So you’ve got a great idea and are keen to get going but would like a sense of the road ahead of you?
To help guide you we asked experienced Project Manager Sarah Richardson – who has worked on cultural projects as diverse as Festival in Factory, Light Night Stoke-on-Trent and creative adventures for children with her company Filament – to share with Artsbank her 10 key stages of producing a creative event or project of all shapes and sizes.
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First things first: decide what it is that you want to deliver
Being clear from the start about the type of project you want to deliver will help you plan effectively and identify the resources, permissions and people you are going to need in order to plan it successfully.
Think about what format of event you want to deliver, where you want it to happen and, importantly, who it’s for. A dance workshop for young children requires very different planning and resources to a music festival for adults!
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Know why you want to make it happen
Think about ‘why’ you want to deliver this project.
What is it about this idea that you find exciting or think is important?
Is there a specific audience you are trying to reach or opportunities you are hoping to create or impact you want to make in your local area?
Being clear about the ‘why’ will help you talk to people about your event, whether that’s audiences, project partners or funders.
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Now, what do you need to deliver it?
Now that you know what type of project you want to deliver write a list of all the things you think you will need to plan and deliver it: a venue, artists or facilitators, marketing, equipment, insurance etc.
From this create a rough budget, referring to websites like ITC and Equity for rates of pay for artists. Don’t forget to add a contingency of 5-10% to your budget and always ask suppliers if they are VAT registered.
From this you will be able to work out whether or not you need to secure funding to deliver your project and this will have an impact on…
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Next, draw up your project timeline
If your project requires external funding, the time it takes funders to process applications needs to be factored into your project timeline. For example, Arts Council England’s Projects Grants have a turnaround time of six weeks for under £15k (check for the latest processing times here).
Draw up a timeline that includes enough time to:
- talk to people about your project and identify project partners, venues & staff. Be generous with time for this stage of the project, it always takes longer than you think and you’ll need to secure this information in order to write a strong funding application
- write your funding application, submit it and wait for the decision
- rewrite your funding application, resubmit it and wait for the decision again. Just in case…!
And always give enough time between receiving your funding decision and your project delivery date for people to prepare properly for delivering (or attending) the project. Doing it all with only a couple of weeks to prep can be stressful!
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Then, talk to people about your project – and don’t be afraid to ask for help
If this is a new type of project for you find someone who organises similar projects, whether locally or further afield, and see if you can arrange to have a chat with them.
Ask them about practicalities – are there any insurances or licences you need to get that you might not know about yet?
Also ask them who else you should be talking to. Is there a great caterer they can recommend or can they share a contact at a venue who might be able to help you?
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Your funding has come through, hoorah! Your project is going ahead, time to write a list
Writing a list of all the things you need to do in order to get your project up and running might sound boring but it will help you prioritise tasks and hit the deadlines in your timeline.
Lists also helps prevent important things from getting forgotten about – but only if you keep referring to them!
Rather than writing notes in various notebooks that never get looked at again try creating a to do list document on your computer. Add tasks or ideas to it during meetings so that everything is in one place. If you’re working in a team share the list with people via Dropbox or Google Drive so that you all know what’s been ticked off and what’s still to do.
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Now to sort Letters of Agreement
Even if your project is really small-scale or you’re mainly working with friends, issuing Letters of Agreement is a really good way of preventing confusion (and then awkward conversations) around fees, roles and expectations.
LOAs don’t have to be pages long or overly official they just need to detail the important information so that everyone knows where they stand and what’s expected of them. Things to include are:
- Outline of the role and responsibilities
- Contract dates, including any confirmed meetings or delivery dates
- Fee, and whether this is inclusive of expenses and VAT
- Payment schedule
- Contact details for both parties, you and the supplier or artist
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Schedule regular team meetings and don’t let them slip
Regular team meetings give you an opportunity to update people on progress or any changes but also give team members a chance to ask questions about anything they may be unsure of.
Meetings are a chance to check that everyone is ok and on track, to flag up any potential sticking points and put in any extra support that might be needed to get things where they need to be.
By getting dates in diaries early on (put them in people’s LOAs if you want) and sticking to them, you and your team will be well prepared and ready to hit the ground running when…
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The big day arrives!
Before things get going organise a team briefing to run through the plan for the event, check that everything is ready to go and everyone’s got what they need.
Think about how you will communicate as a team during the event. If you’re working across a large site setting up a What’s App group for the event team is a good way of quickly getting messages out to everyone.
Also, don’t forget to look after yourself. If you know it’s going to be a long day make sure you drink lots of water, have access to food and snacks and make time to sit down for five minutes every so often!
And of course, don’t forget to enjoy it! You’ve worked hard to get the project to this point so allow yourself a moment to soak up the atmosphere, take a look around and speak to people.
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You survived, your project was a success, now pass it on
Just as you spoke to people for advice and guidance when you were planning your event be open to passing on your learning about managing your project if someone asks.
Be generous with your knowledge and support others in their projects, whether that’s having a cup of tea and a chat with them or going along to their event.
Growing your network will help you with your future projects, because who knows what advice and information you might be on the look out for next!
Written by
Sarah Richardson
