertise much – the best way of finding them is to wander round town or another outdoor event and invite the ones you like the look of.
4. Entertainment
- If you're not specifically organising a music event you may want some music anyway. Like caterers, musicians operate in 2 ways. You can employ a band or you can invite some buskers along. As with caterers, don’t invite too many, so they can make some money.
- You can get other entertainment in the same way – balloon artists, caricature drawers etc. Wander along your local high street and accost promising-looking talent. Just remember if you are not paying, they may not turn up.
- Is yours an basically an event for adults who may have bored children in tow? Consider activities to keep the kids out of everyone's way - a bouncy castle; a story-teller; face painters; a magician. Adults will stay longer if their kids are not whingeing.
5. Toilets.
There are regulations covering the number of toilets you must provide. For anything bigger than a family party you need to hire in. Your supplier needs to know: how many men, how many women and how many disabled you expect.
- You must also provide a separate toilet and washing facilities for the caterers. This must be away from the main toilet block and clearly marked “Caterers Only” (if your caterers are scattered over a wide area you need more than one.)
There are 2 ways of hiring toilets - with or without a During the Event cleaning and emptying service. The consequences of not having this service can be imagined but it's expensive. It’s up to you whether you want to take the risk.
Prices and toilet specs (from luxury wash rooms to basic portaloo) vary hugely, so ring around and pick whatever suits your requirements and budget.
HEALTH &SAFETY
You should have a ring binder containing all relevant documents available for inspection on the day in case the HSE turns up.
1. Risk assessments
For large events we recommend employing a consultant with specific experience in events who can do the risk assessments for you. The Institute of Occupational Health & Safety (IOSH) www.iosh.co.uk should be able to recommend a consultant near you.
If you are doing it yourself:
- Do a site specific risk assessment for the venue. This must cover everything on the site that may be a danger to staff, visitors, or exhibitors and what you are doing to reduce the risk.
- Get exhibitors, performers, caterers etc to complete their own risk assessment. People who do a lot of shows should be used to this and probably have one they can just print off for you.
FACT: exhibitors forget to do their risk assessments. The day before the event you will be lucky to have ½ the completed forms back. Position someone on the gate with a spare set of forms and make exhibitors complete a form when they arrive. No risk assessment, no show. Be firm. The buck stops with YOU if there is an accident and the paperwork is not complete.
If you are daunted by the idea of a risk assessment, read our companion article, The doNOWdo Guide to Risk Assessment, which will guide you through how to do it. You can even print off a form to do your risk assessment on.
2. Fire regulations
- If you are in a building, you must make sure it has a valid fire certificate for the number of people you are expecting. If you are hiring a building, make sure you check with the owner about this.
- Have fire extinguishers at key points. Your choice of extinguisher depends on the kind of risks you are running and also on the nature of the venue. If in doubt, consult the fire brigade.
- Your caterers should supply their own fire extinguishers.
3. Emergency exits
People need to know the location of emergency exits, first aid etc. If you are doing a performance with a set start time, the easiest way is to make an announcement at the beginning of the event. If people will be rolling up in dribs and drabs, have a printed programme with these details and a site plan. Alternatively, some well sited notices.
4. Emergency Plan
You must have an emergency plan. This should include:
If you are organising a large event, inform the local police, the local hospital and fire brigade.
If you are organising something involving a bonfire you MUST inform the fire brigade – it is not unknown for firemen irritated by a false call-out to douse a celebratory bonfire – which would put a damper on your event! The fire brigade may be able to send someone out to give you advice on health and safety near fires.
5. First aid.
You must have qualified first aiders on site. A qualified first aider is someone with a current certificate in Emergency First Aid or First Aid at Work.You need a minimum of 1 first aider per 100 visitors but more if you are expecting a large number of young people or if you are doing something a bit risky.
- If you don’t have enough first aiders within your own organisation, you must bring some in. Both St Johns Ambulance (St Andrews Ambulance in Scotland) and the Red Cross offer this service in return for a donation. However, some groups will not guarantee to turn up – which leaves you potentially without cover. If they can’t guarantee to be there, go to a professional first aid company.
- Make sure the first aid point is clearly labelled and sign-posted.
COMMUNICATIONS
Personal communication
Communication between key personnel and helpers on the day is essential. Mobile phones are useful but make sure beforehand that you have reception in all parts of the site. If you don’t, you need to hire walkie-talkies. You might prefer to do this anyway as they are easier to hear amidst the hubbub of a big event. If you use mobiles, make sure everyone has the key numbers stored in the memory of their phones.
Public Information
Are you dealing with a single activity – or loads of things happening all over the site? If so, you might want to consider have a tannoy for announcements or maybe provide a programme with a site plan on the gate.
SETTING UP
If you are organising a one day event, the more you can do on the day the better unless your site is very secure. It is heart-breaking to turn up in the morning to find your work of the day before has been vandalised overnight.
If you can’t do this, you may need to employ a security firm to patrol the site the day and night before.
ELECTRICITY IN UNFAMLIAR BUILDINGS
- Make sure you know where the fuse box is. And a step ladder.
- If you are organising an evening event, make sure you have a torch, for when the lights fail. Put in somewhere where you can easily find it in the dark.
PHOTOGRAPHY
You will want photographs of your event. If you can afford to employ a professional photographer, you get better results than relying on other people’s snaps. Make sure that you give the photographer clear instructions of the sort of things you are interested in. For example, if you are organising an art exhibition and the photographer takes loads of pictures of kids eating ice creams but none of the paintings, you may not get the kind of material you need.
- There is widespread anxiety about displaying photographs of children. Before using any photographs involving people under the age of 18, you should ensure that you have written parental consent. In practice, at a large event, getting this consent is difficult if not impossible. You may need to give this some thought beforehand - getting contact details of participants, for example.
TICKETS AND MONEY
- If you are selling tickets, make sure you have enough people on the gates to take the money. If you have several ways in you’ll need several paying points. Make sure your ticket rota allows for more people at peak times.
- Get a float from a bank. You need more change than you think. If you have set the price at £4.95, you need lots of 5ps and a lot of £5 notes. Consider having ticket prices in units that don’t require so much change.
- Consider offering discounts for tickets bought in advance. This ensures you get at least some income even if the event is rained off.
- Ensure your cash tins have lids – particularly if you are taking money outdoors.
- Have a central “bank” somewhre secure and a runner to take money as it accumulates from the gate to the bank. Do not end up with hundreds of pounds in margarine tubs on the gates.
RUBBISH DISPOSAL
There are 2 schools of thought on rubbish disposal.
1. Providing bins only encourages them – get them to take their litter home
2. If you don’t provide bins people just drop their litter on the ground.
FACT: people drop litter whatever you do. Whether or not you provide bins, you need to have people clearing up. If it's a short event, this can probably be done at the end. If it's a long one, you need people going round clearing up during the event itself. Make sure you provide long handled litter pickers and gloves. You'll probably need to hire a skip to put rubbish in.
INSURANCE
In addition to 3rd party liability insurance (see under Health & Safety) you might want to consider insuring the event itself. You can get insurance for various kinds of risks: cancellation of the event – for example if your star performer is ill; adverse weather; damage to the venue.
The test of a good event is not whether or not something went wrong. It will. It is whether you were ready for it.