The Joy of Sets! Managing in all weathers!
As I was in the dentist chair last Saturday I was thinking of the next projects, the first of which will involve some site managing and I went off in a reverie on what it is to be a site manager.
There are moments on site that feel like pure alchemy: an horizon of scaff and tarpaulin rearranges itself into a stage, a patchwork of cables becomes a lifeline of light and sound, and two dozen people who arrived as strangers become a functioning organism that can turn a field into an event site. If you’re a site manager, those moments are the pay-off—and the reason you keep coming back, rain or shine, gale or blazing heat. In this missive, I hope to share the joys, the trials, and the indisputable passion that fuels me every time I step onto a large event site—come rain, shine, wind, or cold. Working on an event site isn’t just a job; it’s a craft, a dance with the elements, and a constant pursuit of perfection amidst the unpredictable weather and the ever changing needs of a live event.
Dawn is the best time to be on site. The site is half-dark, all diesel and noisy crows, with a line of generators humming like an awkward choir warming up. As site manager you learn the orchestra by ear: a generator a little wheezy, a scissor lift settling in the mud, the clip-clack of stakes driven into the earth. You learn to move in that chorus, to prioritise the things that must be right before the client handover, and to triage the rest. The checklist is long and boring on paper; in practice it’s part intuition, part muscle memory, and part relationship management.
There’s a certain magic in the air when an event is about to spring to life. The anticipation, the hustle, the relentless energy—these are the things that make working on an event site an exhilarating adventure. As a site manager, I’ve been behind the scenes of countless concerts, and events, helping to orchestrte the chaos into a symphony of coordination, mostly with humour and that extra squeeze of energy you always need to find.
Years ago, when I lived in the UK, I was in a roadside café in Bolton, waiting for a supplier to open over the road from the café. It was a proper greasy spoon and while I was waiting for my full on greasy spoon fully loaded breakfast, I was reading the notices on the wall. There was an advert for a Coal man’s apprentice. It said, “apprentice needed for coalman, no soft buggers need apply!” That has stayed with me, and I think of it often as the rain gets into my wet weather gear and when my waterproof boots may not be quite what the manufacturer expected them to be.
Every event starts with a vision—a blueprint of what the event will become. As a site manager, you are the conductor of groups of strangers who tip up in a field, don’t know where to park or pee and your calmness, signage and assuredness is needed from the first arrival till the last person on site leaves before you.
It begins with understanding the scope: the number of event spaces, stages, the layout of the battle zone of the corporate catering supplier, VIP areas, emergency routes, and the many nooks and crannies that make up the event universe. Here in Italy of course there are added folks to take care of like mosquito spraying man and in the high mountains outdoors, a person who has a healthy respect and knowledge for bear management, now that’s a risk assessment worth reading!!
Preparation is everything. Navigating through countless site plans, liaising with designers, technical crews, and safety officers and the local licensing departments, you begin to piece together the puzzle. Your role is to ensure the structures, the mechanical and technical equipment—plant equipment, structures, trusses, lighting rigs, sound systems, generators and paperwork—are all meticulously delivered and positioned ready for install.
Tech teams arrive and do their thing, whilst you support them with fuel for cherry pickers, pulling out errant telehandler drivers who didn’t use the metal trackway and who always know best, site lighting and crew amenities. It is great to see so many people working away at their skill base whilst you are in the background waiting to help where needed and doing it with endless patience, well as much as possible!!!!
But it’s not just about the tech teams; it’s about the rarely seen people. The team on the ground, the contractors, the security personnel, all are essential cogs. Building a cohesive, adaptable team is key to this and doing it within moments of meeting strangers is where the skill is needed. Everyone must trust each other and understand that unpredictability is part of the process and those that find it frustrating as rain drips off their noses whilst not feeling their fingers trying to tie a knot in a frozen rope, don’t last long.
In the large corporate event hierarchy there are endless producers, production managers and heads of department but the real boss is of course the weather. Wind will test your levels of trust, and no amount of ballast can allow for the one mutant gust that knocks everything sideways and never repeats but leaves a lasting trail of destruction that you need to deal with before the show. The rain will turn your cable runs into rivers, and heat will make your bespoke metal walkways suddenly feel like a cooking surface. Every site in every season brings its own dramas.
There’s a truism in our line of work: the weather is the greatest equaliser. It doesn’t discriminate based on experience, equipment, or planning. Mother Nature has her own script. And the more you work in the field, literally, the more you realise that adaptability and resilience are your best tools.
Rain…
Ah, rain—the closest friend to a mud bath. If you think a hot dry day is challenging, wait until the heavens open. Surfaces become slick, electrical equipment risks short-circuiting, and the entire site’s morale can dip faster than a stone in a pond. Yet, there is a certain joy in overcoming these obstacles—strapping on waterproofs, working with mud-caked boots, and devising quick solutions like portable ditches or temporary drainage systems.
Wind…
A good breeze can turn into a gale in minutes. The rigging of lighting towers or the mounting of large stage structures demands vigilance. Wind is nature’s reminder to double-check everything—every bolt, every tie-down, every connection. When the wind howls through the wires and flags, it’s a test of your preparedness and the robustness of your installations.
Sun and Heat…
On scorching days, hydration is king. The sun’s rays can sap energy, cause equipment to overheat, and turn a laid-back team into a cranky one. Implementing shaded rest areas, using fans, and scheduling the most physically demanding tasks during cooler hours keep spirits high, also to have ice cream on standby! I always wear long trousers on site to prevent burns on steel surfaces but I do look longingly at people in shorts when it goes over 100 degrees!
Having worked on many outdoor sites now in Italy, the pace can seem slower in the heat, we don’t have the luxury of a 4 hour rest for sun, but you manage with more people than you would normally, keep hydrated and crack on.
Working in the middle east over the last 20 years on quite a lot on event sites and building sites the heat is another level, but if all else fails humour has to be there while you trudge through sand to the drinks tent! In the height of the summer there is an enforced break during the working day for outside workers, when everyone heads to the nearest shelter and cowers from the searing heat.
Cold and Frost…
Winters and late autumn events require patience. Freezing fingers, ice forming on equipment and gangways, and early mornings turn the site into a frost-covered wonderland. Yet, the crisp air invigorates and reminds us how perseverance is deeply ingrained in our DNA.
When the event closes, all the massed teams of contractors are usually in catering waiting to spring into action. A clear plan is explained to them, as much info for them about the weather and what the timing expectations are, you have pre prepared all the plant fully fuelled, all other access kit ready, loos are clean so now you can sit back and wait for the next challenge in your cabin, usually by the noisy entrance and exit so no chance of nodding off!
If you can deal with all that, still giggle when it goes Pete Tong very quickly and concentrate when you are beyond tired, you are a site manager in the making, that’s for sure.
You definitely have to approach curve ball challenges with humour and zest and it is not for the faint hearted, or for my northern English readers,” not for soft buggers”
I have been working in adverse conditions on event sites since the late 1980’s and I still enjoy it more than a corporate hotel space or arena. On a happy note, if you are considering it as a profession, despite the weather report above, you will be challenged every working day, it is very rewarding, mostly thankless, and you definitely have to do it for your own self-satisfaction.
For those braving Italy’s winter for the Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games, you won’t need a mosquito man, but if you need a bear wrangler, I know a really good one armed guy who can run faster than he ever knew. For those of you coming to Milan I hope to bump into you as we service our clients’ needs for the games and if you need support let me know.
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