Like watching a swan on the water, a casual observer of a SimStaff event activation looks deceptively effortless on the surface; but look deeper, and you’ll find a whole host of detailed activity. We take a look at the staffing element: who it takes to run a seamless competitive event.
Choosing the Right Staff and Expertise
At SimStaff, we know that no two events are identical; we range from huge, multi-client festivals to bespoke private installations, and so staffing comes down to having a wide breadth of expertise at our disposal. Naturally, a staffing decision comes down to working with a client as early as possible and presenting our best options; but if at least one of our premium rigs is involved, an Event Manager is the bare minimum. Once the Event Manager is on-site, both the rig and client communication are their responsibilities. This frees up any Event Technicians to operate the rigs and communicate with the players themselves—they are trained in discussing equipment, sim platforms, driving techniques, and the motorsport or brand being represented, such as during our Williams FanZone activations. While the majority of our bookings involve the popular, official F1 platform, every effort is made to align our excellent team members with events that utilise their unique combinations of passion and expertise.
Image via SimStaff
Wherever, Whenever: Why Being Well-Placed Matters
Leaving our world-beating expertise aside, geography is a significant factor in our staffing decisions as a global operation. We have such an expansive network that, given enough lead time, we can almost certainly say “yes” to an activation anywhere except the North and South Poles! Although if Santa is looking for a sleigh sim training device, we’ll make an exception.
Our main staffing pillars are Events, Equipment, Stewarding, and Broadcast, each with levels of seniority, responsibility, and expertise. See the end of this post for some examples at work over the course of a major competitive event. Both stewarding and broadcast often operate in the background, or at least without visibility of our brand; yet they are essential for any competitive activation.
Because we base our entire company around a passion for sim racing, our team’s wealth of knowledge is infectious. We know our people’s skills and interests inside out, allowing us to find the right person to talk in detail about anything and everything—be it WRC, F1, PC specs, comparing pedals, or forthcoming competitions. We believe only sim racers make the best staff for sim racing events and private installations.
A case in point: Formula E vehicles are exclusive to the less well-used rFactor2 sim as downloadable content, so when a client from Formula E hired us, we had exactly the right person with the right experience to set everything up, including settings, tuning, and the best way to run competitive time trials on-site. Don’t take our word for it; our social feed includes direct client testimonials speaking to our expertise, approachability, and passion.
Image via SimStaff
Smooth as Sainz and Sade: Best Practices for Managing Smooth Operations
You’ve heard that “Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance,” but we’d add staff training, spares, and regular sim maintenance to the list too—even if they don’t all start with P. Smooth operations are built on experience but start from our first discussions with a client and don’t even stop when we wave goodbye, given our extensive debrief processes. These building blocks help eliminate the luck factor and convert a good event into a great one—and create loyal customers who return to us repeatedly.
At every deployment, our goal is to take the sim activation off a client’s worry list; if it weren’t for the obvious enjoyment, footfall, and engagement stats we provide, we aim to leave no trace. With the further complexity of esports tournaments involving broadcasting, talent, and team personnel, having one experienced team handle as much as possible is surely the best solution.
Knowledge as the Competitive Edge
Delivering standout eSports events such as ESLR1 and the F1 Sim Racing World Championship requires a combination of everything we do—so having our on-site personnel trained in multiple disciplines means we are prepared for all eventualities. On a personal level, I have so far been a host/commentator, a stewarding spotter, and have stood in a shopping center as an Event Technician for a charity activation! You might see our Head Steward adjusting bolts on prep day, or a Sim Technician standing in for a Spotter; a Host may even be driving the van—whatever it takes, SimStaff gets the job done.
Employing fans of sim racing means that our people are naturally happy to be at an event, and the conversation flows just as you’d expect. While we love to be engaged in a variety of event types, the competitive elements of gaming and esports tournaments tick all our boxes. With our wealth of knowledge and the sheer number of people located throughout the world, it’s no wonder that SimStaff is the go-to company for every serious sim racing competition on the calendar. Remember, our staff are so important to us that they’re in our name!
This post is indebted to the excellent Max Grime, our #1 Head of Operations.
