Advancing Isn’t Just a “Big Venue” Problem

Running Smoother Shows with Smaller Teams: A New Approach to Artist Advancing

“Advancing” means confirming all event details with your artists, venue, and crew before gig day so everyone arrives prepared. This isn’t a luxury for stadiums, even a 100-capacity venue needs to make sure sound, backline, tech riders and hospitality are all sorted in advance. The hard truth is that small venue teams juggle these tasks with the same stakes: missing a detail can derail a show. Despite this, it’s easy to think “we’re too small for formal advancing”. In reality, small teams often suffer as much as big ones from last-minute scrambles. The point is, advancing isn’t just a big-venue problem, every gig benefits when the paperwork and communication are handled right.

The Reality on the Ground: What Artist Advancing Looks Like Without a System

In most grassroots venues today, advancing happens via a patchwork of tools. One person might use an Excel sheet for bookings, a WhatsApp group for tech questions, and email for contracts, none of which talk to each other. In practice, this leads to common frustrations. Teams frequently find themselves:

 

• Chasing details across multiple platforms: WhatsApp, email, SMS and DMs.
• Scrambling to find info at the last minute: trying to confirm times or rider items only hours before load-in.
• Storing bits of data in random notes or spreadsheets: no single reference point to look up gear lists or contact details.
• Fixing avoidable problems on show day: often realising only on arrival that someone needed a specific input or backline equipment that wasn’t on any list.

 

This chaos is familiar to many small venue crews, we often found ourselves in a position with techs or managers scrolling through messages or email chains trying to find out what was required.In short, without a dedicated system, artist advancing becomes a scramble of fragmented communications and manual updates. The result is wasted time and stress right when teams should be focused on running the show.

Bottlenecks, Bandwidth, and Broken Communication

Why does this happen? Three root causes quickly emerge. Bottlenecks: Often one person ends up the de facto “hub” for all advance info. If they’re handling ticketing or organising the guestlist at the door, advancing details wait. Bandwidth: Small teams simply have limited resources. A promoter, tech and bar manager might all be the same two people. Adding advancing chores to day-of duties stretches everyone too thin. Broken communication: When info is scattered, it inevitably gets dropped. An updated rider might reach the manager but not the sound engineer, or a changed load-in time might be missed in the chat. In practice, this fragmentation means critical details fall through the cracks.

Stage Portal research confirms this pattern: centralising all show data in one system “eliminates the stress of juggling multiple spreadsheets and disconnected systems”. In other words, the symptoms of a broken, manual process are exactly what our tool is built to fix. In our experience at grassroots venues, we’ve often seen a simple change, putting everything in one place, turn confusion into clarity. Resulting in not just time saving but the ability to grow the venue without having to drastically grow the team.

Why Standardising Artist Info Was the First Thing We Solved

When we set out to help venues, we realised the first breakthrough was standardisation. Instead of chasing missing details, Stage Portal enforces a uniform format for artist info,: rider specs, stage plot, setlist, contact details, etc. This means every act submits the same type of information every time, which they have pre built using the artist platform. As a result, venues “get clear, standardised rider info” without endless spreadsheets, folders, pdfs, message and email threads. In one fell swoop, this cuts out a ton of back-and-forth.

For example, our venue clients see features like:

These changes make a huge difference. Suddenly there’s no guessing what an artist needs,  it’s all captured. No one has to hunt down forgotten info or patch together notes from multiple sources. The confusion of inconsistent info gives way to a situation where everyone “knows exactly what to expect”. You can say goodbye to stressful soundchecks where the time is spent fire fighting instead of creating an amazing sound. 

A Smarter System for Small Teams

With the basics standardised, Stage Portal offers several practical tools to streamline the advancing process:

Centralised show dashboard: Each gig has a single page with all info (date, venue, artists, set times, fees). Everyone on your team (promoter, sound tech, bar manager) sees the same data in real time. This prevents double-bookings and misplaced updates.

Shared production schedules: The sound engineer, lighting tech and other crew members all access the show schedule online. They immediately see set orders, durations and any special notes,  no one arrives in the dark.

Rider and stage plot repository: Rather than email PDFs, bands build their tech riders and stage plots into the system. This makes “show setup 100 times smoother,” as one guide notes, because the tech team can prep in advance.

Together, these features give small teams the tools of a large operation. Everyone has exactly the details they need at their fingertips. No more frantic group texts or one person frantically copying info mid-shift. Instead, the info flows automatically, load-ins happen when they should, the right amp is onstage, and even a part-time promoter can rest easy knowing the band’s input list is under control. 

What Changes When You Solve This One Problem

Once advancing is handled by a system, the effects ripple through the event. Routine tasks happen in the background, freeing your team for more important work. In practice, that means:

Put bluntly, fixing advancing transforms the whole operation. In numbers, venues using Stage Portal report saving hours per gig on admin and having more time for value-adding tasks. Small teams can even run more shows with the same staff, because time isn’t wasted chasing details. The result is a virtuous cycle: better gigs lead to happier audiences and artists, which in turn drives repeat business. 

“But We’re Too Small for a Tool Like This”

One of the biggest myths is that grassroots venues don’t need software or can only afford generic tools such as Google Drive. In fact, the opposite is true: when resources are thin, tools like Stage Portal offer even more leverage. 

You don’t need a large staff to benefit, the same straightforward platform can solve the problems that have caused issues for years. (We’ve spoken to countless small venue owners who were thought the struggle was part of the industry, only to wonder afterwards how they managed without the platform.) In short, you might think you’re too small, but this tool exists exactly because small venues face big challenges on a tiny scale.

For Smoother Shows Start with Smarter Advancing

Every independent venue manager, booker or co-ordinator knows that the details are what make or break a gig. The good news is that you don’t have to just grin and bear it with spreadsheets and endless messages. By standardising your advancing process, collecting artist data consistently and keeping your team in sync, you start turning chaos into control. As one owner shared:

Stage Portal has completely transformed the way we manage our bookings and connect with performers. what used to be a time consuming process of messages, calls and endless back and forth is now streamlined into an easy to use platform.

That kind of result is achievable for any venue, big or small. Smoother shows truly begin with smarter advancing, and the right tools can help your small team punch well above its weight. Embracing a unified advance system cuts stress, saves time, and ultimately means everyone can focus on what matters most: putting on a great gig.