An on-site event manager runs your staffing team on the day. They brief everyone before the doors open, put people where they are needed, cover breaks, talk to the venue and the client, and make the decisions nobody on the floor should have to make alone.
What they do, hour by hour
- Before doors: sign-in, uniforms, the briefing and a walk of the floor
- Opening: moving people to where the rush is
- Through the day: breaks, cover and changes from the client
- Close: stock, kit and a short report back
Big events need team leaders
On a large event one person cannot see everything. At the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival at ExCeL London the chain was one overall event manager, six event managers and fourteen team leaders, all on radios, each with their own patch of floor.
- 1overall event manager
- 6event managers
- 14team leaders
Running two sites
For OPPO at the UEFA Champions League Final our event managers ran the team across two sites: a stand by Tower Bridge for four days, then the OPPO Village at Wembley on final night, with accreditation and ID checked every day.
The event manager makes the call, so nobody on the floor has to.
One contact for you
The point of an event manager is that you deal with one person, not the whole team. When the plan changes, you tell them and the team knows.
Checklist
- One overall manager with authority to decide
- Team leaders for each area on bigger events
- Radios or a group chat agreed before doors
- A briefing before the doors open
- A short report back at the end of each day
Common questions
When do you need an on-site event manager?
Whenever the team is big enough that you cannot be everywhere, or the day is long enough that plans will change. Bigger teams on our jobs always come with a team leader or event manager.
How is management structured on a big event?
At the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival there was one overall event manager, six event managers and fourteen team leaders, all on radios, each with their own patch of floor.
Who does the client speak to?
One person. You deal with our event manager, not twenty members of staff.
Tell us about the day and we’ll plan the management around it.
