36 Event Management

Vinti Davar

1.  INTRODUCTION

Event management is a new industry with very high potential for growth. It is a multi-million industry growing rapidly with mega shows and events hosted regularly all over the world. The event management includes areas such as celebrations, meetings, exhibitions, conferences and seminars. The live music, fashion shows, national and international level sports are all examples of events. The celebration of birthdays, weddings, religious ceremonies by families; educational and cultural events such as school/college annual day functions, convocations, cultural fests; new product or brand launch, marketing campaigns are events.

2.  OBJECTIVES

This lesson will enable you to understand:

• Concept of event management
• Types of events
• Characteristics of events
• Event Management Process

3.  CONCEPT OF EVENT MANAGEMENT

Event is any planned gathering of people for the purpose of celebration, reunion, gaining knowledge, promotion, marketing, convening meetings or conferences and entertainment or amusement.

Definition of Event Management

Event Management is a process that involves planning, organising, coordinating, marketing, analyzing and evaluating an event. It is a multifaceted activity that includes lot of creativity, planning, relationship management, advertising, marketing, all rolled into one seamlessly choreographed process.

It is a way of promoting a product, service or idea in a different way. An event that is managed efficiently and effectively becomes a very powerful promotional tool to launch or market a product or service

4. CHARACTERISTICS OF EVENTS

The following are the characteristics of Event Management:

4.1. Creative Process: Event Management is a highly creative process. The team managing the event needs to be creative and dynamic. The novelty to event can be brought by new ideas to manage and deal with the event by event manager and team. These ideas will ensure the success of the event.

4.2. Effective Leadership: The event managers need to be effective leaders. The event managers must possess effective leadership techniques. They must exercise good motivational skills, effective direction, organisation, control and monitoring to accomplish the event successfully.

4.3. Objective Oriented: Each event has to set and achieve certain goals or objectives. All the activities are directed towards accomplishing these goals. The event management team should not waste time and resources on unwanted activities or formalities.

4.4. Various types of events: There are various kinds of events that the team has to manage, for example

• Local events like Mysore dusshera or Goa Carnival
• Mega-event such as world cup cricket or Olympics
• Events like launching a new product.

4.5 Team Work: Events involve many teams to work together. Success of the event depends upon each team and every member doing their job efficiently. Organising an event is undoubtedly a great Team Work.  Many teams such as Sales, Operations, Project Management & Support,  Accommodation &Travel,  Logistics,  Audio  Visual, Venue Management, Food and beverage, Tours and designer tirelessly work together. Success of the event depends upon each team and every member doing their job efficiently as shown in figure 1.

4.6    Effective Promotion: Effective promotion is required to make an event successful.

Certain factors which event management team must take into consideration are:

• Wide publicity of the event.
• Effective media to publicize the event.
• Maintain  good public relations.

4.7 Planning and Control: The event management team has to plan and control all the activities that are related to the event. These activities involve:

• A mission statement must be developed for the event.
• The objectives must be established.
• A proper proposal is formulated.
• The Event is produced with full vigour after thorough planning
• Effective control and monitoring is exercised.
• The activities of the event be evaluated.
• After learning from mistakes, corrective measures must be taken while planning the future events.

4.8 Professionalism: The event manager/director must exhibit professionalism in each decision and activity.

Professionalism involves:

·      Planning and control of activities in a systematic way

·      Manpower Planning

·      Proper execution.

5.  CATEGORIES OF EVENTS

Broadly, the events fall under two main categories and each category has different types of events as shown in Figure 2.

§  On the basis of size of events

§  On the basis of type of events

5.1  On The Basis of Size of Events:

The size denotes whether the event will be large, big, or small.

5.1.1 Mega Events:

The large events are called mega-events and these generally target at international events. The Olympic Games, Cricket World Cup and FIFA world cup in soccer are good examples. The Maha Kumbh Mela (‘Grand Pitcher Festival’), Allahabad, India is also one such event where very large gathering takes place after every twelve years.

5.1.2  Major Events:

The major events are organised at national level and the participants can be local or international or both. Large audience/viewers attend such events that significantly contribute to revenue generation. India International Trade Fair (IITF), New Delhi is an annual attraction to a large number of locals and tourists to visit the exhibition, cultural events, state cuisines etc.

5.1.3  Minor Events

Small events like meetings, conferences, musical performances, concerts, painting exhibitions fall into this last category. The event managers usually gain experience from such events and grow to event directors. The cities and towns also celebrate annual events, award functions, ceremonies, festival celebrations, local matches in sports, cultural, historical, national, social and entertainment. These events are small in nature and attract small gathering.

5.1.4 Hallmark Events:

These events are meant to enhance the tourist appeal of any tourism destination or place. The Suraj Kund Mela in Haryana, Khajurao Dance Festival and Mysore Dusshera are all examples of tourist destinations that attract large number of visitors national and international to the events.

5.2 ON THE BASIS OF TYPE OF EVENTS:

There are various kinds of events as discussed below:

5.2.1 Sporting:

This is one of the most important event categories. Olympic games, tournaments, cricket matches are few example of it, all attract large number of fans from across the world. Today this segment has certainly become an important segment due to its economic impacts.

5.2.2 Entertainment, Arts and Culture:

These events include dance, drama and music performances. The culture events usually showcase culture of a community, city, state or country. These events attract large gatherings depending upon promotion. But, in some cases, concerts are not viable from a financial point of view. The organisers sometimes face financial crunch due to meagre collection from ticket sales, low sponsorship insufficient to meet the expenditures.

5.2.3 Commercial, Marketing and Promotional:

These events involve product launches, often for mobiles, electronic gadgets, cosmetics, perfumes, or cars etc. Promotional, commercial and marketing events are high profile and incur high budgets. The aim of promotional events is to find out the differences in products compared to competitors and promote products of stakeholders. The participants for a promotional activity might be trade houses, exporters and departmental store house owners. The media are usually invited to these events so that the impact is high. Success is vital.

5.2.4 Meetings and Exhibitions:

The meetings, conventions, and exhibition industry is highly competitive. It is collectively known as MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions). Many conventions attract thousands or more people, while some meetings or workshops include only a handful of high-profile participants.

5.2.5 Festivals:

Food and wine festivals are becoming increasingly becoming popular, providing a particular region the opportunity to showcase its products. Religious festivals also fall in this category.

5.2.6 Family Events:

Weddings, childbirth, naming ceremony, and birthdays all provide opportunities for families to gather and celebrate. These days such events are mostly contracted out. It is important for the event manager to keep track of these changing social trends. For example, western tourists are coming to India to celebrate their wedding in a different way and location. These activities can be further explored to enhance the business of event management.

5.2.7 Fund Raising:

The local communities in urban and rural areas organise music/dance shows, exhibitions, and fairs to raise funds for any particular project of the community or any other noble cause. The main aim of such events is to raise funds, therefore , the organisers need to check wasteful expenditures and collect as much money as possible by utilising the minimum resources wisely. For example: children rides and various stalls including food can be contracted out.

5.2.9 Other Events:

Some events defy categorization such as Valentine’s Day, Animal shows etc. Such events are small scale and depend upon sponsorship or expenditure/support/donation from individuals.

There is a huge variation in event management from a small Birthday Party to as Complex as Olympic games all types of events can be organised.

6. CREATING THE EVENT CONCEPT

On the basis of 5 Ws Concept (Fig 3) any event can be managed effectively.

6.1 THE 5 WS ARE:

6.1.1 WHY: This is the first question that must be asked and the most important that why are we putting the event? It will enable you to decide why we want to organise the event either to raise funds or promote a product etc. This describes the purpose of the event. The answer to why gives us direction to achieve the set objectives otherwise it will be a wasted effort. For example, celebration of a particular occasion such as Republic day of the country might help to promote the country’s image, attract visitors, increase business or simply improve country spirit and sense of patriotism.

6.1.2 WHO: If you look for an answer to the question that who do you want to come to the event, this will help you in identifying the perspective key markets/ stakeholders/ sponsors/partners/ audience to the event and number of attendees. The event may be targeted at local residents, tourists or visitors or specifically for young people, families or general audience. For example, Pravasi Bharatiya Divas on January 7 each year targets NRIs.

6.1.3 WHERE: This question answers the best place to stage the event. It decides location/ venue of the event on the basis of suitability in terms of space, availability, cost, transport, parking and facilities.

6.1.4 WHEN: It enables to decide the best time of the event i.e. ideal date and time and to fix up duration of event from hours to days and weeks etc. The suitability of time depends on target audience availability and weather conditions.

6.1.5 WHAT: It denotes the type of event or the theme. It also elaborates the event profile and the main highlights.

7. EVENT MANAGEMENT PROCESS

Event management is the application of all management functions to create and develop an event. The main aim is to bring all factors together to produce a workable successful event.

The event management process as shown in Figure 4 primarily includes:

• Event Pre- Planning
• Planning
• Implementation
• Control and Monitoring
• Evaluation

7.1 EVENT PRE-PLANNING:

The planning period is the longest period of time in the event management process. The best and briefer planning can be done if you first undertake extensive feasibility study. Feasibility simply means that you have looked at the event design objectively to determine if what you propose is feasible given the resources available. This is the final checkpoint before actual planning begins and must be given adequate time for review.

The simplest way to manage any event is to use Work breakdown structure (Gantt Chart)

1.     Determine tasks in detail

2.     List in correct sequence

3.     Establish the timetable

7.2 PLANNING

Planning process mainly concentrates on planning the venue, layout, catering, transportation, list of invitees, audio visual aids, programs and marketing etc.

The basic resources that will be required are finance, human, space and time. These may influence planning in different ways and at different levels. For example, an event like Film award shows will require huge finances whereas religious ceremonies such as guruparvs, karsewa are non profit oriented events but human element is more important.

It is necessary to determine the proportions of resources required for the event when assessing and analysing feasibility of the event. You should weigh each resource to help prepare your analysis.

8. IMPORTANT RESOURCES

The main resources you need to concentrate upon  are :

• Financial Management
• Time management
• Space Management
• Human Resource Management

8.1 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT:

The foremost thing one needs to do is to ascertain if you have sufficient funds to sustain development and implementation of the event. Furthermore, you must consider what will happen if the event incurs loss? Can you arrange cash to make payments? Do you have some back up plans? To avoid such situations you must cautiously analyse the cash -flow projections for the event and establish how much money you can set aside for the event. Even the smallest event requires finances. Therefore a seriously thought budget will help plan the event efficiently. The preliminary budget, as shown in Fig.5, should include main costs such as: Venue rentals, Catering, Wages and Salaries, Administration, Lighting, Sound and Visual , Staging, Marketing and advertising, Entertainment, Travel, Accommodation, Decoration, Graphic and Printing, and Contingency. Establish a specific budget for the event, setting aside 10% for contingencies and exigencies.

8.2 TIME MANAGEMENT:

The law of timing refers to how much time you have in which to act or react. The first question that many Event Managers ask the client is: When would you like to schedule the event? The answer to this question tells you how much time you have to prepare the event. Often, the length of time available for planning may seem incredibly short. The length of time available for planning and for actual production will dramatically affect the cost and sometimes the success of the event.

Budgeting your time is not an exact science but rather a dynamic experience that must be governed by the importance of each event. Substantial time is required for Pre-event activities and functions like client meetings, site inspections, meetings with vendors, ongoing communications and contract preparations, actual event time from time of arrival through departure and post-event billable time. A contingency time factor has to be added to each phase to avoid lapses. By paying careful attention to the research and design phase also

known as feasibility study, you will be able to budget your time more precisely. This is particularly true for the event itself. This part of planning involves when to arrive for a particular event, when to take breaks, and of course, when to stop.

The actual time planning of an event is as important as managing your planning time. The moment the client approves the date of an event, the Event Manager must begin assessing how the planning period will affect other business operations. Therefore, the law of timing sometime requires that, when an unreasonable time frame is allotted to produce an event professionally, the event Manager must decline to accept the opportunity.

The event planning team should obtain a completed special event permit and start conducting a feasibility study 60 days prior to the event.

The event management plan must be prepared at least 30 days before the event and obtain all initial public input and recommendations early.

8.3  SPACE MANAGEMENT:

The law of space refers to both the physical space where an event will be held and the time between critical decisions pertaining to the event. When selecting a venue for an event, the location and physical resources present will significantly affect the additional time that must be invested. If you select a historic mansion or a banquet hall with elaborate permanent decor, less time and effort will be required to decorate the site.

One of the primary considerations when selecting space is the age and type of guests who will be attending. Selecting an outdoor venue in harsh weather like extreme cold or hot, for older guests will be a disaster as they may not be able to tolerate extreme temperature Similarly, for events with young ladies, selecting a site far from city may not be a good option due to safety and security reasons. Therefore, research and need assessment are crucial. You must identify and match the needs, wants and expectations of the stakeholders.

Two concepts ingress and egress are important when deciding upon the venue. Ingress is the access or entrances to the venue, and egress means the exits or evacuation routes. You must consider the age and number of people coming including those with disabilities, vehicles, props and indeed any element that must enter or exit the venue site. Parking space, public transportation, including taxis, tour buses must be checked before finalising the venue. It is essential to ensure accessibility of the venue in relation to participants, for example if international guests are to attend the event, an airport must be nearby. The size of venue is also vital depending on the number of attendees.

There are professional venue- finding agencies in metros and big cities. Their help can be sought if the organisers are not local or lack time.

8.4 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

The next is the human resource, the most tricky to be managed. But you need to calculate the number of staff you will require at the event. Remember quality is more important than quantity. Decide whether you will be relying on your own full-time workforce or on casual, part-time, contracted or voluntary staff. If the event is to be staged abroad, consider hiring casual staff.

It is important to form different pre, on site and post event teams and assign specific work schedules and duties as shown in Fig. 6. Accountability is a serious aspect of human resource management. The success of the event is extensively affected by performance of event team performance.

Prepare a shortlist of qualified agencies or professionals with a proven track record or who have been expressly recommended to you.

7.3 IMPLEMENTATION

The actual execution part needs to be managed and orchestrated in a perfect manner. Anything that goes wrong during execution will spoil the whole event. The venue needs to be managed efficiently in all domains which include: the event area, layout, proper safety and security measures, hospitality and all other big and small things that will provide participants a perfect and comfortable feeling. The event management team needs to follow and stick to actual schedules planned and go by prepared checklists and perform the duties assigned to the best of their potential.

7.3.1 COORDINATION OF ACTIVITIES

It is mainly the responsibility of the event manager to coordinate all activities at the designated time. The ability of event manager to effectively coordinate will affect the success of the event. The use of professional training and experience of manager will help to make correct decisions in addition to a positive attitude and to see problems as challenges. It is imperative to apply critical analysis to every challenge that comes on way. The following points can help to control each activity of the event:

• The problems should be foreseen by conducting a feasibility study.
• The pros and cons of each decision must be considered.
• The financial implications of each decision.
• Make a decision and do not look back.
•  Consider the moral and ethical implications of the decision.
• Keep aside last 14 days prior to event for implementation of activities.

7.4 CONTROL AND MONITORING

The highest level of control is required on personnel working for the event. Constant monitoring of activities is key to success of the event. The control can be exercised by holding event review meetings with each team to check their progress against the schedule. Status reports can be obtained, these are also self explanatory. The checklists are the most practical control and monitor agents.

The manager needs to ensure that team is:

• Working on the correct activities in right manner
• On schedule
• On Budget
• Producing high quality work

7.5 EVALUATION

Evaluation is all about finding your mistakes and learning from them. It enables you to work more efficiently and effectively in future. Event evaluation should be done immediately after the event is over or the very next day.

• Conduct a meeting with your team members to evaluate the event.
• Determine upto what level you have achieved your objectives.
• Obtain feedback from attendees, clients and vendors

7.5.1 REVIEW PROCESS

A formal review process will reduce any delay in holding an event. The review can be taken up by an oversight team that monitors and review plans already developed by the event management team. The oversight team consists of mid-to-upper level and law enforcement agencies.

A latest tool PERT known as Programme Evaluation and Review Technique can be used conveniently to review the event on computer.

7.5 .2 EVENT EVALUATION STEPS

Step 1: The event manager needs to ascertain whether the team has been able to achieve objectives or not and find out why and where they failed so as to make corrections in future events.

Step 2: The feedback from the clients and participants is the best way to evaluate any event. The feedback can be obtained by administering a feedback form prepared prior to event for client and participants (Figure 7, and 8).

8. SUMMARY

Events are celebrated all over the world in each home, city, country and nation in the name of birthdays, wedding, sports, on a specific theme. There are many types of events based on size and type of event. Event management involves pre-research, meticulous planning, efficient organising, perfect implementing, rigorous control and monitoring each task so as to make the event successful. The time, space, finances and human resources are to be judiciously used and managed.

REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS:

• Torkildsen, G Organisation of Major Events. In G Torkildsen, Leisure and Recreation Management, 4th Eds. London; New York: E & Fn Spon; Routledge. 1999,
• Watt, Dc Event Management in Leisure And Tourism. Harlow, Essex: Addison Wesley Longman Ltd., 1998.
• Goldblatt, J ., Special Events: The Art and Science of Celebration. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. 1990
• Lynn Van Der Wagen and Bernda R. Carlos, Event Management Business and Sporting Events, Pearson Publication. New Delhi.