Open Air Business February 2018

EVENTS
bodies like the Highways and
Police until either the license has
been applied for or they are called
to a Safety Advisory Group (SAG)
meeting by the authority. Our view
would be that early engagement
and liaison with these agencies
is vitally important and can help
in the planning of a safe and
successful event. They may well
identify weaknesses in your plan
but if these are communicated
to you at an early stage remedial
actions can be appropriately
managed and implemented.
Leaving these elements to the last
minute can simply make your life
harder.
Local councillors often have their
ear to the ground and can be your
positive spokespeople out in the
communities. They can ensure that
the facts are being communicated
rather than false rumour. Again,
they may be aware of issues that
have not been currently identified
but with good liaison may also
assist in solutions. A past example
for us was a promoter who simply
didn’t engage or empathise with
the community in which their event
was set. They didn’t engage in any
pre-planning liaison with anyone,
including the local authority. When
it came to licensing the event, they
were met with brick walls and a
list of objections of which many
could have been dealt with through
early engagement and face to face
liaison. Time was wasted, and
“WITH THE
EXPLOSION
IN SOCIAL
MEDIA AND
INTERNET
USAGE IT
PAYS TO BE
AWARE OF
THE BENEFITS
BUT ALSO
THE PITFALLS
IN THESE
MEDIUMS”
those barriers lasted a long time as
the local agencies felt they and the
community weren’t being listened
to.
SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE
INTERNET
With the explosion in social media
and internet usage it pays to be
aware of the benefits but also the
pitfalls in these mediums. They
are a great way to showcase the
event or project, to explain the
benefits in greater detail and
to act as a marketing platform.
However, they can also be used
equally effectively by others to
degrade your event or make
complaints, concerns or objections
they may have very public. Think
about using elements of social
media to ensure that your event is
understood and that the plans are
clear and take account of the local
area and stakeholders.
Your own website may well be
a first port of call for interested
parties trying to find out more
information about your project –
so perhaps include a page on the
website providing information
for local residents or how local
businesses could benefit from
working alongside you.
GETTING IT WRONG
What’s the worst that can happen
if you forego local liaison or don’t
ensure that local stakeholders, the
council or others have the facts? In
some cases, nothing, but in others
you may find that your licensing
process is a rocky road or that
there is significant negative press
about your event.
The work that you put into local
liaison may not always pay off,
but if you have tried your best at
ensuring that the local community
and stakeholders in your project
are kept well informed and
engaged, then at the very least you
cannot be accused of hiding the
facts or being difficult in answering
queries or concerns.
From our experience, those extra
phone calls and meetings bring
big dividends. When we work with
clients to develop ideas some of
our first thoughts are how we can
communicate these plans to the
wider community and how best to
ensure that our local liaison is the
best it can be.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Radford runs JR Event Services and has worked in the event industry for over 20 years. He provides
event management and event safety consultancy services for a broad spectrum of events from single day
and city centre cultural events to week long music and dance festivals. Visit www.jreventservices.co.uk or
call 01275 406760 for an informal chat.
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