MANY a festival has “gone kaput” since the pandemic struck, says the man who mortgaged his home to get Bournemouth 7s off the ground in 2008.

But his own situation is a notable exception.

Roger ‘Dodge’ Woodall kept his festival business together with the support of his team. What's more, he became a successful podcaster, co-hosting The Harry Redknapp Show as well as his own production The Eventful Entrepreneur.

And he has launched an online training business which pledges to prepare people for a career in the events industry for less than £3,000.

Bournemouth 7s, which mixes sport with music and partying, returns to Chapel Gate at Christchurch over the jubilee weekend.

Bournemouth Echo:

Roger Woodall, right, with Harry Redknapp

 

While many festivals stake their success on expensive headline acts, Bournemouth 7s sells 30,000 tickets before the acts are even announced. The "sporting Glastonbury" has 400 teams taking part in rugby, netball, hockey and dodgeball.

The festival employs eight or nine staff year-round, rising to 800 when the event is in progress.

Cancelling the 2020 event was “heartbreaking”, said the 45-year-old founder. But 90 per cent of the 30,000 festival ticket-holders agreed to roll over their ticket until 2021.

“We had so much love and support from everyone,” said Mr Woodall.

“I spoke to another friend who runs festivals and 80 per cent of their people wanted refunds.

“My dad always told me always, always save for a rainy day and that’s one of life’s lessons that’s come to fruition right now,” he added.

“I’m not a big spender. I’m not one of those guys who’s buying fast cars and watches. That’s not my style and the things that are important to me are building a sustainable, good business with really nice people around me and that’s what we did."

Bournemouth Echo:

Bournemouth 7s

 

The 2021 festival was a “lifeline”, but the organisers did not know it could go ahead until 42 days in advance. “We had to find 800 staff in those 42 days,” he said, but the local community rallied round.

“They knew the knock-on effect of a wonderfully organised event for Bournemouth people, doing something good for the area and bringing people into the local area, the hotels, restaurants, taxis and hairdressers, everything.

“You’ve got to be loyal to your team and they showed huge loyalty because we had the best festival to date.”

During lockdown, Mr Woodall began his own podcast The Eventful Entrepreneur, despite “not having a clue what we were doing”. It is now among the most successful in its field, with 86 episodes.

It also led to a call from the executive producer of I’m a Celebrity, who was looking for someone to co-host The Harry Redknapp Show. The pair have interviewed the likes of Frank Lampard, Jamie Redknapp and Sir Rod Stewart.

“We just hit it off like a house on fire, like father and son,” he said.

“We have the most amazing laugh.”

The latest venture is Event Crowd, a training course delivered online, which equips people to go into the industry.

He says it is an alternative to “going to university and spending £27,000 on a degree for three years and being taught by people reading from books written 30 years ago”.

“I’ve brought 40 of the leading events experts in to do pre-recorded lectures. People who work with Glastonbury, Wimbledon Tennis, London Fashion Week,” he said.

Students can learn at their own pace. They have access to Mr Woodall’s network of contacts to secure interviews when they graduate and they can use an online jobs board while they learn.

“They can do our course in three months, 120 hours, the cost is £2,995. They could be working in the events industry within three months,” he said.

He has seen more people quitting jobs to pursue greater happiness.

“The great resignation is a wonderful thing for our culture. It’s making people question why are you in a job you’re not happy in,” he said.

“The people that love Friday nights are the ones that aren’t happy in their work.”

Mr Woodall is full of praise for the Branksome-based team of 19 who work on his several ventures. And he says interviewing job applicants has revealed to him the “toxicity” of many workplaces.

“You cannot beat empathic kindness. I’m not a boss, I’m a leader of people,” he said.

He added: “This has been the best two years of my life. I’ve loved it.”