An Arena-Sized Event

Earlier I wrote about the challenges faced when planning an event at a remote outdoor location (see my blog “Outstanding In A Field“). We had to provide our own… everything; water, toilets, food, shade, equipment, stage, electricity, transportation, you name it. I expected to have to do this when attempting to hold an event in a tulip field in the off season. I recently performed a site visit at an arena in the planning process of a large event and discovered that planning an event in an arena has many similarities to planning one in a field.

An arena, at least the one I toured, is basically a cement, horseshoe-shaped shell of a building. Yes, it had electric, running water, seats, a roof over its head, and a cement floor. Beyond these comforts, the event organization is pretty much expected to haul everything else in. The list of what we needed to provide for the event grew and grew as we kept walking.

Catering is provided by an outside company. That’s not unusual. Many venues outsource their catering to a third party supplier to save themselves the overhead costs of labor and food. In this arena, however, if we want the concessions stands open, they are supported by a different company. Staging, production support, and audio/visual, lighting, and video equipment are available from another off-site supplier. The parking lot is managed by yet another third party organization, security still another, and of course in Chicago, the union is involved in everything. Basically the arena opens their doors and provides a list of their “preferred” vendors. The incoming event team is responsible to coordinate all of the services at the arena as well as accomplishing the usual event planning checklist. But, where else can you hold an event for 10,000 people?

I have been to many shows at this arena and I must say if you are willing to spend the time and money to plan the events, they can be pretty spectacular. What the production teams can do with technology these days is incredible. The way led walls, screens, and lights are used to enhance the performance blows my mind. How a place uses confetti and streamer cannons so freely is beyond anything I’ve ever experienced. The sound quality for such a large, cement building exceeds expectations. The parking team gets attendees in and out of the lot so quickly it’s a spectacle to behold and watching security swoop in and address an unruly patron like ninjas without disrupting even the person sitting next to them is fascinating.

All this to say if the event planning team calculates the ticket and parking prices correctly, the costs will be covered, there will be some money left over, and the juice is worth the squeeze, it might be worth doing.

Have you planned an event at an arena? What was one thing you learned that we should know? Share it here or send me an email!

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