'Because of Covid we all had to upskill': Online events open up surprising opportunities

Finding a way to pivot your business has been vital this year but it is even more so when you work in live events

Mon, 05 Jul, 2021 - 20:00

Jennifer Stevens

The live event industry has been one of the hardest hit of the pandemic but when Natasha Duffy was faced with no work last year, instead of turning away from the business she knew so well, she leaned into it and launched something new.

“I've always believed that necessity is the mother of invention and in some ways it is during crisis that I have become the most creative. You have a chance to carve out a niche for yourself in ways that maybe you weren’t doing before. At the start of March 2020, myself and my two business partners all found ourselves without any work. After a couple of weeks of feeling sorry for ourselves we decided to band together and see what we could do. We invested our savings in new equipment so that we could pivot to online presentations of work and then when it looked like there would be some opening up for larger crowds we decided to curate our own flagship event that could roll out during Covid times. It was a huge success and since then we have organised a number of shows for this summer in July, August and September all under the banner of Sofft Nights and thankfully we got extra support from the Live Performance Support Scheme scheme to make it happen. We have also started consulting with different companies and agencies to help them create Covid friendly outdoor events.”

Of course, as with most things over the last 16 months there have been setbacks and plans have had to change almost weekly. Working around dates and Government guidelines has been Natasha’s biggest challenge.

“Without a doubt the re-scheduling has been one of our biggest setbacks. We started planning for Sofft Nights 2021 when things looked good in Ireland before the Christmas crisis. The massive surge in January made it so we had to move any dates we had in March, April and May to later in the year. However, audiences have a lot of understanding at the moment and are really patient with us having to do this and the majority of people would keep their tickets for the later date. It meant we could continue to operate and plan and get excited for what was to come.”

Natasha has worked in live events since she interned with the Bealtaine Festival in her early 20s. She went on to set up The Spirit of Folk Festival and has worked for Aiken Promotions, Body&Soul Festival and produced a number of theatre shows at Fringe. Over the last year and a half, she has combined her work in live events with some new skills.

“Because of Covid we all had to upskill and I have returned to my first love - film. Through Sofft productions we have now produced two live performance films; one supported by the LPSS scheme and the other we produced for MusicTown. We are currently working with Meath Arts and BCP on a project around arts, sports and resilience in County Meath and meeting all of the local people in the GAA halls and community centres has been so uplifting. We are also currently researching for a short documentary about the bell ringers of St. Patrick's Cathedral whilst in the background also planning for productions and designs with other promoters in Dublin. The work is so diverse that there isn't a day that is not exciting.”

Pivoting is a word that has come up over and over again since the start of the pandemic and Natasha has found that having multiple facets to the business is the best way to keep things going.

“Thankfully we have diversified the business to include film and online work and a percentage of our business is now reliant on that. We film and produce online courses as well as live performances and short films and this is an area of the company that we will continue to grow. It is looking very positive for Sofft Nights in terms of audience numbers but again if we need to, we will pivot the events to online performances and just endeavour to put on some very beautiful shows!”

Anybody working for themselves will tell you that mentorship is key and Natasha has been very lucky to work for and with two of the country’s most inspirational event producers who still provide advice and support.

“Dominic Campbell was the first person I worked under at Bealtaine and I was really inspired by his vision, professionalism and how he communicated with his team. He continues to do incredible work around creativity and aging and I would love to work with him again. I have also worked under the incredible Avril Stanley of Body&Soul and she gave me a lot of confidence in myself and has been a real inspiration as a woman starting a business and navigating the world of events and festivals.”

Central to everything that Natasha is doing though is the Sofft Nights one-day festivals which will be happening over the summer.

“I had a vision the other night of sitting by the bonfire with Pillow Queen blasting out Liffey and with a whole host of people singing along as the sun goes down. Firstly, I hope that happens! But really, we have put so much into the whole experience of the one-day festivals. During the day there is theatre, storytelling, gong baths in the forest, gorgeous food and drinks as well as forest and lake walks and tours of the animal sanctuary. At night-time then we'll be settling under a gorgeous stretch tent to check out some of the incredible acts such as Cormac Begely, Soda Blonde, Pillow Queens, Maija Sophia and Dani Larkin.”