sabaranskamgmt-blog

[sabaranskamgmt-blog]

It was quite a journey

Overall I did 111.5 hours for my IPP module, where the minimum was 100. I am kind of proud of myself because at the beginning of the year I remember how scared I was that I wouldn’t be able to do so many practical hours while studying, but here go! This module helped me realise what kind of stuff I want to do in the future. I mean, it can always change but for now, my aim is creating various events in the music industry. 

To summarise everything up, this year was freaking amazing. I have never regretted choosing this uni because in my first year I already gained so much practical experience and knowledge. I can actually put an event, a gig etc myself on my first year of studies, which would be impossible in other unis I am sure. I have also met so many friends that I know I can rely on. 

I am actually so sad about going to Poland for the whole summer cause I know how much I am gonna miss them! Good that we already planned a trip to each other countries soon to catch up and chill before we go back to uni!

Well, I think that’s about it. I can’t believe we're already done with the 1st year whaaaaa time flies by so fast. I am looking forward to the next one tho!

SEE YA LATER

xo  Karolina

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During one of the masterclass at LIPA I talked to Rebecca Ayres who is a COO of SoundCity Festival and took her details because I was really interested in working on it as a volunteer to gain some experience. After a few weeks, I had an interview which went great and got the job. 

The festival was on from the 3rd till 5th of May. I participated in all of them. Every volunteer got a list with their jobs and locations on each day.

3rd May - The Conference Day

I was really excited about this day because I knew there would be a great networking opportunity because the role I got was a Speaker Liasion. The role included taking the speakers from and to the green room. Unfortunately, on the day of the Conference, after waiting a while for someone to explain what exactly they want us to do, I got told they’ve got too many people and I got moved to the Press Accreditation. 

This job included giving out the wristbands and PIT passes to the press who are on the list. Well, I was sceptical about it because there was nothing really to gain from it and most of the people working in accreditations were only volunteers so that meant no networking with people from the industry. Thankfully, a person who I got to work with was a man who works as a PR and has a lot of experience in the industry. I was watching him interacting with the press and I could see how good he is and what he does so they remember him. I have met so many people from the press and also his colleagues working with him. He also shared some of his experience with me and gave me his contact details so I will definitely contact him in the future. 

I think I haven’t really learnt anything in specific from this day but definitely met so many people that can recognize me in the future and maybe work with me.

4th - 5th May - Festival Day 1

For this day my role was to be a Production Assistant at the Main Stage. I was really, really nervous because it was the biggest stage with probably most expectations. When I got there on the first day, I met the stage manager who I was meant to be shadowing. It turned out that there was nothing much to do for both days and they were having everything under control so my tasks were to keep the space clean, bring food for the technicians, offering beers to the artists, keep an eye on people going behind the stage and clean the whole space around the Main Stage after the main act on the last day. This wasn’t what I was expecting at all. I mean, it was great to come and see the work of the people behind the stage (but they were wearing and talking through the radios so other people did not know what was happening), meet them and the artists but I expected to actually do something more. I can’t say I have learnt something from it because I already knew how busy it is behind the stage and we need to keep it safe and friendly. 

My friends were working on the smaller stages and they had so much more to do and also had a job that was more responsible. Maybe the issue was that the production team from the main stage was a bit scared to give out the volunteers bigger tasks because this space was the most important. 

Overall, I am happy about working there because I got to meet my lovely stage manager, the main line-up and have a drink with them! I love festivals so being there for free and watching the performances from behind the stage where you can also meet and talk to the artists before or afterwards, it’s just something that I love to do.

I think I could go back to work there because after all, it was a good experience. I haven’t learnt much in a practical way but I was watching the work of other people, their responsibilities and I know that it is something that I want to do in the future. But I wouldn’t apply as a volunteer anymore, I would try to pull the strings and get the actual paid job. 

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IPP hours:

29/04/2019, 1h - SoundCity meeting 03/05/2019, 11h - SoundCity Conference - Press Accreditation 04/05/2019, 5h - SoundCity Festival - Production Assistant 05/05/2019, 5h - SoundCity Festival - Production Assistant

[sabaranskamgmt-blog]

Becoming an Artist Manager

Early meetings

While chatting with my musician friend who just created a band, she told me how hard it is for her to do music, marketing and plans all by herself. I was also in need of my IPP hours so I thought it would be good to help her develop her career and manage her. I did not know much about music management before but the best way to learn it’s through the process so we set up a meeting and talked through her goals. Her main goal for this year is to build a strong fanbase so I created a plan with dates to help her achieve it. The plan included doing YouTube vlogs so people could get to know her better, listen to her covers and also announce her upcoming gigs and her achievements. 

I wanted to come to the band’s rehearsal to meet the band, hear what they have to say and also, see how they sound and look together. When we had a little chat, we understood each other that for now, they have to rehearse a lot before they go to any gigs as they just got together. I agreed to start looking for gigs for after the spring break when they are ready. I think they need to get to know each other more because after watching the rehearsal they didn’t look comfortable. I hope it will change with every rehearsal as they have only created the band. 

Marketing

After a few meetings with Marte, we decided to freshen her social media accounts and put professional photos. As Marte had a photo shoot recently I chose the pictures that would suit her profile and retouched them. 

Choosing a song

One of Marte’s goal is to produce a song before we finish our academic year and release it when we come back. I know she struggled with which song to choose so we set up a meeting to go through all of them and see which one seems the best. We booked a room, Marte played her songs to me and we came to the agreement on one of the songs called “Dive”. It had a really good vibe and seemed something like people would love to listen on an everyday basis. I can’t judge Marte from the vocal side, but as a person who listens to pop music all the time, I think I am able to help her make a decision. 

After choosing a song, the next step is to find a producer which is very hard in LIPA because they are all very busy and the studios are booked 2 months prior. Thankfully, our mutual friend Magnus is a producer and he was happy to do it. We are gonna have to wait a while but it makes more time to practice or change something if needed! Me and Marte are people who think it is better to delay things and improve them, rather than rush and be unprepared. 

First band performance

After the spring break, the band had an opportunity to perform at the Cavern Pub! I was really nervous as it was their first performance together and the venue was full! When I heard and saw them performing outside the rehearsal room I was so proud of them. They looked really good and I could hear some people from the audience saying how good they are. The only thing I would change is the image of the band. Each member looks different like they don’t fit well and I think this is pretty important when you perform in public. The audience wants to feel the vibe from them as a whole. But apart from that, I am so happy and proud of them! I included a picture from the gig below:

Creating EPK

Marte is really active with her live performances at gigs around Liverpool, I decided that a good thing would be to create the Electronic Press Kit. This will make applying for gigs more professional and easier. She loved the idea so I researched what things she should include and how to create it. After a while we gathered all the info together, unfortunately, I was not able to create it myself online at the time, so I checked the text and Marte put it on her website.

Making an introduction video

As I mentioned before, Marte is going to have a YouTube channel to upload her vlogs, covers and upcoming gigs. A good idea is to make an introduction video before posting anything to tell people what they can expect from this channel. I know how hard it is to sit down in front of a camera and talk to it. This is why I invited Marte to my house to record it. I think it is easier to do it with someone to get some clues, point in a good direction and also have fun. From what she told me, her clips improved after working with me on them so another thing we decided to do was to record her covers in my garden and my room as student accommodation rooms might not look well in the video. 

The introduction video has already been uploaded and can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C_wMle5MrE&fbclid=IwAR2ZdtNAxZx-FcQA5DNEIcaJ-vOZnhYBoiTEXwfnJqRQRXOFf7TaH79CTm0

Next step

The next steps are to keep building the fanbase and to write a proper marketing plan that will include promoting the single we want to release when we get back after the summer break. 

Sooooo stay tuned!

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IPP hours:

05/03/2019, 1h - first meeting with Marte to talk through her goals 05/03/2019, 1h - rehearsal with the band, asking for their goal and observing 07/03/2019, 2h - meeting with Marte about creating a social media plan (YouTube vlogs, covers, insta marketing, living room sessions), planning future gigs and a meeting to go through the songs  14/03/2019, 1h - attending band rehearsal 15/03/2019, 2h - listening to the songs and choosing the best ones 21/03/2019, 1h - choosing photos from the photo shoot and changing the look of social media sites 28/03/2019, 2h - meeting with Marte, discuss any issues, social media deadlines 10/04/2019, 2h - meeting with Marte, change of plans, focus on making demos, finding gigs for the band, choosing 3 songs to release  12/04/2019, 2h - EPK research and info check  12/05/2019, 5h - recording covers and the introduction video

[sabaranskamgmt-blog]

Murder Mystery Night

BEFORE

Finally the day of the event! We all met up straight after the lectures to help our lovely technician Camilla collect the equipment and transfer it straight to the venue. When we got there, we all started setting up the room, did all the decoration and went to get the last shopping like pens, snacks and a prize for our audience. The soundcheck with the band started as planned at 5.30pm. Everything was great and then we moved on with the rehearsal for Sam and Alf. I have never seen their script before as it wasn’t my responsibility. After going through it, I was really unsure about the show because the performers weren’t prepared. They were reading the script from the paper and forgetting lines all the time, but there was nothing really to do about it because the doors were opening in an hour... THE SHOW MUST GO ON ANYWAY so our managers' team took a picture in the photobooth and posted it on the social media sites to encourage people to come. 

THE EVENT

The stage was ready, lights and sound worked, tables set up with the decor, actors in positions and finally... THE DOOR OPENED. People were coming a bit late as always and that’s why we delayed everything by 20 minutes. Unfortunately, the written plan of the event fell apart, the performances were shorter than we expected and only 2 people came dressed up. I think it was because most of the audience that came were our friends and they didn’t take it seriously. 

In case of murder riddles, I got told not to put them out because Alf and Sam already included a quiz in their performance which I was fine with but I didn’t know they wouldn’t interact with them in the breaks. I had a feeling that the audience was a bit bored during the breaks. Not many people wanted to use the photobooth, they preferred to have their pictures taken by their tables. At least the drinks were nice and cheap, and everyone enjoyed the band!

We sold 24 tickets in total which were £2 each. It was a bit disappointing as a lot of our colleagues didn’t come. 

When the night finished, we cleaned everything up and I filled in the ticket reconciliation form to bring it straight back to LIPA along with the money and equipment. 

AFTER

After the event, I was in touch with the finance team regarding the reimbursement form that I had to fill in to get the money back for the decor. The other thing was to find out what people thought about the event and the feedback I got from my friends was to advertise the costumes a bit more as they didn’t even know that they were supposed to dress up.

Overall, I think the event wasn’t bad, but it could have been a lot better if we’d rehearse it a lot more. Also, we could’ve advertised it more clear in case of the costumes. 

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IPP hours:

27/02/2019, 8h - transferring equipment, decor, the main event 5/03/2019, 1h - reimbursement form, dealing with the finance team 

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Venue issues!

Few days before Christmas we received an email saying that unfortunately, Fredriks (our venue) cancelled our booking... We were shocked as it was just before Christmas and our event supposed to happen straight after we come back from the break. We couldn’t even change the date because all of them were taken by other IPP groups so we got in touch with our leader to ask for an extension which we really needed and moved our event for the 27th Feb. Each of us in the group was concerned about the situation and I think it brought us closer. We finally started communicating properly. There wasn’t a situation when someone didn’t reply and ignored what other person was saying. Everyone was involved and determined to save our event.

The venues we considered: - Jacaranda   - Pilgrim - The Casa Bar

When Millie contacted Jacaranda, the manager was avoiding money-wise questions so we decided to leave it because we didn’t want to risk in case it was expensive (and we heard from someone it was) and we didn’t have much time to wait for an answer.

Pilgrim was just an option as other groups found it easy to get it but when we had a look at it we thought it wasn’t worth the price and wouldn’t suit our event well.

The Casa Bar was a perfect choice! I got in touch with a lovely lady called Jacqui, who is a manager there, and the talk with her was pretty straight forward. I booked it for the 27th and the first price she said was 60 pounds. Then she got back to me and lowered the price to 40 pounds which was perfect for us because we can spend more money on props or costumes. 

Change of plans

Because of the new venue which looks a lot like the 1920s, we don’t need to spend a lot on the decor. There is a lot more space, tables and chairs for approximately 80 people so we decided to change the layout and event a little bit. The new plan is to have tables and chairs set up around the place where people can sit down, have a drink and enjoy the show. We’re gonna have 3 sketches and 2 intervals where people can listen to our amazing jazz band playing some covers. We also want to create a drinks menu with 1920s themed names of the drinks and have 2 waitresses walking around, collecting orders. 

Another thing that we changed was the cast. It was really hard to find a time and place to meet with the actors. Also, a lot of them was backing out because the date of the event has changed and other shows they had so we couldn’t really rely on them. We discussed it through at one of the meetings and came to an agreement that we should ask our coursemate Sam for a little help with writing a script and ask him and Alf to act as we know they wouldn’t let us down. Mollie is in charge of communicating with them but I think that we should all be in the meetings to be on track so we set up a meeting to talk through the details and confirm that they’re in for sure!

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IPP minutes:

22/12/2018, 1h - looking for a new venue 22/12/2019, 1h - discussing the situation with the team, informing people that are involved, discussing what to do next 26/12/2018, 1h - enquiring chosen venues 14/01/2019, 0.5h - choosing the venue and giving out the tasks  17/01/2019, 1h - talking through the event - debating if we should change it 18/01/2019, 1h - looking around the new venue, possible set up and decor, new ideas 04/02/2019, 1h - updating the budget, setting up the meeting with Sam and Alf

[sabaranskamgmt-blog]

Marketing

To promote the Murder Mystery Night, Mollie created a poster that suits the theme and me and Millie hung them all around LIPA as our target audience are students. 

Caitlin created a Facebook event and we all invited our colleagues, as well as our friends and other students. Our plan was for people to dress up so we put some 20′s outfit ideas, which could be found on our page, to inspire people.  The link to the event is attached below:

https://www.facebook.com/events/199671720974609/

The statistics showed 39 people interested and 33 people going. From the beginning, we were hoping for an audience of 40 people because of the venue capacity and the tables we were using. 

Few days before the event we really pushed the marketing side and started posting our event on all of our social media sites, as well as lipamanagement Instagram. 

As we all decided to not use Skiddle for ticket sale because they were charging a fee from each ticket that was purchased, my idea was to create tickets ourselves and give them out at the door so it would look more professional. I designed them online and printed out. You can see them on the pictures below: 

Plan of the event

I was dealing with the venue and the venue manager and we agreed that we could use the venue from whatever time we are ready to come on the day to prepare everything we needed as the room was booked for the whole day. I thought it would be good to write down a plan of the event and rehearsal that we could send it our to the actors (Alfie and Sam) and our technician Camilla so they know what time should they come instead of sitting in the back and wasting their time. 

Decor

Another thing is the decor! I contacted the finance team to find out how we can use the money from the fundraiser to buy the decor. Unfortunately, we had to use our money first to buy the decor because the process of using raised money is too long, but after the event, we can apply to get it back by providing receipts of what we purchased. Thanks to the money from the fundraiser we managed to order everything I put on the list which was candles (to put on the tables), photo frame, backdrop and photobooth props for people to take photos because Mollie managed to get a photographer. 

Activities

We all gathered together for a meeting and talked about what activities should we put in the breaks so the audience won’t get boring and Caitlin idea was to do murder riddles on each break. I had a look online, chose the best ones that also wouldn’t be very hard to solve, wrote them down and printed out for every table. I hope that live music, the riddles and the photo booth will be enough for the guests to have something to do in every break. 

One day left

Only one day before the event! There are a few things that I am really worried about: if Sam and Alf practised enough to prepare a good show and if people show up because on the next day there is a show in the Empire theatre (that we didn’t know about before) and many students are going to see it. But I hope everything will go fine!

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IPP hours:

10/12/2018, 1h - talking about a marketing plan, tickets and event step by step 14/12/2018, 1h - visiting and emailing the finance team to find out about the process of taking out the money from the fundraiser  22/01/2019, 1h - meeting with Millie to talk about the script, techies and the band  4/02/2019, 1h - looking and making a list of props 4/02/2019, 1h - creating tickets 5/02/2019, 1h - printing posters and tickets, start advertising 12/02/2019, 1h - creating a plan of the event, preparing murder riddles 

[sabaranskamgmt-blog]

Lack of communication

I mentioned something about issues with my IPP group in my post on the Christmas warm-up. I’ll now try to explain everything that happened.

Basically, because our 50 pounds loan is going to pay the deposit for the venue, we were left with no funds. In most of the meetings, I tried to convince my team that we really need to do a fundraiser just to make some money for the float or the decor. They were always refusing by saying that they don’t have time for this and one of them will pay for everything. But what’s the point of paying with your own money and go the easy way? In this project it is all about the experience of using all the possibilities and skills to make an event happen. In one of the meetings with our group leader, she mentioned that we should start thinking of doing a fundraiser which I was very happy because someone finally had my back. We agreed to do a fundraising gig as it was pretty late and gigs are pretty easy to put on. On our group chat, I was telling the girls my progress and asking them for help but they never replied to my messages. So I decided to mention everything again at the next meeting we had, I told them that we had the venue booked when they started being so rude and shouting that I shouldn’t do it before letting them know?! The thing is - I DID IT! But they barely respond to my messages. 

A few days after, our leader asked us about the progress with the fundraiser and then they came back to me asking if we could still use my venue and put on something - after they shouted for booking the venue? In the end, I agreed to raise the money for our group but without their help. They let me down so much I don’t even want to be the part of this group anymore. I didn’t try to fix the relationship between us because I don’t think I am the one who should. After this situation, they’ve stayed rude to me even when I tried to speak to them, they were answering me like they didn’t want to. I try to behave mature and be the person to communicate even when I don’t sympathise them because it’s our thing! Not only mine! Unfortunately, the effort only comes from me and it’s hard to make something work when the willingness is onesided. 

I’m just looking forward to moving to the next project as I don’t want to work with people who don’t give a damn.

Thanks!

[sabaranskamgmt-blog]

Christmas Ball

In need of experience and getting my IPP hours, I got in touch with 2nd years management students to help them raise money for the cabaret they are putting on this academic year. 

THE IDEA AND THE THEME

To start of, everyone who was interested in helping with organising fundraisers gathered together for a meeting. We did a brainstorm to get some ideas for the event and decided to split into 2 groups. One of the group was in charge of the Halloween party and my group - Christmas Ball. I imagined this to be a proper ball with people wearing fancy dresses and maybe with some food? Which people agreed with but after we were getting into details it came up to be a Christmas Disco with live music - so basically Christmas themed gig. I didn’t really like it because what’s the point of doing another gig when we could do something bigger. Unfortunately, it wasn’t my thing and I couldn’t change anything so I just helped along. 

RESPONSIBILITIES

I and my coursemate were responsible for finding the venue. We did some research and after lectures, we went to have a look around some places. 

Firstly, we went to 53 which I think was the one! No fee, VIP section, Christmas ornaments, a DJ and also food available with an additional fee but didn’t have to use this option. One disadvantage was the date - We could only use it between Monday and Wednesday. As the event was mostly for students and young people then I think that the date isn’t an obstacle and we could easily do it there if it was advertised well. With that much of time (which is over one month), I think I would be possible. 

Another venue we went to look at was Leaf on Bold Street. The room they have upstairs is amazing but unfortunately, the manager wasn’t in when we came so we couldn't get any information about the price, availability, decor etc. We enquired online but they never respond.

The last venue was Everyman where my coursemate went alone but after she talked to them it was totally out of sight in case of the price. 

On the Facebook group chat, we told her all the info we found out about the venues. She made it clear that she wants the event to take place between Thursday and Sunday. This excluded our best option. A few days later we had a meeting with the project manager about the progress we made but I couldn’t attend. After the meeting, I found out that someone else was in charge of the venue so I just gave up on it. 

TICKET SALE

The other task I got was a ticket sale. Me and my close coursemate were sat in the box office for 2 hours asking people to buy tickets. To attract the people we put on some Christmas music, ornaments and poster of the event. We were asking every person walking past but there weren’t many people interested and we only sold 2 or 3 tickets. I think a marketing push before the sale day would help because people didn’t know the sale would go on at the time. 

Experience

I have learnt that you shouldn’t miss any meetings especially when you didn’t share any info before with the group. It is important to stay engaged throughout the whole process which I didn’t do because I had a lot on my head at the time. 

+ marketing helps A LOT

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IPP hours:

14/10/18, 1h - fundraiser ideas for the cabaret 

16/10/18, 1h - role allocation for Christmas ball 

29/10/18, 1h - looking around the venues and enquiring 

8/11/18, 0.5h - sorting out which venue we want 

12/11/18, 0.5h - meeting to catch up and share the progress 

3/12/18, 2h - selling tickets for Christmas Disco

[sabaranskamgmt-blog]

Murder Mystery idea and collaboration

After the brainstorm, we all decided to stick with the idea of doing a murder mystery night. We decided to buy a package which was approx. 15 pounds. Caitlyn was in charge of the budget and sorted out that we can afford it even if our loan goes to the venue. She estimated the profit we will make and that would easily pay back for everything so it wasn’t a problem. 

The problem was how should we do the actual event. Alright, we had a package and a story but weren't really sure how should we use it. We didn’t want to make it very complicated as we didn’t have much money and time so the idea was to get actors involved. Actors would play the characters from the story and the audience would watch, ask questions and listen to a live band between the sketches. 

Collaboration

Actors

On the LIPA facebook group, we announced that we were looking for actors to take part in our murder mystery. Around 8 people got in touch with us so we created a group chat to keep everyone up to date. After the first meeting with actors, we thought everything would be great. Actors had a look at the package and chose their characters. We prepared the script and a starting plan of the performance which was: 

1. actors performance 2. actors presenting evidence 3. audience asking questions which they have on paper (looks like a menu)

The plan would repeat 3 times and at the end, the audience would choose the murderer. 

After a while, some of the actors weren’t attending the meetings or replying to our messages. We were so worried that we can’t rely on them so we decided to have 2 managers as actors and 2 actors who were always in touch and attending every meeting. We gave them the lines they have to learn and decided that the rehearsals would take place 2 days before the event because everyone went back home for the direct learning week. 

Costumes - designers

In case of costumes, the best way to save some money was to make accessories for each of an actor just for the audience to recognize characters. I got in touch with one of the designers, who was willing to make them for us. I sent her the costume’s descriptions of the characters so she could have a think what would suit best. Because the designer is away for the direct learning week, can’t use LIPA facilities and we don’t have time to sort out the fundraiser money with the finance, my group agreed to pay up to 10 pounds for the materials and then get it back from the profit. 

Live Music

A very important thing my group had to think about was something to make a nice atmosphere at the event. I thought a live band that would play 1920′s jazz music would be perfect. Millie’s friends play this kind of music and agreed to help us. They also have their own technician who can sort all the equipment. 

Only 2 weeks left to our event! Need to get props, proper plan of the event and really push the marketing side!!!

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IPP hours

28/09/2018, 1h - tutorial, finding out what needs to be done 09/10/2018, 1h - looking for actors, getting in touch with them 09/11/2018, 1h - meeting with the actors, informing what’s the event like 09/11/2018, 1h - going through the package, adding live jazz band  20/11/2018, 1h - getting in touch with the designer, asking for ideas  23/11/2018, 1h - meeting with actors, how is the event going to look like 12/12/2018, 1h - sorting the money-wise situation with the designer 

[sabaranskamgmt-blog]

A GIG IN 5 DAYS?!

Hi! It has been a while since my last post, with all the deadlines it is really hard to find some time for blogging and to put on a gig in 5 days!

The idea about doing a fundraising gig emerged after I had some issues with my IPP group and was left with a venue, but I will be talking about it in my next blog. 

So! Let’s focus on the preparation. 

THE IDEA, THEME AND LINE-UP

As I had the Brooklyn Mixer booked for the 29th of November 2019 and was ashamed to cancel it after negotiating the terms and equipment, I came up with an idea to ask my colleague if she would want to help me organise a fundraising gig with benefits for our IPP groups. As it was all friendly, she was up for doing it so we started straight away. 

First of all, we talked through the ideas and the theme for the fundraiser. As Xmas was coming soon, we came up with an idea of doing a “Christmas Warm-Up” with our lovely artists from LIPA performing 3 of their original songs and 1 Christmas song to get in the mood. We decided that 5 acts will be enough and contacted the artists on the same day. 

We decided the tickets to be sold for £2 OTD.

Collaboration

Most of the artists were our friends but we needed to make sure that they won’t let us down, especially on that short notice. The artists were: 

Mckenzie James Cregan

MAZED 

Summer

Nora Chayed

Simone Armstrong

With the Xmas song:

For the help on the event, we asked: 

Adara to sell tickets on the door

Gabriela to be a stage manager

Grace to be our host

THE VENUE

Due to unexpected issues with my IPP group I already had the Brooklyn Mixer booked for free so finding a place wasn’t a problem for us. The only thing was to confirm it and find out what time can we have it from and till, also to arrange a meeting to talk through the details. When we went to the meeting with the manager, we discussed everything we needed to know about, such as drink offers, lightning, licenses, stage, decor and equipment. Thankfully, we could use it from early hours on the day till 4am. One thing that I was really worried about was that they did not have simple equipment for our performers and we had to get it somehow with no budget and in 3 days.

MARKETING

To begin with, we had to do a poster and create a Facebook event to share the news. Elizabeth was in charge of creating the poster and she did an amazing work making the poster so Christmassy but stylish too. After that, I was able to create the event on Facebook where we informed everyone about the details of the event, ticket price and that all the money raised goes to our both IPP projects. We invited people together publically and privately, asking them kindly to come to support us and spread the word!

The next day, we printed out loads of posters and hung them everywhere around LIPA. Toilets, corridors, lifts and the Cathedral Campus!

THE DECOR 

With no funding and not much time, we didn’t have the advantage of making it a performance piece. After we talked to the manager, he said that they have Christmas tree balls and some lights to be hanging by the bar. Other ornaments I got from my home and from our friends (disco ball, stockings, lights). We only bought the Christmas hats for each person working at the event and for the artists which we thought would look nice. 

TECH SIDE

Two days before, in all this rush we totally forgot about the tech equipment for our artists at the venue as they couldn’t provide most of it. Thanks to our lovely friends and performers who sent us the lists of what they needed, saved our lives! We contacted the techies straight away and sent them what we needed to get from the bunker as it was our only chance. I was so afraid to borrow anything from them as I’ve heard some gossips that it’s hard to get some equipment if you’re a fresher.. Fortunately, it turned out not to be true and we got everything we needed! 

Part of the equipment list:

The day after we’d booked all we needed, the list grew. I was messaging with one of the techies almost all night to sort it out. I wouldn’t have it done without him because all the names of the tech stuff and equipment were totally new to me. He was like an angel to me and helped me with finding a solution to all this. I emailed the bunker myself to beg for the other stuff. I was all stressing because I already asked them for so many things they would probably think I’m not professional and they can’t trust me with so expensive things. They didn’t respond and it was already 3pm on the day of the event! 

FINANCIAL SIDE

For everything to become legal and clear, we contacted the Finance Team to ask what we need to do to get a till with some float for the start of the event. They informed us and helped with everything. We had the float of 20 pounds loan but we had to bring all the money we raised, counted, back in the envelope straight after the event with a note what’s it for. We couldn’t borrow a till as it was in use by someone else so we just used one of the boxes I had at home.

THE DAY OF THE EVENT

When I woke up, I think I have never been so stressed than on the day of this gig. After the lectures, we went straight down to the bunker with our techies to collect the equipment. They (THANK GOD!!) read my email but just forgot to reply so we received everything we needed and transferred it to the Brooklyn!

It looked like everything was ready to go!

When we arrived, we set up the stage from wood pallets we found at the venue, moved some stuff to clear the space and start decorating! It was only us 2 to do it. In the meantime we experienced few issues: there weren’t enough plug extensions, lights for the stage and parts of the PA equipment were missing! 2 hours before the gig started! We run to the EBGBS which is a nightclub/pub next door to ask for the mic stand which they agreed to lend us. The lights we borrowed from my boyfriend’s friend and keyboard stand with extensions from our friends. We also forgot about the tickets so we decided to draw a cross with a marker on everyone’s hand in case someone has to leave and come back later.

After all those problems solved, everything went smooth. We approximately sold 30 tickets. To attract more people and show them what they missed, I did a live stream from the event on the Facebook page. They can be found here:

https://www.facebook.com/100001504661393/videos/2092118650848270/

https://www.facebook.com/100001504661393/videos/2092072254186243/

https://www.facebook.com/100001504661393/videos/2092050714188397/

https://www.facebook.com/100001504661393/videos/2091975370862598/

To be fair we expected at least half more of the people who came, but as for the first gig put on by 2 people in 5 days, I think it wasn’t that bad? Especially because it was the end of term and people had their deadlines. Except that I really enjoyed the event and the mood of it! Even with no big audience people were having so much fun and telling us that they are so thankful for this and would love to have more of this kind of small/private gigs as they are more personal! I think this idea could work but if the tickets were more expensive and with maybe some food? I have to think about it.

After the event, we had to bring all the equipment and money that we raised back to LIPA as that was what we discussed with the bunker and the Finance Team.

As I bought the Christmas hats myself, I emailed the Finance Team and got the form to fill out to get the money back for them. 

Experience

It was such an experience! I have learnt so much from putting this event on! 

Everything is possible and lack of money shouldn’t cut across the possibilities. If you want something really bad, you can achieve it. Also, as a manager, you have to know and take care of literally EVERYTHING, even the parts of equipment! 

Another lesson I’ve learnt from this process is that CONTACTS AND COMMUNICATION ARE THE KEY. Without this, I know I wouldn’t be able to find artists, technicians and equipment in that short amount of time. Thanks to all my friends and their friends I could collaborate with. Looking forward to the next time!

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IPP hours:

21/11/18, 1h - looking for the venue and contacting the manager of Brooklyn Mixer 

23/11/18, 2h - meeting with Elizabeth to talk through ideas and tasks for the gig

25/11/18, 1h - getting in touch with bands interested in performing at the gig

26/11/18, 1h - creating FB event 

27/11/18, 1h - printing and hanging posters 

27/22/18, 1h - finding technicians for the gig 

27/11/18, 1h - doing the marketing and giving people their tasks

27/11/18, 1h - contacting the finance team in LIPA, hanging more posters and finding a host

28/11/18, 1h - looking for decor 

29/11/18, 1h - collecting and transferring the equipment to Brooklyn

29/11/18, 3.5h - decorating and setting up 

29/11/18, 4h - the event

30/11/2018, 1h - counting the money we raised and bringing it back to LIPA along with the equipment 

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VENUE

One of the most important things to do is to find a venue and consider dates which would suit our event.

Dates - 24th and 31st of January. Perfect time because everyone will be refreshed after the Christmas break & New Year’s Eve and also there is nothing really happening around Liverpool at that time. Which means easier to find a venue. Unfortunately, other groups already booked these dates so we decided to move it back a week to 17th January 2019. 

We need a space which could hold approx. 50 guests. As a group we considered:  Function Suite Liverpool (cons – probably the price would be too high), the Cathedral – sir Giles Gilbert Scott suite, Lady Chapel room (cons – won’t be able to charge tickets and fundraising event will be needed) and also Osquas function rooms (cons- price probably out of our budget).

Every venue mentioned above was enquired but didn’t get any response from them. Thanks to LIPA’s contact with Fredricks the event can take place there. This is a perfect location but we cannot invite too many people as the place would be crowded and they would struggle to move around. It already sets up the mood of 20’s so we can save some money on decor. The bar will be open so guests can enjoy drinks and listen to our amazing Jazz band from LIPA while solving out the murder mystery.

Unfortunately we are losing our 50 pounds loan to pay the deposit which means we must do a fundraiser. 

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IPP hours:

09/10/18, 10:30-11:30 - sorting venue meetings

22/10/18, 11:30 - 13:00 - looking around Fredricks to get an idea on how to set up the place, capacity, availability on the considered dates

+overall online searching 2 hours

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IPP - Introduction to Professional Practice

In this module we have to take part in 100 hours of professional practice which include a collaborative project with other disciplines in LIPA and also additional projects to gain as much experience as we can within working in this industry. 

My IPP group consists of 4 females: Mollie, Caitlin, Millie and myself. Our first meeting took place on the 2nd October 2018. We brainstormed to get ideas about what event we should put on. I think people enjoy mysteries, because they can transfer themselves into another world and postpone life problems for a moment. So the great idea would be to put on a Night of Mystery and we all agreed! The theme will be murder in the 20′s. 

In case of this event we will undertake collaboration with actors to interact with audience and technicians to take care of light/sound effects. It will be hard to set up a meeting with actors specifically because their timetable is really packed but we will do what we can. The best way of this situation is to create a facebook group chat with people interested in helping us. 

Instead of creating a murder story ourselves we want to buy a package with characters already devised as actors won’t have that much time to help us either.

The budget for this event is 50 pounds loan we have to pay back. The best thing would be to a ticket sale for the event.

Things to think about:

- VENUE.

- Do we need fundraiser?

- Look for murder mystery packages online. 

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IPP hours:

2/10/18, 12:30 - 13:30 - talk through ideas and themes for the event, disciplines to collaborate with

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THE GLOW!

Me and Elizabeth, which appears on the last photo, were working on the box office together. Every person of the crew arrived at 19:20 to take their place and be ready to start and straight away were instructed on how to collect money and where, informed about the line-up, where the bar is and what the offers are so people could get attracted. Also, instead of paper tickets we were handing out glow sticks and there was a station where people could get glitter make up done by one of our coursemate - so GLOW could make more sense. We also got our faces painted to follow the theme. 

At the beginning there wasn’t many people coming and we were a little bit nervous about how the event was going to end up but later on we were running out of bracelets! We sold approx. 80 tickets and the place was crowded! People were having so much fun dancing and singing while listening to our lovely and talented performers from LIPA. 

There wasn’t any technical or organisational problems. Everything went according to plan. GLOW was a huge SUCCESS! 

I am looking forward to work at this kind of events in the future, as I really enjoyed it and the atmosphere, and I’ll make sure you’ll hear about everything on my blog so... STAY IN TOUCH! 

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IPP hours: 

18/10/18, 19:20 - 24:00 - box office, GLOW gig

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GLOW was a fundraising gig for Dance Musical “BRIGHT LIGHTS BIG CITY” (you can find it here https://www.facebook.com/events/183522892539029/) which took place on the 18th October in Brooklyn Mixer. I was responsible for marketing and box office at the event. 

It was the first time I had an opportunity to work at this kind of event in real life. I wasn’t really sure where to start when the 2nd year management student asked for help because she didn’t have enough time to manage it all on her own. We created a Facebook group chat so we could talk about everything we struggle with and what she really expect from us. 

My job was to do the marketing - make sure everyone knows about this event - so I printed some posters, hang them around LIPA and also in Cathedral Campus where most of the LIPA students live. While walking around uni I also talked to some people and invited them personally- some people think posters are overrated and don’t pay attention to them.

As another part of marketing I was also sharing the event on Facebook story and my private page to let everyone know what’s happening and where and sent it to ma WhatsApp group chats.  

You can find GLOW gig on Facebook via this link:  https://www.facebook.com/events/176959349859923/

It wasn’t that difficult as I thought before doing it without any experience. And I really liked it. 

Next part - the real event is taking place and time to work at the box office, selling tickets at the door, and help others if something goes wrong or they need anything. 

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IPP hours:

4/10/18, 16:00-17:00 - first meeting discussing “GLOW”

16/10/18, 13:00-14:00 - advertising the event, printing and hanging posters

2/11/18, 18:00 - 20:00 - refreshment sales for Bright Lights

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First weeks at LIPA.

I was so nervous yet excited to start uni. On the international enrolment day I came alone, not knowing anyone (probably like everyone else). I was amazed seeing so many nationalities at once. Everyone had a chance to get to know people and what they specialise in, as we had some time at the hall with free biscuits, tea and coffee served by our lovely ladies from cafeteria. 

Later on, we all went to the Arts Lecture Theatre to get to know more about studying at LIPA and Liverpool facilities. Also! We were told that before Paul McCartney founded LIPA, there was an arts college where John Lennon went to and I was sat next to the desk where his name was written! I could not believe that I was sitting in the place he used to! 

After the enrolment the induction week started and, mostly, it was great because we could meet every tutor and subject more closely, same with people on my course. The things I didn’t like were the lectures in the morning which I don’t even remember now. I think there was too many informations that they wanted us to receive. After the whole week I was exhausted but ready to start properly. 

The few weeks after were based on our collaborative work with other disciplines in LIPA, on the future exams, essays and projects which I’ll be writing here about :) 

So stay in touch!

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Me, myself & I

Hey there! My name is Karolina and I’m a 1st year international student from Poland in LIPA doing Music, Entertainment, Theatre and Events Management. On my site I’ll be posting blogs about my experience in working on projects.