At Alpha Crew, we are more than familiar with the ins and outs of the events industry. In the nine years since Alph Crew began, we’ve worked countless festivals, concerts, conferences, and more and we’ve witnessed many successes as well as some less-than-smooth operations.
We know that event planning is extremely high pressure for producers and our aim is to be as supportive as possible and alleviate some of that stress. The lessons we’ve learned as event crew have been invaluable and we try to instil a culture of continuous improvement amongst our team. It’s those important lessons that have led us to develop these six processes to help streamline event production for our clients.
1. Get A Head Start
We know that event planning can be stressful, and things can often get changed or delayed up to the very last minute. In order to help counteract this, at Alpha Crew we make a conscious effort to always arrive 10-15 minutes ahead of our scheduled time. This is so we are raring and ready to go as soon as our client gives us the word, and so that we can help prepare for any last-minute changes or adjustments.
2. Timelines and Itineraries
A requirement we ask of all of our clients is that a detailed briefing document is shared with us in time ahead of the event. This information usually includes how many days the build will take and how many stages there will be to the job. This is so we can prepare as best as possible ahead of time so when it comes down to the physical action, everyone knows what needs to be done where, when and by who. We always ask clients to share as much information as it allows us to be more efficient on-site.
3. Good Communication
Having strong lines of communication with all involved parties is an essential part of event management. We provide all our crew members with walkie-talkies on all preferred supplier jobs so we can keep in contact throughout the day. Regular communication allows us to keep on track of any problems or changes and enables us to resolve them quickly and efficiently.
4. Assign Responsibilities
Task delegation is important so that every job gets done by the best person for it, and so no one has too much on their plate. At every job, our crews have a senior crew chief who is in charge of the team that will oversee all the work and specific tasks for that job. Before we start, the crew will have a ‘toolbox talk’ which outlines the deadlines for each individual task. By having a clear structure in terms of staff and responsibilities, jobs are made easier, more efficient and a pleasure to work on.
5. Be Prepared for Anything
We want to make sure that our clients know that we will be prepared for anything on every job we take. Any change or problem we can work around easily and give our clients peace of mind knowing their tasks are in the best hands. One way we ensure this is by providing our crews with our very own Alpha Crew toolkits with state-of-the-art tools and equipment. These are checked before every job so the team know they’ve got everything they need and are able to face every challenge fully prepared.
6. COVID Safety
A key Alpha Crew process we have in place as a result of the last two years, is COVID safety and awareness. We have fully trained COVID supervisors as part of our team to help us monitor our work and staff to make sure everyone and everything is COVID safe and following the correct procedures and guidelines. By making sure all the necessary measures are in place, jobs run smoother and safer.
