Questions for organizers

The "i don't have time to read it all" version

"What do people need at the event in order to have the best possible time and how can I help them to meet their needs?" (thanks to Sonja Zivanovic for putting it together into one sentence!)

The long version

Why compile a list of questions?

Events targeting traveling dancers are exploding and thus also diversifying, both in formats and in quality. Disappointment among dancers should be avoided: they might never return to an event and also share their disappointment with their friends, making it hard for beginner organizers to get it right. On the other hand, events are a financial risk, especially for beginning organizers.

The author of the Marathon Organizer Handbook would like to offer the following catalogue of questions to future organizers as a guide to design their own events:

Beware: this is a list of questions without answers.

Every event will need to find its own set of answers. Often events of a certain category (e.g. Marathon, Encuentro) will have similar answers, but still there is enough room for diversity and to help individual organizers express their unique idea of an event.

As an organizer myself, I believe these questions will help you to make a better event. Try to find answers to all of them – and also to talk with others about your answers. The list are grouped by areas, and might also be redundant.

Please let me know if I have missed important topics.

Questions

General Advice

• Have a plan. Better: have a plan A and a plan B for everything that is important/critical – especially when it comes to financials, security, health and safety. But also when it comes to people you rely on, like team members, helpers, DJs, caterers, ...

Hard facts

• The venue (WHERE)
  • How big is your space? e.g. dance floor, areas around the dance floor, bar/food area, bathrooms, chillout areas, wardrobe
  • Get or make a layout plan of the whole venue.
• How many people will be there? (HOW MUCH/HOW MANY)
  • What is the minimum you need, financially?
  • What is the maximum you can accept? (legally, but also for a good onda)
• Dates (WHEN)
  • When is the event?
  • When will registration start?
• Do you have a “business plan” (HOW MUCH/HOW MANY)
  • The calculation includes all things you need to pay for, and all sources of money. You will not have exact numbers when you start, but you must have guesstimates to get going. This will be a puzzle that gets solved when you start to have answers for the questions of this list. Basically: whatever you do, there is usually money or time involved. Write it down.
• Core Team (WHO)
  • Who is responsible?
  • Who makes decisions? How are decisions made?
• What is the agenda of the event?
  • Start / End
  • Pre-Party / After-Party
  • Setup and Teardown

Venue

See also the main article about venue.

• Do you have a floor plan? Get one, or make one.
• Do you have photos of the venue and surroundings? This will be useful when planning, but also when communicating with your team or participants.
• What areas are accessible and usable by you? What will you use them for?
• What is the size of your dance floor?
• What is the quality of the floor?
  • Do you need to clean the floor? prepare it? (powder, wax, cleaning, wiping)
  • Do you need to lay down floor? What kind? Where to get it? Who does it?
• Where will people sit? relax? eat? drink? change? (Think in zones, from quietest to the dance floor)
• Where do you think most people will be asking others to dance? (a.k.a. as the ask-for-dance-zone).
  • Will you rely on mirada-cabaceo only?
  • Is there clear line of sight for cabeceo?
  • Is there enough light for that?
• How will people enter the floor? Are there bottlenecks?
• Will there be food and drinks? Where?
• Where are power outlets? fuses? Spares? bulbs? Extensions?
• Where are the toilets? How many people can use them?
• What about the neighbours?
• What about air conditioning/heating/windows? Can you get fresh air inside?
• What if it rains/snows outside? What if people come inside wet/dirty?
• Where do people smoke?
• Do you need a security check-in?

Services

• Will you offer food?
  • Brunch?
  • Dinner?
  • Snacks?
• Will you offer drinks?
  • Non-Alcoholic
  • Hot/cold
  • Alcoholic?
  • Bar?
• Will you do that yourself, or do you have helpers or catering?
• How many helpers do you need?
• How do you manage those people?
• Will you offer other services?
  • massage
  • shops / sellers
  • culinary tours
  • touristic tours
  • classes / workshops
  • demos / ...

Food and Drinks

• Will you or someone else provide food&drinks at the venue?
• What will be included, and what will be for purchase?
• Payment options: cash at time of consumption, or tickets at the entrance, or electronic bracelet / other ?
• What will be prices?
• What will be the selection of drinks? Alcohol/coffee/…
• Will you have food options for vegans, vegetarians or those with intolerances, like lactose, gluten?
• Do you know who of your guests requires special meals?
• Do you know how much food you will need?
• Do you know when food will be served? Hoy many food lines ?
• What kind of drinks will be available at the bar?
• Do you need a license
  • to sell food and drinks?
  • to cook and sell food?
• Do you have the needed equipment?
  • Is everything you need available?
  • Can you rent things? buy things?
• Do you know how to dispose of trash?
• Can you separate types of trash and present a recycling concept ?
• Do you know about the official hygiene rules in your country/city (food handling, cleaning frequency etc) ?

Guests

• How many people do you want to have?
  • minimum?
  • maximum?
• What is the quota for leaders/followers you want?
  • Recommended: 105 leaders / 100 followers. Don't count both-role-dancers into the quota.
• What registration mode will you use? e.g. Will you do first-come-first-serve?
  • Do you have quotas for people
    • from the local scene?
    • from the region?
    • from other countries?
• Do you have a “level” that people must have at least? How do you know which level applicants have?
• How will you manage the whole registration process?
  • What will you do with the unavoidable waiting list?
  • Who will manage the process?
• Communication
  • When will emails be sent?
  • What will be in those emails?
  • Who writes these emails? When?
• Payment
  • Who and how will you do payment processing?
  • Will there be a refund policy?

Marketing

• Do you have a marketing plan?
  • How to communicate
    • Website
    • Emails
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Flyers
  • Advertisement Portals
• When will you start to announce the event?
• When will registration be?
• How much information will you send out, and when?
• Who will do marketing?
• Do you have a facebook page? event? group?
• Do you have a plan and understanding how fb-page/fb-event/fb-group will be used, and where the difference is?

Money and Legal

• Do you have an idea about the money involved?
• Do you have a budget/calculation?
• Do you know which is the legal organization that you are running the event as?
• Do you need any insurance? liability?
• Do you have a bank account for payments?
  • Do you want to use paypal or cash transactions?
• Do you know about tax regulations?
• Do you know about music rights organizations (like German GEMA)
• Do you have contracts for the most important parts?
• Do you have a data protection system in place?
• Do your web sites have all legally required texts? GDPR, ...

DJs :

• Who are your DJs ?
• In what order will they be playing ?
• How will the DJs be traveling ?
• Who pays travel costs incoming and/or outgoing ?
• How and when will DJs be paid ?
• Where are they hosted ?
• Who makes the arrangements ?
• How big/solid a table they need (Vinyl DJs) ?
• What connections do they need ? Cinch, XLR?
• Microphone ?
• Beamer for displaying music info ?

Technical equipment :

• Sound and lighting
  • what do you need ?
  • where will you get it ?
  • who will set it up and check it ?
  • who is doing the logistics/transport (heavy stuff) ?
• Additional stuff: electrical extensions, cable rolls, gaffer tape, spare parts (bulbs, plugs)
• Sound: sound level regulations and limits in your country ?
• Technician contact in case of problems ?

Team

• Core team
  • What are the main categories of responsibility or "departments" ?
    • (For example "1 Finance", " 2 Tech and logistics", "3 registration/marketing", "4 contracts and official/management", "5 guests comfort and quality/decoration/cleaning", "6 helpers", "7 food and drinks", "8 DJs" )
  • Who is your team?
  • Who makes decisions?
• Helpers
  • Who is the helper manager ? (schedules, replacements)?)
  • How will you select helpers?
  • How many do you need?
  • What are you offering to helpers?
  • Do you have some professional service people?
    • e.g. working the bar? cleaning? tech ? transportation?

Accommodations

• Do you offer a dormitory?
• Do you have a deal with a hotel?
• Are you in a place, where people can choose from many available options?
• Are you in a time/place where hotel costs are very expensive due to a trade fair?
• Where will team and Djs and helpers sleep?
  • How to get them there?

Transportation, parking, travel

• Do you need to check with local authorities for parking spaces for guests?
  • Are there charging options for e-vehicles ?
  • Do you need to set up a shuttle bus to the main parking space ?
• How easy is the venue to reach by public transportation ?
  • Can you get a deal with the transportation system/authorities?
  • When is the last bus/train (display timetables) ?
• Do you want to set up a CO2-compensation plan for your guests?

Security

• Do you have a security concept ?
  • Is there a clear decision path and criteria for each of the various types of emergencies ?
  • What are the phone numbers for the various emergencies ?
  • Are these numbers known and available to the staff ?
• Who is in charge of the decision to stop the event and evacuate the venue ?
  • Who is his/her replacement

Cleaning

• Who is checking, and how often ?
  • WC and bathroom / showers ?
  • Kitchen and/or food preparation places ?
  • Glasses, mugs, drinks place ?
  • Entrance, stairs, halls, access, outside ?
  • Floor and main venue, tables ?