PART 1: BOOKING | PART 2: PLANNING | PART 3: PREPARING
Hopefully now you are through the artist selection process, but if not, feel free to review part 1 of our refresher course blogs.
MARKETING:
Once you have your artist booked, make sure to get a contract and marketing assets as soon as you can from the artist representatives. Form a marketing plan and get things approved by the artist including announce date, onsale date (if it’s ticketed), and any art made such as posters or social media graphics. Marketing is more work than you expect, but it’s the most important piece of the planning phase. All your hard work goes to waste if no one knows your event is happening!
SAFETY AND ACCESSIBILITY:
Security varies based on a lot of factors, but especially according to size of your building and how many people will attend. Have a meeting with your security team or the lead security member to determine how best to distribute staff and go over rules. Your security may consist of officers, a hired security company, and potentially some campus security team members. Be sure to all get on the same page about safety measures.
In order to plan out your day of show, you want to make sure you have a map. This can be a bit more simple if you are working from an indoor venue because it’s essentially parking and load in locations, but if you are working outdoors you want to have an entire event grounds map.
You also want to think about how to plan your event around sustainability and accessibility. Are your entrances and exits handicap-accessible? Where will attendees get water? What will or will not be allowed into the doors/gates? How To Concerts is passionate about making large events more sustainable.
PUTTING ALL THE PIECES TOGETHER:
About one month from your event, reach out to the artist team to begin your advance. An advance is putting together all the details between your onsite team and the artist team and getting everyone on the same page about the details before they start their travel to you. If you work with a middle agent like How To Concerts, we advance with the artist team. If you’re without a middle or just want an overview of how this conversation starts, read this blog post.
One other somewhat basic task for planning is making sure your contract is fully-executed, and that if at all possible the payment is ready for the day of the event. Touring is expensive, and getting paid at every stop helps makes everything much easier, rather than chasing payments later on. It also ensures you were fully-prepared in every way for the event. HOWEVER, if you absolutely cannot have payment onsite, be sure to tell the artist team and agency well in advance that it will not be ready. This will avoid any issues on show day.
Overwhelmed? Get in touch and we’ll help you through it all.
Jolene Chevalier
Founder & Talent Buyer | How To Concerts
Jolene has been a middle buyer for over a decade, helping colleges and others with their concerts, comedians, and speakers. (And, yes, she is named after the Dolly Parton song.) She would love to talk with you about helping to book, plan, and prepare for your event.
Jolene Chevalier
Founder & Talent Buyer | How To Concerts
Jolene has been a middle buyer for over a decade, helping colleges and others with their concerts, comedians, and speakers. (And, yes, she is named after the Dolly Parton song.) She would love to talk with you about helping to book, plan, and prepare for your event.
