We’ve mentioned before on the blog that people can take some unusual paths in their working career and that’s certainly the case with our latest interviewee. Alan Anderson is a comedian, event organiser and sporting commentator. Despite this hectic schedule, we were able to catch up with him to ask a few questions about having such a diverse range of employment roles and how to turn your passion into your job.
Your current work slate is pretty diverse. Doing triathlon and cycling commentary work during the Commonwealth Games, performing your Whisky Comedian live show and putting on prestigious events like the Scottish Comedian of the Year Final. Yet none of these relate to what you studied at university, do they?
Nope. I studied architecture at Strathclyde and Manchester universities. I loved the academic study, but discovered I wasn’t very good at design or detailing. Ever since school I have been trying to subsidise my hobbies by organising coaches to the ski slopes or under 18 parties in local community centres. Event Management was never mentioned as a career choice. It was always just something I did on the sly to make a quick buck. Now it’s how I pay the mortgage and get to travel to events and festivals across the globe.
Which events are you most proud of having been involved in organising?
Glasgow Stands Up For The Clutha and the 3 Pistes Cycle Sportive are the two highlights of my event management career.
For the Clutha gig, raising so much money in so small a timescale and for such an emotional cause was unlike anything else I have ever been involved in previously. With so many people offering their services the organisation for it was a chaotic whirlwind of activity. It took 3 days to get the venue arranged, line up finalised and tickets on sale. Almost all of it was co-ordinated on Facebook, without which we would never have sold out in 5 hours.
Similarly, social media helped massively with the marketing aspect of the 3 Pistes Cycle Sportive. Sending 800 cyclists across a distance of 103 miles, that includes 6 mountains in the Cairngorms, sounds like a crazy idea that shouldn’t have caught on. Ten years ago it probably wouldn’t have caught on. However, Facebook, Twitter and online forums spread the word. At the finish line, I got more handshakes of congratulation from the riders than I got on my wedding day. Their feedback was 100% positive. That was better than a laugh from any joke.
Do you enjoy working across such a diverse range of projects or is the dream to eventually be able to focus on just one aspect?
Depending on my mood, I either get bored easily or stupidly over-obsessed with one subject, so having several different things on the boil at once means I can happily spread my concentration over different projects, without allowing myself to become bogged down or unmotivated. Financially, I think it’s wise to spread my work over a diverse range of projects. It means I am not dependent on the comedic whims of pub landlords, the public’s enjoyment of whisky or their continuing inspiration by the Brownlee brothers.
Don’t you ever find it difficult to switch between working onstage and working backstage?
My onstage persona is just an extension of my offstage one. Being a compere is basically being the host at a party and I want all my events to feel like big happy family gatherings.
How did your Commonwealth Games involvement come about?
I’m a member of Glasgow Triathlon Club. About 7 years ago they asked me to either stand in the rain and marshal for the annual triathlon at Strathclyde Park or stay dry and do the race announcing. I knew very little about the sport – truth be told, I still don’t – but I can talk for hours so I grabbed the microphone. Since then more and more event organisers have asked me to commentate on events ranging from Tweedlove Cycle Festival to the British Triathlon Championships to last year’s British Cycling National Road Race Championships in Glasgow, where I had to keep almost 20,000 spectators informed on the race situation and the tactics of David Millar, Mark Cavendish et al.
Would you advise other people to follow your model of turning your passions into your work?
Absolutely. There is no point in doing something you don’t enjoy. Thankfully, I don’t need to motivate myself to work because I am working with my passions.
What advice would you give to anybody wanting to be involved in event management?
Give yourself a good grounding in all aspects of event management. Become skilled with the technical side of things from setting up PA systems and lighting rigs to graphic design. Then, once you yourself are proficient at those tasks, become brilliant at delegation. But most important of all… on the day of a big event make sure you have a portable phone charger.
Did you turn your passion into your job? If so, we’d love to hear more about your experience through the comments section. To keep in touch with all of Alan’s activities, you can follow him on Twitter.
Alan Anderson photo: copyright Patrick McCullagh, supplied by Alan Anderson. Other image by Mmckinley, used under Creative Commons agreement.
