Venues and Tech is an interesting job. You spend a lot of time with wires and sockets, thinking about the logistics of set changes, or how many chairs you can fit in a room. A lot (a LOT) of time is spent pouring over risk assessments and imagining every possible thing that could possibly go wrong.But, surprisingly, Venues and Tech is also a very people-oriented position. Much of my time is dedicated to collaborating with others – with Venue Managers to set up schedules and logistics, with Head of Logistics to reserve rooms, coordinate information, and manage paperwork. There’s meeting with Union staff, getting new technicians the relevant training, and meeting with events to pick apart all of the details for their run.
Within the grand vision of flashy shows and ambitious events, it’s easy to get lost in the what and forget the how. The Venues and Tech team works to ask practical questions, offer solutions, and provide all the essential behind the scenes support to make grand visions a reality. It requires lots of attention to detail, a sharp mind, and yes, decent experience with intimidating electrical equipment. As we get closer to the start of the festival, the responsibilities of the Venues and Tech team is picking up. During the festival, we’ll be one of the busiest subcommittees – always on call, always in the venues, always ready to help with set-up, with rigging, or box office surprises. It’s a challenging responsibility, but an important one, and it would not be possible without the collaboration and support of so many people in St Andrews. It’s thanks to the collaboration between ENTs, the Union staff, the Barron team, On the Rocks Venue Managers and Exec committee that the festival actually happens.
This festival is an amazing testament to teamwork, problem-solving, and knowledge-sharing, and I am so proud to work with such a wonderful team of people across the university. Even though you won’t see most of the work the Venues and Tech subcommittee does, we’re still around, helping bring all this art and creativity to life.
Anna South
Head of Venues and Tech
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