Organising a fundraising gig for Greenpeace is a piece of cake. Cup cakes, gingerbread, muffins and cornflake cakes, to be precise.
I decided to organise the event in Walthamstow that later became dubbed "Podraiser" because I happen to know a lot of talented people who care about the same issues I do.
Music, poetry, cakes and Greenpeace, in my favourite pub on a Saturday night. What's not to like? And what could possibly go wrong?
Well, for starters, your headline band could part company with their drummer less than a month before the gig. But yeah, apart from that, it was no problem at all.
If you fancy organising such an event yourself - and why wouldn't you? - here's my five-step guide based on what I learned while organising Podraiser.
1) Broaden the scope. When your aim is to fundraise for a good cause like Greenpeace, you don't want to put off potential attendees by promoting the gig as a "Norweigan death metal night" or "Sumo wrestling extravaganza". Think about adding a bit of variety to the night, and give it a mainstream appeal, so that you open the event up to more people. I'm still convinced that the main thing that persuaded people to come to Podraiser was the cakes.
2) Use the internet. The internet is your best friend. Gone are the days when you'd have to print off a billion flyers and stand on a street corner for six hours handing them out just to persuade a handful of people to come to your event. As soon as possible, set up event pages and invite people through social media. Tweet about the gig regularly and keep confirmed guests informed with updates so that they're less likely to forget to turn up on the night. Get your gig noticed by emailing the event details to various entertainment sites, particularly local ones. One of the best things I did with Podraiser was email the details to the MP for Walthamstow, who promptly included it in her weekly newsletter which gets sent out to hundreds of people in the local area.
3) Don't do it all yourself. It would be easy to get overwhelmed if you shoulder the burden of promoting and organising the entire event yourself. Ask small favours of others and together you'll make sure everything gets done. I asked each of the performers to help me with promotion and spreading the word. I also admitted my ignorance of anything audio-related early on, and got someone on board who knew what they were doing with a microphone and a guitar lead. There were three of us who helped set up the stage and the banners at the venue. Then there were the many volunteers on the night who helped flog cakes, took money on the door, pulled on a polar bear costume, or took photos and videos.
4) Don't rely on one act. Have four or five different people or bands on your bill, so if one cancels or has a problem on the night and can't make it, your line-up won't fall apart. I was originally thinking of having my friend's band as the main draw, backed up by a couple of support acts, but I was persuaded to bring in two additional singer-songwriters who were friends of another Greenpeace activist. This paid off because when the worst did happen, the gig was still salvagable.
5) Don't panic. I'd never organised an event like this before but I spent a lot of time talking about it with people who had, and thinking about what potentially might go wrong. I had a list of things that needed doing each week leading up to the event, and made sure they got done. When the headliner pulled out, I used it as an opportunity to create a better theme for the night - an acoustic theme - which I think played a big part in its success.
The Greenpeace Waltham Forest Podraiser raised £416 for the survival pod campaign and, by all accounts, thoroughly entertained everyone who was there. If you missed it, WHY? But also, you can check out this great little highlights video of the night.
Thanks to everyone who helped make it such a success, and good luck to you if you're organising an event yourself!
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