Its the start of the week and currently I am writing this blog in Napier. It has been a long weekend so I was able to book cheap flights on the Sunday and come down for a few days. Shortly I have a skype with the company that did the hologram for Tupac at Coachella. My day is often full of this kind of general hustle. Just potential contacts about some things that could add to the festival experience. Be it putting in zipline's at R&V, the use of Virtual Reality in our marketing, or a meeting at AUT about using their interns later in the year. Try and flesh out a few leads all the time and then see what may eventuate.
Shortly I will get back to my daily role or day job which is booking the bands for R&V. It seems my busiest time of the year for me is April - August. I'm in regular contact with our Australian festival partners as we all need to work together to liase our line ups. I normally get a call the second week of January to start putting in some offers. It is generally to early for us as we are still wrapping up but its good to start thinking already about who could perform. Although there is a little bit of chat in February and March it seems to be more April when things kick off. I was able to have a bit of time in the US over this down period both for work and play, attending SXSW in Austin, a friends wedding in Utah and a bit of downtime in LA pre Coachella.
It felt like the week post Coachella in mid April that the booking season had begun as emails and phone calls bounced around about potential acts to tour over the new years period. This continues into May as online research is done into what acts work well, who is playing where and when, and offers are constructed to fit tour date requirements. These detailed offers include the staging times, financial fee, travel and accom details, backline, press requirements etc.
June is often a holding pattern for the program role. Lots of our offers are out there, in fact if they all come in we will be over budget. Given we deal with lots of UK agents we are often waiting for answers as the summer festival season begins. The comms normally go quiet mid to late June around Glastonbury or Ibiza opening when it seems all the industry - agents, artists, managers - meet up for a few pints of Red Stripe in a muddy field somewhere and probably make some decisions about the rest of the year. Sure enough the emails soon start rolling in again - wanting more money, dates, pitching more acts and trying to close deals.
This routine of push and pull and debating negotiating keeps up until August when we launch. Often we are waiting until the last minute to sign off the deals. This is frustrating for the marketing team who have different versions of the poster and press release ready to go up until the night before we launch. Some agents are known to drag things right out until launch, then request more money at the end of the process. I'm sure they have a calendar on the wall of launch dates and push us right to the limit.
Given I'm in the Hawkes Bay I don't have any catch up meetings today. But generally I'm trying to fit in at least one or two coffee catch ups a day. It is an important part of my job getting out and about. This is generally sponsor meetings, musicians, media, friends or even foes. These catch ups can be invaluable to for getting feedback or industry advice. And just being seen and keeping your event relevant. We are trying to run the biggest party in NZ so need to be visible. I highly recommend networking and having contact with as many different people both professionally and socially as possible.
Tomorrow in Napier though I am meeting up with an event manager that helps us with our side event 'Road to Rhythm' side show. We are looking at a new venue for the 28th of Dec event. I will also give a presentation to the Eastern Institute of Technology to the young music students. It is great to be able to give back to the region and try and inspire a new generation of music professionals.
Then back to Auckland tomorrow and continue the hustle! 14 years and counting so we must be doing something right!
