Hotbox Events
Encyclopedia
Hotbox Events is a company that recruits and manages staff and volunteers for UK festivals such as the Leeds Festival
, Reading Festival, Latitude Festival
and The Big Chill (music festival)
. Run by Mark Hatchard
and Rob Smith as a trading name of animation and design company Hotbox Studios, Hotbox Events works closely with Festival Republic to provide CAT (Campsite Assistant Teams) and HAT (Helpful Arena Teams), staff and volunteers to UK music festivals and events.
. Hatchard’s volunteers became known as CATs (Campsite Assistance Teams) and HATs (Helpful Arena Teams) and, after the success of Leeds Festival 2003, Hatchard was appointed as the festival’s Deputy Campsite Manager and asked to develop his staffing programme further.
In 2006, Hatchard was asked to supply staff and volunteers for Reading Festival and in 2008 Latitude Festival was also added to the list. By 2009, the venture had become so large that Hatchard’s existing company, Hotbox Studios, decided to officially launch Hotbox Events as a sister company.
For a number of years Hotbox Studios supplied Chillfest Limited – the company responsible for running The Big Chill festival – with recruitment software programme PAAM (see below). Hotbox Events was brought in to supply staff and volunteers to the event in 2010. The Big Chill brand was purchased by Festival Republic, which chose to work with Hotbox, after the festival branch of Chillfest Limited went into liquidation following poor ticket sales in 2009.
At present, thousands of volunteers give their time at UK music festivals every year as either CATs or HATs in return for a free entry ticket.
The programme, which is based on Cloud computing
and runs entirely over S/SL programming language
, consolidates pre-event, onsite and post-event admin. It was officially launched in 2007 and is now used by its clients to supply staff and volunteers at events including:
• Glastonbury Festival
-In December 2010 the two companies sponsored an unpaid helper at the Global Volunteer Network
in Panama
. Working in the western highlands of the country, the volunteer assisted children in need by lending a hand with the daily activities and duties in orphanages, working with teenage mothers and teaching English, among other things.
-Hotbox Events sponsored cyclists in the Gore Bike Wear TransWales Mountain Bike Event in Wales
in 2009 and the Nightrider12 event at Plymouth
in 2007. The latter event helped raise money for the Force Cancer Charity.
-In 2007, Hotbox Studios and Hotbox Events supplied online services to a two-person team which raised money for the Laksmi Ashram School in North India
by trekking to the Everest Base Camp
. The pair walked across Nepal
Himalaya for two weeks from Lukla
(the highest point that vehicles can access at 2,800m) until reaching the camp at 5,300m. After the trek, an ongoing pen-friend link was established between Ashram School and Holt School in Wokingham
.
-The company has also provided sponsorship for the Camping Club Youth (CCY) National Youth Rally. The not-for-profit organisation encourages young people to meet new friends and take part in a variety of challenges and sporting activities.
Leeds Festival
Leeds Festival may refer to:*Reading and Leeds Festivals , a rock music festival in Leeds , West Yorkshire, England*Leeds Festival , European classical music festival in Leeds...
, Reading Festival, Latitude Festival
Latitude Festival
The Latitude Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Henham Park, Southwold, Suffolk, England. It was first held in July 2006....
and The Big Chill (music festival)
The Big Chill (music festival)
The Big Chill is an annual festival of alternative, dance and chill-out music and comedy, held in the grounds of Eastnor Castle during early August...
. Run by Mark Hatchard
Mark Hatchard
Mark Hatchard is a director of the Hotbox Studios animation and design company and is involved with the contemporary arts and music festival group, Festival Republic, through Hotbox Studios' sister company Hotbox Events...
and Rob Smith as a trading name of animation and design company Hotbox Studios, Hotbox Events works closely with Festival Republic to provide CAT (Campsite Assistant Teams) and HAT (Helpful Arena Teams), staff and volunteers to UK music festivals and events.
History
After working at festivals in various roles since the early 1990s with DC Site Services Ltd (DCSS), Mark Hatchard essentially started Hotbox Events in 2003 when he was recruited by senior members of Festival Republic to supervise a small group of volunteers at the Leeds Festival in YorkshireYorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
. Hatchard’s volunteers became known as CATs (Campsite Assistance Teams) and HATs (Helpful Arena Teams) and, after the success of Leeds Festival 2003, Hatchard was appointed as the festival’s Deputy Campsite Manager and asked to develop his staffing programme further.
In 2006, Hatchard was asked to supply staff and volunteers for Reading Festival and in 2008 Latitude Festival was also added to the list. By 2009, the venture had become so large that Hatchard’s existing company, Hotbox Studios, decided to officially launch Hotbox Events as a sister company.
For a number of years Hotbox Studios supplied Chillfest Limited – the company responsible for running The Big Chill festival – with recruitment software programme PAAM (see below). Hotbox Events was brought in to supply staff and volunteers to the event in 2010. The Big Chill brand was purchased by Festival Republic, which chose to work with Hotbox, after the festival branch of Chillfest Limited went into liquidation following poor ticket sales in 2009.
At present, thousands of volunteers give their time at UK music festivals every year as either CATs or HATs in return for a free entry ticket.
PAAM
As Hotbox became more involved with staffing events, the increasing admin demands of everything from recruitment to timetabling inspired Hotbox Studios to create a software programme to help manage the task. Beginning as a simple online application form in 2001, the PAAM (Personnel Application, Administration and Management) programme is now used to recruit and organise thousands of staff and volunteers over more than 30 of the biggest events and festivals in the UK.The programme, which is based on Cloud computing
Cloud computing
Cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility over a network ....
and runs entirely over S/SL programming language
S/SL programming language
The Syntax/Semantic Language is an executable high level specification language for recursive descent parsers, semantic analyzers and code generators developed by James Cordy, Ric Holt and David Wortman at the University of Toronto in 1980....
, consolidates pre-event, onsite and post-event admin. It was officially launched in 2007 and is now used by its clients to supply staff and volunteers at events including:
• Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
• Wireless FestivalWireless FestivalThe Wireless Festival is a music festival in England that takes place every year in Hyde Park, London, and took place at Harewood House, Leeds in 2006 and 2007. It is owned and managed by Live Nation....
• Latitude Festival
• Download FestivalDownload FestivalThe Download Festival is a three day rock music festival held annually at Donington Park, England . It usually takes place in June...
• Leeds Festival
• Reading Festival
• Red Bull Air Race
• T in the ParkT in the ParkT in the Park is a major British music festival that has been held annually since 1994. It is named after its main sponsor, the brewing company Tennents. It was originally held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire but since 1997 has been held at a disused airfield in Balado, Kinross-shire...
• Taste Festivals
• NASS
• Isle of Wight FestivalIsle of Wight FestivalThe Isle of Wight Festival is a music festival which takes place every year on the Isle of Wight in England. It was originally held from 1968 to 1970. These original events were promoted and organised by the Foulk brothers under the banner of their company Fiery Creations Limited...
• Global GatheringGlobal GatheringGlobalGathering is an annual dance music festival by Angel Music Group. Festivals are held in countries such as the UK, Poland, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and feature leading electronica artists from across the globe...
• The Big Chill
• The Green Man Festival
• BBC Proms in the Park
Sponsorship and Charity
Hotbox Events often joins with its sister company Hotbox Studios to offer sponsorship for charity events.-In December 2010 the two companies sponsored an unpaid helper at the Global Volunteer Network
Global volunteer network
The is a private NGO based in Wellington, New Zealand and offers volunteer opportunities in community projects throughout the world. GVN’s vision is to support the work of local community organizations in developing countries through the placement of international volunteers...
in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
. Working in the western highlands of the country, the volunteer assisted children in need by lending a hand with the daily activities and duties in orphanages, working with teenage mothers and teaching English, among other things.
-Hotbox Events sponsored cyclists in the Gore Bike Wear TransWales Mountain Bike Event in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
in 2009 and the Nightrider12 event at Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
in 2007. The latter event helped raise money for the Force Cancer Charity.
-In 2007, Hotbox Studios and Hotbox Events supplied online services to a two-person team which raised money for the Laksmi Ashram School in North India
North India
North India, known natively as Uttar Bhārat or Shumālī Hindustān , is a loosely defined region in the northern part of India. The exact meaning of the term varies by usage...
by trekking to the Everest Base Camp
Everest Base Camp
There are two base camps on opposite sides of Mount Everest. South Base Camp is in Nepal at an altitude of , and North Base Camp is in Tibet at ). These camps are rudimentary campsites on Mount Everest that are used by mountain climbers during their ascent and descent...
. The pair walked across Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
Himalaya for two weeks from Lukla
Lukla
Lukla is a town in the Khumbu area of the Solukhumbu District in the Sagarmatha Zone of north-eastern Nepal. Situated at , it is a popular place for visitors to the Himalayas near Mount Everest to arrive...
(the highest point that vehicles can access at 2,800m) until reaching the camp at 5,300m. After the trek, an ongoing pen-friend link was established between Ashram School and Holt School in Wokingham
Wokingham
Wokingham is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire in South East England about west of central London. It is about east-southeast of Reading and west of Bracknell. It spans an area of and, according to the 2001 census, has a population of 30,403...
.
-The company has also provided sponsorship for the Camping Club Youth (CCY) National Youth Rally. The not-for-profit organisation encourages young people to meet new friends and take part in a variety of challenges and sporting activities.
External links
- Hotbox Events Company website
- Hotbox Studios Company website
- Mark Hatchard Personal photography website
- DC Site Services Company website
- Festival Republic Company website
- Leeds Festival Official website
- Reading Festival Official website
- Latitude Festival Official website
- The Big Chill Festival Official website
- Glastonbury Festival Official website
- PAAM Company website
- Wireless Festival Official website
- Download Festival Official website
- Red Bull Air Race Official website
- T In The Park Official website
- NASS Festival Official website
- Isle of Wight Festival Official website
- Global Gathering Official website
- Green Man Festival Official website
- BBC Proms Official website
- Global Volunteer Network Official website
- Gore Bike Wear Company website