Duty Manager Training Guide

Introduction

This page will include information for trainee Duty Managers on what they should be learning in their training. This should compliment details contained within the Trainee DM Booklet. Don't be scared by the length of this article - you'll learn almost all of this during your in-show training - this is here to act as a back up if you're uncertain on any detail!

The most important thing to remember though is that as a screening's Duty Manager, you are in charge. It is your show and all you have to do is use some common sense, keep safety in mind and have a presence. During both your training and post-qualification, there will be other qualified DMs around or accessible to help you.

Float Checking

We usually ask that trainee DMs turn up to screenings 45 minutes in advance of the scheduled start time - this allows for extra preparation prior to the stewards turning up.

Before your stewards arrive, you should have time to check the floats. They are kept in the DM cupboard in the Exec office. The key is on the labelled tag in the key box in the corridor, the qualified DM will have a key to this box. You should keep the DM cupboard key with you during the film as you'll probably need it a number of times. Make sure that the DM cupboard is locked when you're not using it as there is a large amount of cash and other valuable equipment in there. Check that each of the two floats contain £100 and that there is a good mix of notes and coins, if not then use the space change box which is also in the DM cupboard.

Health and Safety

Check that the fire exits at the bottom of L3 are clear, make sure that there is nothing blocking either side (inside or out) of the doors and that the inner doors can be opened from the inside simply by pushing them. Be careful not to lock yourself out whilst inspecting the fire doors!

Stewards

Stewards are very important to the society, you wouldn't believe how difficult it is to run a show on your own! Generally the Stewards won't arrive together - some of the extremely keen ones may even be there before you are - so keep an eye out whilst you're setting up. Make sure you introduce yourself to them when they arrive and make sure they know to ask you if they have any problems at any point during the show. When they first arrive, the most useful thing to get them to do is to help clear up any litter in L3.

You should have three or four Stewards signed up for the film (you can check who they are on the rota). If you don't then it's a good idea to recruit any Crew who have come to watch the film; most of them will be happy to help out.

You will need to check your Stewards' levels of experience; if they've done fewer than three shows then they have a smiley face next to their name on the rota and you'll probably need to spend a bit more time with them. Check how many films they've done before and that they've all had a go at selling tickets and being on the door; if not then try to give them a job they haven't done.

If they're completely new then obviously you will need to explain everything in relation to the role they end up doing on the night - if you can get an 'Off-duty' DM to supervise them on the tills, then this provides a good opportunity for them to learn our system.

Other important things to remind your stewards include:

• The fire evacuation procedure
• What to do if we have a wheelchair user
• That we don't allow hot food, hot drinks, alcohol or popcorn in L3.

Projectionist Communication

If there isn't a Projectionist present approximately half an hour prior to the advertised start time and you don't know who it is supposed to be then check on the rota. Their contact details should be online and you can give them a call to see what's going on. If you can't get hold of them then first see whether there are any other Projectionists around for the show. If there are then it's worth asking them whether they're willing and able to cover the show.

If this isn't possible then call the Chief Projectionist (number also on the website) and try to arrange cover, either by you ringing some Projectionists or by the Chief Proj doing so and then ringing you back by a set time to let you know what's going on. Use your common sense at this point.

You need to talk to the Projectionist regularly throughout the preparation for the show:

• As soon as you see the projectionist, you'll want to check that the film is ok and that there are no major technical problems that would prevent the screening from starting on time.
• Another important thing to check is the length of the Ads and Trailers reel; it should normally be about 20 minutes long but can vary. Knowing what the first and last trailers are can help to ensure that you can be inside when the film starts.
• Find out whether the film is subtitled so that you can put out the appropriate signs to make the audience aware, and so you know if you're asked. Bear in mind that there is almost always a trainee Projectionist and you should talk to them instead of the qualified projectionist unless informed otherwise by the qualified projectionist.

You must also check that the projectionist is happy for you to start selling tickets (this will usually be yes, unless there are any significant technical problems or issues with the film).

Other important things prior to ticket selling

If there are any Crew members around, check if any of them want to stay to watch the film, if they do then you can either print them out a ticket when you first set up or ask them to come and get one in a bit (the first option is nicer and probably easier).

Check that your Stewards have picked up all the litter from within the lecture theatre.

Also have a check to see how many broken seats there are as we obviously can't sell tickets for the broken ones. If there are more than ten broken ones then it's probably worth reducing the number of tickets you sell for the show. Also make sure that there are enough seats on the balcony for you and your Stewards, if not then the 'B' rooms on the Science Concourse are a good source, just remember to put them back after the show.

Place the 'Row Reserved' signs at each end of the middle section of the back row of the theatre (these will be in the Chief DM's tray in the exec office) - this reduces the chance of people obstucting the line of projection.

Put the Comments box, paper and a couple of pens on the right hand desk on the balcony.

Take the two door stops from the Chief DMs tray - one can be used immediately to prop open the 'inside' door to the balcony and the other will be used on the outside door once the audience is permitted to enter.

Setting-up the Tills

When you leave WSC's rooms to go outside, and any time you come back in, make sure that the corridor door into L3 is closed, this not only looks neater but stops people wandering in. Take the three (or two for a show which you expect to be quiet) flight cases along with the two float boxes out with you. Get the stewards to carry the flight cases outside, but make sure they only do so if they feel comfortable (the cases can be quite heavy for some people). As Duty Manager, you are responsible for the money, so should only let a steward carry the floats if wholly necessary. Whilst setting up the trolleys and tills, it is best to place the floats under the trolleys - to keep them out of view.

Once outside, set up the laptops and ask the stewards to log in to the filmsoc page so that they can sell tickets. At very busy screenings, we generally only sell Memberships from the till nearest the window as this helps to cut down on the queue, make sure that the Stewards are aware of this (you'll have to announce it to the people in the queue in a bit). If you have enough Stewards then it's generally worth paring them up so one can use the laptop whilst the other deals with the money. It can also be a good idea to sort out who you're going to get to do the door and if you expect the show to be reasonably busy then ask them to go and stand by the door to stop people going in.

Before commencing ticket sales, it is advisable to put up the signs on the right hand corridor doors - these are usually located in one of the black trolleys on which we place the tills. The signs saying 'Please wait here until the doors are open' and 'No hot food, hot drink, popcorn or alcohol' should be attached (via Blu-tack) to the outside doors. The sign prohibiting the use of any recording equipment is placed on the unopened inside door, facing towards the outside door.

Most Stewards will either have done a show before or been to a Steward training session so should be familiar with how the system works but it's always a good idea to check. Remind them that if they have any problems then they should ask you (or another DM, or a more experienced Steward if it's a question about how to use the system).

To enable the stewards to sell tickets, you will need to activate it in the EPOS system. Full details of this can be found in EPOS for DMs.

During ticket selling

Once set-up, the floats are placed in between the tills, ensuring never to have a float at the 'open' end of the line.

Whilst the Stewards are selling tickets, remember to keep an eye on the floats. Make sure that any excess notes are put under the trays, keep the box lids on the queue side, and ensure the floats are closed when not in use. If you get desperate for change then there is a spare change box in the DM cupboard which you can use. Just remember to make sure that you put in the amount you take out.

As a general policy, we do not accept £50 notes due to the frequency of fakes and the problems it causes with change.

If it is a busy show or a queue develops for another reason then you may have to make announcements to the people in the queue. Ask them to:

• Make sure that they have their University cards ready
• To queue by the windows for membership
• To have exact change ready where possible, etc.

It may also be necessary to tell people that you're close to selling out (the number of tickets sold/available are displayed on the EPOS system) and that there may not be enough tickets for the whole queue. If there's a late show of the same film, remind them of this and hopefully some of them will come back later. Make sure you sound confident and everything should run smoothly, it's a lot easier to shout from the desk than walk down the queue repeating yourself over and over again.

Letting the Audience into L3

Generally, the earlier you open the doors the better as it helps to reduce any queueing outside L3. The time at which you let people in to L3 will be determined by how busy the show is and whether the Projectionist is ready.

Always check with the Projectionist before you open the door to make sure that everything is technically ready. As a last check there should be:

• Slides on screen
• Music playing
• The lights should be at a suitable level (ie you can see but it's dark enough to see the screen clearly).

However, these details are for the projectionist to confirm, not the DM.

Once it is confirmed that you can let the audience in, prop open the outside door with the second doorstop and talk to the Steward who is going to be on the door. If they are relatively new, explain to them that they need to check that the ticket is for the relevant screening and then tear the ticket. Also provide them with A5 publicity fliers if they are available, to distribute whilst checking the tickets.

Unless you are sure that the steward already knows this, remind them not to let anyone into L3 with hot food, hot drink, alcohol or popcorn, and again, if they have any problems to ask you.

Monitoring the Auditorium

Once people have started going into L3, it is important that you keep going in to check that everything is OK. Also take a moment to check that the Steward on the door is ok and there are no problems in that area, if there's a large queue by the door it may be worth getting someone to help check tickets.

Inside L3, check that nothing is in the aisles (such as bags/coats) and especially that nobody is sitting in the aisles. Keep an eye out for hot food or alcohol and make sure that the door to the corridor upstairs is kept closed.

If you have any wheelchair users come to the show, when the doors are open take them onto the balcony. They can have one (but use discretion, a couple of friends is usually no problem at all) helper sat on the balcony with them. Make sure they have enough chairs and that you still have enough to seat all the Stewards and yourself. Talk to one of the Stewards and assign them to the disabled person so that in an emergency they are looked after, but be subtle about it.

If the show is busy, then towards the end of letting people into L3 you may need to move people into the middle of rows to free up some empty seats. Get some of the Crew to help if you need to, try to pick people who are loud and stubborn as they get it done a lot quicker (DMs are usually a safe bet). You may also need to direct people to seats. If people are still coming in during the ads and trailers make sure that it is light enough for people to safely find their seats, if not ask the Projectionist to turn the lights up a bit and not to start the film until you're happy that all audience members are suitably seated.

Packing Away Tills & Late-Comers.

The general policy is that you should have packed up and be inside by the start of the film. In order to achieve this, it is normally best to start packing up no later than 15 minutes after the scheduled start time of the film. Knowing the number of trailers and their order is usually beneficial as you can keep abreast of the ads & trailers reel with the webcam available in the ticket selling mode of EPOS.

People who arrive after the tills are closed down should be offered a Late-Comer ticket (£4), encouraged to attend the late screening (if this is the early), or simply turned away.

If a patron agrees to a Late-Comer ticket, take £4 from them and usher them into L3. They will not receive a paper ticket, but you must remember to sell one on the system before cashing up, as per the details in EPOS for DMs.

Stewards Leaving Early

Any Stewards wishing to leave early should have emailed you 24 hours in advance, it's then up to you to say whether they can or not. This isn't a common problem but make sure you don't get caught out and left with too few Stewards.

Cashing Up

After you have qualified you can choose whether to watch the film and cash up afterwards or if you want to cash up during the film. However, remember that if there is a late show then you're going to need to have cashed up in time for the DM doing the next show to get the change boxes. If you choose the latter option, stay downstairs for at least 10 mins, so you can turn away any / sell late-comer tickets to any late arrivals and generally check everything is OK before you go upstairs. Always remember to tell your Stewards that you're going upstairs and that if they have a problem they should come and get you.

Trainee DMs should only cash-up in the presence of their qualified DM.

Separate the money, make the floats back up to £100, and bank the money. All the stuff you will need for this is in the DM cupboard. You'll get plenty of practice doing this and the exact method you use isn't important, so long as the end result is accurate!

Remember to fill in the appropriate online forms (see EPOS for DMs) as well as the paper ones, updating the printed show report if any late-comer tickets have been sold.

After the film

Clearing up

After the film finishes make sure the Stewards have opened the doors and are doing a litter check. Make sure you thank them for their help. We normally go to the bar after a show so encourage them to stick around for a few minutes and then come and have a drink with us, this is one of the advantages of cashing up during the film.

Banking the takings

A key for the night-safe is kept in the key-box in the corridor. Please bring it back the next day or give to a DM (or other responsible person) who will be at the next show. If you are doing an early show, then you may politely ask the DM for the late show if they would be happy to deposit your screening's taking with theirs later on.

Locking the doors

The fire doors at the bottom of L3 need to be locked after all the audience has left. This is to stop people coming into L3 in the night. You should also lock the two sets of doors at the balcony level upon leaving.

Camera Policy

It is always illegal for photographs or video to be taken of Trailers of a Film. Customers who break this law must leave the auditorium and will not receive a refund.

We will generally allow photographs to be taken when our slides are on screen, although warning the customer when caught. One of the signs on entrance to the theatre should read:

“You are not allowed to use any camera or recording device in this theatre.”

On special occasions we will use an alternative sign, reading:

“You are not allowed to use any camera or recording device in this theatre during the adverts, trailers or feature.”

In the event of a customer being asked to leave for breaking this law and them refusing, the situation must be escalated. First, try surrounding the individual with crew in WSC clothing; if this fails the film must be stopped and the individual embarrassed. If they finally refuse to leave Security must be called.

In any case, you should also witness the deletion of any photos / videos of copyrighted material.

Technical Problems

There are occasionally technical problems which will affect the screening of a film. These can happen before or during the showing of the film.

If the Projectionist tells you that there is a problem with the film when you see them at the start then firstly don't panic. Ask the Projectionist how serious it is (eg "it's not going to affect much, it just means we may start a few minutes late" or "we really don't know when or if we're going to get this fixed"). In the more serious cases then it's probably worth not selling (or stopping selling) tickets as this reduces the number of refunds we have to deal with.

If you notice / are informed of something obviously wrong during the film (e.g. no sound or the image jumping up and down) then it's worth going up to the proj box to make sure that the Projectionist has noticed it. They almost certainly will have and will be busy fixing it so just stand by the proj box door in case they need to tell you something. If it's not fixed within a minute or so, ask them if they know how long it will be and how serious it is so you can make an announcement if necessary.

Fire (or other emergency) Procedure

Should a fire start anywhere you notice (whether in L3, the Proj Box, the Office, Concourse or elsewhere), hit the Fire Alarm and evacuate the building.

If the Fire Alarm goes off and you are inside L3, announce that people should leave by the nearest exit but evacuate yourself – do not wait for the audience, you are not qualified to evacuate them. The Projectionist will shut down the equipment safely and lock the Proj Box themselves, or will hit the Emergency Stops if the fire is in the Proj Box.

If you are selling tickets when the Fire Alarm sounds, please retrieve the floats if safe.

Unless a fire is obvious, we will usually assemble in front of the Open Access Work Areas and LIB2; at the bottom of the steps from the concourse. Otherwise, the official assembly point is Car Park 8/8a.

Disabled Customers

We regularly receive disabled customers to screenings, sometimes accompanied by Carers. When this happens, assign a steward to watch over the customer in the event of a Fire Alarm. They should help where possible but it should not delay them leaving the building. You can then tell a Fire Marshall that there is a disabled customer in the building if you / your steward did not see them get out safely.

People Problems

The Duty Manager, Projectionist and their trainees on a show are required to be sober. The former is due to the need to remove alcohol from the audience, the latter due to the dangerous equipment in use. Do not be afraid to send your trainee home if you have an issue, or to speak to the Projectionist if you are unsure of their, or their trainee’s sobriety.

The Duty Manager is required to wear WSC Clothing (note a Qualified DM with an experienced Trainee does not have to) whilst on duty, in order to identify them. Trainees are given a free WSC Polo Shirt to wear and, upon qualifying, receive a polo with their name and ‘Duty Manager’ embroidered for free. Any WSC official polo/hoodie/fleece in black is suitable for a DM – including those with nicknames, different roles or job titles, but not pieces with film quotes on them.

DMs should not be scruffy, wear non-WSC clothing over their WSC kit, and should represent the professionalism the society aims for.

Other on-duty crew are not required to wear WSC clothing although preferable. Clothing in the bottom of the DM cupboard is for new trainees or emergency supplies for when a DM forgets his own and is not for general distribution.

Late or non-attending Crew should be removed from the rotas and a comment left on their profile. Exemplary performance should be reported at committee meetings and praise given to crew on the night – compliments are free! Remember, we're always looking for future DMs, so if you spot a steward with good people skills, confidence and who generally seems to be a nice person, speak to them about DMing. If they're interested then contact the Chief DM!

DM Qualification

This is a test show to see if you're ready to qualify as a WSC Duty Manager. More information on what might be involved is available at the DM Qualification page.