Event Production

“Island Stomp 2”, 2017

Anybody can put on a small event in a small space without much difficulty. It’s when you scale things up that the real challenge begins. The logistics of a medium-to-large-scale event is like a huge puzzle with hundreds of moving parts that all must fit together perfectly. While the show only lasted six hours one day in late July, the planning and work began about four months before that.

The concept for this event was to try an recreate a fantasy tropical beach party experience in the center of the city with cold tropical drinks and live music, but Seattle has noise ordinances which prohibit outdoor amplified music after 10pm and the venues with an outdoor liquor license couldn’t handle the size crowd we intended to bring. After dozens of hours of research, I found that if I wrote up and presented plan to the Seattle City Special Events Committee, and filed paperwork with each department, they could grant me a special event permit allowing specific exceptions to the regular regulations. Most people would have stopped there. This was a committee consisting of heads of over 20 government agencies including the Fire Marshall, Liquor Inspector, police chief, department of health, and more, and they would need to be convinced that not only was my event going to follow every single regulation of each department but also that it would be a value to the city and worth making an exception for.

The first thing I did was learn as much as i could about all the the rules and regulations I would need to follow, reading guides, sections of the cities legal code, and meeting with officials to find the answers I needed. I learned AutoCAD-2D and the appropriate schematic standards to meet fire code, apply for occupancy permits, and show my compliance with liquor regulations. I researched health code so our food and beverage stands were up to the standards for a commercial kitchen. I researched professional noise meters and level recording software for the noise inspector. And (in addition to too many other things to mention) I drew up plans and contacted all the businesses and residences, in person and by e-mail, to ask their approval for our temporary noise variance.

After countless hours of research, many phone calls, dozens of forms, one effective 10 minute committee presentation, and about $1,000 worth of permit fees, Mixed-up Events had become one of the only mid-sized production companies to get a permit for a late night outdoor stage in the middle of the city. From the response to the show, it was all worth it. Ticket sales exploded after the first guest came in and shared pictures of our event to social media. In the end, we ended up outselling our previous record attendance by an additional 40%!

The permitting wasn’t the part of the logistics that was complicated. We still had hundreds of feet of fencing, a dozen portable toilets, a merchandise/concessions booth, a smoothie stand, a bar, an international headliner to fly in from England, twenty other artists, two stages of sound equipment, lasers, dozens of contractors, 30+ volunteers, staffing, security, medical, art design, venue contract negotiations, social media advertising, a physical advertising campaign, ticketing, and a literal truck full of other equipment that all had specific pickup and return instructions, but the special events permit is the part of that show that I am the most proud off.

By working with the city, and by leaving such a positive impression on the city officials with our professionalism, we differentiated ourselves from the other companies in the market and opened the ability to do great things in the future. The next time if we ask to do an outdoor stage, or even shut down a city block for a festival, I believe they will remember the small event company that did things the right way and earned their respect.