Avoiding Event Mishaps: Checklists Are Critical to Manage Your Event

by PORT on Jul 15, 2022 8:00:00 AM

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Celebrities and performers of every type frequently make news for their demands at venues, both ahead of and during shows. These “riders” or checklists are a set of requests that the entertainer sets as criteria for their performance.

Typically filled by the hosting venue, these riders can include everything from room temperature to bottled water brands and specific meal ingredients. Among some of the odder demands are natural incense sticks, a lifesize cardboard cutout of the celebrity, and a bottle of Cristal champagne with bendy straws to drink it.

And while these demands can sometimes sound vain and petty, there is one legend from the music industry that illustrates the value of these checklists. In this case, the venue didn’t meet the requirements, the show was canceled, and the promoter had to cover those costs. As it turns out, this condition was critical, as it was related to a potentially major safety issue!

The brown M&M incident

During Van Halen’s 1982 tour, the band had a rider for David Lee Roth that required the venue to provide M&Ms, but with all of the brown ones removed. This demand generated the expected publicity, with Roth characterized as a typically demanding celebrity.

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But here’s why the demand wasn’t as crazy as it sounds.

Van Halen was the first band to take 850 PAR lamp lights around the country on tour. The band members were concerned that many of the older big city venues that were built in the 1950s and 1960s couldn’t accommodate the giant production the band was touring with. If the venue didn’t have enough load-bearing capacity or adequate power supplies, the crew’s safety could be in jeopardy.

Roth and the rest of the band knew if there was a brown M&M in the bowl on the catering table, it would be evidence that the stage manager and event production team had not read the rider completely or carefully and were careless about details. If there were any brown M&Ms in the bowl, the band undertook a line-by-line check of every item before they went on stage.

The importance of checklists and what to include

Checklists have proved valuable in a variety of fields, such as medicine and corporate business, as well as for event production. They help keep you organized and on task, keep you on schedule ahead of and during a show, track progress, ensure nothing slips through the cracks, and help your employees understand exactly what is expected of them.

Event production is a series of coordinated mini-projects, many of which are interlinked. All of the steps within these mini-productions, including everything from green room setup, event lighting, to AV equipment, must be executed precisely and in a specific order to ensure a successful event. Checklists are crucial when it comes to reducing errors and documenting accountability for post-mortems and reviews.

What goes on your checklist will be highly specific and must be tailored to your event, but here are some tasks to consider:

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Layout a timeline both for preparation and for the actual event
Designate someone to set up the green room
Ensure the stage is clean before the performer(s) take the stage
Designate someone to escort the act on and off the stage
Identify delivery times and locations
Create the stage layout
Find a space for a band’s gear
Meet with stagehands, backline techs, audio techs, and lighting techs to ensure everyone has enough space and tools to do their jobs
If the show has any pyrotechnics, ensure there are tanks on-site and that you have the proper permits and clearances
Provide scrims or banners if requested
Inventory the green room food items
Ensure the green room is at the proper temperature and other ambient requirements, such as lighting and candles, are fulfilled
Set up your mixer or soundboard
Determine which lighting you’ll need such as color-changing LED lights, fresnels, or floodlights
Ensure there are proper trash receptacles
Check microphones
Check green room non-food supplies, such as towels and soap
Ensure the stage is large enough to accommodate the equipment
Have contingency plans for emergencies or other unforeseen events.

After the event, be sure to undertake an evaluation to determine what worked well and what didn’t. This information will help inform your planning when it comes to future productions.

Most importantly, creating and following a detailed checklist will ensure you put on a safe, entertaining, organized, and all-around exceptional event!

PORT –

In business since 1985, we work with our clients to design custom plans using the best equipment for your facility. Port Lighting’s highly-skilled team also installs the equipment so you’ll have confidence that it is constructed correctly the first time. In addition to theatrical lighting, rigging, and curtains, our services include: Rafanelli+Events+Port+Lighting+Systems+Greater+Boston-1