Project managers are everywhere in the entertainment industry

*For the purpose of this blog, I have changed the individual’s names.

Managing projects requires a lot of time, resources, and commitment (Snead, 2010). I decided to gain more knowledge and experience on project management from real-world employees for the industry I strive to work for, VH1 Save The Music. Ms. Sylvester and Mr. Whitman agree that being a project manager is a huge undertaking, but they have been successful project managers for many projects and events within the entertainment industry. Ms. Sylvester is an intern on the development team for VH1 Save The Music Foundation, and Mr. Whitman is a program manager on the program team for the same foundation.

While VH1 Save The Music has the common touch point of music, the staff falls into two basic groups with two distinct skill sets and backgrounds. Mr. Whitman is the program manager at VH1 Save The Music, where he is the project leader working with schools around the country. Mr. Whitman advocates for music education and implements the grants that are provided.  The team is all former music educators and musicians and therefore, their expertise is music education (*Whitman, 2010).

The development team raises money and hosts events for the foundation. Their skills and backgrounds focus around event management and fundraising. Ms. Sylvester has managed projects and events for the VH1 Save The Music Foundation. She is part of the development team helping with branding, fundraising, and communication. She brainstorms initiatives and develops marketing plans for new media such as MyDunkTank.com, Twibbon, and FourSquare. Ms. Sylvester assisted in developing marketing plans to increase involvement in membership groups, secured donation items for various giveaways and promotions, and assisted the development team with logistics and promotion for the Rock and Bowl with the Plain White T’s (*Sylvester, 2010).

Obviously, a lot of planning is involved in coordinating with schools, implementing grants, raising money, and hosting events for the foundation. Some events are in the works for months on end before finalization. The foundation often joins forces with other entertainment industry professionals, which adds a lot of support in the planning stages. Timing and the location are of great importance in planning an event because the staff at VH1 Save The Music want to make every fundraising effort special. They do not want there to be a planned event every month because the impact would become watered down.

A strict budget is placed when VH1 Save The Music awards schools with grants. The foundation sets guidelines for each school to follow. The budget includes salary for at least one music teacher, a music instruction curriculum, weekly in-school music classes, sufficient space for instruction, instruments, and equipment, donated musical instruments, and maintenance of the donated instruments (vh1savethemusic.com).  I would say with the budget VH1 Save The Music provides, a new music program can begin and be built upon to grow successfully!

References:

Snead, Cathy. Professional Blog Assignment 2. September, 27, 2010.

Sylvester, Sue. Personal communication. October 14, 2010.

“VH1 Save The Music. Music Education = Brainpower.” 2010. October 16, 2010. http://www.vh1savethemusic.com/

Whitman, Wally. Personal communication. October 16, 2010.

Are teams important in the entertainment industry?

Teams are no longer optional in today’s workforce; they are a necessity. Assembling a team is a crucial step in building a career, especially in the entertainment industry because artist-manager relationships are vital. As we move into the “digital age,” teams are even more important than before because the music industry is launching more music technology, and it takes more hard work and dedication to stay ahead and profitable. So how do you stay ahead in this industry? On a broader spectrum, teams from every music company must unite to form entertainment conglomerates. Has consolidating worked in the past? Yes. Independent labels such as rap and alternative rock were added to the major-label fold. This proved to be a wise move for the music groups. Branching out and seeking help from other teams in the industry can lead to a lot more success.

Respected philanthropist Andrew Carnegie said, “No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or get all the credit for doing it” (Nasaw, 2006). It is nearly impossible to be a talent agent, personal manager, or business manager on your own. Although doing it alone may give you a quick start and seem to save you money, it is not a good idea in the long run.

Effective team leaders must have a clear vision of what they want to accomplish because that vision becomes the energy behind every effort. It is important to develop a team of people who share the same dreams and passions as you. Essentially, dreams are realized and carried out through unity.

In putting a team together, you should obtain team members according to how well their particular skills match a given element of work. Choose a team based on their skills and experience, not their accessibility. Since the entertainment industry is one of the most competitive industries out there, it is pivotal to have a team with the skills to thrive in a challenging and nontraditional work environment. It is also of utmost importance to choose those that get along with a wide variety of people.

Of course, people do not follow a vision in itself. They follow the leader who has a vision and the ability to communicate that vision effectively. Communication is a vital tool in every organization, and in the entertainment industry, e-communicating is spreading like wildfire. But, e-communicating does make it more difficult to monitor exactly what your team is doing, so you must oversee your team’s work more frequently. The team leader must keep the lines of communication open with his team. This means having more meetings in person, making more phone calls to check in, and participating in conference calls on a weekly basis. Teams should actually over-communicate. Over-communicating is very valuable because it provides relevant information and details such as expectations and accountability. Trust and respect within your team can easily be broken if communication does not happen. It all boils down to this: there success is your success, so do your best to communicate with your team (Hollingsworth, 2009).

Nasaw, David, Andrew Carnegie (New York: The Penguin Press, 2006), pp. 54–65.

Hollingsworth, C. (2009, April). Five ways to make or break your team. PM Network, 23 (4), 52‐57. Retrieved from http://www.pmnetwork‐digital.com/pmnetwork/ 200904/?sub_id=puGXsH65qK2Q