Notes about event management from the post festival meeting for the Pontardawe Festival

 

Good Management - Some Tips and ideas

PRINCIPLES

 

SAFE - prevent accidents - Humpty Dumpty

preparation -people aware people always work in pairs

everyone  sees the risk assessment for their jobs.

 

PLAN - Manage by planning not by crisis management

 

do your cost benefit

Back up Plan

Less haste more speed

 

KISS Keep it simple stupid

 

easy e.g. no double handling

Bob puts up, Bob takes down

 

Don't Egg Basket

 

delegate - trust people they will never do the job 100% as good you, but 80% is good enough. Give people responsibility and they will give commitment.

 

If you don't then you get the manager is the egg basket, and when he's sick/ offsite you're stuffed. You don't want 5 workers stopped cos the manager has gone off to deal with an emergency and he's the only one who knows what to do. That's expensive isn't it ?

 

managers don't do they just plan, manage and roam

motivate the workers, support (bring coffee, chocolate etc), check up on workers, backup. Set priorities

 

 

PROFESSIONALS

cheap options are usually not cheap

paying a professional to a job for 1 hour is better than volunteers taking 8 and then breaking stuff, losing it, injuring themselves. If you use your own manager to do the job

consider yourself spending 30 quid an hour. that's an expensive litter picker.

But you don't want people who charge professional prices, but don't do a professional job.

 

 

cost benefit - is it worth the trouble ? "lets have this blah blah"

 etc does the benefit justify the cost ?

 

ideas

got to  get more volunteers . Break job into clear

 blocks e.g. so that they feel comfortable about coming down. If the job takes longer they may stay longer. If they need to leave they can. If you oblige people to stay they won't volunteer again.

 

Look after them

 

Good working practice for working parties

-set a start time - so only have to explain everything once

begin with coffee chat so everyone knows whats going on. tell them when expect to finish. and safety stuff

break - Work 2 hours take a 15 minute break - after 4 hours eat

 

CRISIS MANAGEMENT OFFICER always have someone each shift sitting in the office doing nothing and on standby - so when something comes up you don't leave a job mid way.

 

observations

The litter was double handled put in barrels, which then had to be collected and emptied into skips.

Traders seem to generate most waste so it makes sense for the giant bins to be next to them.

If the skips are next to the traders and public entrances  then waste would more likely to be emptied straight into them.

 

In the past the biggest security problems have been youths trying to get to the bar after the town pubs have shut.

 

Fencing is probably a statutary regulation for a bar license. No as Wallingford didn't use it but does make it easier to control numbers.

It's a lot less hassle if you can avoid it. It's probably cheaper to let some people in free than spend so much on security.

 

 Toilets need to be near people.

 

Could move festy to countryside - no yobs.