Planners in the Spotlight: A Q&A with the Artcraft’s Events Crew

Our events crew at the 2024 Sponsorship Party
(L to R) Linda Bielawski, Kim Moss, Kelly Henthorne, Jaime Shilts

Behind the velvet curtain, the show never stops. While you may not always see all the members of the Artcraft crew when you attend a showing, you’ve definitely appreciated the meticulous planning and attention to detail that makes every event at The Historic Artcraft Theatre a success.
 
Much of that planning falls to our dedicated events crew, led by Jamie Shilts, the Director of Events, along with Kim Moss, Kelly Henthorne, and Westley Felton. Planning and executing roughly 110 events a year, including field trips, private rentals, and classic Bingo nights, this team keeps busy year-round! Each of them plays a vital role, from planning meetings and setting up to running important aspects of each event alongside volunteers.
 
Today, we’re inviting you to peek behind the curtain and get to know the team who brings events at the Artcraft to life. We sat down for a Q&A with a few of the members of the Artcraft’s event staff!

Q: Walk us through the life cycle of an event. What's the very first thing that happens when you decide to host a new event, and what's the last thing you do after the audience leaves?
Jamie: There’s lots and lots of research before we even begin. We study what other groups have done, talk to other organizations, and decide from there what we are doing and how to do it. Depending on the size of the event, there may be a committee to help with the design and implementation. We collapse after the audience leaves!
 
Q: What is your favorite event to host?
 Kim: I love the field trips that we do for the pre-k or kindergarten classes. When the credits roll at the end of a kid movie, there is always a fun song. I love watching them dance in the aisles.
 
Kelly: In real life, I’m a book editor and an avid recreational reader, so I LOVE the author events. I’ve discovered some new favorite authors through the events and certainly have grown my collection of books. I also enjoy Bingo nights, but that might be because I get to have a microphone in my hand all night.
 
Westley: I have really enjoyed the various author events we have hosted at the Artcraft. 

The newest member of our events crew, Westley Felton

Q: What is one small detail in an event that the audience likely never notices, but that makes a massive difference to the final product?
Kelly: Making the client happy. If it’s a rental event, that means that the person who is paying to use our venue is satisfied. The people attending might not notice at that time, but not stressing out the renter and ensuring they are relaxed and happy usually means that the event is successful, that concessions purchases are up, and in the case of author events, that they want to return on their next book tour.
 
Q: Finish this sentence: "An event is a success when..."
Westley: Someone who has never attended an event at the Artcraft comes to their first one, has such a good time, and starts coming to other events!
 
Q: What's the one type of event that you haven't hosted yet but you’d love to bring to the Artcraft?
Jamie: Broadway Singalong Night
 
Q: What are your essential “tools of the trade” that you need to prepare for a successful event? (e.g., a great cup of coffee from Main and Madison, your trustee notebook, etc.)
Kelly: For anything—event, movie, meeting, walking to the car—I need caffeine, usually in the form of Diet or Zero Dew. In my case, if I’m going solo, I need that event form with all the details. But, as a part-timer, I usually just need to listen to Jaime, anticipate what she wants me to do as much as possible, and free her up to deal with the client by answering as many questions from volunteers who are helping out as I can.
 
Q: Where do you rely on the local community or volunteers to make your events
successful?
Kim: I think it’s fun to have Greeks Pizza here for our book events and Bingo. We also have amazing volunteers! I don’t think there’s another theatre that can get 600 people through the concession line in 1 hour.
 
Q: What do you love most about planning events for the Artcraft?
Jamie: I love the variety in our work. Every day is different!
 
Kim: I’ll be in one of the meetings and think “this idea is so awesomely crazy, there is no way we could do this,” and then we have our different planning committees that pull it off. We always “go bigger and better” each time. There’s a lot of thinking outside of the box.
 
Kelly: I love having some input in the planning for Artcraft-sponsored events, but the best part is the team. They are great to work with and certainly make the events more enjoyable.
 
Westley: I love that every event is unique.