When our team was faced with the task of crafting a preliminary budget, I admittedly wasn’t feeling too enthusiastic. Budgeting has never been my forte; I’ve always preferred a more spontaneous approach. But understanding the importance of having a budget, regardless of whether we strictly stick to it, was essential.
It’s crucial to recognize the difference between budgeting when you have ample resources but need to allocate them wisely, versus starting from scratch, as we are with this festival. In the early stages, the possibilities for our event seemed endless, until the reality of financial constraints hit home. At first, the idea of budgeting felt like it would stifle our creativity and limit the potential of our festival. Like many teams, we saw budgets as barriers to innovation, fearing they would restrict our ideas (Knardal and Pettersen 2015). However, the optimism and open-mindedness of my teammates helped alleviate some of my concerns.
To kick things off, we carefully considered the scale of our festival and estimated our expected attendance. From there, we brainstormed every possible expense, from the obvious ones like venue rental and catering to the less obvious ones I didn’t initially consider like security if we decide to serve alcohol and funds necessary to start fundraising.
Our initial estimate came in at nearly $50,000—an amount that was a bit overwhelming. Considering our status as a new festival, questions lingered about our ability to secure sponsorships and whether we would garner enough support to effectively implement signaling theory, a concept that can help the success of any event and attract many guests (Walker et al., 2011). But as we delved deeper, several factors provided reassurance. We anticipated significant savings on things such as beverage costs, as we are hopeful we can obtain drinks from sponsors. Regardless of the brand or quality, I am confident anything we receive will be greatly appreciated by our team and attendees. Additionally, many items on our budget list could be managed in-house, thanks to the diverse skill sets within our team and resources available through RMIT, such as access to free 3D printing and creative materials (RMIT Makerspace, n.d.), and venue options like the Capitol, an RMIT-affiliated space. Another factor I considered to reduce the total amount was the practicality of flying in VIP guests and covering their accommodation expenses. While the idea sounds thrilling, I don’t foresee our festival reaching that level of prestige in its inaugural year. However, it was a lighthearted moment when we jokingly entertained the thought of having someone like Cate Blanchett as a VIP guest at our festival.
In conclusion, as argued by Knardal and Pettersen (2015), I’m now confident that our team’s creativity can thrive within the structure and guidance provided by a budget. Through collaboration and strategic planning, I am eager to bring our ambitious vision to life.
References
Knardal P.S. and Pettersen I.J. (2015) ‘Creativity and management control – the diversity of festival budgets’, International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 679-695, accessed 15 April 2024. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMPB-11-2014-0082
Makerspace (n.p.) Library, RMIT website, accessed 17 April 2024. https://www.rmit.edu.au/library/about-and-contacts/makerspace
Walker M, Hall T, Todd S.Y. and Kent A (2011) ‘Does Your Sponsor Affect My Perception of the Event? The Role of Event Sponsors as Signals’, Sport Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 138-147, accessed 15 April 2024. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/does-your-sponsor-affect-my-perception-event-role/docview/902126870/se-2?accountid=13552