Event manageme Bringing people - Deloitte US | Audit, … · 2019-04-29 · Deloitte | A Middle...

14 | Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View | Summer 2013

Event manageme Bringing people

Deloitte | A Middle East Point of View | Summer 2013 | 15

Event management

ent together

As the Middle East experiences rapidsocial and business development,events are increasingly taking place.With countries, cities and companiesspending a considerable part of theirbudgets on events, the need foreffective Event Management has become significant.


Events are an excellent platform for governments andbusinesses to market and promote an idea, product,company or nation. In a region where economies arelargely driven by oil revenues and accelerated populationgrowth, events are increasingly used as a catalyst toencourage economic diversification and socialdevelopment. This is particularly the case in high-profileevents, where at an international level Qatar hasinvested an estimated USD 65 billion to bring the FIFA2022 football World Cup event to the Middle East.1

With many Middle East businesses found to invest anannual average of USD 1.89 million in their events,2

Event Management as a key activity has become moreimportant than ever before. As Event Management is a new and unfamiliar field to many organizations, weexamine its background, significance and outline amodel solution to key challenges many organizationsface with their events today.

Background: development of a key disciplineCongregations, conventions and festivals have for long been a practice of social interaction, knowledgeinterchange and sharing, as well as a key element inenhancing relationship building between differentcommunities to foster an environment of socialcollaboration and cohesiveness. Throughout history, the advents of organized events and festivals are welldocumented, even before the fall of the Western Roman Empire in A.D. 476.3

Recently, the practice of managing events has beengrowing and evolving as a formal discipline and body of knowledge. Since the late 1990s, attempts tostreamline and aggregate fragmented theories andpractices started out within academia by a number ofscholars but quickly attracted freelance consultants andpractitioners. This core group of professionals initiallyexplored the application of project managementconcepts to the organization of events. Just asaccountants have developed accounting as a practiceand profession with global standards, eventmanagement professionals have also created andcontinue to build an “Event Management Body ofKnowledge (EMBOK)”, dedicated to the developmentand professionalization of Event Management practices.

Administration

Body of knowledgeInternational competency

standards

• Assess

• Select

• Monitor

• Communicate

• Document

Core valuesDomains

Design

Marketing

Operations

Risk

Creativity

Strategicthinking

Continuousimprovement

Ethics Integration

Process

Initiation Planning Implementation Event Closure

Source: International EMBOK Executive, Emerit

Recently, the practice of managingevents has been growing and evolvingas a formal discipline and body ofknowledge


7.00

6.00

5.00

4.00

3.00

2.00

1.00

02008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Managed budgets

Managed budgetsa and economic impactb of Global IAPCO meetings eventsc between 2008-2015 (USD billion)

1.68

4.19

3.042.51

2.762.28

1.99 2.08

4.80 4.895.32

5.796.30

6.86

1.87

4.52

Economic impact

a Based on Average Delegate Fee of USD 748 & Average Exhibition Rental Fee of USD 680b Based on Average Delegate Spend of USD 2,204c Based on Corporate, Associations & Governmental Meetings organized by global IAPCO members

Historical

15% CAGR

10% CAGR

Projected

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%Lebanon Qatar Egypt UAE Morocco Tunisia MENA World

Growth in MENA conventions events from 2005 to 2010

18%

27%

3%

12%

8%7%

17%

9%

The Event Management industry: value,significance and potential Estimates about industry size vary considerably, as EventManagement covers a wide variety of categories fromthe very small-scale cultural, to the very large-scalemulti-national, including mega events such as theOlympic Games. Indicative of the value of the EventManagement industry is an annual survey conducted bythe International Association of Professional CongressOrganizers (IAPCO), an internationally recognized bodyof professional event organizers and a leading authorityon the meetings events industry, which values themanaged budgets of meetings organized by theirmembers at over USD 2 billion.

With an average economic impact of two to three timesmanaged budgets and healthy double digit growth,global IAPCO events clearly indicate the rising demandfor events and event management services at aninternational level, driven by the economic impact theybring to companies, governments and countries. Whenconsidering larger scale events such as conventions,exhibitions, festivals, shows, concerts and sports events,we would expect the size and potential of the globalindustry to be far greater than USD 3 billion by 2015.

Significantly, an indication that demand is now alsopicking up in the Middle East North Africa (MENA)region is the growth in their number of conventions.Driven by huge economic and population growth inQatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates,demand for events in the MENA region appears to beincreasing at a far greater pace than the rest of theworld. With rapid economic, infrastructure and socialdevelopment, the Middle East could be fast emerging as the destination of choice for all kinds of events. Theevidently increasing demand and resulting spend onevents by companies and governments therefore makeseffective event management essential, especially if theyare to maximize the economic impact of their events.

Driven by huge economic andpopulation growth in Qatar, SaudiArabia and the United Arab Emirates,demand for events in the MENAregion appears to be increasing at a fargreater pace than the rest of the world

Source: Deloitte Analysis, International Association of ProfessionalCongress Organizers (IAPCO), 2011

Event management

Source: Deloitte Analysis, South African Association for theConference Industry (SAACI), 2012, International Convention & Congress Association (ICCA), 2011


Events as assets: three fundamental levelsEvent Management is most widely defined as theapplication of project management principles to planand deliver events as projects. When asking individualsin organizations what ‘Event Management’ means to them, most people believe it is simply a form ofsupervision during an event, to ensure the eventproceeds according to plan. But what is the event’s plan and where does it come from? How do we reallymeasure the event’s success? Few organizationsrecognize their events as assets, preventing them from understanding how Events Management (assetmanagement of a portfolio of events) and EventManagement (project and risk management of a single event) can be applied to most effectivelyrationalize, plan and maximize the benefits that their events can bring.

Just as an organization’s intangible intellectual property,brand and goodwill, are now widely recognized ashighly valuable assets, events can similarly be recognizedwith their success measured as a Return on Investment(ROI). Like any organization, Strategic Business Unit(SBU) or project that requires investment and is assignedwith measurable ROI targets, events are also aninvestment that should be developed and managed atthree fundamental levels over time: strategic,management and organization (operation).

Events strategyAt the strategic level, the formulation of an eventsstrategy enables organizations to rationalize, streamlineand focus their portfolio of events. This is especiallyneeded for organizations whose events tend to beunevenly distributed through different divisions, when it is often unclear why most events are held. Based onan organization’s overall strategy, the events strategy is a long-term development vision, a plan outlining the overall objectives of an organization’s events, thebenefits they are expected to bring and how they will be achieved. This guides the development of the eventsportfolio, a collection of events that have been assessedand identified as strategically important.

Regardless of the type of event, it is the desiredoutcome of the event – its strategic value – that shoulddrive an organization’s decision to invest money andresources to host or participate therein. Each important

At the strategic level, the formulation ofan events strategy enables organizationsto rationalize, streamline and focus theirportfolio of events

Three fundamental levels of events4

Event strategy

Event management

Competency

Objectives

Event organization

Source: Deloitte Analysis, International Association of ProfessionalCongress Organizers (IAPCO), 2011

event’s objectives, desired outcomes and measures ofsuccess are therefore linked with the overall objectivesand strategy of an organization’s business to maximizetheir ROI. In this way more and more companies,government departments and organizations can useevents strategies to maximize the benefits of theirevents portfolio.

Event ManagementAt the management level, each event is individuallydesigned, planned, managed, delivered and evaluatedas a project. The two largest aspects of this are projectmanagement and risk management. However withevents, unlike other projects, the date cannot be shifted.For example, the date of New Year’s Eve, birthdays, orevents on national holidays cannot be changed. All tasksare therefore planned and managed around the eventdate as the fixed deadline.

Project ManagementAs with many other project-orientated businesses suchas construction, consulting and IT, project managementis a specialized skill and a key competency which needsto be built and continuously developed over time.

However, in Event Management, many organizationsoverlook this, focusing on delivering the next event in the calendar and not on developing their EventsManagement competency. Staff managing anorganization’s events are often employed with little orno training in Event Management. Without any EventsManagement templates, common documents or systemof knowledge management, little or no knowledgeretention or transfer can take place. Consequently, eventmanagers and coordinators are left to develop their ownEvent Management competencies, methods, practicesand make their own mistakes in the process. Withreputations, brands and images at stake, such mistakescould be highly damaging to the event and to thehosting organization as a whole. For this reason,reputational risk is the most important to manage.


Strategic framework for events

Overallorganization

strategy

Eventsstrategy

Portfolioof events

Proposedevents

Eventfeasibility

Event goalsand measures

of success

With reputations, brands and imagesat stake, such mistakes could be highlydamaging to the event and to thehosting organization as a whole. Forthis reason, reputational risk is themost important to manage.

Source: Deloitte

Event management


Risk ManagementAccordingly, Risk management is essential, as EventManagers are constantly confronted, fraught andstressed with unexpected problems that arisethroughout the Event Management process. AlthoughEvent Managers apply risk management to solveproblems as they arise, their occurrence and solutionsare rarely documented. This can also stifle thedevelopment of an organization’s events and itscompetency in managing its events, as risks or problemscannot be foreseen, tracked, resolved and learning from

previous mistakes can never be shared. Problems comeas a surprise and there is no way to refer to past eventsor past solutions. As a result, last minute changes andmajor problems can barely be contained and canreappear across an organization’s other events.

The use of a simple risk register resolves many of thesecommon issues. Risks can be more adequately foreseenbefore they evolve into problems and experience can beshared to enable colleagues and superiors to understandthe complexities involved in managing various events. In this way, embedding risk management and itsdocumentation as a core process can continuously helpdevelop event professionals, a practice that is widelyacknowledged as an international standard in EventManagement.

Event organizationAt the organization (operational) level, an event’s planand design are elaborated, prepared, executed andclosed. Often, event organization is thought to representthe key activities that take place before an event. Whilstthis is mostly true with the bulk of the workload inadvance preparation and setup, we must not forget thekey organizational and operational activities that alsotake place during, after and even throughout an event’slifecycle.

Just as an organization’s intangibleintellectual property, brand andgoodwill are now widely recognized as highly valuable assets, events cansimilarly be recognized with theirsuccess measured as a Return onInvestment


Before the eventIn this phase of event organization, detailed planningand preparation is undertaken. In planning, key activitiesinvolve identifying the full scope of work required todeliver the event and detailing the event’s design, theset of key activities and elements that will take placeduring the event (e.g. theme, topics, speakers, food andbeverage requirements, attendee plan, agenda, sitedesign, event documentation). As with most projectplans, the event’s scope of work is broken down intodetailed tasks, scheduled and allocated to eventorganizing staff (Human Resources) with responsibilitiesto meet set deadlines. Ultimately, the event planstranslate into checklists, a best practice used to drive therest of the event preparation and setup activities.

In preparation, key activities include procurement ofgoods and services (e.g. speakers, food and beverageservices, equipment), site preparation (e.g. venuedecoration, seating), invitations to participants andlogistics (e.g. travel and accommodation arrangements,security plans, transport and storage of equipment).These various activities are all coordinated andperformed together to work towards the event’s date, the target deadline.

During the eventOn the day, the participants arrive and the event isstaged. During the event, the Event Manager should be physically present, only checking to ensure that allexecution activities flow according to plan. This includesregistration and attendance of participants, execution of event design elements required to run the event assmoothly as possible (e.g. protocol services for VIPs,food and beverage services, planned performances) and site closure once the event has concluded.

After the eventIn the final phase, the event is closed. All outstandingaccounts with suppliers and participants are settled and all documentation produced in relation to the event is archived. Most importantly, the event should be measured and evaluated against its strategicobjectives. Successes, shortcomings and improvementopportunities should be formally documented andarchived for future reference and development.

Event management


Throughout the event life cycleAs with all projects, events very rarely flow smoothly asthey are constrained by a budget, set timeframe and keystakeholders. At various points throughout the event’slife cycle, there are always risks that are realized andencountered as problems. Plans need to be adjusted,changed and constantly updated. The event’s budgetalways needs to be controlled through allocations andapprovals. Key stakeholders (e.g. the event organizingteam, management, participants, media, press andmarketing agencies, government) also need to beinformed through an adequate communication plan.Risk management, communication and budgetallocation are therefore key activities actively appliedthroughout, where Event Managers coordinate efforts,resolve problems, update plans and control budgetallocations to ensure the event is ready, successfullyexecuted and properly closed.

Mapping the life cycle of events: a completeprocess modelLike any project that involves people, each event isunique. New problems emerge and plans need to beconstantly updated. The dynamic, flexible and scalablenature of the activities involved in event organizationand management are therefore extremely challenging to map in the form of a process. Accordingly, manyorganizations struggle with mapping, streamlining andimproving their Event Management activities.

The process model for Events and Event Management as shown on the following page, across all threefundamental levels, integrates all events strategy,management and organization activities throughout the full life cycle of an event. By understanding andapplying this process model, organizations can take asignificant step towards maximizing the full potential of their events.

Building capability: A path to potentialIt is clear that events have become more prevalent andimportant in the region than ever before. With theconsiderable investment involved, organizations shouldrecognize their strategically valuable events as assets,developing them as well as their Event Managementcapabilities over time. The Event Management practicesand process model outlined enable organizations to takea first step towards achieving this. However, the journeyis far from complete.

Developing a dedicated events team, having the rightorganization structure in place, installing appropriatetechnology, training and fostering a knowledgemanagement system are all additional ways in whichorganizations can build their Event Managementcapabilities. With these capabilities, governments andbusinesses can maximize the potential return on theevents that they invest in bringing to life.

Most importantly, the event should be measured and evaluated against its strategic objectives. Successes,shortcomings and improvementopportunities should be formallydocumented and archived for futurereference and development.


Pro

cess

Phas

eP

has

eP

roce

ss

Event initiation(before)

Event planning and preparation(before)

Event execution(during)

Common process(throughout)

Closure(after)

Strategicframework

Scope definition Scheduling Protocol servicesSettlements andreimbursements

Feasibility study Event designInvitation andregistration

Registration andattendance

Reports anddeliverables

Site selectionand preparation

Logistics Staging the event

Event documentation

HR and organizationstructure

Risk management Communication Budget allocation Approval

Procurement On site closure

Evaluation

Events and event management process model

Source: Deloitte, “Events Feasibility & Development: From Strategy to Operations” by William O’Toole, 2011

by Adil Parvez, consultant, Strategy & Operations,Consulting, Deloitte Middle East

Endnotes1 “Qatar 2022 – Business Opportunities” by Qatar First InvestmentBank, 2012

2 “The 5th Middle East Meetings Industry Research Report” by ReedTravel Exhibitions & Meetme, 2011

3 “Events Management: An Integrated and Practical Approach” byRazaq Raj, Paul Walters & Tahir Rashid, 2009

4 “Events Feasibility & Development: From Strategy to Operations”by William O’Toole, 2011

Event management

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