No. Dead. Bodies.
It's how I like to measure the success of an event.
Seems pretty obvious, right?
Read on.
You've put together your 'A' team. Done months of pre-pro.
Held your production meetings and devised 12 contingency plans.
Show day arrives. It's flawless - not one miscue. Not one imperfect camera shot.
You've met all timelines, budgets and client expectations.
But guess what?
You still failed.
What??? How could you possibly give this event anything other than an A+?
(See title.)
Yep.
Dead bodies.
Everywhere.
I'm talking about your crew. Those people you brought in because you trust them with your life, and more importantly, your event... they're a bloody mess, and I mean that both literally and figuratively.
WHY?
They didn't get taken care of properly.
And as the producer, that is on you, my friend.
Leadership Rule #1 - Take Care Of Your People
For purposes of this topic, I'm talking about basic human needs.
FEED them.
This is one reason why the union is important... meal breaks.
And I'm not talking about pizza and a sorry excuse for a salad. The client is most likely catering for attendees. Your crew is not below decent nutrition.
Let them SLEEP.
Sometimes I think monetary penalties for short turn-arounds should be an industry standard.
Let the client know that the crew members who are rehearsing into the wee hours are the same people who will be working during their very important event... in just a few hours.
The crew should not become victims of the executive who didn't -- what's that word they always use? Ah, "engage!" -- until the last minute.
Take the executive (and entourage) to a conference room and get their content straight before you attempt to rehearse. I promise you, things will go much more smoothly.
TRAVEL has got to be on point. No excuses.
Most likely, your team won’t be sleeping in their own beds.
Before any of them step foot onto the show site, make sure that you have hotel confirmations for everyone and that all check-in/out dates are verified. After a long day of air travel, with children kicking the back of their seat on a cross-country flight and "that guy" sitting next to them having a wifi conference call at full volume, NO ONE wants to find out that their hotel room wasn’t booked.
You can file all of this under Managing Client .
Trust me, you have nothing to be afraid of.
The client gets it. They are a genuinely nice human being. They don't want to starve people of either nutrition or sleep. No one wants their production team to be homeless. But the client has bigger things to worry about, such as managing the aforementioned executive and entourage.
So, go ahead. Do your job. Take care of your team.
Your crew will thank you, respect you, and be more diligent.
Best of all, your client WILL notice the difference.
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