Staging - basic elements of events

EPMS

Staging

The staging of an event involves bringing together all the event elements around a theme. It is where the 'action' takes place at an event - where the audience looks. There is a far more detailed explanation of this in the text Festival and Special Event Management (J. Wiley 1999). Below are the visuals from my Staging lecture.

Overview of lecture

Staging is the heart of event management- it is basically the 'show'. All other aspects of event management surround it

The elements of staging revolve around a theme. It could be Children's Circus, the Blues tent or a corporate dinner party theme. However the theme has to work within constraints - available resources, what the client expects....

The efficient management of events is dependent on deciding what is most important in the given time span- i.e. priority. Different types of events place different emphasis on the staging elements

The staging is all about the guest/audience experience of the show- whether the 'show' is a sports competition, fun run or performance

The stage in events is where the show happens - in sport this is called the field of play

An event manager doesn't need to know all about lights - but it is imperative that the manager at least knows the specialist terms used.

As above. It is rare for an event not to have a sound system of some kind. It is vital to the success of the event and hence the event manager needs to have some working knowledge of it.

Sound system layout can be as important to the guest's experience as the quality of the equipment

Each element of staging has a timeline for set up. These need to be collated so that there is no interference. This slide illustrates the flow chart for sound set up. In other words hiring a sound system entails more than just the setup of the equipment.

Modern events use more and more sophisticated equipment - this multiplies both the problems and amount of knowledge needed to run them. Often it is better to hire an AV company.

These issues become very important in corporate and private functions.

As the main part of the event will often be an artist - sporting or otherwise - all this information is vital to success.

This is an example of a performer spec sheet. It is a necessary part of the event documents

These are the documents used to organise and control the staging.

Note how they are made up of schedules, site maps, task and responsibility sheets. This is an example of the event project managment process being used within the event.

Return to EPMS Schema

	Overview of lecture
	Staging is the heart of event management- it is basically the 'show'. All other aspects of event management surround it
	The elements of staging revolve around a theme. It could be Children's Circus, the Blues tent or a corporate dinner party theme. However the theme has to work within constraints - available resources, what the client expects....
	The efficient management of events is dependent on deciding what is most important in the given time span- i.e. priority. Different types of events place different emphasis on the staging elements
	The staging is all about the guest/audience experience of the show- whether the 'show' is a sports competition, fun run or performance
	The stage in events is where the show happens - in sport this is called the field of play
	An event manager doesn't need to know all about lights - but it is imperative that the manager at least knows the specialist terms used.
	As above. It is rare for an event not to have a sound system of some kind. It is vital to the success of the event and hence the event manager needs to have some working knowledge of it.
	Sound system layout can be as important to the guest's experience as the quality of the equipment
	Each element of staging has a timeline for set up. These need to be collated so that there is no interference. This slide illustrates the flow chart for sound set up. In other words hiring a sound system entails more than just the setup of the equipment.
	Modern events use more and more sophisticated equipment - this multiplies both the problems and amount of knowledge needed to run them. Often it is better to hire an AV company.
	These issues become very important in corporate and private functions.
	As the main part of the event will often be an artist - sporting or otherwise - all this information is vital to success.
	This is an example of a performer spec sheet. It is a necessary part of the event documents
	These are the documents used to organise and control the staging. Note how they are made up of schedules, site maps, task and responsibility sheets. This is an example of the event project managment process being used within the event.