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Issue 36 January 2010 £4.75
Promoter incourt actionover festivalBy Christina Eccles
A PROMOTER is claiming damagesand loss of earnings from a localcouncil over the cancellation of aBob Marley tribute festival, whichwas expected to attract 15,000 peo-ple.
Gold National Events – headed byMike Forrester – is claiming £153,000plus costs from Manchester CityCouncil, after it pulled the plug onthe event over concerns about publicorder. The festival was due to takeplace at Platts Field Park in August2008 and artists confirmed to per-form included reggae star Sean Pauland Bob Marley’s son Ky-Mani.
But it was cancelled after the coun-cil claimed it had been advised byGreater Manchester Police that theevent should not go ahead.
However, GMP deny this and claimthat although they did have con-cerns, they had not issued instruc-tions to cancel and would have sup-ported the festival.
The case went to the High Court inNovember and was reserved by thejudge, with judgement expected laterthis month.
And Mike revealed he would haveliked to have resolved the issue ami-
cably, but the council’s reluctance tocommunicate left him with no choicebut to start court proceedings.
He said: “The police had allegedlygiven advice to cancel but when Iraised questions with the council, Igot nothing back. What gets me is thelack of communication and trans-parency. They completely ignored meand engaged in no dialogue. The onlytime we got a response was whenthey were served a High Court writ.”
Mike said he was left ‘absolutelydevastated’ by the cancellation of thefestival as he was expecting it to be agreat event for the whole community.
He added that it would have been afamily event, which would have givenfestivalgoers the opportunity to seeSean Paul – a big international star –for a reasonable price of £15 per tick-et.
He added: “I am very disappointed.As my local council, I would haveexpected them to give me support. Iwas trying to do something good forthe community.”
A Manchester City Councilspokesman told The Main Event thatas court proceedings are ongoing,the council could not comment atthis time.
Group plansfor 2010A GROUP set up to tackleissues faced by local authorityevent organisers has unveiledambitious plans for 2010.
The Local Authorities EventOrganisers Group (LAEOGUK) was formed after a groupof neighbouring authoritiesmet to discuss issues they hadwith fun fairs on council land.
It soon expanded to talkabout other common issuesand grew in membershipnumbers, meeting twice ayear. After consultation withmembers, LAEOG has nowbecome an independent for-mally constituted group,chaired by Andy Grove fromBasingstoke and DeaneBorough Council.
This year, it will be pushingto attract as many membersas possible – becoming avoice for local authority eventorganisers and engaging andconsulting with key industryorganisations.
Committee memberVanessa Mitchell fromBradford City Council said: “Ibelieve its really important forlocal authorities to jointogether as there are so manycommon issues.”
A homecoming concert in Reading to welcome backlocal X Factor star Danyl Johnson included the useof two of the world’s largest plasma screens. Thewhopping 103” screens flanked Danyl on each sideof the stage and showed footage filmed at theevent. The screens were sourced by PSCo, whichjoined forces with Surtees Reading for the event,held at the Penta Hotel.Danyl played a set of his most popular X Factorsongs to an assembled audience of VIP guests.
The Main Event is the official magazine of the National Outdoor Events
Association
3
By Christina Eccles
MAJOR festivals could soon becomecash-free zones as increasingly ambi-tious technology is introduced atevents.
As festivalgoers become increasinglyvigilant about taking valuables withthem to events, new technology beingdeveloped could mean spendingmoney on site could soon become athing of the past.
Festival giant Live Nation has beenworking with Barclaycard to develop aproduct for its festivals – whichinclude Download, Wireless and HardRock Calling – which would allow vis-itors to purchase cards or wristbandsthat could be topped up with anamount before the event, meaning
they do not have to bring any moneywith them.
Head of sponsorship at BarclaycardDaniel Mathieson said this wouldhave many benefits for both festival-goers and organisers including:� Festivalgoers no longer have toworry about looking after cash atevents.� Visitors may spend more at the baror on concessions because queuingand transaction times will bereduced.� Parents of younger festivalgoerswould get added piece of mind asthey could buy a card or wristbandfor their child and when topping up,specify that so much is spent onessentials such as food.
Daniel said: “Cash on site at festivals
can be quite a headache for the con-sumer because of the speed of thetransaction at the point of sale.
“Ultimately we want to remove cashfrom a festival site, which will speedup payment at bars – meaning organ-isers will spend more money and itwill improve the experience for thecustomer on site.
“There would be specific paymenttechnology in the form of a card or awristband, which festivalgoers cantop up before coming on site. Theycould also have option of an auto topup when it reaches a certain amount.”
Live Nation’s John Probyn addedthat it is the way forward at eventsand when the idea has been men-tioned on festival forums, it hasreceived positive feedback from fans.
Cash-free zone planfor major festivals
EDITORIALGroup EditorAndrew HarrodTel: 01226 [email protected]
Reporters:
Christina Eccles ([email protected])
Mary Ferguson ([email protected])
Louise Cordell ([email protected])
Dominic Musgrave ([email protected])
ADVERTISINGGroup Sales Manager:Paul AllottTel: 01226 734484Fax: 01226 734478Mob: 07500 905717Email: [email protected]
Sales Executive:Mandy MellorTel: 01226 734702Email: [email protected]
Sales and Marketing Director:Tony Barry Email: [email protected]
CIRCULATIONKelly TarffTel: 01226 734695email: [email protected]
PRODUCTIONStudio Manager:Stewart Holt ([email protected])Tel: 01226 734414Group Deputy Editor:Judith Halkerston ([email protected])Tel: 01226 734458Graphic designer:Kyle Wilkinson ([email protected])Tel: 01226 734711
CONTACTS
www.themaineventmagazine.co.uk
Winter carnivalkicks off 2010 in
NewcastlePage 8
Green accolade for City of
London festivalPage 9
The Event Production Show Pages 18-21Training and recruitment Page 25
Classified Page 27
NOEA Page 24
Local authority spotlight Page 11
‘First is first,second is
nowhere‘ for LizPage 12
Awarddoublefor teamA COUNCIL’S events teamhas scooped two awardsfor its efforts organisingthe UK’s biggest Diwalicelebration.
Brent Council walkedaway with gongs at theInternational VisualCommunicationAssociation (IVCA)Livecom awards, whichcelebrate creativity andexcellence for live eventsand experiential market-ing.
The team received goldprize for The FestivalsAward and The Culturaland Arts Award.
Brent Diwali will now beautomatically nominatedfor UK event of the year atthe main IVCA awards inMarch.
An event management company is looking for work experience students to support a busy 2010 eventdiary. After taking on over 40 placements in 2009, Event Cornwall is looking for more people to helpout on events this year. Director Claire Eason-Bassett said: “Candidates support us with everythingfrom outlining planning of a project to managing the event on site and we encourage participants toreally get involved. Feedback we’ve had from previous people is that it’s challenging but hugely excit-ing and fulfilling.”
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Festivals told tounite to drivedown pricesBy Christina Eccles
FESTIVALS worried about the risingcosts of artists should work togetherto drive down prices, according tokey industry figures.
Malcolm McKenzie, a manager atSupervision Entertainment, has sup-plied artists to several major festivals.
And he says that one of the reasonswhy the cost of headliners keepsincreasing is because competitionfrom rival festivals is pushing up fees.
He said: “Artist fees are going to getworse as there is always going to becompetition. Headliners are a seriousproblem as there isn’t the investmentin the industry to create those kind ofartists for the future.”
Organiser of the Isle of WightFestival John Giddings added withoutdecent headliners, festivals will strug-gle to compete with their rivals.
He added: “People go to festivalsbecause of the headliners but bandsare wising up to the fact that if yougive them an exclusive, they can only
do one or two shows per year.”He suggested that instead of com-
peting with each other, events couldsplit popular artists so that they arenot tied to just performing at one fes-tival.
Christof Huber, who organisesOpenAir St.Gallen in Switzerland,said that although in the past the fes-tival has managed to secure artistsincluding Metallica and the Red HotChilli Peppers, it is now too expensiveto book this kind of act.
Because of this, they have beenforced to change the style of theevent.
He added: “It is just not possible forus to have that kind of act so we areusing the idea of the festival havingan identity and being a brand ratherthan it just being about the acts weare booking. It is tough to get anexclusive act so we find out what elseour audience want. We are incrediblyclose to our community and they arereally connected with the festival.”
Manx Radio has beenchosen as the exclusiveradio media partnerfor the 2010 BayFestival – taking placeover three nights inJune.The station will hoststar interviews – withacts including JLS,Calvin Harris andDiversity – and com-pere the event live.Manx Radio’s businessdirector John Marsomsaid: “This is a tremen-dous opportunity forthe station to be theexclusive radio partner.The event will see30,000 people in thethree days and we arehonoured to have beenchosen to be a keypartner.”
New industry body set to launchA NEW body set up to promote thelive events industry is set to launchearly this year.
Founded by the Association ofEvent Organisers (AEO), theAssociation of Event Venues (AEV)
and the Event Supplier and ServicesAssociation (ESSA), the organisationwill work to raise the profile of liveevents with marketers and businessleaders. Its name, branding and web-site will be revealed at a later date.
Firms create one-stop shopEVENT Floor and Majestic Marqueeshave joined forces to become TheStructure Group (TSG).
The move creates a one-stop shopfor organisers looking for flooringsystems and structures.
TSG’s new identity has beenenhanced by the launch of its new website, which brings together all the facets of Event Floorand Majestic Marquees under oneroof.
The dates have been revealedfor this year’s Great YorkshireShow – with organisersexpecting over 130,000 visi-tors to come through thegates. The 152nd Show takesplace on July 13-15 inHarrogate and every yearattracts over 12,000 entriesacross the competitive class-es. Honorary show directorBill Cowling said: “The popu-larity and reputation of theshow is based on its commit-ment to staying true to itsfarming roots, whilst ensuringit is innovative and has plentyto attract the general visitor.So whether your interest liesin farming, fashion, food orflowers, there will be plentyto entertain and inform.”
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FANS could apply for the limitednumber of free tickets for the partywhich acted as a warm up for thegame.
And to ensure a safe experiencefor visitors, Mojo Barriers workedclosely with site manager DaveWalton to devise and install thecrowd control and barrier system.
The event celebrated all thingsNFL at the Palace of Industry, out-side Wembley Stadium and of the85,000 fans that bought tickets forthe game, 23,000 also went to theparty.
Dave explained: “The idea is tobring a piece of the action to theUK each year to entertain and givefans the opportunity to experienceeverything that comes with thesport. In the NFL Hall of Fame wedisplayed some of the most historictreasures including the VinceLombardi Trophy given to the win-ner of every Super Bowl and all 42Super Bowl rings.
“With each ring being worth£15,000, this obviously meant thesecurity system had to ensure thesefeatures were safe.”
Mojo Barriers brought in 1,100mof perimeter fencing marking outthe event site, with 800m of crowdcontrol barrier across the site. Aspart of the system, 24 Line Up gateswere used to control the ingressand egress of the crowds
Dave added: “We have workedwith Mojo Barriers since the eventbegan, bringing in the Line Upgates in 2008 and seeing their effec-tiveness, we used them on the exitas well as the entrance this time.This meant we could count thenumber of exiting people andtherefore calculate visitor numberson site at any time.”
Features of the event included a500 people capacity 3D cinema,which gave fans the chance to seethe sport in 3D from a player’s eyeview. There were also performanc-es on the outdoor stage by differentbands and the NFL cheerleaders.
The Mojo Barriers team – headedby Chris Kordek – started work onthe site Tuesday prior to the eventbuilding the perimeter fencing,before installing the complete bar-rier system across the week.
Now in its third year, the NFL Tailgate Party offered a true NFL experience when 23,000 American footballfans travelled to Wembley Stadium for the only game of the series to be played in the UK. The Main Eventfound out more.
Celebrating all things NFL
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EVENTS have long been recognisedfor the benefits which they canbring to the tourism industry – butsome areas have been managing tocash in on this more successfullythan others.
Liverpool’s year as EuropeanCapital of Culture saw the citycome to life with a huge variety ofinspiring events, which got every-one talking.
Events – such as the MTV EuropeMusic Awards, La Machine and TheTall Ships’ Race – gave residents atremendous sense of pride in theirarea as well as attracting hugenumbers of visitors.
And the pace didn’t slow down in2009, with organisers fulfilling theirobjectives to keep Liverpool a thriv-ing place to host events.
Liverpool City Council’s head oftourism Keith Blundell explained todelegates how the council had the
job of maintaining momentumpost Capital of Culture year, eventhough the budget and workforcehad been slashed.
He said: “We looked at a newtourism strategy and established amajor events group, which lookedat bidding for events. We also triedto build our core events to makethem bigger and better quality.”
A dedicated organisation –Culture 10 – has also been set upwith a remit to develop a strongprogramme of cultural events inthe North East.
Culture 10 was initially set up aspart of Newcastle’s bid to becomeEuropean Capital of Culture in2008, but even though the city lostout to Liverpool, it made a commit-ment to keep the project goinguntil 2010.
When it winds up in March,events will still form part of the
area’s tourism offering – with proj-ects in the pipeline including a pro-gramme of events surrounding theillumination of local landmarkHadrian’s Wall.
Creative director Stella Halladded: “The aim is to build a cul-tural reputation in the North East,which raises aspirations and stimu-lates activity, while also inspiringbusiness confidence and develop-ing skills. We want to attract visitorsfrom outside the region andencourage them to stay longer. Wecollect facts and figures at everyevent so we get a sense of who iscoming, where they are from andwhat they are spending.
“The appetite is growing forextraordinary events. Some of theprogramme has to be about localengagement but we are also hopingto grow the visiting friends and rel-atives market.”
Maximising the potentialof events as a way toboost tourism was thetheme of a conference heldat Leeds MetropolitanUniversity. Christina Eccleswent along to find outmore. Newcastle has a thriving events programme designed for both residents and visitors
Events bank cash for cities
Liverpool carried on its success withevents throughout 2009, including GoPenguins over the festive season
SHOWSEC rounded off a successful2009 by providing event security forthe biggest ever Sports Personality ofthe Year awards at Sheffield Arena.
The company supplied a team ofsecurity professionals, who ensuredthe safety of guests in the VIP pre-show party, securing all transportbetween venues and strategicallyplacing response teams around the
VIP audience.
Julian Kumah took on the role ofhead of security for the awards, sup-ported by special projects managerSteve Reynolds and supervisor MarkWilcock.
The event was attended by 11,000guests, which including some of theworld’s most prestigious sportingpersonalities.
Showsec rounds off the yearwith Sheffield Arena security
THE organisers of Camp Bestival have revealed dates and the first big names for this year’sevent.
The festival will be held from July 30to August 1 and will include perform-ances from Madness, Calvin Harrisand Chipmunk.
Camp Bestival plans unveiled
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ORGANISERS should form strongpartnerships in order to enhancetheir events, experts have revealed.
The theme of this year’s NationalOutdoor Events Association’s confer-ence was delivering through partner-ship and a number of industryexperts revealed to delegates howimportant a joined up approach iswhen it comes to planning an event.
One example of an event benefitingfrom a successful partnership isLeeds Pride, which started off as asmall scale community event.
As it grew, Leeds City Council’sevents team stepped in to helporganisers with their planning and toensure a safe and successful event forboth visitors and the people workingbehind the scenes.
The event started as a small gather-ing and parade in Millennium Square– but organisers found they werestruggling to hold visitors’ attentionwho ended up disappearing into thecity’s many pubs or restaurants.
Feedback from participants wasthat they wanted something biggerand better, which was a real celebra-tion of Leeds’ vibrant gay communityand raised its profile within the cityand in Yorkshire as a whole.
After moving to a new site, the
organising team approached the citycouncil and was directed to theevents department, headed up bySylvia McCann.
And Leeds Pride committee mem-ber Mark Thomson said the decisionto join forces with Sylvia and herteam – although it was initially metwith apprehension by some commit-tee members – has allowed the eventto flourish.
He said: “We had been run by vol-unteers but we needed someone whocould take control. There was somefear as the event was going frombeing community controlled to hav-ing a lead agency come in. Some peo-ple thought it could take away itsidentity.”
By bringing in Real Radio as amedia partner, the event has success-fully managed to raise its profile andnow attracts up to 35,000 participantsbut Mark added that even thoughother parties are now involved, it isvital that the community still see it astheir event.
He added: “The events team providea valuable service and we are nowthinking ahead when it comes to theevent. But we want it to remain acommunity event and not becomecommercial.”
Organiserstold: sticktogether
2010 got off to a flying start in Newcastle with a spectacular carnival, which attractedthousands of people to the city centre. NewcastleGateshead’s New Year’s Eve winter carni-val was organised by Culture10, in partnership with Newcastle City Council and producedby Walk the Plank. This year’s event had a theme of fire and ice and culminated in a fire-work display at Newcastle Civic Centre.
A spectacular new production from CirqueDu Soleil is touring UKarenas later this year.Saltimbanco is Cirquedu Soleil’s longest running, major touringshow, which has touredthe world to widespread acclaim andenjoyed sell-out success– performing to over11m fans. It will appearat arenas in citiesincluding Sheffield,Liverpool, Glasgow andBirmingham.
Comedy festivalset to returnTHE Bath Comedy Festival willreturn in April after a successful firstevent last year.
Dates have been confirmed as April1-11 and it will again take place invenues across the city plus events outin the streets of Bath.
Organiser Alex Timms said: “It wasalways our dream to create an annu-al event and we are delighted to beable to stage the Bath ComedyFestival again.”
THE organisers of Pride in Brightonand Hove have awarded new contracts for event production and security and stewarding at Pride2010.
The contracts are awarded on a fourevents basis, to commence at thisyear’s event and run to 2013 or 2014,pending a decision on what will hap-pen in 2012.
The companies chosen are FisherProductions and Select Security andStewarding.
Pride contractsare awarded
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Capital festivalrewarded forgreen effortsBy Christina Eccles
THE City of London Festival has beenrewarded for its efforts in promotingsustainability and environmentalawareness at the event.
The event was recognised by AGreener Festival, which assessesevents on various aspects of organi-sation including office management,supporting green initiatives, traveland transport and recycling.
The festival takes place over a three-week period and combines innova-tive performances in the City ofLondon – utilising both its historicbuildings and outdoor spaces.
And last year the festival placedgreen issues high on its agenda.
General manager Lindsey Dear said:“Over the last couple of years we havebeen increasingly including sustain-ability not just in terms of our ownpractices but also in the way we pro-gramme our events.”
As part of this, for the 2009 event,the festival renewed its environmen-tal policy and introduced a numberof practical measures such as usingrecycled paper and producing digitalbrochures instead of paper ones.
The festival also promotes the useof public transport to get to its eventsso also worked to locate cycle pathsand walking routes.
For the outdoor performances, LEDlighting and biodiesel generatorswere used to minimise the impactwhich the event has on the environ-ment.
As well as practical steps, the festi-val also works hard to promote thesustainability message. The festivalincluded a parade with the theme ofrecycling where rubbish from the Cityof London – such as plastic waterbottles discarded at the LondonMarathon – were collected and usedin works of art which were then dis-played.
Lindsey added: “We are very awarethat we are working in an ancient andhistoric area and we don’t want tocontribute to it not being there for aslong as it should be.
“At the heart of it we are an arts fes-tival. But what we are able to do isput a scientific and political issue atthe heart of our artistic process.
“The arts have an interesting role toplay in profile raising.”
Event worth £5.8m to countiesTHE 2009 Tour of Britain wasworth £5.8m to the Somerset andDevon economies, according tonew figures.
Over 230,000 spectators attendedthe South West stages, boostingthe area’s economy across the twodays of the race.
Somerset County Council’s cabi-net member for resources CounDavid Huxtable said: “The Tour of
Britain has yet again proven to bea great success in the South West.
“The economic benefits forSomerset have far exceededSomerset County Council’s expec-tations according to the survey,which is great news for local busi-nesses – particularly in these diffi-cult economic times.”
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AN historic monument in St Andrews provided the perfect backdrop for a spec-tacular festival, commemorating the home of Scotland’s patron saint.Projection artist Ross Ashton from E/T/C London was commissioned to createthree special art works for the three day St Andrews Festival – including two atthe ancient ruined cathedral of St Andrews.The third site was in St Mary's Quadrangle, part of St Andrews' famous univer-sity – the third oldest in the English speaking world. These were the only lightworks in the 2009 Festival.Ross came up with a trio of separate but related storyboards for the three dif-ferent locations, which were all completely different shapes and sizes.The projections were themed to reflect the rich culture and heritage of the areaand the myths and legends of St Andrew.He said: "It was a great privilege to be asked to work on this project to honourScotland's patron saint in such an amazing location. “There were many technical and imaginative challenges in producing anengaging, informative and fun show.”
Being green still high on agendaENVIRONMENTAL sustainability isstill high on the agenda for organisersdespite the recession forcing someevents to tighten their belts, accord-ing to new research.
A Greener Festival analysed theenvironmental assessments made at37 festivals in 2009 and 32 in 2008and the results showed that despite adifficult economic climate, organisersare still focused on making theirevents as green as possible.
The research showed that 97 percent of festivals implemented greengood practice and 94 per cent and 97per cent respectively promote liftsharing and the use of public trans-port.
But there was mixed news when itcomes to recycling – as although 94per cent of festivals have plans to pri-oritise recycling, there was a 24 percent reduction in recycling plasticsand glass.
There was also a big jump in thenumber of festivals who now pro-mote environmental awareness onsite or on their websites, jumping 17per cent to 94 per cent in total.
A Greener Festival co-founder BenChallis said: “Overall we are delightedwith our awards scheme in 2009. Wehad five more festivals applying andwe judged 13 festivals to be outstand-ing. We were really encouraged by thenumber of festivals who are engaging
with music fans and promoting sus-tainable lifestyles and implementingenvironmental good practice.
“The biggest area of concernremains audience travel and we aredelighted that almost all of the par-ticipating festivals now promote liftshare and public transport as a mat-ter of course, with many workingwith new partners to reduce green-house gas emissions from audiencetravel.
“The other good news is that we areextending the awards. The schemecurrently covers The UK, Europe,Australia and the USA and we nowplan to roll out the Awards schemeinto India and South East Asia."
Bestival wasone of only13 festivalsworldwide tobe judgedoutstanding
RSVP plansunveiledPLANS have been announced forRSVP 2010, which takes place in Aprilat London’s Business Design Centre.
New additions to this year’s eventinclude RSVPA – a new show withinthe show aimed at PAs and officemanagers.
Other features will include a cock-tails and canapés area and the returnof the ideas trail.
LOVEBOX is expanding this year toprovide festivalgoers with three daysof music.
The event at London’s Victoria Parkwill now begin on Friday and willinclude a headline performance fromDizzee Rascal.
It takes place from July 16 to 18.
Lovebox setfor expansion
New memberswelcomedTWO new members have been wel-comed onto the board of theAssociation of Independent Festivals.
Danny Newman (Get Loaded in thePark / South West Four) and JohnEmpson (Eden Sessions) have beenvoted in by the existing board.
LOCAL AUTHORITY SPOTLIGHT 11
STRIKING a balance between lookingafter the interests of the people wholive in York and of those who come tovisit is just one of the interestingchallenges facing the arts and cultureteam at York City Council.
The team – headed up by Liz Topi –has had great success with large scalespectacles such as the Festival ofRivers but is already thinking whereimprovements can be made or whatnew things can be added to thisyear’s programme.
One of 2009’s biggest successes washosting a leg of the Tour of Britain,which started in Scunthorpe beforefinishing in York.
The event was introduced to thecouncil by Yorkshire Forward andhosting the finish was the perfectopportunity to showcase what Yorkitself has achieved as a ‘cycling city’and tie it into a major event.
Liz explained: “We based it on acommunity event and it was one ofthe best-attended on the tour, seenby 125,000 people
“The event was fantastic. We hadsideshows ranging from cycling chal-lenges to Punch and Judy and it wasalso a good opportunity for our owncycling initiative in the city.”
Another popular event is the WorldMusic Festival, on which the councilworks with students from theUniversity of York.
Initially the students had an idea toput on a world music event in thecity and the council was brought into help with the organisation.
Liz said that one of the best thingsabout this event is how it has closedthe gap between residents and thecity’s student population.
She added: “My vision was to have a
bridge building exercise because upto then it had been the people of Yorkand then the students – there was abig divide.
The festival is a two-day event witha stage and carnival procession andhas grown every year into somethingwhich the city looks forward to.
“It gives the students a sense ofachievement and has also built abridge between the two universities.”
Liz also revealed what the mainfocuses are for this year and beyond,which include building on existingevents, while also adding new proj-ects to the events calendar.
“The Festival of Rivers is gettingbigger and better. We are also think-ing about doing something differentand special for 2012 – going for thetourists who aren’t interested in theOlympics. Local authorities shouldbe looking for an alternative as theOlympics aren’t for everybody. Wecan have Olympic fever but it doesn’thave to be sport based.”
Events are also being consideredwhich can utilise not only city centrespaces but York’s parks and ruralareas.
“People expect there to be music inthe streets of York and that should betaken out more into the community.We want our parks and open spacesto do more so then tourists wouldventure into them. But we can’t justconcentrate on tourists. We also haveour own residents to think about so ithas got to be a package.
“Times are hard and that’s going tobe our biggest challenge. Like in alllocal authorities, budgets are takingcuts and it is going to be a matter ofdoing the most with what we havegot.”
York is one of the UK’s most historic and best loved cities – attracting thousands of tourists every year. Christina Ecclesfound out how the council’s events team keeps the crowds coming back while also keeping local residents happy.
Looking afterresidents andthe tourists
The Ice Factor
Ice Factor in danger afterchilly court receptionYORK’S flagship festive attractionmay not return to its traditional loca-tion after the county court threatenedan injunction if the ice rink was setup in 2010.
The Ice Factor is situated on the Eyeof York – between popular attractionsClifford’s Tower and the CastleMuseum and York Crown Court.
But although the ice rink pulls inthousands of visitors, the court isobjecting to it being set up thereagain.
Liz added that everything has been
done to ensure that the setting up ofthe rink and visitors attending it donot disturb the court – but it hasmade no difference.
She added: “The ice rink has nevercost the city a penny. It attracted45,000 people last year and is a fabu-lous thing for York.
“We have worked during the nightto set up and have not played musicin the day for four years. The ice rinkis our Christmas so it is very sad. Itwould be nice if we could come to asensible compromise.”
ACCORDING to Liz one of the bestthings about working on events suchas the Festival of Rivers is close col-laboration with community groupsand volunteers.
And she says she likes to help themout wherever possible.
She added: “With the Festival ofRivers we work with some fabulouspeople and that makes the job worth-while. If I can help them in someway– such as lending radios or marquees– then they know there is somebodywho cares and will go that extra step.”
Why Liz goes that extra step
Liz Topi
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AFTER becoming World Water-SkiRacing champion at the age of 21,Liz broke the British, Europeanand World Speed records beforeretiring as undefeated champion ofthe world.
Following on from her sportingsuccess, she forged a successfulcareer in presenting, which includ-ed hosting her own shows on BBCRadio Two and ITV.
Liz then moved behind the cam-era to produce and direct TV pro-grammes before deciding to con-centrate on the development of LizHobbs Group, which started in1990 as a management agency forsports personalities.
LHG is now the UK’s number oneprovider of entertainment to sport-ing venues and has also successful-ly produced corporate events, wed-dings and festivals, as well as offer-ing artist management and book-ing services.
Liz said: “I used to breed race-horses and loved going to theraces. But I felt there could be somuch more added to the experi-ence if there was entertainmentthere. At that time racing was verymale dominated and perceived tobe a male sport, but as femalejockeys started riding a lot more, Ifelt there was an opening to dosomething that would get morecouples to go to the racing andmake it more of a day out.
“Yorkshire Television gave me myfirst break. I loved it but I alwaysthought there was something miss-ing. I couldn’t work out what until Ideveloped the events business andthen I found out what I had beenmissing since I retired from worldlevel sport.”
After her divorce in 2003, Lizadmits she threw herself into thebusiness, over the years growing
the company from just herself intoa team of 18 people.
She told The Main Event that ithas taken a lot of hard work to getto this point and not only has itbeen important to expand anddevelop her staff, she has also beenkeen to stretch herself and learnnew skills.
She explained: “It has taken along time to get where we are now.We have got a fantastic team andbecause we have grown organicallyand everyone has worked in differ-ent departments, they all under-stand the business. It is reallyimportant that the whole teamunderstands what we do.
“From 2003 onwards, the busi-
ness has shown meteoric growthand has doubled every year sincethen.
“But the resource we have now isprobably half way to where I wantit to be. That’s what is still excitingto me. We are still hungry enoughto want more growth.”
Liz’s sporting background hasgiven her the individual competi-tiveness and drive to make eventsthe best they can be but as thebusiness has grown, she has alsolearned the value of workingtogether as a team.
She added: “Having a sportsbackground made me an individ-ual before a team player so I’ve hadto make changes myself to keep
that individuality but also becomea team player.
“I have realised how much I relyon the team and recognise thevalue and importance of training.What I put in I get back tenfold interms of enthusiasm, knowledgeand ideas.
“That’s what training is about. Itbroadens people’s horizons andmakes them more receptive tobeing creative and taking on boardnew ideas.”
Plans are already in place for thisyear, including expanding the artistmanagement section of the busi-ness, investing heavily in stafftraining and working on bothestablished and some new events.
As a sporting worldchampion, Liz Hobbs MBE’smotto was ‘first is first,second is nowhere’ – anattitude she has continuedto aspire to with her workon events. Her business, LizHobbs Group is nowcelebrating its 20thanniversary and ChristinaEccles paid a visit to discoverthe secrets of her successand why she is continuing tostrive for more.
Liz sticks with ‘first is first,second is nowhere’ motto
Bryan Adams performing at Newmarket Racecourse
13
Durham Lumiere attracted an estimated 75,000 people over four action-packed nights. Christina Eccles spoke to co-producerDavid Bilton about how the event captured public imagination and contributed to the city’s cultural programme.
Pictures courtesy of Matthew Andrews
LUMIERE was staged as part ofDurham’s bid to be UK capital ofculture in 2013 and was the largestfestival of its kind to take place inthe UK.
After achieving so much success,plans are now in discussion tomake it a biannual event – and ifDurham’s bid is successful, it couldplay a key role in the 2013 celebra-tions.
The event involved transformingDurham’s famous architecture andlandscapes – including its worldheritage site cathedral – using art-works and light installations andincluded seven new commissionsand more than 50 UK and interna-tional artists.
Lumiere was organised byArtichoke – the company behind La Machine, one ofLiverpool’s flagship Capital ofCulture events – with David’s company DGB Events dealing withproduction.
But working in such sensitive andhistoric spaces, provided a chal-lenge for the team.
David explained: “It took a lot ofnegotiation. We talked to the cathe-dral and built up a partnership withthem to see what they wanted toget out of the event as well as whatwe wanted.
“Throughout the whole process,we kept them involved.
“We had to be very respectful ofthe place but also wanted to dosomething different and encouragepeople to look at the spaces differ-ently.”
He added that the sheer scale ofthe event and the number of peo-ple it attracted could also havebeen a headache for organisers –but careful planning and flexibility once the event wasunderway meant it went off without a hitch.
He added: “We had a huge num-ber of people who came to theevent so we were constantly tryingto adapt our plans.
Light transforms historic Durham
“We didn’t want to create a trail aswe wanted people to be able to movefreely.
“But we did put in a one-way systemdown a riverside walk as the footpathwasn’t very wide and the artworkcould be viewed better from onedirection than the other.”
David said that the whole team andpartners – who included the localcouncil and Sky Arts – were delightedwith the event and learned a lotwhich they could apply to future proj-ects.
“We had a fantastic response andhugely positive feedback so we arevery pleased.
“The beauty of Durham is that it isvery compact so we could take overthe city.
“We spent a lot of time walkingaround the city, looking at spaces. Wewanted to people to view places dif-ferently.”
2 14 ADVERTISER’S ANNOUNCEMENT
AS the Met Office has announcedthat November 2009 was the wettestNovember on record, breaking a previous high which had stood since 1929, seasonal events up anddown the country were being cancelled or abandoned in howling winds and lashing rain, leaving many event organisers suffering significant financial losses.
A surprising number of eventorganisers do not bother to buy can-cellation insurance for their eventsleaving them exposed to unnecessarylosses should the unexpected hap-pen.
Whereas others asked wereunaware of what insurance protection was in place for theirevent and the specific risks that can be covered, despite a second yearof unprecedented weather disruptions.
The misconception that financialloss is a risk limited to major event
organisers is fast becoming a realisation to the ever increasingevent market.
Any organiser who puts on anevent, whatever the size or cost isexposed to the risk of financial lossfrom the cancellation of that event.
Once a cost is incurred, insuranceshould become a significant priority, inevitably the costs will only escalate as the event drawsnearer, and naturally terms willbecome restricted as risks such asweather conditions become pre-existing.
Most insurers operate a 14-dayperiod prior to policy inceptionfor risks relating to adverseweather on outdoor eventsbut may take a morelenient approach onindoor events where aweather risk may stillbe evident but maybenot pivotal.
Addressing all of the risks involvedwith an event as early as possibleduring the planning periods shouldbe paramount. Organisers exposedto a risk beyond their control faceirrecoverable costs in the result ofcancellation, abandonment, postponement, interruption or even relocation of the event.
Whilstcancellationinsurance is an optionalpurchase, it is both realistic andaffordable whilst encompassing awide range of cover and flexibleterms.
Let it rain!
‘Any organiser whoputs on an event,whatever the size orcost is exposed tothe risk of financialloss from thecancellation of thatevent’
ADVERTISER’S ANNOUNCEMENT 15
Alleviation, lessening, improving, easing ...THE early organisation ofevent cover can be a majorfactor and huge benefit tothe organiser and theinsurer of an event whenthe unforeseen occurs –offering the opportunity tobe able to negotiate withsuppliers, re-arrangeservices and limit or reducelosses is in everyone’sinterest.
Naturally contracts differbut invariably the costs willescalate as the event drawsnearer, the risk will increaseand the terms will becomerestricted, so the need forlong term planning isessential.
Once you start to make afinancial commitment to aproject you should seriouslyconsider insuring it.
The unavoidable cancella-tion of an event is not inanyone’s interest, not theorganiser, their suppliers,the public or the insurer.
This is where cancellationcover and a proactive insur-er can endeavour to savethe day.
Access to a network of firstclass loss adjusters canquickly get all parties work-ing together to find thesolution and enable theinsurers immediate accessto the necessary facts to
make an informed decision.At the end of the daynobody sets out to cancelan event.
Some situations, however,have no feasible solution,avenues explored, adecision has to be reached,and here again a proactiveinsurer and first class lossadjusting can make a hugedifference not onlyfinancially but personally –taking some of the pressureoff the organiser in reachinga satisfactory solution to anunsatisfactory situation andhelping to maintain goodrelationships for futureventures.
INSURANCE is a market I amsure if most people were honestis not one they would choose towork in. Think again!
Event insurance is the mostamazing porthole into the worldof the events industry withoutactually stepping onto the stageso to speak.
Every day hundreds ofenquiries flood the phones,email, fax machines andpost, each one different,each one unique, each onespecial, from the sublime
to the ridiculous, all needinginsurance of one form oranother.
Insurance, once a taboosubject, is finally becomingmore socially acceptable.
Offering products specificallydesigned with a singlemarket in mind, backed byspecialist insurers and first classunderwriters, providing thisindustry with the security itneeds.
The knowledge that whateverhappens, it’s covered.
‘Insurance becoming moresocially acceptable’
2 16
FORMER policeman Andy Cotton hasstuck to the ‘try anything once’ mottothroughout his time in the industry –working on events ranging from out-door stadium concerts, festivals, cor-porate parties and awards cere-monies.
Recently the company has alsomoved into the international marketwith events in Africa, the Far East andthroughout Europe.
TAO Group started off with TAOProductions but has expanded toinclude different divisions includingmedical, fire, traffic management andevent safety – meaning clients cantake advantage of full event manage-ment services or pick which divisionsthey need assistance from.
As head of TAO, Andy is also arespected figure in the events indus-try and after winning many awardsover the years, his latest venture islecturing on event management,which he recently did for the PolishEvent Managers Association inWarsaw.
Something which Andy feels partic-ularly strongly about is the profes-sionalism of organisers working onevents.
He told The Main Event that one ofhis biggest concerns is the lack ofregulation for event organisers and
he thinks this is something the indus-try should address.
He said that although he has seenmajor changes since he started workon events, there is still room forimprovement.
He said: “At the upper levels thingsare changing. But when you dropdown the levels, I don’t think it is anybetter than 20 years ago.
“It frightens me that anyone canput on an event. We should belicensed as event organisers. Peopleshould know what they are doing.”
He added that one way to improvethings is by the sharing of knowledgeand ideas and he said he would wel-come more forums where organiserscan get together with the emergencyservices to ask questions and shareinformation.
He added: “The industry has gotbetter and there are some exceeding-ly professional people out there. Butwe need a group of people who canadvise.
“People shouldn’t be afraid to askquestions.
“There needs to be a forum wherethe emergency services can get fur-ther information.”
TAO stands for try anything once – a saying which Andy Cotton and his team applyto all their events. And after over 20 successful years in the industry, he told The MainEvent what changes he has seen and where improvements could be made.
ONE of TAO’s most recent projectswas a high-profile concert in Egyptheadlined by superstar Beyonce.
But the concert was not without itschallenges – with the company beingbrought in just 21 days before theshow.
Creative Entertainment Group’sCEO Peter Brightman asked Andy toassist with the concert, which tookplace at the new resort of PortGhallib on the Red Sea coast.
As well as Beyonce’s performance,the event also included a supportshow of aerial performance art – forwhich CEG initially required produc-tion consultancy from TAO.
The first issue for TAO was the stag-ing structures, which had been newlypurchased from Eurotruss.
Although the stage roof had suffi-cient weight loading for the Beyoncerig, globally there was a requirementfor a 7.5 tonne touring video wall tobe flown from the rear arch.
Andy worked with industry col-leagues Darren Wring of FinelineLighting and rigging specialist NickEvans, who joined him in Egypt toredesign the structure for safety withHenk Tiekstra, Eurotruss’ structuraldirector, and to the satisfaction ofBeyonce’s head rigger, Bill Rengstiand lighting chief, Storm Sollars.
TAO also advanced requirementsfor the support show prior to travel-ling to Cairo, which included a 90tonne crane that needed to cross abridge onto the island at Port Ghalib
– that had a weight limit of 60 tonnes. This interesting problem was solved
when a crane became available viapromoter Ahmed Beltagy that couldshed its counter weights, allowing itto travel over the bridge in three sep-arate parts.
TAO’s crew of Andy, Darren Wringand Nick Evans flew to Egypt to meetwith Peter and Beyonce’s advancesecurity consultant Alf Samuels.
Andy said: “A site visit to the stun-ning Port Ghalib Marina saw a VIPraised seating structure for 2,500extremely important people thatlooked like it would collapse in a badwind.”
To deal with this, the companystarted discussions with Beyonce’screw, the client The Al-Kharafi Groupand Peter – with three extra TAO crewflown in from the UK four days fromthe show.
Andy and his team had the task ofsolving problems with site designissues, structural safety and even hadto train the local Egyptian security
team that were to be deployed in thefront of stage pit, as they had neverworked in that position before.
The planning also involved liaisonwith local police to finalise securityand safety arrangements, whichincluded sniffer dogs, metal detectorsand road checks.
The resort was also hosting The EUConference of the Montreal Protocoland the second round of the UIM F2World & Continental PowerboatChampionships – with races takingplace only ten yards from the back-stage of the concert site resulting innoisy soundchecks.
With production in place includingtwo projection screens, one videowall, a six tonne lighting rig and 200steel props to support the newlydesigned VIP structure, the arena wascompleted.
Over 6,000 people arrived togetherwith 2,000 VIPs to see the aerial andstaged-based performance art pro-vided by Newsubstance, followed bya performance from Beyonce.
Red Sea challenge for TAO
Andy Cotton
Why Andy and his teamwill still try anything once
Advertiser’s Announcement
2 18 THE EVENT PRODUCTION SHOW
The relationship between events and spon-sors will be explored in a seminar at thisyear’s Event Production Show.The Brands on the Run session will look atsports and events sponsorship and howeven with budget constraints, brands canuse events to promote their products.The panel of experts includes Karen Earl,chairman of the European SponsorshipAssociation (ESA) and Peter Spencer, managing director of theGaymer Cider Company – which appears atevents including Lovebox, Reading andLeeds. Pictured: the Gaymers stage atLovebox
THIS year’s Event Production Showwill include a new area dedicated tosporting venues wanting to promotetheir services to organisers.
The Stadia Zone will incorporate afootball pitch featuring live sportsrelated entertainment and there hasbeen space allocated for up to eightfootball clubs, sports venues andracecourses to promote their facili-
ties to professional event organisers,plus space for associated exibitors.
Event manager Michelle Taytonsaid: “With the global credit crisis stillaffecting many businesses, thoseinvolved in the management andmarketing of sporting venues areaware that by utilising the venue onnon-match days for pop concerts,festivals and corporate events, not
only do they have a huge impact onturnover, they also broaden theappeal of the venue by attracting newaudiences.
“The Event Production Show ispacked with exhibitors who can pro-vide sports marketing professionalsand event organisers with inspira-tional ideas and products that havenever been seen before.”
Show dedicates area to sporting venues
THE EVENT PRODUCTION SHOW 19
John Probyn Michael Eavis
New name, new venue and afacelift for Event Production ShowORGANISERS are gearing up forthis year’s Event Production Show, which has had a facelift for2010.
The show has had a namechange, moved to a new venue andrevamped its speaker programme –in order to maximise exhibitor andvisitor numbers.
A major part of the show – whichnow takes place in the Grand Hallat London’s Olympia – is theAccess Sessions.
The seminars will be focusing on
the biggest issues affecting theindustry and predictions for thefuture.
Sessions include:
� Glastonbury guru Michael Eavis discussing the festival’sfirst 40 years and plans for 2010.
� Rugby Football Union tournament director Terry Burwell detailing the processbehind winning the 2015 RugbyWorld Cup and how the event caninject up to £1bn into the Britisheconomy.
� Live Nation’s John Probyn chairing a panel debate. Terry Burwell
‘The show has had aname change, movedto a new venue andrevamped its speakerprogramme’
2 20 THE EVENT PRODUCTION SHOW
World dance champions and stars of Britain’s Got Talent, Flawless will be one of the acts appearing at this year’s Event Production Show. The group appears courtesy ofShowbizworks.com who are arranging all the entertainment for Live at the Grand. Other acts appearing live during the show include classical pop group Blake.
23
TRACKING back six months itstarted with me getting maderedundant from my role with oneof the leading events delivers in theMiddle East.
I wasn't the only one – 16 of uswent in total – and I’m not allowedto talk about the ins and outs butI'm assured it was purely financialand not performance related, so Ifigured you roll with the punchesand you move on. In hindsight itwas the best thing that could havehappened to me
So this was me in July 09, a Britishevents guy in Qatar with no job, nohome, no visa and some decisionsto make. My thought process wentlike this – I love it here, the workhere is good, I've got a good groupof friends here, I can earn a goodliving and my life is now set here –not really that tough a decision tostay now was it?
With the decision made to stay, Ijust needed to find my next chal-
lenge and that challenge came justfour days later…
The Doha Tribeca Film Festival(DTFF) is a joint partnershipbetween the Tribeca Film Festivalin New York and the Qatar MuseumAuthority and has now been my lifefor a good chunk of the past sixmonths. I won't go into muchdetail but check out www.doha-tribecafilm.com and have a look atthe highlight videos to see some ofthe things we got up to over thefour days including the LED redcarpet and the biggest stage rigever seen in Qatar.
For me, I love the fact that qualitycounts in this industry and there isno greater recognition of qualitythan when different productionmanagers, most of whom havenever met or spoken before, bringin the same core group of suppliersbecause of the fact that qualityspeaks for itself.
And my experience of events in
Qatar is that the UK is usuallystrongly represented within thosecore suppliers, as was the case atDTFF. And this from a country thathas the resource to bring kit infrom any corner of the world that itwants.
The DTFF production manage-ment team of Sarah Whitmarsh andDaryl Payne (and the Tribeca teamfrom NYC) brought in a lot of theusual suspects I have seen on manyof the biggest events Qatar has seen– PRG on lights, CT on screens andESG on stages – all familiar facesjust different sites and differentprojects.
As I type this, Tribeca, like somany events when they arewrapped-up has become a distantmemory and it's onto my next gigas project manager on the QatarMarine Festival's carnival events.
Another biggie that will literallyclose off the road network in Doha,so that should be fun ...
During a six-month break from writing for The Main Event, Dan Schofield has experienced both the highs andlows of working in the events industry, as he explains in this month’s column ...
Why redundancy was best thingthat could have happened to Dan
Dan Schofield
2 24 NOEAWelcome back darlings. I do hope the Christmas festivities went well for you all. I know for some of you it would have been work all the way throughbut for some of us it was the best time to kick back, feet up and mourn the loss of both Terry Wogan and Paul O'Grady. On the SAME day! See whathappens when you retire – my my! I had a nice postbag, however, which kept me going for a week or so and it was lovely to roll in the family again tohelp with your burning issues and queries.
Calendar of events2010February 2-3 Event Production Show, London – NOEA Stand
February 3 Spotlight on Local Authorities (Event ProductionShow)
February 24 - 26 NOEA Convention/Tribute Celebration Evening – Derby Conference Centre
March 11 The Main Event Exhibition, Glasgow - NOEA Stand
April Exeter Conference (tbc)
April North West Wales Conference (tbc)
Other Conferences to include Teesside, Bath, Northern Ireland, Wales,Scotland, Channel Islands and Cornwall, (tbc) = all to be confirmed
Dear Auntie Noea,Why is it that everyone gets paid onsite and yet, the medical providerwho are the first in line for dealingwith an emergency which could havepossible implications on the organis-er, are often expected to be a volun-tary organisation?
Under all the health and safety leg-islation to ensure the well-being ofour wonderful festival goers, do eventorganisers need to call in the profes-sionals or can volunteers do the jobjust as well?
Sarah, welfare manager
My Dear SarahI'm not sure why this is so to be hon-est.
Maybe it is an historic provision,similar to Florence Nightingale andher band of nurses providing volun-tary care? The Red Cross and St Johnafter all have been doing this in bothwar and peace time for hundreds ofyears. Maybe it's that volunteers canonly be found to provide medicalcare and no-one volunteers for themore dirty mundane litter picking(although some festival organisersget these) or toilet cleaning? Or itcould just be the uniform.
My own experience is that thesevoluntary organisations are not everfree to the event organiser and youusually pay around half to two-thirdsof the cost of a professional outfit (fortheir admin, vehicle costs etc) buthave on site volunteers, trained firstaiders. I suppose it all comes down to'you pays your money…'
Hope the sticking plaster works,Auntie Noea
Dear Auntie NoeaI have been told that the stewards weemploy to re-direct traffic when theHigh Street is closed for our carnivalhave to be SIA registered. Is this aload of rubbish?
Steve of Dartford
Hello SteveDespite my best efforts, I have failedto get a definitive answer for youalthough my lovely niece, Amelie, has
been very helpful. She is the securityand stewarding queen and haspassed on the following advice;
Shutting of roads could either beseen as authorising access OR asredirection. Authorising access wouldbe licensable (SIA) whereas redirec-tion roles would not be.
Therefore, write your paperworkcarefully! Pressed on this issue, theSIA have no consistent stance andtwo SIA reps gave Amelie two differ-ent answers. Her own opinion is thata traffic management qualificationcould well be more applicable thanan SIA licence but that probablyopens up another can of worms ... Ifthere's anyone out there who canadd anything more to this grey area,please do drop me a line!
Good luck with the writing of thatpaperwork Steve.
Auntie NOEA
Dear Auntie NoeaI am a production manager with a bitof a dilemma. You see, when workingon site I usually have a radio to com-municate with everybody on site,with an earpiece for my left ear.
I also tend to use my mobile phonequite a lot in order to communicatewith all my suppliers, and with this Ihave another earpiece for my rightear. Now this has up now been some-thing of a problem as I only have thetwo ears, and it is often difficult tocommunicate face to face with peo-ple on site.
I’ve thought about an ear transplantto give me the aural advantage of athird ear, but this is yet to be avail-able on the NHS.
But now there is a further problem.Since last year’s Noise At Work regu-
lations, if the sound levels in an areaare above 85dBA, I need to be wear-ing ear protection.
Can you suggest where I should beshoving these ear plugs, as my auralorifices are already filled?
Also, since the communication inmy earpieces is quite loud, does thislegislation mean I also need to haveearplugs inserted before I put myearpieces in?
Dale – A (fashion conscious) production manager.
Dearest DaleYes, I can see this is all quite a dilem-ma. Firstly, I would suggest you'retaking on a lot on your own - consid-er getting a runner or PA to take onsome of the communication burdenbut in these times that's notalways viable.
So as for other options, Ihave conferred withcousin Ralph who isa hotshot oncommunica-tions andhe saysyou're
approachingit the wrongway round. Youdon't need to stickearplugs in anywhere andinstead the ear defence goesover your earpieces. Take a lookat the new super noise cancellingheadsets.
You can either plug in your 2way radio and/or your phone orhave your earpieces in your lugsunder the defenders. The head-set will only activate as fulldefenders if the ambient noisegoes above 85dBA so you canhear people near you andsome models even havesomething called Bluelips connectiv-ity or maybe thats Bluetooth. Ralphsays many specialist comms suppli-ers stock these and will help.Fashionable? Surely yes – doesn’tMadonna use these?
Happy Talking, Auntie Noea
Bulging post-bag for Auntie NOEA ...Don't forget to get yourquestions in – just [email protected] and it'llbe sent down the wire to me.
TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT 25
Conference looksat festival crimeTHE issue of crime at major festivalswill be tackled at a conference hostedby Festival Republic.
After a successful first conferencelast year, the follow up event will dis-cuss crime during the 2009 festivalseason and share tactics for events in2010.
Promoters of large scale events havebeen invited to attend, along withtheir security companies and policeintelligence.
Promoters invited to include repre-sentatives from Glastonbury, Leeds,Bestival, Isle of Wight andCreamfields.
The conference will be chaired bymanaging director of FestivalRepublic Melvin Benn and chief suptAndy Battle of West Yorkshire Police.
The morning session will be struc-tured around working groups dividedby agency – putting police forces,security companies and promoters inseparate groups to review crime dur-ing the 2009 season and whetherintelligence sharing worked for them,and how it might be improved in thefuture.
The afternoon session will includeshort presentations from a number ofspeakers.
Melvin said: “This follow-up confer-ence will be an opportunity for pro-moters, security agencies and policeforces to review our progress andtake the next steps to further develop
our intelligence sharing systems sowe can make greater efforts in 2010and beyond.
“Organised crime is a real concernfor the festival industry and it’s cru-cial that we keep the momentumgoing on these initiatives.”
The conference will take place onJanuary 25 at the Royal BerkshireConference Centre at the MadejskiStadium in Reading.
Melvin Benn
PSCo has recruited two new members of staff in order to support its network of UK officesand sister company in the UAE. Rental expert Karen Davis returns to the PSCo fold,bringing with her 12 years’ experience in the industry. She is joined by Alison Livemore aspart of the rental desk team. Rental director Mike Nield said: “This team expansion isdesigned to improve our client handling and operations systems, as well as helping us giveclients more comprehensive technical support for our portfolio, as we introduce new technologies.”
MEMBERS of NOEA general councilwere appointed at the annual generalmeeting.
President: Richard Limb, director ofleisure safety, Capita Symonds Ltd
Vice presidents: Philip Day, solicitor,Horsey Lightly Fynn; Jan Booth, manag-ing director, Sunbaba
Hon treasurer: Keith Allen, partner,Allen-Drake Management Limited
General Council: PJ Aldred, AldredAssociates LtdMichael Bell, safety practitioner,Bellensen AssociatesTom Clements, NOEA Scotland chair-man, managing director, Specialized
SecurityRobert Corp, special events manager,Cardiff CouncilAndy Grove, events officer, Basingstokeand Deane Borough CouncilSylvia McCann, events manager,Millennium Square, LeedsConor Moss, programme leader,University of Derby Craig Oldfield, consultantAlan Pope, partner, 1st ClassEntertainments Agency (EntertainmentAgents Group)Dean Parker, Wilde Ones (International)LtdTerry Waller, (Details to be announced)
General council appointed
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TicketingPerformance Ticket Printers LtdThe SmithyBrownlow HeathCongletonCW12 4TJT: 01260 [email protected]. ticketprinters.co.uk
Tungate GroupBrookhouse WayCheadleStaffordshireST10 1SRT: 01538 755755F: 01538 [email protected]
VenuesFabric LondonLevel 2 Greenhill House Cowcross Street LondonEC1M 6BT: 020 7549 [email protected]
Morris Holdings (UK) Limited 17B Mile Oak Industrial Estate, Maesbury Road OswestryShropshire SY10 8GAT: 01691 [email protected]
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