For Students
Two courses. Event management students, to understand the technical side of show production. Stage management students, to understand the corporate side of event production.
Event Management Students
An introduction to the technical side of corporate event production
When I've spoken to event management students on secondment to a production company, they tell me they learn more about production in that week than in their entire course. Event management courses teach you to plan, budget and manage — they rarely cover what happens in the room where the event is about to go live. The production side of events is a world of its own, inhabited by experienced freelancers who work across all types of event. As a newcomer, you'll be expected to have some understanding from day one.
You cannot successfully communicate between client, crew and showcaller without a basic understanding of the technical side of production. This course gives you that grounding — each technical department, how information becomes a working showbook, and how a show moves from arrival onsite to going live. There's a short video demonstration of how it sounds when a show is called.
When I started out, a course like this didn't exist. I hope this fills that need.
Who it's for: Event management students, and anyone interested in working in corporate event production.
Stage Management Students
Learn about the differences between showcalling for theatre and corporate events
When you work as a theatre DSM, you always start rehearsals at the beginning and end at the end. Corporate event rehearsals are always a jumble — dependent on the availability of presenters, and sometimes a presenter doesn't rehearse at all. You are the living, breathing running order for the showcrew, pulling a show together with the event producer and technical crew, always under time pressure. You don't get a second hit.
The good news is that the process of putting together cues is the same, so your theatre training equips you with skills that are absolutely transferable. What changes is your position in the room. In theatre, people are often instructive about how they want a cue sequence to run — the director, the lighting designer. In corporate events, you'll find yourself more at the centre of the decision-making, sometimes knowing more than the junior producer you're supporting. This course prepares you for that shift in authority, as well as the technical differences between the two worlds.
Who it's for: Year 2 and 3 stage management students, and people already working in theatre stage management without formal training.