Miguel Torres has been active in the punk rock music scene since he was a kid. Through hosting small, local shows, befriending bands, promoters, and press, he built some valuable connections through the years.
Three years ago, Miguel teamed up with Make Music New York to host Punk Island, a punk music festival on Governor’s Island in New York. He managed the contracts, booked the bands, reached out to sponsors, and handled all of the marketing and public relations.
By the second year, Punk Island attracted bigger bands, larger sponsors, and more than twice as many attendees. As the event grew, so did Miguel’s responsibilities.
As Miguel continued to work his full-time day job, the added stress of Punk Island was becoming overwhelming. Miguel realized that in order to organize an event this big, he needed more than his connections and deep love of all things punk rock; he needed a better understanding of time management, business contracts, and strategic marketing.
Miguel turned to Empowerment Group’s business consulting services. Through one-on-one consulting, he’s learned how to run an event this size much more smoothly. “It’s not textbook advice; it’s from experience. That’s extremely valuable,” he said.
In his first few years, Miguel managed his business partnerships in a more haphazard manner, letting bands, press, and sponsors decide the terms of agreement. When the events were smaller, this wasn’t an issue, but “once you get to this level, you need to have contracts so it doesn’t get messy,” he said. With his business counselor, Miguel developed concrete contracts, concrete sponsorship levels, and useful information packets.
Under his consultant’s advice, Miguel also registered the Punk Island event name, and learned some effective time-management skills specifically tailored to his life. “This organization makes it so much easier to balance things with a full-time job! Now I have contracts, schedules, and to-do lists.” He said that the organizational skills will continue to help as he takes on extra projects and leaves his full-time job in January.
Through very personalized consulting, Miguel was able fully realize the resources he had and turn a side project into a career. This year’s Punk Island is attracting sponsors and bands with national name recognition. Miguel is also beginning to plan similar events at other venues. “This is absolutely my dream job,” he said, “My dream fun is going to shows. I love it. This is what I’ve always enjoyed doing. I’m glad I get to give back to the scene that was there for me since I was a kid.”