Downtime Tasks for Organisers when the Summer Music Festival Season ends.

After a busy summer music festival season many organising staff take time off to recuperate but there are still key tasks that need to be completed post event. The size of the event and number of staff employed will drive the tasks that need to be completed along with their priorities. What are the typical tasks undertaken by music festival organisers post event?

Most music festival organisers prefer a process of continual improvement for their events and the tasks performed in the downtime period post event are an essential part of this. A thorough assessment of logistics and other multiple factors needs to be conducted to identify areas for improvement and the actions required to achieve that for next year. How can these tasks be broken down into a logical steps for organisers? 

Data. 
The collection of data is essential to gaining an understanding every aspect of the event with key gathering from festival-goers, vendors, sponsors and staff. For wider audiences this data can be collected using formal surveys and interviews immediately after the event. In addition, collecting published media coverage and social media comments can add additional feedback into the mix. All data should be analysed in a scientific manner in order to get an accurate picture of how the event went. This analysis can help identify what the organisers did well and areas for improvement. 

Budget Management. 
It is vital that organisers understand how the festival performed financially and this requires a comprehensive financial audit. Those responsible for managing the finances should ensure that post event all suppliers have been correctly paid and that any invoices to vendors and sponsors have also been paid. A full financial review will enable analysis of expenses and revenue compared to forecasts. This helps identify areas of overspend and missed sales targets. The key to a review is the explanations accompanying any discrepancies and this financial data analysis can help build more accurate forecasts for future events. 

Vendor and Sponsor Relationships. 
Those responsible for managing the vendor and sponsor relationships should continue to maintain communication channels. These vital revenue generating profit centres need to be treated as clients which need nurturing rather than being treated as simple business transactions. The relationship building will continue through to next year’s festival where there will be opportunities to upsell packages and build stronger relationships. 

Marketing Activity. 
Post event marketing activity should include content distribution on social media channels of the festival that just happened. This content will be consumed by existing festival-goers and potential ticket buyers for future events. If budgets allow it is not unusual for the festival organisers to release an aftermovie which always prove popular. In addition, the gathering and analysis of data on all marketing activity leading up to the live event dates allows organisers to see which activities produced the best results for generating ticket sales and engagement. These activities can be increased for the next year's festival to gain an improved return on adverting investment. 

Staff and Volunteers. 
Getting feedback from staff and volunteers who worked at the festival is always a great way to identify aspects of the event that can be improved. Sometimes organising managers can be too distant from aspects they have arranged so asking those directly involved is a way to get grassroots feedback on the day-to-day operations. This feedback can help identify areas for improvement which may save costs and make operations more efficient for the future. 

For festival organisers planning their next events using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event logistics. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, guestlists, ticketing, cashless payments and contactless ordering.

Image by Tumisu via Pixabay

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