I hope you are doing fine this Saturday! It is hot hot hot in New York City, and all I can say is FINALLY! I’ve been missing the feeling of being able to slip into a dress and flip flops and head out the door. There’s a freedom that comes with not have to wear layers and coats.
As an assistant, I continuously have to think ahead for my clients. They are busy CEO’s of their own companies, trying to run their career, run their personal lives and on top of that, keep on creating. A lot happens daily for them, so as their assistant, it’s my job to plan ahead and foresee “disaster”. I remember when I was starting out, I spoke with an assistant to a HUGE name (think Grammy and Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame kind of name) and she said to me, “We’re such worriers. It’s what we do.” And it’s true!
While we aren’t worriers in the typical sense of sitting on the coach with a frown, we learn about what our clients are doing and when planning, try to think of everything that they will need to know about to make it as seamless as possible.
It’s not easy to think of everything that might go wrong or what you will need during your next project, but that’s why CEO’s hire assistants so that they can free their valuable time to more important, revenue making tasks and leave the planning to us.
You might remember that last December, I went on the road for the first time as tour manager for a nationwide Christmas show tour, with a tour bus and all. As you probably know, that didn’t just come together a few weeks beforehand. It took MONTHS of communication and planning.
Which is why, I’m making June the first official month to start planning the tour. Sure, we’ve secured the performers in January right after the last tour was over, and the management has been booking dates since 2013. However, some slight changes and confirmations to the band personnel means its onwards to start organizing everything we will need for the tour.
What I start out with is very basic – but EXTREMELY essential if you are planning out a tour of your own with a band.
Once you’ve confirmed availability and talent (and if you want to work with them) with your band, here’s what you should have documented to make the beginning stages of planning the tour go smoothly and quickly.
1) Full Name, exactly as on their ID. (for flights and payments)
2) Scan of the front and back of their ID. (if you or some of the band members are driving a tour van, you’re going to need scans of their drivers license to rent the van.)
3) Birthday. (for flights, and maybe their birthday is during the tour. Hello, cake on the bus!)
4) Departure City – (When booking flights, where are they flying from for the first show?)
5) Returning City – (Where are they headed to after the last show?)
6) W9 – assuming you, the lead, are paying your band members more than $600 for the tour, you’ll need their mailing address / social security number, so get both with a W9 Form.
7) Frequent Flyer Miles numbers. (Especially if they are flying. Saves the hassle of them going into the reservation and adding it afterwards!)
These six important information points can be organized and ‘stored’ in a spreadsheet for you to reference when making reservations, planning routing and make things go quickly without having to constantly email and track down the band members.
So, now that June is around the corner, what future tours, launches or projects are you looking forward to plan for in 2014? What are you going to do to take one step closer to preparing for that said tour, launch or project?
Comment below and put it out in the universe and make it happen!
Enjoy the last day of May, friends!
