The Gathering 98/99
Open-air dance festival to celebrate New Year.
Vital statistics: 48 hours, 1,000 crew, 8,000 Gatherers
Working dates: June 1998 - January 1999
Event dates: 31 December 1998 - 2 January 1999
My roles included:
- Co-director
- Publicist
- Website designer and developer
Following the resignation of three of the four original directors, my role was unexpectedly increased, and I ended up with a 35% share in The Gathering Company, working with two other directors.
As well as the organising role, I also took on the job left by another former director - that of publicity and promotion.
During the party itself I was G2 - second in command - and in charge of the party when G1 was resting.
I completed my web-design contract position and moved down to Nelson for 6 months to organise The Gathering. It was an incredibly complex and never-ending job, but I had SO much fun doing it.....
My responsibilities included:
- Liaison with the other two directors to ensure that every job was completed prior to the event
- Planning and logistics of all kinds
- Dealing with endless general enquiries
- Resource Consent application and development of our ongoing relationship with The Gathering's neighbours on Takaka Hill
- Fire permit application and road management plan
- Liaison with local police and local authorities and communities
- Liaison with and organisation of onsite safety crews (ambulance, Red Cross, fire, Mental Health & Welfare team, 2 doctors), and onsite security team
- Liaison with the various Gathering crews and their co-ordinators - including tech crew, lighting, sound and visuals crews, and the art crew
- Overseeing the work of The Gathering co-ordinators - variously in charge of performers, DJs, VJs, live acts, artists, zones, stalls and market, contracts, ticketing, recycling, and the onsite office
- Development of the concept of The Gathering CD with Kog Transmissions, liaison with live acts, overseeing the creation of the TV ad using documentary footage - more info
- All publicity and promotion leading up to and after the event, including contacts, planning and timelines, creating our media info pack, utilisation of the documentary as a promotional tool and becoming the "public face" of The Gathering
- Writing content for and overseeing production of all our promotional material - including the ticket, stickers, poster, CD and Gathering info booklet - following a consistent theme which was reflected in my redesign of the website
- Maintenance and development of The Gathering website - more info
- Development of our Health & Safety and OSH guidelines
- Development of our pass system and management of our crew list of over 1,000
- G2 onsite - meaning that I was second-in-command during the party, and took on the role of G1 when Murray (G1) was resting.
The Gathering 98/99 was the most organised of the four. We solved our trickiest logistical problem that year - we got the traffic queues down to an absolute minimum. Personally I was disappointed with the numbers, and felt responsible for the fact that my publicity had not encouraged an increase from the previous year, but I learned a great deal more about promotion - which I was able to put into practice for G2000.
It was a very satisfying Gathering for me as I dealt well with the severe stress and high levels of responsibility. I smiled the whole way through, and had an excellent time! I learned that I get very calm during a crisis, which enables me to get the job done in a logical, practical way. The planning we shared in the runup to the event showed me that I'm also good at thinking through the "what if?" scenario - and making preparations for every eventuality.
The Gathering 98/99 won Most Unique Event in the South Island at the New Zealand Event Management & Event Marketing Conference 1999 - the first time a dance event had been nominated for any category at this conference. It was also nominated Best Live Event at the b.net New Zealand Music Awards 1999.
