As the leader of Danzoo→Dash, I have been working on doing a large portion of preparation on my own for a long time. Through trial, error, and handing small tasks off to my amazing friends, I've learned good methods to prepare your group! (I also have Management and a Co-Leader now who are able to smooth out the workload for me, so definitely consider that!) 
With those things being said... Let's jump on into the best way to prepare your group for a large weekend event!
{ Step One } Pre-Planning
Believe it or not, events actually are year-round planned and your planning for your portion of the performance, meet up, or anything of that nature should start at least 3 months pre-show! This not only ensures every member has enough time to know what they're getting into... but it also helps things get done earlier and troubleshooting to be the last little thing you need to take care of.
That means get your management team together (or sit alone in a room and cry) and get to WORK. Think of the cons that you have planned for the year. Which ones are coming up? Which ones were successful in the past? Why were they successful? - let's take that, replicate it, and make it better.
Was your panel at your last con a huge success? It's time to IMPROVE. Yeah, there is absolutely room for improvement everywhere. Create a more professional slideshow, handle your music differently, avoid dumb hiccups of people seeing your computer screen when changing media types... All of these logistical things can be changed. Take out information that did not seem to be useful or interesting to your crowd, and add in more relevant information that may serve a better purpose...
Not into panels? What about performances! Take a look at your performance. Where were you (or others) lacking. How did it run logistically? Get feedback from friends and people in the community. I always recommend trying to take video/photos at performances so you have content and can look back on the panel after the con to reevaluate everything!
Review and revision isn't the only pre-planning that needs to be done, however. There is reaching out to the con to make sure your times/days/areas of performance/panels/etc are set in stone. Much of the time, cons run a little last minute and you will have to wait and hear back from them... However, it's important to get your information set so you can move onto Marketing your event/panel/meet up etc!
{ Step Two } Planning with Members
Now that you have your schedule and your information set (or started!) it's time to sit down with your members and figure everything out. Two major things that I start with are (1) setlist, (2) uniforms, and (3) schedule. While I do require some members to attend certain events, not every dance or every panel is absolutely mandatory in order to not overwork people!
* Setlist | When it comes to setlists...DZD has gone a bit wild trying to learn new dances for so many conventions. Luckily, though, this has lead to a large pool of dances and songs to choose from! Currently, we are able to print out a document and check the dances we want to perform at longer panels and shows that we have a 1 hour + panel/performance time slot at! This makes it incredibly easy to figure out which songs people really want to do, and which songs can be put to rest for a moment.
* Uniforms | As for uniforms, we have a few sets of items that we can wear depending on the event type that we are appearing at! For casual panels/meet ups, coordinating our t-shirts and skirts are simple! However for performances we have to choose a set uniform that we wish to perform in. These uniforms can be casual to full out specially created uniforms, so we are always careful to create packing checklists so everybody knows exactly what is required of them to bring!
For the event schedule... well that goes into step three!
{ Step Three } Itinerary & Event Schedule
One of the most overlooked part of doing an event, as a soloist or group, is a proper schedule. When you see Japanese guest and groups, they are run on a tight schedule with their management. Breakfast at xyz time, Morning Interview at this time, Lunch at this time, Soundcheck at this time, etc etc. I truly believe, though, that this method is a key way to have an organized and successful appearance. It also allows for group members to know which parts of their schedule they have a break in to do what they need to do.
For Danzoo, we realized that having this itinerary all printed and ready to look at was ultra important to us; it's invaluable, honestly! Not only did it help keep our managers on track, and thus keep us on track, but it also helped by dispelling easy-to-answer questions that members may have about what they need to be doing and when they need to be ready by! I find that these little questions can always be answered by a good set of instructions or a manual for the event, so it makes sense to have some printed reference - especially if you aren't sure about your cell service in the area.
For Danzoo, we realized that having this itinerary all printed and ready to look at was ultra important to us; it's invaluable, honestly! Not only did it help keep our managers on track, and thus keep us on track, but it also helped by dispelling easy-to-answer questions that members may have about what they need to be doing and when they need to be ready by! I find that these little questions can always be answered by a good set of instructions or a manual for the event, so it makes sense to have some printed reference - especially if you aren't sure about your cell service in the area.
{ Step Four } Packing Checklist
Now that everyone is getting ready to go... Let's get ready to go! Another way to eliminate unnecessary questions is by having a packing checklist ready to go. This will help everyone in the group know what items are essential for a performance! Generally, this list will be sent to each member a week prior to the event so the packing checklist can be of use. If they decide to use it, I leave blank areas for them to fill out what other items that they want to bring around!
It's important to specify what uniform pieces (and undergarments such as tank tops or safety shorts!) are pretty important! Otherwise you may have everyone wearing a different item and it may subtract from the image of a clean cut group.. In general, a packing list is a quick thing to make that will, overall, be a large benefit to you and your entire group!
It's important to specify what uniform pieces (and undergarments such as tank tops or safety shorts!) are pretty important! Otherwise you may have everyone wearing a different item and it may subtract from the image of a clean cut group.. In general, a packing list is a quick thing to make that will, overall, be a large benefit to you and your entire group!
{ Step Five } How to Have Management Help
Finally, my last bit is to give your management tasks to help with! Nobody wants to sit around feeling useless, and it's useless if you are stressed out of your mind with small things that can be handed off easily! For us, this was handing off photo/video tasks to management, making sure they did our uniform checks, helping us arrange food and snacks, as well as many other things!
Another way that management can help is by rounding up the entire group and getting you all to where you need to go! It's always helpful to not have to find people yourself in the thick of things, so to have help organizing people, and not just tasks, is more help than you would think! The reason that we had a so many photos from AUSA comes largely from our Management being there with a camera and ready to get what they know we need for promotional material!
That being said, if you don't have managers - have no fear! Trusty friends are always a great help, and often times would be more than willing to lend you a hand if you ask nicely! Many of our friends and significant others do help out when we ask them, and that is something that I feel like can be overlooked as "their job"! Just remember, always be kind and thankful for any amount of help from any people who decide to help you. ^^
Well, I hope you were able to enjoy this very belated post! We are thrilled to have a lot of content incoming on our youtube and social media for everyone! I hope that very shortly I will be able to write many more posts here and really throw myself into blogging and reviewing. So until then, thank you very much!
Another way that management can help is by rounding up the entire group and getting you all to where you need to go! It's always helpful to not have to find people yourself in the thick of things, so to have help organizing people, and not just tasks, is more help than you would think! The reason that we had a so many photos from AUSA comes largely from our Management being there with a camera and ready to get what they know we need for promotional material!
That being said, if you don't have managers - have no fear! Trusty friends are always a great help, and often times would be more than willing to lend you a hand if you ask nicely! Many of our friends and significant others do help out when we ask them, and that is something that I feel like can be overlooked as "their job"! Just remember, always be kind and thankful for any amount of help from any people who decide to help you. ^^
Well, I hope you were able to enjoy this very belated post! We are thrilled to have a lot of content incoming on our youtube and social media for everyone! I hope that very shortly I will be able to write many more posts here and really throw myself into blogging and reviewing. So until then, thank you very much!
♡ Swittx~
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| Photo from the DZD 'Watashi Wa Idol' Panel at AUSA 2018 |
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