AAA White Paper The political economy of informal events, 2030 | Page 7

Alan D Miller, former chair,
The Night Time Industries
Association
7
Julian Agostini, managing
director, Mash Media,
publishers of
Access All Areas
Everyone has been to an event they love. In summer, there are village
fetes and classical music recitals held in English Heritage grounds.
Annually, too, there’s Lumiere, a festival dedicated to light that began
in Durham in 2009 and this year returns there. Then there’s For The
Love Of It, where people who make live art outdoors hold 48 hours
of shows and workshops – from Cobden Works, Salford, Manchester,
to the 101 Outdoor Arts Creation Space on Greenham Business Park,
Berkshire. And let’s not forget all the festivals about science, children,
film, jazz and blues, art, books and the military that are held in
Edinburgh; most prominently, the Edinburgh International Festival
(classical music, theatre, opera, dance and visual art), and the more
informal Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Informality is the stuff of many events. It is also a strength.
More than two decades ago, when England hosted the Euro 96
football championship, a bright mate of Julian’s, who in turn knew a
Czech builder, took a business gamble that illustrates just this point.
He leased a people carrier vehicle for the builder’s Czech friends and
offered to take them to some of the different places around England
where matches were being played. His offer was accepted, the Czech
national team made it all the way to the Euro 96 Final, and the fans
he drove around England saw lots of the country over nearly a month.
The result: not only were the fans happy, but Julian’s mate developed
a car service business that thrives to this day. As Julian says: ‘When
events happen, participants come looking for other services, and
are prepared to pay for them. What’s not to like?’
Alan also upholds the power of informal conversations to drive
forward new kinds of events. Years back, he had to endure that rite
of passage known as Sharing An Office Coffee Area With Another
Company. And he did so at London’s equivalent of Manhattan’s Tin
Pan Alley – Denmark Street, Soho.
In that tight corner, Alan brewed coffee with the people who set up
the international art fairs known as Frieze London, Frieze New York
and Frieze LA. Later, after co-founding The Old Truman Brewery as
an arts and events centre in East London, he helped Frieze organise
its first ever Fair on the premises.
Nick tells a similar tale. Inspired by DJs in Islington, London,
he made the subject of his first promotion the late DJ Paul ‘Trouble’
Anderson, and trouble the gig proved to be: it was a financial disaster.
However, Nick moved on from promotion to booking acts, only then
to turn to putting on his first outdoor show – Coventry University’s
Summer Ball.
From these fiery and chaotic baptisms, he built a business that
now organises more than 90 outdoor festivals a season, all the way
from health and safety, through licensing and on to full production.
***
Mutual and informal interactions like those reported above
characterise many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the
events business. Indeed, informal alliances help such SMEs preserve
a creative and commercial edge – an edge in innovation – over the big