JOBS: Head of Safety & Security, London Stadium; Echo Arena stage manager

London Stadium 185, which operates London Stadium, is looking for a Head of Safety & Security to be responsible for all operational aspects of Safety & Security at the Stadium. The post holder will ensure the safe and cost effective operation of the venue and has full responsibility for management of sub-contractors appointed to deliver Stewarding and Security of the stadium. Advertised salary is £75-80k dependent on experience. Closing date for applications is 8th March 2017.

Full details here.

Stage Manager

The ACC Liverpool Group, home to BT Convention Centre, Echo Arena and Exhibition Centre Liverpool, is looking to recruit an experienced Stage Manager to join its Production Team. The closing date for application is 6th March 2017

The ideal candidate will be highly motivated and have experience working as a Stage Manager in a multi-purpose venue or theatre environment as well as a solid grounding in at least two of the core AV areas, sound, lighting, and video.

Contract type: Permanent

Salary: Competitive

Hours per week: Annualised

Full details below and on the Echo Arena website here.

The successful candidate will have practical knowledge and experience with standard rigging equipment and counterweight flying systems.

The ideal candidate will have practical experience of undertaking annual LOLER inspections of counterweight fly systems, skills in first line maintenance care and storage of equipment and proficient use of AutoCAD would be considered particularly desirable as well as a broad depth of knowledge and the implementation of current, industry relevant Health & Safety Legislation.

As well as onsite work, this role includes an element of coordination and planning work for conference events and in particular entertainment and sporting events, and as such a high level of organisational skills and attention to detail are essential in this role.

The role of Stage Manager involves direct interaction with a wide variety of clients, production companies and Senior Management, therefore the successful candidate will have high level communication skills as this is essential for this role.

Previous experience of working on large corporate and entertainment events, and working within a similar sized venue would be advantageous.

In addition to the above, the candidate will need to be enthusiastic, like minded and complement our experienced and talented team. If you have drive, passion, ambition and wish to play a part in The ACC Liverpool Group’s continuing success story this could be just the job for you.

To apply for this position please complete both the Application Form and Equal Opportunities form which can be found by clicking on the links below:

APPLICATION FORM

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES FORM

GUIDANCE NOTES

Please note that your Application Form must be sent along with the Equal Opportunities Form to recruitment@accliverpool.com.

Closing Date: 6 March 2017
Interview Date: TBC

For further information please contact the HR Team on 0151 239 6084 or email recruitment@accliverpool.com

ARTICLE: One night only – staging a stadium concert

PART ONE: Strange fans in the stadium

High-pitched screaming is the first warning that the fans are about to enter the stadium. A line of flourescent jackets appears. It’s a single line of stewards with a pack of fans at their backs waiting for a chance to break free and run to the front of the stage.

The stewards keep a steady pace until they reach the bottom of the stairs from concourse level to pitch level, at which point the fans use the space to run around them to grab their spots at the front. One more barrier, to the gold circle in front of the stage, awaits them. The stewards – from a specialist company hired for the purpose – shout instructions to the onrushing fans, helping them find the entrances, where more staff check the wristband type and usher the fans through. It’s the first wave of a crowd control process that will bring 10s of thousands of concert-goers into a stadium more used to ambling sport fans.

Access control

Entrance to the spectator bowl is already the end of a long line of crowd control. Stewards from the specialist company have positioned barriers to create a ‘Disney queueing’ system for fans to snake into ten lanes for a two-stage reception consisting of search and ticket-taking. The first checkpoint is a bag search and random patdown. Stewards are politely removing items that aren’t allowed, mainly bottles with a bit of liquid left in them. A woman has left her hairspray in her bag and quickly uses some up before surrendering it. Fans are dropping food and drink packaging on the floor as they approach the search line.

The search depends on the level of security decided by the police and the stadium, based on various intelligence including the threat of terrorism.

It’s essential to set up an effective queuing area, including bins to secure confiscated items.

At the second checkpoint stewards check tickets at one barrier, issue wristbands at the next and usher fans through to an entertainment area in a compound built around part of the outer concourse. Fans who have arrived early go straight to the doors and queue to get the best spots. Later arrivals use the food and drink concessions while waiting – there are at least two hours between opening the queue and the doors to the stadium. When the majority of the audience arrives after work has finished, the queue is straight through to the stadium bowl. At its busiest the queue temporarily breaks down as barriers are pushed aside but orderly queuing is re-established by the stewards.

Concert bowl

The stadium bowl looks very different from a football matchday. The control box end is entirely taken up with the stage complex. The even production crew is using the seating area and walkways for its equipment and the offices and boxes inside for admin. Temporary wi-fi antennas are in the corridors and the catering tent is immediately outside.

There are three spectator areas. On the covered pitch there is a crescent shape of barriers in front of the stage delineating the premium ticket area, the gold circle. Two layers of barrier provide a walkway and then comes the main on-pitch standing area.

There are two light and sound (delay) towers three-quarters back, each with its own secured compound around it. This configuration leaves a clear head-on line of sight from the central seats in the end grandstand.

This Invectus Games concert was staged with the help of Star Events

PART TWO: Right staff for the job

VENUE PROFILE: StadiumMK

Stadium MK

During the development of StadiumMK for new football team MK Dons, MK Dons Chairman Pete Winkelman says that he has always been conscious that the venue must contribute to a great spectator experience in order to establish the team with fans. MK Dons is working to build the fan base, a third of which is under 16 years old, as the city of Milton Keynes grows from a population of 250,000 to 380,000 over the next 10 years.

As Managing Director of Inter MK, Winkelman has developed a retail park next door to the stadium to finance what he calls ”big sport” to match the ambitions of the new city. The city has recognised Winkelman’s passion and the two have worked in partnership to deliver the stadium, an integrated hotel and a 4,000 capacity arena

Winkelman recommends the phased development approach:

We haven’t compromised on anything along the way.

At StadiumMK, the management team is using the LED screen and sound system to entertain fans in sophisticated ways that support the StadiumMK brand, help the team and, says Winkelman:

attract fans out of their lounges and into the stadium.

Winkelman’s music industry background – as an executive for CBS and now a recording studio boss – has naturally influenced the entertainment values at StadiumMK. Already the stadium has a close relationship with sponsor Marshall, whose guitar speaker stacks sit either side of the big screen, and the publicity talks about ‘rocking’ the stadium.

MK Dons Executive Director Sue Dawson sums up the challenge:

We had to mix the statutory requirements for safety and Pete’s ideal sound system.

Winkelman called upon long-time friend in music Big Mick Hughes, sound engineer with Metallica. Hughes recommended Meyer Sound equipment and the installed system sounds remarkable, like a really good home sound system and unlike the muddy and unintelligible audio regretfully heard in many stadiums.

StadiumMK called upon VCP Services, the company responsible for the life safety systems such as disabled refuge points and alarms, to adapt the Meyer equipment to the stadium. The Meyer speakers, including bass bins, contain their own amplifier and the first job was to ensure the roof mountings could support the weight. VCP put the sockets powering the speakers on the universal power supply (UPS) so that they remain available for emergency announcements during a power outage.

Matchday music

Lee Scriven, matchday production manager and all-round media guy, controls the sound system from a Yamaha deck in a studio at the top of the main stand next door to the police and safety control room. He works alongside a colleague putting graphics on the big screen and a DJ, who comes in ten minutes before kick-off and works the crowd. Presenters, with wireless microphones, and cameramen, work in the studio and out on the field. This season there will be more cameramen to put crowd pictures on the big screen and to provide live Internet broadcast.

Scriven has found it best to work from the big screen as far as music is concerned. Video and sound output have been synchronised and he says live DVDs work very well, crediting Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen and Stereophonics. He says

We spend a lot of time discussing the type of music we want to be known for. The production team doesn’t use traditional football tunes because MK Dons are a newly formed team without that tradition. It prefers to choose music from bands that are associated with away teams, for example Kaiser Chiefs for Leeds and Dr Feelgood for Southend. Scriven says he likes to see the away fans’ surprised reaction and thinks they appreciate the attention to detail.

The club now uses a live presenter on pitch and has staged a live ‘rock-off’ with a Nintendo Wii running Guitar Hero connected to the big screen.

VCP’s Shane Nedley adds:

You’d be surprised how many times we have to go back and replace blown speakers when the wrong type of system has been installed. This sound system can go on forever with the right maintenance.

Stadium hotel

StadiumMK worked with the Hilton Group to open its hotel and architect Populous integrated it into the stadium, using the corporate boxes as bedrooms. Main reception, with stairways curving around a central core, is dual-purpose, hotel and stadium. Flexible spaces can act as hotel bars and restaurants as well as function rooms and pre- match dining areas. VCP has installed a Yamaha sound system for the ballrooms and video will be piped to big screens in hotel rooms/boxes with concourse screens planned for the future.

JOBS: Senior Technician (Sound) for SMG in Manchester

SMG has advertised the job of Senior Technician (Sound), based in Manchester. Closing date for applications is 2nd October 2015

The job (37.5 hours) is to be the main point of contact and lead on all sound related issues, providing best practice on sound design, technology and installation at one of the venues operated by SMG.

Full details and application form on the SMG website.