BDB Event Agency Skill

The agency-ops layer for Hybridlabor Global — the business and production-coordination side of running an event company. This skill owns everything that happens before, around, and after the show. It does not own the technical execution itself.

Techniques adapted from talkvalue/event-agency-skills (Apache-2.0). Prose only — no upstream code, no scripts, no dependencies.

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1. Routing Table

Task	Route to
Signal flow, protocol binding, OSC/DMX, hardware limits, MCP orchestration	godmode-eventtech
Live show architecture brainstorming, creative direction	bdbmediastorm
Lighting cue execution, patch, playback	bdb-grandma3-mcp
Video clip, layer, and output control	bdb-resolume-mcp
3D scene, render, spatial build	godmode-3d-creation
Client intake, scoping, budget, scheduling, vendor, crew, pre-show logistics, post-show wrap	stay in this skill

Boundary rule: if the question is "what should this look like" or "what signal goes where", route out. If it is "who is bringing it, what did they promise, and what happens when they don't", it stays here. This skill never issues a technical execution instruction — it routes.

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2. Client & Project Intake

An event request is not a booking until these are known. Anything guessed here becomes a change order later.

Required fields before committing

Field	Why it is required	If missing
Date (and whether date or time is flexible)	Drives every downstream deadline in this skill	Cannot scope. Ask first.
Venue (named, or shortlist with constraints)	Venue holds all vendor access; determines power, load-in window, noise curfew	Cannot plan load-in or vendor sequencing
Brief — what must happen, who must be in the room	Distinguishes an event from a venue rental	Ask: "What does success look like when the last guest leaves?"
Budget range — a band, not a number	Drives the action policy: which classes are never vs criteria	Do not quote. Scope verbally only.
Technical rider	AV, staging, power, network, FOH position	Route to godmode-eventtech for feasibility
Attendance estimate	Drives catering counts, staffing, registration, capacity	Cannot close catering or staffing
Client contact + decision authority	Who can actually say yes	Every later "we'll confirm" is a no

Scoping questions to ask before any commitment

1. Who signs? Not "the client" — a name. The person who can approve a change order on show day.
2. What is non-negotiable? Date, venue, budget, talent, or brand. Everything else is negotiable; know which one is not.
3. What has been promised already, in writing, to anyone? Sponsors and speakers hold commitments that predate you.
4. What is the failure mode we are least able to absorb? Late AV is a catastrophe; late florals are an inconvenience. Escalation urgency (§4) follows from this answer.
5. Is there a technical rider yet? If not, that is a Phase 0 action, not a show-week action.

Scope statement rule

Produce a written scope before any deposit. It must name: date, venue, attendance band, the ten action classes with their modes (default-deny — see .aos/factory.yaml), what is explicitly out of scope, and the change-order trigger. A scope without an out-of-scope list will be expanded by the client by default.

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3. Inbox Triage

Run this at the start of a working day on an active event, before a production meeting, or after time away. It produces a point-in-time snapshot, not a live feed.

Stakeholder classification

Type	Key signals	Default tier
Vendor	AV, catering, security, decor, transport, staffing, rentals, print	2
Client	Contracting organisation, corporate domain, C-suite/VP	2
Sponsor	Activation budget or in-kind contribution — distinct from the client even when the client also sponsors	3
Speaker	Bureau domain, rider, session, keynote, bio/headshot request	3
Venue	Hotel, convention centre, outdoor site, venue coordinator, venue-employed catering manager	2
Internal	Own domain, team aliases, automated notifications	3

When a thread is ambiguous, default to the type with the higher production impact: Vendor > Venue > Speaker for operational threads.

Priority tiers

Tier	Label	Response window	Criteria
1	Immediate	1–2 hours	Blocked deliverable, payment deadline within 48h, client waiting on confirmation, venue or vendor escalation, load-in unresolved within 72h of the event
2	Today	Business hours	Advancing information requests, assets for review, draft approvals, speaker logistics more than 72h out
3	Tracking	None	FYIs, confirmations of receipt, vendor acknowledgements, threads you are CC'd on

Temporal override rules — apply before finalising tiers

These override the table above:

• Any vendor email mentioning load-in, install, delivery window, or rider compliance is Tier 1 if the event is within 14 days.
• Any client email containing a question in subject or body is Tier 1.
• Any Tier 1 thread with no outbound reply in 24h+ escalates to flagged regardless of its original tier.

Rationale: the tier table is a prior. The overrides exist because the failure mode of event email is a request that looked like an FYI and was not one.

Output shape

A dated digest containing: event name, timestamp, event phase, period covered, counts per tier, then the tier-1 and tier-2 threads with the specific action each needs and who owns it. Every extracted action item must be one of:

• [OUR ACTION] — a commitment we made, with a date
• [AWAITING] — a commitment someone else made, with a date
• [APPROVAL NEEDED] — a decision only the client can make

Never mix these three. An action with no owner is not an action item.

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4. Vendor Management

Track existing vendor commitments and deliverables. This skill does not source vendors, negotiate contracts, or process payments.

Vendor types, lead times, and failure impact

Type	Typical lead time	Failure impact
AV / Technical	2–4 weeks	Critical — no AV, no event
Venue	Contracted months ahead	Critical — venue holds all vendor access
Catering / F&B	2–3 weeks (final count 72h)	High — dietary and count changes cascade
Transport / Logistics	1–2 weeks	High — gear and people movement
Security	1–2 weeks	High — compliance and safety
Entertainment / Talent	Rider-dependent	High — contracted, non-fungible
Decor / Floral	1–2 weeks	Medium — visual, not operational
Staffing Agencies	1–2 weeks	Medium — replaceable if flagged early
Signage / Print	5–10 business days	Medium — wayfinding and branding
Rentals	1 week	Medium — tables, chairs, linens

Phase-based urgency

Urgency is relative to event proximity, never absolute time. The same 48-hour silence is fine in month one and a production risk in advance week.

Phase	Window	Overdue threshold	Escalation speed
Normal	T-30 and out	48h no response	Standard: email → wait → follow-up
Planning	T-30 to T-8	24h no response	Accelerated: email → same-day follow-up
Advance	T-7 to T-2	12h no response	Urgent: email → phone within 4h
Load-in	T-1	2h no response	Emergency: phone immediately, escalate to production lead
Show day	T-0	1h no response	Emergency: phone + contingency activation

Item status taxonomy

Status	Meaning
OVERDUE	Past deadline, no confirmation
AT RISK	Deadline approaching, last contact exceeds the phase threshold
ON TRACK	Confirmed, or within the normal response window
BLOCKED	Waiting on us, not the vendor

BLOCKED items are the most important row in the table and are routinely under-reported. When a vendor is waiting on our headcount, floor plan, or approval, that is our team's problem. Surface it first.

Escalation path

Attempt	AV / Venue / Catering	Decor / Signage / Rentals	Staffing / Transport
1st	Follow-up email quoting the original request	Follow-up email	Follow-up email
2nd	Phone the account manager within 4h	Phone next business day	Phone next business day
3rd	Escalate to production lead + contingency research	Source a backup vendor	Source a backup vendor

On show day: skip email entirely. Phone or in-person only. Never send a follow-up email on T-0.

Drafting rules for vendor follow-ups

• Reference the specific original request or deliverable — not "following up on my last email".
• State the deadline explicitly.
• Ask for a specific confirmation ("Can you confirm delivery by 14 March?"), not an open question.
• No guilt, no pressure. Vendors respond better to clarity than to escalation tone.
• For a phone call, prepare: vendor name, account manager, the specific item, the deadline and why it matters, and the fallback question — "If the original plan isn't possible, what's the alternative?"

Budget and invoice context

Age	Status	Action
Within terms	Current	None
1–30 days	Nudge	Friendly reminder — assume oversight
31–60 days	Firm request	Direct ask with date and amount
60+ days	Escalation	Account lead; consider late fee or hold

Variance alerts: Venue 5% over (largest single line, small % = big dollars), Catering 10% (per-head counts fluctuate), Marketing 15% (most flexible), Contingency 0% drawn before T-14 (should not be touched), all others 10%.

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5. Production Coordination

5.1 Pre-production

Site survey — non-negotiable for any first-time venue. Record: power distribution and available amperage by area, network drops and their throughput, load-in vehicle access and dock dimensions, door widths for the largest scenic element, FOH position and sightlines, noise curfew, and rigging points with their load ratings. Route the technical read to godmode-eventtech — this skill records the findings and flags blockers, it does not validate the signal plan.

Paperwork gate. Nothing loads in without: certificate of insurance (COI) from every vendor on site, venue access permits, and crew credentials. These are the most common cause of a T-1 access failure.

Run-of-show (ROS) is the single coordination artefact. One document, versioned, owned by the production lead, distributed to every vendor. It defines: load-in window and sequence, soundcheck, doors, show start, each cue block, and load-out. A conflict discovered in the ROS is cheap. A conflict discovered at the dock is not.

Speaker materials — deadline framework:

Milestone	Due	Deliverables
D-30	Bio (25 / 50 / 100-word variants, third person) + headshot (min 300×300px)
D-21	Session abstract (75 words, attendee-focused), learning outcomes, AV requirements
D-14	Final slide deck, event template applied
D-7	Travel, hotel, ground transport, dietary and accessibility requirements
D-1	Attendance and schedule confirmed

Learning outcomes use action verbs only — implement, apply, build, create, deploy, evaluate, identify, master. Never: explore, discuss, learn about, understand, discover, dive into, unpack.

Banned in any bio or session description: thought leader, visionary, guru, passionate about, world-class, cutting-edge, revolutionary, groundbreaking, leverage, synergize, transformative, innovative. Replace with specific numbers, named clients, measurable outcomes, concrete credentials.

5.2 Day-of flow

Phase	Anchor	What must be true to advance
Load-in	T-1 or earlier	COI and permits verified per vendor, power patched and tested, ROS sequence confirmed with the dock
Soundcheck	Fixed slot, never "when ready"	Line check done, cue stack loaded, FOH and monitors positioned, walk-through with the client if contracted
Doors	Published start	House open, accessibility routes clear, front-of-house briefed on the ROS
Show	Per cue block	Production lead confirms each block against the ROS; deviations logged, not improvised
Strike	After clearance	Equipment accounted for against the load-in manifest, rentals checked out before the truck leaves

The strike manifest is the load-in manifest. Count on the way in, count on the way out. Rentals left on site are invoiced at loss.

5.3 Post-show wrap

Within 72 hours of strike:

• Debrief — what worked, what did not, what nearly failed. Blameless, specific, and it feeds the next ROS.
• Invoice triggers — headcount actuals vs. quoted, rental shortfalls, overtime hours, damage claims. Capture while the evidence exists.
• Thank-you and forward look — personalised, referencing what the attendee actually did, not a broadcast.
• Asset archiving — recorded content, photography, final ROS, run sheets, and the vendor contact list with performance notes, filed where the next production can find them.
• Vendor performance note per vendor — this is the input to §4's escalation tiers for the next event. A vendor who delivered three times running is not escalated on the first silence.

5.4 Post-event reporting

Performance tiers: Exceeded (beat goal by 10%+ on primary metrics), Met (within 10%), Missed (more than 10% below on one or more), Mixed (hit some, missed others — say which and why).

Report structure: performance summary → what worked (with evidence) → what did not (with likely cause) → key insights (each tied to a data point) → specific recommendations for the next event → sponsor ROI if applicable.

Channel attribution is inherently imperfect — most attendees meet several touchpoints before registering. Report it honestly, acknowledge mixed sources, and never over-credit a single channel.

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6. Verification

• Every event is classified into a phase (Normal / Planning / Advance / Load-In / Show Day) and that classification is stated, not assumed.
• Urgency thresholds are applied relative to event proximity, not absolute days.
• Every BLOCKED item names our team as owner — no BLOCKED item is left attributed to a vendor.
• Technical execution questions were routed to godmode-eventtech / bdbmediastorm rather than answered from this skill.
• No signal-flow, protocol, hardware-limit, or cue-execution instruction was issued from this skill.
• COI, permits, and crew credentials are confirmed before load-in, per vendor.
• The run-of-show is versioned, distributed, and owned by the production lead.
• Speaker materials are checked against the D-30 / D-21 / D-14 / D-7 / D-1 framework.
• Banned fluff words are absent from every bio, abstract, and session description.
• On show day, no vendor follow-up was sent by email.
• The strike manifest reconciles against the load-in manifest.
• Invoice triggers captured within 72 hours of strike.
• Attribution figures are presented with their acknowledged uncertainty.
• No upstream script, Python file, or Composio tool dependency was added.