Smurf fixes problems between '12 to 12'

Hasani Walters, Gleaner Writer

Problems sometimes prove costly to promoters as they work 'Inside the Party'. However, if the problem is fixed, then the promoter proves to patrons that they are capable of providing a good party experience.

DJ Smurf, promoter of '12 to 12 - The Ultimate Beach Party', explained some of the problems he faced during the event's second staging, and how he fixed them to improve the third staging, which was strongly supported and well received by patrons.

In the second staging there were problems with the bar, food and stage, areas which can destroy an event's reputation if they are not fixed in time for the subsequent edition. Knowing this, the team went to work.

With the bar, DJ Smurf said, "we had underestimated the amount of patrons who would come out, so we got more than we prepared for so, therefore, we ran out of cups. But that's only the first thing. Second thing was that we were serving from one side of the bar, so there was a lot of traffic where people did have to wait some time before they got drinks from the bar. So we took that into consideration and seh we have to fix that."

waiting time

And fix it they did. Smurf said for the third staging they catered for almost twice the number of people expected. They also made changes to the bar's design so bartenders could serve from four sides and, therefore, cut down on the waiting time for drinks.

Another problem the organising group faced were the long lines at the food court. "We had one big food court, therefore, one major line," laughed Smurf.

He continued: "So what happened is that the people go in the line, and you have this long wait before you could get a serving of food because they come down, and is when dem reach dem decide what dem want to eat. So that took up time and hold up the line, so we took that into consideration as well."

That situation was fixed by using signs so patrons could, from a distance, decide what they wanted before joining a specific line. That move, Smurf, said, reduced the waiting time dramatically.

"If a man want pork, him go to the pork quarters, if him want fish, him guh to the fish quarters," he said.

The other problem they had was the management of the stage area. It was being constantly bombarded by persons who did not need to be there, creating confusion at times. This was described as a minor problem by Smurf. He said they assigned a security guard at the entrance to the stage area and instructed him to only allow persons who were working on the event onstage.

He believes the changes were effective, because, at the third staging of '12 to 12', people came out and enjoyed themselves thoroughly. He explained that music is not the only factor that contributes to the fun.

"Is not music alone make you enjoy your party experience. Getting an easy-access bar and getting food easy, paired with the music, are all essential so we know that the changes we made were good. If you keep an event and you identify some problems, and don't fix them and people come pay them money again - giving you a chance - and you don't fix the problems, chances are they may not spend their money at your event in the future. If it fix now, then they can seh, 'yeah, dem change up that from last time, how it did stay', and we can show them that they are valued," he said.

For the event's fourth staging, Smurf said there will be no major changes.

"I can say that we had the bar, food, music and stage under control for the third staging, so there won't really be any changes, only changes to the entertainment package," Smurf said.

He said changes will be made to the line-up of selectors, décor and theme. A special musical surprise is also in store.