EVENT MANAGEMENT

ABSTRACT:

Event Management is a phenomenon which is developing in the present

scenario. This has enabled the growth of festivals and event as an industry around

the world means that the management can no longer be adhoc. Event planners go

by many different job titles, but the core function of their work all falls within the

realm of events management. Events management is the process behind planning,

executing and evaluating corporate, association, nonprofit, government and social

events .Events management requires strong organizational, budgeting and creative

skills. Those who work in events management must be comfortable with

interacting with all levels of individuals inside and outside of their organization.

The development of Event management software companies provide the event

planners with software tools to handle many common activities such as delegate

registration, hotel booking, travel booking and allocation of exhibition floor space.

As a result of this, the industry now includes events of all sizes from the

Olympics down to a breakfast meeting for ten business people. Many industries,

charitable organizations and interest groups will hold events of some size in order

to market themselves, build business relationships, raise money or celebrate. This

paper discuss about the Event management – Importance of Event Management –

Event Manager – Effective building of team through Event Management.

Event management 

Event Management is the application of project management to the creation and

development of festivals, events and conferences.

Event management involves studying the intricacies of the brand, identifying the

target audience devising the event concept, planning the logistics and coordinating

the technical aspects before actually launching the event. Post-event analysis and

ensuring a return on investment have become significant drivers for the event

industry. Events and festivals, such as the Asian Games have a large impact on

their communities and, in some cases, the whole country.

Marketing tool

Event management is considered one of the strategic marketing and

communication tools by companies of all sizes. From product launches to press

conferences, companies create promotional events to help them communicate with

clients and potential clients. They might target their audience by using the news

media, hoping to generate media coverage which will reach thousands or millions

of people. They can also invite their audience to their events and reach them at the

actual event.

Services

Event managers can supervise diverse corporate events, such as product launches,

press conferences,  meetings, conferences, and marketing programs such as road

shows and grand opening events. In addition, they can coordinate special corporate

hospitality events such as concerts, award ceremonies, film premieres, parties to

launch new products or services, fashion shows, commercial events, and even

private (personal) events such as weddings and religious services. Event

management firms can handle a variety of specific event-related services, which

can range from a few select services for clients with limited budgets, to handling

all creative, technical and logistical aspects of an event.

EVENT MANAGER:

The event manager is the person who plans and executes the event. Event

managers and their teams are often behind-the-scenes running the event. Event

managers may also be involved in more than just the planning and execution of the

event, but also brand building, marketing and communication strategy. The event

manager is an expert at the creative, technical and logistical elements that help an

event succeed. This includes event design, audio production, scriptwriting,

logistics, budgeting, negotiation and, of course, client service. It is a multi-

dimensional profession.

An event architect is an event manager that becomes involved at the early initiation

stages of the event. Especially for larger public events, at the initiation stage, the

event architect needs to make crucial choices and decisions related to the creative

concept and design of the event. In depth technical design knowledge and full

understanding of how to communicate a company´s message across a public are

needed in order to make the event effective.

If the event manager has budget responsibilities at this early stage they may be

termed an event or production executive. The early event development stages

include:

Site surveying

Client Service

Brief clarification

Budget drafting

Cash flow management

Supply chain identification

Procurement

Scheduling

Site design

Technical design

Health & Safety

First Aid Services

Environmental and ecological management

Risk management

An event manager who becomes involved closer to the event will often have a

more limited brief. The key disciplines closer to the event are:

Health & Safety including crowd management

Logistics and vehicle selection

Rigging

Sound

Light

Video

Detailed scheduling and agenda planning

Security

QUALITIES OF AN EVENT MANAGER:

The event planning profession is unique in that it takes a blend of people, business

and program management skills to succeed. Here’s a list of top five attributes that

makes the difference between a good and a great event manager.

Organizational skills

Events are much like a great stage performance, and the event manager the show

director. Choreographing  various elements that make an event successful is

imperative to the success of any event. Great organizational skills are the basic

underpinnings of successfully managing people, schedules, vendors and everything

else.

Attention to detail

Not everyone can have a ‘Steve Jobs-like’ maniacal attention to detail to

everything. However, excellent event managers take the time to consider the most

important elements of an event and focus their efforts on every minute detail for

the things that matter most to their customers.

Temperament

Murphy ’s Law states that if anything can go wrong, it most likely will.

Experienced event managers know that there are rarely any events where

something doesn’t go ‘wrong’. They also know that their ability to stay calm under

pressure and be the voice of reason is an attribute that makes them great leaders.

People Skills

When it comes down to it, events are all about people. The ability to connect,

understand and build lasting relationships is a skill that every event manager must

build and improve upon, no matter how experienced and successful they are.

Leadership

Ever noticed how birds flying in the air in unison as "one mind", gracefully and in

perfect timing as they weave across the skies? Leading and managing people is

something like this. The passion and the ability to take charge of the flow of things

make all the difference at the end of it all.

EFFECTIVE EVENT MANAGEMENT:

Knowledge is power: In order to make an event successful, understanding

and knowledge is crucial. No two events are the same and understanding the

nuances of what is required for a particular event is crucial. Events such as

corporate meetings have their own demands of protocol and procedures.

Entertainment events such as concerts require knowledge of various

supporting resources to be put in place. Before actually commencing with

managing an event, do make sure that you understand what exactly needs to

be done. Talk to people who have participated in such events before, talk to

other people who have managed such events before, keep yourself

constantly updated with the evolving dynamics of each type of event.

Set the Stage: What is perfect for a few persons may turn out to be a

claustrophobic experience for a hundred. It is very important to know the

number of people who are expected to attend the event beforehand. Make

sure the customer has intimated his requirements to you clearly. The choice

of the venue will depend on this factor. Very often the decision of choosing

a venue is taken jointly with the customer. After the venue is chosen it is

essential to obtain maps, scout the location, and take notes.

Prepare today, execute tomorrow: Once a high level understanding of

what needs to be done is obtained, it’s time for the planning phase. Chalk up

a plan of which actions to be taken, and when. Assign responsibilities to the

various actors within you team. Track the progress of each such planned

action to completion. Before a big event, it is crucial to conduct dry runs and

simulations. If possible, do involve the customer in such a dry run and walk

him through of what he may expect during the actual event. This will

prevent unpleasant surprises.

Time it Right! When planning an event, work out a plausible time span. No

event should be hurried, hectic affair and neither should it be a long drawn

affair which puts the audience's patience under test. The agenda should be

well balanced, with adequate time contingencies built in.

Tools of the trade: It is also very important to have a grasp over the

technicalities that run the show. Arrangement of proper technical equipment

and skilled technicians is of prime importance. Nothing can be more

embarrassing than a piece of equipment malfunctioning in the middle of the

show. Pay attention to detail – for example when two projectors are beaming

simultaneously on two ends of the stage, they must be in sync and have the

same color balance. Have the technicians check and recheck the equipments

before the show starts.

Rules are not always meant to be broken: Organizing an event also

requires number of approvals, permissions and procedures to be obtained.

These range from permission from the police, civic authority clearances,

environmental clearances etc. Make sure you, or your customer, have sought

and obtained all necessary approvals and permissions. Stick within the

boundaries of the provisions during the event. Never ever make the mistake

of landing up in the wrong side of the law.

There is no "I" in teamwork: An event involves a number of players. In

some large scale events, it is mind boggling to think of the sheer number of

players involved. For example, in a music concert – musicians, sound

technicians, light technicians, stage technicians, sponsors, celebrities and of

course the general audience. Each of these parts has to function smoothly in

order for the whole to work. Communication is the key. Frequent meetings,

briefings and rehearsals are needed for everyone to understand what their

responsibilities are and how they need to coordinate. During the event have

effective communication and coordination mechanisms like wireless

headsets, or cell phones. In teamwork, most of all, it is important to forsake

egos. Don't try to blame others for anything for might go wrong – instead the

entire team should work in close coordination to cover for the slightest

mistake made by an individual.

"If anything can go wrong, it will": In spite of the intricate planning,

rehearsals and the best of your efforts, things may not always run smoothly

and last minute glitches can occur. Do not panic - be prepared for such

exigencies. Have a backup plan in place. Arrange for emergency power

backups and other technical backup systems. If an inordinate delay occurs

(for example a performing artist does not show up on time), plan in advance

how to handle the situation and keep the audience occupied.

Safety is paramount: While it is important to have fun, safety is a very

important factor. Ensure that emergency exits are well marked and that you

have adequate trained personnel to handle the situation in case anything

untoward happens. Have the fire brigade and paramedical ready in case of

very large events.

Smile!: Last but not the least, always remember that managing an event is

all about interacting with people to deliver the best results. Keep a cheerful

and positive disposition - it lowers stress for everyone concerned. The

customer is always king – some things may not always go your liking, but in

the end your satisfaction would come from seeing the event getting executed

perfectly.

EVENT MANAGEMENT FOR EFFECTIVE TEAM BUILDING:

We consider corporate teamwork as the juice for successful event

management. Motivated minds exert efforts for the common goal of achieving

uncommon success of planned event.

Social Events:

For effective team building, we organize various social events. These events

are often affordable, effective and enjoyable form of events and activities we

organize for effective team building. These types of events have ultra-high and

impromptu impact on our participants, and are low-cost activities. We make

sure that individuals mix and mingle well with each other, particularly if the

group is a large one, or else they will just hang around one or two close friend

and our purpose of organizing the team building event will be gutted.We carry

out various other corporately social events for enhancing the sense of team

spirit. These events include evening meal, lunchtime drink, quiz nights,

seminars for encouraging and rewarding employees, family picnic, coffee

morning, etc.

These social events are easy to plan and execute and we easily organize them

without going harsh on our wallet. The serve like in an engine, and generate

that all important spark which fuse our participants like never before. We plan

them well and ensure things go smooth as summer cherries, and no wonder we

craft a battalion of dedicated team players.

Changes to Work Practice:

For building an effective team, which has deep sense of dedication towards

team effort and organizations common objectives, we organize various events

or change activities within our workplace. Changes like swapping job between

employees, following open door policies, organizing team meetings and

circulating team newsletters improve the confidence, faith and output of our

employees, big time. In addition, it drastically enhances the communication and

co-operation among them.

For organizing successful events, we believe that there is nothing as magical as

an out-and-out team effort. We realize tons of success by shear team effort, with

making all significant groups engaged in the scrupulous planning requisite,

crafting exhilarating and favorable results for a broad range of people and

groups. Producing flourishing events is nothing but our art of heeding facets.

Corporate Events:

Planning and managing events for corporate affairs is somewhat dicey,

challenging and taxing. But, no wonder organizing a successful corporate

event is one of the most rewarding things we repeatedly to do for ourselves. 

We effectively organize various corporate event like press conference, product

launch, product deal, merger and partnership tie-ups, quarterly and annual

parties, annual functions, and more. In such events, we deem perfection holds

the aces and before start of the planned corporate event, we make sure all

modalities are working gracefully.

CASE STUDY:

Data Core India has been providing meeting management services as part of the

Event Management domain that it caters to. By extending its services in the

data management domain, Data Core India has been able to:

• Provide a data foundation that supports the vision and goals of the

organization

• Ensure that the foundation is extensible and scalable

• Enable further alternatives to be considered by management for current and

future data strategies

• Leverage existing IT architecture investments

• Deliver within client’s cost constraints

The various technologies/languages/platforms used by Data Core include:

ASP.NET 2.0, VB.NET 2.0, SQL Server 2005, IIS 6.0

VB 6.0, ASP, SQL Server 2000, MS Excel.

The company is in the business of planning and running business meetings,

conferences, and incentive programs. The events range in size from a couple

dozen to thousands of attendees with budgets in the millions of dollars. The

company can handle all aspects of the event from negotiating hotel contracts,

registering attendees, providing creative materials, ticketing air travel, to on-site

management.

Problem Statement

Data systems within this company had evolved separately and were only just

starting to be integrated via selected interfaces. Furthermore, each department

focused on performing its function without regard to the overall goals of the

organization. Future plans included increased usage of outside service providers

(ASPs) which also complicates the process of integrating the information.

While the company’s data systems were sufficient to support the successful

operation of the business, they lacked they capability to provide analysis of the

business as a whole.

The Solution

Data-Core approached the problem from a functional standpoint rather than a

technical one and looked at what the users needed before offering a technology

solution. Requirements were determined by interviewing key personnel. Special

notice was taken of needs that could not be handled by any single existing

system. An inventory of the available data sources was prepared at the field

level to identify what data could be derived from the existing systems. Further

analysis was done to see if the fields of interest actually had a meaningful data

population. Also documented were the keys that could be used to join data from

separate systems.

A multi-tier, Web-based architecture was provided to serve multiple users, no

matter where they are in the world. The solution keeps even remote users in

touch with the information they need. Users can work directly with business

information for ad hoc reporting and develop their own applications using

advanced data visualization and data mining techniques via Internet browser

software and the company’s standard digital tools. The rich functionality and

flexibility of the Web interface minimized training and accelerated deployment.

CONCLUSION:

The Event Management has now become a successful tool for every

company while organizing corporate festivals, meeting and other conferences.

This has made as an effective marketing tool for the company for their target

audiences and creates satisfaction among them. It has playing a vital role in any

field. Thus, it has a wide scope in the future.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1. WEBSITES:www.dfa.productions.co.ukwww.datacore.India.comen.wikipedia/wiki/Event-Managementinstitute of event management.comlibraryguides.griffith.edu.auwww.google.comeventplanning.about.com

2. BOOKS:Bowdin Glem, Johnney Allen, William O’Toole, Rob Harris, Mc Donnell- Event Management (Event Managements)

3. JOURNAL:

Kenneth Backman-Event management (formerly Festival management and Event tourism)