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Those of you who decided to stay and read, Hi! Welcome! And Happy Midsommar!

We had a hell of a session this past Monday for EPS11: The Roadmap to International Touring where we heard from touring insurance broker Martin Goebbels of Miller Insurance who provided us with no shortage of information on what things look like from an insurance perspective for our industry in these horrid Covid times. The risks still far outweigh the pros of attempting to travel internationally with a band and/or production. You really should have been there, but in summary: Insurance companies have no intentions as of now, in providing insurance to cover Covid related cancelations for either party. Liability insurance is still obviously a thing and incredibly important, but clear insurance guidelines as to what and who bears the responsibility when being forced to cancel a performance or an event due to ever-changing and confusing Covid rules and restrictions is a long way off.

We hope to be welcoming Martin back more often with the latest updates, but he has very graciously offered to keep us up to date as things develop and offer advice on a one to one, should anyone be gearing up for a tour and have any questions.

He also provided us with this very handy checklist guide to make sure you are doing everything you can to ensure (and insure 😉 har-har) yourself when we can get back to it. I encourage you to download this file and make sure you’re prepared, more than ever, going forward. If we have learned anything from this pandemic, it’s that we need to be sure that we are doing everything in our power to protect ourselves against anything life throws our way, at any given time.

We also welcomed the fabulous Alison Haragli, Director of Event Operations at the Coca-cola Arena in Dubai. She told us of the extremely thorough measures they are taking there to ensure everyone’s health and safety at an event. Even during the very limited capacity events that they are preparing to put on. Very thorough steam cleaning of every nook and cranny of the arena, individually wrapped towels, mandatory proof of vaccine, and a thorough checklist and Covid Compliant Safety plan in place for not only the artist and the crew, but for every single employee and visitor. Most of the population have been vaccinated as events start to be announced and move forward, cautiously. Their concern is safety first, which everyone is ready, willing and able to comply with.

This is great news for artists that are able to enter Dubai and perform, however, both of our guests estimated that things won’t actually get back to any sense of normalcy until Q2, or more likely, Q3 of 2022. While I realize some of you may be thinking, “well that doesn’t affect me… I have no plans to play an arena in Dubai anytime soon”, and that may be true, even touring small scale within the EU is going to be extremely risky until the European Union can agree on a fixed set of universal rules for the EU27 where we can get solid answers on exactly what we need to have on us at all times, and be able to travel freely without the rules changing from one day to the next. The consensus seems to be, that this is still a loooong way off.

We would be VERY curious to hear from artists / promoters / booking agents / managers and of course, crew, who are planning on flying outside of their own country and into other countries for any international festivals or events this summer. As a band / tour / production manager myself, I truly feel that the risks are still too great to attempt travel for a touring party with multiple, show stopping obstacles at every checkpoint.

EPS12: What the Fupp?

For our next edition of Live Talks, we will welcome FUPP creator Stefano Serpagli to tell us all about this exciting new live events industry platform as he takes us through a demo of the different membership levels that include:

• FUPPer – Freelancer looking to make connections, manage contacts, and fill your diary with new work opportunities
• MotherFUPPer – Production/tour managers, producers or anyone managing teams of freelancers, whilst freelancing yourself
• SUPPlier – Service supplier, hire and production companies who need to manage your freelancers as well as promote your business
• PUPP – New to the industry. Here to find opportunities, get involved, learn and be inspired

(Sidebar: I can’t help but giggle at the pun overload all over the place here. I am living for it.)

FUPP is here to connect and support freelancers, production and tour managers, producers, service suppliers, creatives and professionals across the Live Events, TV and Theatre industries.  Join our tribe of FUPPers and we’ll give you all the tools and support you need to get back to doing what you love!

Whether it’s through the app, or the desktop version, there is no shortage of innovative ways to connect, network, organize, and even manage your workload as a MotherFUPPer.

AND, you’ll be privy to a special buddy code so that you can join for free!

Learn how we plan on integrating the missions of C.R.E.W Coalition with the FUPP platform to help you achieve your goals.

In this week’s open forum session, we want to hear about the weirdest requests you have had from a touring party. Whether you’re a promoter, agent, manager, artist liaison, crew member, PM / TM, venue worker, bus driver, local promoter or even a musician. Let’s hear both the reasonable and the outlandish.

We, of course, very much encourage “road rules apply” and respect your choice to leave the names of those who have requested these things out of it. What happens on tour / backstage, stays there, as we all know. This is a fun, brainstorming activity to see how we can utilize those sometimes common and weird requests to upskill ourselves so we can minimize outsourcing while adding another string to our bow. If we MUST outsource, we’re developing a worldwide network and still keeping it in the family for our colleagues not currently on the road when we’re passing through town.

Examples of requests can vary from the more common massage therapist, Rock Doc, chiropractor, yoga instructor, tattooist, seamstress or personal chef….

…. to the not so common last minute requests of tarot card reader / psychic, a pool full of puppies, no less than 3 drag queens, professional hola-hoop instructor, a botanist or a local app developer so the singer can pitch an idea he dreamt last night and get it up and running in the next 24 hours.

All hypothetical, of course..

Let’s have a fun, reminiscing session to those times where against all odds, we made the impossible, possible despite challenging circumstances, and see how we can possibly use these requests to spark ideas for side hustles to keep yourself in business year round, no matter the circumstances.

Be sure to join us Monday, June 28th at 20:00 CEST / 19:00 BST / 18:00 UTC / 14:00 EST / 11:00 PST.

ZOOM LINK HERE

Just under the countdown clock.

Meeting does not exist: 81029266658.

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As usual…. a few reminders.

This is an open forum and we want to hear from everyone who wants to speak. We LOVE the enthusiasm these bring out in everyone, but let’s be respectful to our fellow C.R.E.W members. Please be sure to mute your mic upon entering the Zoom. Once we’re all in, we’ll go through a very brief introduction of ourselves so we know who is in the room. One minute or less. We’ll kick off the conversation with a current topic and let the conversation flow from there. PLEASE use the little “raise your hand” emoji in the reactions bar located at the bottom of the Zoom screen if you’d like to say something and one of our moderators will call on you. Be sure to utilize the chat as well if you’d like to add something or share information with the rest of the participants.

The Zoom will be filmed and by attending, you agree to appearing in any future C.R.E.W Coalition free promotional based videos / photos shared on our platforms. We encourage participants to keep their camera on so we can see your beautiful faces, however you can always choose to keep your camera off if you prefer. We will always inform you ahead of time if and when we choose to post audio or video. 

Finally, we encourage you to subscribe to our blog so you’re always the first person “in the know”.

And don’t forget to join the CREW COALITION COMMUNITY!