Spare a thought for the promoter. That’s the gist of my article this month. The reason I’m moved to write about this subject is that a lot of my work at the moment is promotion.
I’m running a street-theatre festival in Walton-on-the-Naze, every Saturday this August starting around midday, if it’s nice and sunny, and you want to see something very different – come on down!
I know Walton is outside Panic’s area, but that’s only a very brief plug.
I don’t mean spare a thought for the promoter because of the bad karma his nefarious advertising and, well, promotional activities will undoubtedly give rise to. I mean spare a thought for everything else he has to do, without which – there would be no event.
First, for people running arts events, several months of filling in forms applying for grants.
Then the grants come through! Fantastic! And if the promoter is also a performer, that means he can perform for money – marvellous! And he can phone round all the people he knows who he thinks are really good, and give them a paid booking. Great!
And then the other stuff starts. If it’s not an event in a pub or club etc, and it’s intended for the general public, there’s a LOT of other stuff.
CRBs, public liability insurance, CVs, and risk assessments required for every performer.
A risk assessment, EG for a poet? Bizarre. A CRB for a rock singer, or rap artist? Doubly so.
Then there’s the worries about where the toilets are, how many pregnant women are in the audience, how many white rabbits will pop up from holes in the ground and invite audience members into parallel realities, and so on.
If you’re a performer and you’re asked for this documentation, please remember, the promoter doesn’t want to be doing this. They would rather be getting on with the fun of organising the event, maybe even thinking of creative ways of ‘promoting’ it.
They are asking for this documentation because it’s being asked for by the licensing and/or funding authorities. What are they supposed to do, write your CV for you? Hope their insurance covers you? Guess what risks are involved in what you do, and do your risk assessment themselves? Well often – yes, that’s exactly what happens.
Also remember, performers who don’t have their ‘papers’ are not full-time professionals, simple as.
Now If you’re merely attending an event, you can bask in the rosy glow resulting from the fact that all this care is being lavished on protecting your interests. Mmmm, perhaps not.
Final plug: the SnapStory event is on 25th September, the risk assessment will be impeccable.
To enter the competition (closing date 16th August) please see www.myspace.com/snapstory
Martin Reed
