Some of us may hate it, the weird ones may love it, but regardless of that it’s something that we all have to do on a fairly regular basis to keep our business running smoothly! Whether it is general wear and tear, transit damage or improper use by clients getting a bit too excited – sometimes equipment gets damaged and it needs to be fixed/maintained. Oh and don’t forget all of those technical problems with the PC or projector that needs to be resolved, the ‘amazing’ activity idea that you need the blacksmith on board for or even just finding the right storage to stop that fragile piece of equipment from breaking in the van.
This all falls within the ‘equipment Maintenance’ bracket. But why is it so important?In any business, keeping equipment in check should be one of your top priorities. In the events industry in particular, it’s compulsory, as we rely 100% on our kit performing as it should. If equipment is damaged on an event put back without being fixed, you can easily forget about it and you are then bound to encounter issues next time you set up that equipment. This can often lead to a major issues and sometimes may even mean you cannot run the activity and are forced to divert to your backup activity (rule number 1, always have a plan B)!
There is another very important reason for keeping all your equipment well maintained and looking in tiptop condition… The state of your equipment directly displays the state of your business! The way the field looks when all activities are setup and ready to go is effectively your company’s window display. You want people to look and get excited for what’s about to happen. If you have dusty, muddy, broken equipment with bits missing then clients will not have any faith in your ability to run an event and will not be able to relax and enjoy the day. First impressions are everything and we want repeat bookings, we don’t want clients taking their business elsewhere due to scruffy front of house.
Sometimes events can be long and often days last 18 hours or more! After a long day it’s very easy to forget to mention a minor technical issue you experienced, or a piece of kit that was damaged or missing. Its imperative to have a system in place, whereby if a piece of equipment is damaged or lost it will not be simply forgotten about until the next time it’s used, but repaired quickly and efficiently.
We want to deal with these issues immediately rather than leaving them until its too late! Here at Out The Office our Event Manager’s complete a Feedback Form after every event, which is submitted into the office. On this form, among other general feedback questions, is a section where any damaged kit is listed so it’s not overlooked. The first task for the following day is to review this feedback form and maintain any kit that is not 100%. This section also allows our crew to suggest any improvements to our equipment or the way we run our events, and is a great opportunity for all staff to voice their creative ideas and suggestions.