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Reflecting on my aims

I think I am still trying to achieve my aim of finding something on the management side of music that I am passionate about, I think I could have been closer to achieving this aim if I was more proactive throughout the year and got more involved in managerial roles in the project that I took part. Although the projects that I did get involved with that weren’t music based I did really enjoy, I enjoyed the dance show that I stewarded and I watched a lot of great theatre that I found really entertaining and this has really opened to more than just music and started to consider moving into different areas of the arts. Next year I want to get more involved in projects in disciplines in every area of arts.

I think I have moved forward in being more self-motivated, I cannot claim that I am completely self-motivated yet. I think that as the year moved on a became more self-confident which led me to be more motivated as I found that I really was enjoying the course and wanted to be successful in it. After achieving a poor mark in raising funds this really gave me a wake-up call and made me work harder throughout the year and I was relatively pleased with my level of achievement for the rest of the year.  

I also wanted to improve my knowledge of management and management skills. I feel like I have grasped a lot of the theory side of management and management skills. However I think next year will be the real test of whether I can put this theory into practice and take on board all of the feedback that the tutors have given me throughout the year.

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Group Presentation and Evaluation

We did an informal presentation to our class about the event that we had been working on since the start of the year. The presentation was to tell our class how our event went, the pros and cons, what we could have improved, turn out, how much money we raised, what our roles were and the planning process that we went through to put on the event.

I think that we as a group were happy with the event and the outcome of it. We had a difficult start to start as we had to change our event idea a few times and our gig only actually came together 2 or 3 weeks before the actual event took place. In our presentation, we ourselves admitted that we were unorganised and didn’t have great communication throughout the process. When we did eventually manage to pull ourselves together I think we did put on a respectable event that people enjoyed.

We had a good turn-out of about 65 people in a small venue that gave it a great atmosphere, we made a profit after covering our costs on the events. Fredriks actually asked us to put the event on again as they really enjoyed it. We as a group had our bad points such as poor communication, we were slow to act upon our ideas and we were very indecisive. I felt that the event itself was successful and I feel like I learned a lot about myself, working in a team and communicating.

I think that in the presentation were very honest about our shortcomings and what we could have done better. I think we all really took on board the feedback that the tutors gave us and found it helpful to reflect on. I know that I needed to be more proactive within the group and get more involved throughout the project.

If I could do the whole process over I would get more involved in the group and be more hands on throughout the project, I would communicate more with my group and I would like to get more involved with choosing and organising the bands. I think what I learnt from the actual event night that was that small details can really make a difference to an event and these small details can make the whole event feel more professional.

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Collide

I did 8 hours on collide, a dance show put on by a second-year manager in collaborations with first year and 3rd year dancers. I helped set up and steward the afternoon and morning shows for this event. From this event, I learnt the importance of marketing. The event itself was amazing and the dancers really put on a great show. However, there wasn’t a great audience turn out for both shows and I think that this comes down to poor marketing, I think that the event needed to have a stronger marketing campaign as it was a real shame that more people didn’t get to enjoy the event. I think the event could have been promoted more around LIPA and had a stronger social media presence. Although it was good to see how have a good working relationship with other disciplines can create such an amazing show, it was good to see that when everyone has a good working relationship everything runs smoother and everyone is much more relaxed even when things go wrong as they trust each other to deal with issues when they arise.

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CIAM

I did 10 hours working on CIAM over 3 days. My job was only handing mics to people who were asking questions but I feel that working as a member of the CIAM team I observed a lot. From working as a member of team I found that with an event of this nature that has a lot of technical elements happening at the same time there are a lot things that can go wrong and that us as managers are not able to do it alone.

We have to accept that we need help in these situations and there are people with the technical expertise that we can defer to. Most of all I learnt that when things to go wrong, which they usually do, it is important to not panic and to trust in yourself and the people that you are working with.

I found that with a lot of different elements going on at the same time it important to have a schedule and keep to it as much as possible as if everyone knows what is going on at all times then it just allows things to move along quicker and creates a much less stressful environment  

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Pinata Carnival

I did 8 hours on an event called piñata carnival, this was a gig night at the buyers’ club in Liverpool. I did a small amount of social media marketing but my main role on this event was box office on the evening. For the marketing, I didn’t have a large amount to do, I shared the event on Facebook and just assisted Lucia with the event posts and putting up of posters. From this I learnt that it is important to understand your market and to know who you want to aim your event at and find the best way to reach your them. As the headline band was from LIPA putting posters around LIPA was an easy choice but as we were unable to pay the acts for performing we could have done more outside marketing to give them more exposure.

On the evening on the event I was working box office, this involved selling tickets on the door and accommodating invited guests. There were different prices for guest listed customers and regular customers, this was something that actually became difficult as the box office was located inside where the bands were playing so when the gig began it became difficult to hear people. From this I learnt that small details are important and something as easy as moving the box office just outside the event can make everything smoother and more professional. There was also an issue with the float as the event had more people attend than we had predicted we couldn’t give people change and had to ask them to go to the bar and buy a drink. Although this worked in our favour as we had to make a certain amount on the bar it also made the event feel less professional. This once again showed me that small details can be easily overlooked and can really have an effect on the event and the customers experience of the event.  

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Rebel Rebel

I did 10 hours of work for Rebel Rebel. Rebel Rebel is a monthly gig night set up by three students (Izzy, Lucia, and Laura) they put on the event in different venues around Liverpool. Working for Rebel Rebel I attended marketing meetings for the event that they were putting on that month. From attending these meetings, I learnt that it is important to create strong ties with venues especially when running a small-scale event having a good relationship with venues and venues can be really helping for getting venues for a discounted price or even free. I also found that social media is important when promoting an event but not just social media but trying to be innovative with social media to attract people as people are always being bombarded with event promotion on social media so it is important to try and be different. I also found that when putting on an event that runs regularly you tend to build up a fan base and that fan vase expects certain things from the event. I learnt that is important to know what your fan base wants and to try and adhere to and improve upon the standards that you have set with your previous events. I also worked on the event on the night doing box office, the event had different priced tickets and guest listed customers, from this I found that it is important to pay attention to detail and to really take on board what the event managers want from you. Having worked box office a few times before this I knew that being confident is Important because when issues arise you need to be able to calmly deal with them and remain professional.

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2ube Xtra

I worked 15 hours on the tube doing box office, I was originally meant to also be doing artist liaison but this position ended up not being needed in the end. From this learnt that communication is key as there was a lot going on every day and it was important to know that different departments had different requirements. As well as this being able to retain information was important as there was people with press passes and different coloured wristbands for different people that had certain roles around the festival. From this I learnt not to be afraid to ask for help when problems arise as with projects no matter how much you plan something can always going wrong and being part of a team is knowing that you can rely on your teammates when issues do arise. 

I also took away from this experience that developing good relationships with other disciplines is essential when putting on a project of this nature. Having a good relationship with other disciplines can make a project run much more smoothly and just make the running of the project much less stressful. I learnt that in a role where you are actually interacting with the customers is important to be confident and to outwardly express this confidence as this can affect the customers whole experience of the event. As well as this I got a chance to see the ways in which different disciplines work, I think  as a manager you need to understand that different people work in different and it is important to know to best assist and manage these different ways of working.

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Spring Awakenings

I worked 12 hours on spring awakenings doing front of house work and stewarding over four shows. This was something that I had done before and was relatively easy. This was the first event I had been a part of outside of LIPA. Although I didn’t really learn much from my actual role, I did learn a lot from observing and talking to the second’s years I learnt about how much planning it took to put on a large-scale event away from LIPA. I learnt that building a relationship with other disciplines is important as a manager because those are the people you are relying on to make your event a success. I also learnt that knowing your area is important as location can make a huge difference to the overall event and public perception of the event. I also found that communication is very important when working outside of LIPA as you are all responsible for making sure everything runs as smoothly as possible. It is important for everyone to know their role so they are not hindering the team and slowing things down.

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Shakespeare

I did 10 hours over 2 days stewarding the LIPA 2nd year Actors shows before they were open to the public as part of my 100 Hours, this was pretty standard and easy work. So, stewarding over these two days required me to work with the 2nd year company managers this wasn’t something I thought I would gain a great amount of experience or insight from and in a way, I was right but I did come away releasing that even the smallest jobs require effort and can have an adverse effect on the team and the customer. My role was to hand out programmes, take tickets and give people any necessary information that they needed.

What I mean by this is that whether you are the so-called leader of the team or a lowly steward there are still certain skills required to make sure the event/project runs smoothly. I learnt that communication is key at every level of a team, making sure that everyone has the necessary information to carry out their role. for example, on one of the days on entrance to the theatre was closed due to a leak, I was informed of this and was told to direct people away from this entrance as well as the correct procedure regarding this entrance in case of a fire. If this information had not been told to me this could have led to accidents that LIPA would have been held responsible for. Another skill required of this role is confidence, being confident and being able to give information to people when necessary whether this be people coming to watch the show or other members of your team that need to know important information. Being approachable goes hand in hand with being confident your whole demeanour can affect a customer’s experience especially when working from of house.

From these 10 hours, I learnt that there is still a lot of work that goes into making an event successful even on the evening on the event. I also took away from this that even small jobs hold responsibility no matter how small.

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My Aims

So now I’m supposed to talk about my aims for Uni as well as the module. When I was asked to write a blog tracking my progress through uni and this module.If I am 100% honest with myself I knew that I wouldn’t keep up with it and it would most likely be something that I would leave it until the last minute. This is how I have always done things and isn’t a trait of mine that I claim to be proud of.

When asked at the time what my aims were I had no clue I was just going through the motions doing what I thought was expected of me. That is why I am only now writing this blog post weeks after I was asked to write it. That’s why my first aim is to find something that I am passionate about. I know at this point for nine grand a year this should be something I’m passionate about but in all honesty, this is just something I’m interested in but I don’t think it’s something I’m passionate about. I loved performing and feel out of love with it and ended up here as an alternative, I still love music and I hope that I can find something in the management side of music that I can excited about and be passionate about. I think that LIPA is the perfect place for me to achieve this aim as there are many opportunities to try new things and be involved in many different areas of the arts and hey who knows maybe I’ll find something that isn’t music based that I am passionate about.

Another one of my aims that I think really goes hand in hand with being passionate is being self-motivated. This is something that I really struggle with and have done most of life, I don’t have that drive and that get up and go chase after what I want and this is something that I would really like to change. I think that my lack of motivation is linked to have not having anything I feel passionate for so I don’t feel like I’m working towards anything. I hope that when I find something to be passionate about I will begin to feel motivated, I know this is on me, I need to get myself out there and experience things to reach these aims.

As well as wanting to improve myself as a person I also want to improve my knowledge of management and my management skills. My knowledge of putting on shows and performance etc. is primarily on the performance side, I want to gain a sound understanding of everything that goes into a performance, all the behind the scenes things that people don’t see. I want to be able to go out into “the real wold” and be effective and can function in several situations. I think this will be an ongoing thing not only throughout my 3 years at LIPA but throughout my management career as the industry is constantly changing.

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My First Post

so I’m supposed to give my view on introduction to professional practice so far and what I think it is going to be like, we have only had one “actual lesson” and I can see that this module is going to be interesting but also potentially very challenging. This module is going to require teamwork which is something that I don’t find particularly difficult but can present challenges when it comes to people with strong personalities and strong ideas about how things should be. At first the module seemed like such a monstrous task that was going to require a lot of hard work and it felt daunting.

after the meeting with the meeting with john and the rest of my group I felt like a had a more sound understanding of the module and all the things it was going to require, we as a group decided on a few ideas that we thought could be interesting to do. we leaned more towards the idea of promoting the management course and to make a new updated LIPA tour video for the website. From discussing the things that would be need to be done for us to be able to complete this task, just from writing the things down that we would need to do I could see that it was going to require a great amount of communication between all of us, and would require us all to place a great amount of trust in each that we will all do what we need to do to ensure it is successful. as well as having to communicate with each other I could see that the task would require us to branch out to other departments to be able to produce something that we could be proud of and that good quality.