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The Importance of Keeping Historical Festival Data.

Andy Robertson

For festival organisers who hold annual events having an accurate record of all the data relating to the event is important in the planning process for future events. The ability to refer back to previous data can help with financial forecasting for future events and make the festival organisation process smoother.


Keeping records on paper or spreadsheets is still done by some festival organisers and whilst any historical data likely exists it can be difficult and time consuming to retrieve any specific information required. Whether it's visitor data or information on vendors, artists, sponsors and contractors having this data readily available will make the planning and forecasting easier and this is where a really good event management software package can really help.

GDPR. 
When collecting and storing any data that contains personal information the process must comply with any prevailing GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) rules in place in that jurisdiction. This is particularly important when collecting ticket buyer information. Most festivals collect this data at point of purchase and it can be used to better understand visitor profiles. It is also used for marketing purposes for future events and selling tickets. A good CRM system can help to slice and dice the data and make its retrieval easier.

Artist's Data. 
With some music festivals having hundreds of artists booked each year holding information on them will be useful because organisers will have record of any fees paid along with the contact details and all their advancing data. If an artist is booked to return a following year organisers can potentially save time by sending a pre-filled advance using last year's data and ask for any updates or changes.

Vendor and Sponsor Data.
Festival organisers prefer to use reliable vendors each year so rather than accepting new applications it will be easier to invite previously booked vendors to any forthcoming events. The same process can be used when opening up discussions with sponsors as the organisers will have data on previous sponsors and what packages they had. This can help the sales process when negotiating fees and rates for any planned events.

Contractor’s Data. 
From an operational context having access to a reliable list of contractors used each year is going to save time from having to source new contractors. Access to previous costs and fees involved can assist in negotiations with suppliers for any services needed.

A software package that provides the ability to archive all the data form a previous event means that the information is not lost but can be easily accessed when required for planning and forecasting purposes. Having an understanding of revenue and costs associated with this data can help with financial planning too as all the relevant data has been recorded. 

For festival organisers planning their events using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event logistics. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, guestlists, ticketing, cashless payments and contactless ordering.

Photo by Mikhail Nilov from Pexels

Andy Robertson
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