The day:
The festival had a bit of a rocky start - but we recovered it and the day was a success! At first, we met and began setting up the stage, along with the drums, bass amp, mics and PA. Unfortunately, this took longer than expected and we ended up having to slightly change our schedule, with Elusive Dip starting slightly later than we hoped. However, after changing the plan to have less breaks, we managed to get back on schedule quickly. After that, it was just a matter of sticking to the plan!
​
I had given Paul and Ruby their charity instructions for the day and we had set up CF bunting the stage, as well as two collection buckets near the stage.
​
As far as sound, I was given the chance to work with Megan, a fantastic sound tech, to learn about the job and to work on the PA for the stage.
​
Throughout the day, I followed the plan I had created, and it seemed to work well. Together with the Young Team, I fulfilled my role as sound tech and charity coordinator. Other than the slow start, the day went on without any real problems. We also got a good amount of people to come and see the event.
Photos by Andrew Benge
Positives:
-
Not many problems during the day.
-
Fulfilled both my roles.
-
Acts sounded good - good quality performance.
-
Learnt lots for future events - for example the difficulty of doing a charity event and sound tech tips.
-
Improved my leadership skills - such as confidence, resilience and organisation.
Negatives:
-
Started late - had to modify the schedule.
-
Because we didn't offer a service in exchange for charitable donations - we didn't raise a large amount.
What I learnt:
This project taught me how much work goes in to event planning and how to effectively formulate a plan, and lead others. I have made many useful industry contacts, and learnt lots of valuable information about the music industry. Overall, I believe I have grown my skillset hugely - on planning, leadership, music, as well as other things.​
​
If I could have done things differently, I would focus more on charity, and provide something in exchange for donations, such as baked goods - as this would have been much more successful for raising more. Also, I would give us more time to set up the stage, as I now know that it takes quite a long time.
​
I believe that I have also learned how to better work with others. My collaboration with the other members of the Young Team was fairly successful, as we could bond over a love of music, and get along - which made us operate more effectively as a team.
​
I have also learnt from feedback. I received helpful comments about my creative challenge, and this has helped me to improve my song writing skills, and this was the same for the leadership challenge. Megan also gave me constructive criticism that has helped me to learn more about sound engineering and better evaluate how I could improve my skills for the next event I am part of.
​
​
Overall, I believe the Young Team and I were successful in our challenge. We chose an appropriate event, devised plans and each had our own focus on what leadership skills to develop. On the day, each of us achieved our goals and I believe all of us have become better leaders and learnt a huge amount about the music/creative industries.
​
In conclusion, I am very thankful to have been part of Long Division Young Team, and I think I have developed many new skills as part of it.