The summer season is in full swing, and for those of us in the production industry, this means music festivals, outdoor concerts, and other seasonal shows. I’ve been advancing a handful of these summer shows recently, and I’m being reminded that patience and understanding are crucial while everyone tries to keep up.
Summer festivals typically take a small to medium village to pull off, there are lots of people doing lots of things. Regardless of their role, one thing is universal for all who work for a festival. They are under a lot of pressure, dealing with the demands of a large number of people.
It’s important to remember during our busy season that many industry folks have an unusually heavy workload. Even if they did a great job of utilizing their downtime earlier in the year, their attention is now being divided in numerous ways, and you’re not their only concern at any given moment.
Lately, I've had multiple requests for things like production riders, from people who I’ve already sent this information to. I’ve been introduced via email multiple times to the same person. Human nature is to get frustrated; how can these people not remember what I’ve already sent them!? Or that they’ve already introduced me to this person, twice!? And why haven’t they sent me venue tech specs!? But it’s important to remember that these people might be working on multiple shows, each with multiple artists, and therefore dealing with multiple people who all demand their immediate attention. They might receive dozens of phone calls in a day, on top of meetings, and an email inbox that they can’t keep up with.
If you’re frustrated because you haven’t heard back from someone despite sending an email two days ago, leaving a voice mail yesterday, and a text today, remember that they have a lot going on. Maybe they were on a flight when you sent the email, in a meeting when you called, and on a call when you texted. And you’re one of maybe a dozen others that are trying to reach them today.
This time of year when everyone is so busy, its important to put a few things into practice. Of utmost importance is patience. Understand that just because they haven’t gotten back to you yet doesn’t mean that they won’t eventually, or that they’re ignoring you. They may very well just be overwhelmed, and need time to catch up.
The busy season also requires some understanding. Even though your needs and concerns are of utmost importance to you, others have a different agenda. You can’t expect them to drop everything and jump on your project when it’s convenient for you. For example, I recently sent an email mid-week, with a reply saying, “I’ll get to this early next week”. That response was all I need. It lets me know that this person is extremely busy or perhaps waiting for information from someone else, but my request for information has been received and will be served in due time.
Given the high demand for everyone's time and attention, its important we do our part to reduce the workload and promote efficiency when possible. For this, I suggest reaching out to advance earlier than you normally would. Allow extra time so you aren't so stressed about an immediate follow-up, and can circle back if you don’t receive a reply. Removing the demand for urgency will reduce your stress while taking the pressure off of others to get back to you in a hurry.
We’re all busy, and everyone is in a hurry. Just maybe not your hurry. Happy summer season!!!