Job Description-Final

 Concert Touring

Four red bulls and two red eye connecting flights every other night for three weeks in a row. I've been to every major city in Asia, Europe, and North America- but all I can really remember is my baggage pick-up carousel. Everything feels like it's right on the edge of falling apart, and everyone is desperately trying to clean up the mess while simultaneously pretending that nothing is wrong. So many long days at the venue and even longer nights at the airport- and yet I can say that concert touring has been the best job I've had the privilege of working.

During my time on the road I was a VIP experience manager, meaning that my position was an amalgamation of:

• Security and Safety
• Venue Operations
• Customer Service
• Management

Security and Safety

For many VIP fan experiences, the artists would do poster signings, meet and greets, and other events that would include interaction with fans. Kpop fans are usually respectful, but they can get a bit voracious when it comes to boy groups. To ensure both the artists' and fans' safety we would go and thoroughly check the following:

• Barricade set-up
• Room capacities
• Emergency medical stations
• Entry and exit points
• Artist routes
• ADA seating
• Security staff stations
• Fire exit routes

Venue Operations

The ingress of fans was one of the most crucial aspects of my jobs. When there would be special events like sound checks or exclusive stages for VIP fans, it was my responsibility to get fans in on time as to not delay the main show. There were times where the venue allocated too few metal detectors, or there was miscommunication with the security staff on door opening times, and I remember digging through backpacks and purses myself to make sure we were on schedule. Another aspect is line management- one unique characteristic of Kpop fans is that they all love to line up and camp out. I've had to organize over five thousand fans that slept overnight in front of one of our venues.

Customer Service

One of the most rewarding parts of being the VIP experience manager was interacting with fans. Of course, there were times where customer complaints were unreasonable, and other times where I was under pressure for things out of my control- like weather. 

There were challenges faced in foreign countries like Singapore where my english and less-than-proficient Korean skills were useless. Struggling past language barriers to accommodate guests to being shocked by the culture of siestas in Spain- it all gave me more insight to how the world outside of the United States Operates.

Through all the trials and tribulations, the fans' excitement before the concert would always motivate me, and the satisfied smiles of fans leaving the venue really made all the long nights worth it. 

Management

Finally, the only way I could make sure that all the other responsibilities were taken care of was by relying on a team of fifteen VIP experience assistants. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to lead so many patient, hard working, and enthusiastic people during my time as a VIP experience manager. From the first ever show day to the last flight home from my final tour- I could not have asked for a better team. I learned so much about my own management style, and was deeply influenced by the team's feedback. 

Of the hundreds of lessons learned, I will always remember these two takeaways as the most important:

• I learned to trust my team, and was comfortable letting go of the reign
• I learned to roll with the punches and not get so caught up on small details

These lessons may seem obvious, but I found myself being a micromanager that got hung up in small, inconsequential details. 

Final Thoughts

Would I ever tour again? Absolutely not.

If I could go back in time would I still go on all the tours I've experienced so far? Absolutely.

The friends and memories I've made are ones I'll cherish forever, and the invaluable business and life experience is something that I would never give up.

Readability Stats:

Flesch Reading Ease: 64

Flesch-Kincaid Level: 7

Passive Sentences: none