Organising a dance event ,Insurance

0:00 Really to talk about, but

Alright folks, this is a series of videos helping people out there to organise their own dance night, etc. Or their own sort of event in a specific place. Now then, we've gone through quite a lot of the factors. The last one really to talk about, but there is a lot more to it, alright? So this is where all of you guys come in and you can help everybody else. And that is the actual legal side to it. Now then, I know you're all thinking, oh, we don't want to play a part in the legal side. But, if you're going to organise an event... And you want that event to be professional, you've got to think from a legal point of view.

Let's say hypothetically the manager has said, right, that's your room, they're your punters, your crowd, it's your night, you're in charge. What happens then if all of a sudden someone breaks a table or someone pulls down a curtain or lights are broken? I mean, and don't think you can save money by not having them. Short term you may save money, but long term, believe me, you'll be in trouble. Because I've been in situations where, and as God is my witness, I've seen people have bottles knocked over the head. And it's not a pretty sight, and I've been there in the police station explaining what happened. So, don't go there. Okay, so insurance.

3:28 Speakers they've got, how they've set

Now then, what you can get is you can get something called public liability. As a DJ, as a professional mobile DJ, let's say, or an organiser of an event, what it will cover is simply this. It will cover any or most eventualities, as in, say, someone tripping over a cable, maybe something falling on someone, that kind of thing. That's public liability. You may have to consider another insurance.

On the basis of say if someone breaks something in the venue, alright? Now you have to take these into consideration. Let me just check my, that's it, I've got to check my notes to make sure we're organising everything correctly. So again, it's all well and good having a fantastic night and during the course of the night thinking wow this is brilliant but believe me I think the irony is... And I've been there, I've been there many a time. You organise the night, you spend so long organising it, getting it all ready and getting people organised, someone on the door, the security. You don't have to worry about the bar staff because that's organised by the actual 9 times out of 10 by the people who own the place. But you spend so much time running about everywhere, you end up not really enjoying the night yourself because you're worried about everyone else enjoying themselves. So there is an irony attached there.

To all of, not so much rules, but if you look at it from a professional point of view, you can't necessarily go wrong. Now another pointer is go to other nights, okay? Even if you don't like that type of music, if someone's organising an event down the road, go to it, alright? Don't say, oh I'm a DJ, you know, I want to do this, just go. Look around, look at the speakers they've got, how they've set the gear up, look at the backdrops, where the venue is, of course, logically. And if it is a similar night to the sort of thing you want to do, then have a word with the manager again. But don't go, alright mate, it's your job. Go there professionally. Even say to the manager, can I have a meeting with you in the next couple of days please? I'd like to discuss the possibility of me doing a similar sort of function. Don't have a go at him that night, there and then, because that guy's busy.

He's got a lot of people to look after. He's got a lot of hassle. He doesn't need you spending half an hour explaining what you would like to do. So arrange a meeting with him. And like I said, just go to any nights. All these little bits of information you can put together about what people are using, what sound system, etc., is all good ammunition for you. So the last video, this one here now, is basically make sure... You've got insurance, okay? Now then, I can give you a certain amount of information but you need to look into it yourself because different countries will have different legal systems. That is very important, alright? The legal systems we have here in the UK could be completely different to in America, in Japan, in China, in Australia, I don't know. This is where you have to find out certain aspects. But you will need some form of insurance just...

In case accidents happen, okay? Thanks for watching. Practice and enjoy and don't forget any constructive comments, bung them underneath. See ya!

This transcript was produced automatically from the audio of the video and may contain mistakes.