Event Management And Project Management: A Critical Assessment And Case Study

Planning Process and Management

This paper is concerned with the in-depth understanding of event management and project management. The themes addressed in this paper are critical assessment of event planning process and project management, evaluation of the different techniques for analyzing management and events, and the essentialities of organizing an event. The current trend shows that event, project management is quite exciting, and therefore, leaders are veering towards this particular field. Keeping the theoretical framework of event management and project management at the backdrop, the paper examines the various facets associated with organizing the multi-cultural event that took place on April 5, 2018. The paper discusses the issues of planning and management, health and safety, venue site design, site communication, temporary structures, experience and strategies of working with multiple stakeholders, production technology and the issues of ethical considerations.

A survey was conducted among the students of Greenwich School of Management to determine the event they would like to see being performed and based on the results it was decided that a multicultural event should be hosted (see appendix about the votes for different preference of events). The multi-cultural event was conducted with the aim of eliminating the barriers that pervades between and among different continents and at the same time to emphasize on the notions of unity, inclusiveness and diversity. Through the organization of this event, I intend to learn the practical application of the theoretical strands of the event management studies. The objective was to organize the event with splendour and gaiety so that it becomes memorable for all the students and the guests.

The study of event management is being hailed as a powerful tool to understand the impact of financial changes on business. In addition, event studies is useful for examining the illegalities in corporate work, product recalls, changes in customer service, diversification programs, decisions pertaining to strategic investment and the establishment of joint ventures. Our class conducted a survey among the students of Greenwich school of Management to understand their preference of the type of event. According to the survey, the multicultural day won the maximum votes. Therefore, it was decided that an event based on multicultural day would be organized on week 8. Based on my understanding of the thrust of event management, I embarked on the organization of the multi-cultural day that was organized with the aim of breaking the barriers and promoting the principles of inclusiveness and diversity. Organizing an event involves intense brainstorming and consideration of different steps that needs to be followed in a systematic manner. In this case, the first step was to identify and define the yardstick of an event. Organizing an event involves taking into account various steps. Multiple stakeholders are involved in the process. The different stakeholders in regard to the multicultural event were the students, the lecturers and the staff of GSM. We had a planning committee that comprised of different groups entrusted with specific responsibilities and tasks. These planning committees were health safety and risk management, supply chain management, waste management, licensing and legalities, CRS and sustainability, and food and beverages. In addition, a fundraising group was created and was entrusted with the responsibility of selling books to raise fund for the event. They were colleagues, interested parties, volunteers and media. We decided to take the responsibility of heading the team with the objective of learning to implement the leadership qualities thatw e have learnt during the course.. Other stakeholders of the event were volunteers, individual or professionals can organize events. The organizers along with the different stakeholders formed a meeting and discussed the various prospects of the event. From the outset of the event, the group was clear about its vision and summarized the ideas to the different stakeholders. This was followed by the critical examination and analysis of the ideas and the agenda that is considered to be an important step in event management as recognized by Schwalbe (2015).Once the different planning committees were organized, we engaged ourselvesin the assessment of the feasibility and plausibility of the event. The next task was to decide on the venue for the event. While selecting the venue, we kept in mind that the venue should be easily accessible for all the visitors and would should cost-effective.  Therefore, the factors of budget, feasibility of the location and the theme of the event influenced me to select the conference hall of the Greenwich college. Since we expected mostly students and their parents as visitors, this was believed to be the most appropriate venue. Another feature of the planning stage was that it enabled me to evaluate the best possible options and what needs to be prioritized. It was decided that the event would feature cuisines from different countries and the students would prepare it. The decision of entrusting this responsibility to the students and not outsource it to a caterer to reduce the expenditure. We also conducted a thorough research about the cusines from different continents, sartorial style of different culture and the music that should be played at the background

Health and Safety

The organization of any event should prioritize health and safety measures at the core of its agenda. For the purpose of the first health, measure that we adopted was ensuring that healthy food is cooked in a hygienic condition. To ensure this we went along with the team that was entrusted with the onus of cooking food to purchase raw materials. We were present during the time of cooking to ensure that the team was taking care of proper hygiene in the preparation of the food. There was also fire extinguisher placed outside the conference hall to mitigate the incidence of breakout of fire. There were student volunteers who positioned in different zones of the conference hall to ensure that the guests are not harassed by fringe elements and at the same time to ensure that women visitors, people from the ethnic minorities felt safe and welcomed. Special safety mechanism was taken into account so that people from all communities feel a part of the event.

As discussed before, the conference hall was selected as the venue for the event. Keeping the theme of the event in mind, it was decided that the conference hall  should be decorated in a minimalistic yet attractive way that would appeal to the aesthetics and taste of the potential visitors. Balloons, festoons, ribbons and posters depicting the themes of diversity graced the conference hall. The area where the food is to be served was cleaned early in the morning and was positioned in one corner of the room so that it was easily accessible for the visitors. It was specially taken into account that the elderly visitors and disabled people should feel comfortable; therefore, wheelchair was arranged in the conference hall. The white board was used to convey the message of peace, harmony, diversity and inclusiveness that was the crux of the event. At the entrance there was a beautifully decorated hydrogen balloon swirled with balloons representing the colors of the National Flag of Canada. This provided to the visitors about the theme of the event and provided an insight of what they could expect from the event. There was the arrangement of red carpet to allow the interested participants to walk and showcase their unique cultural aesthetics in the form of national dress.

In event management, communication is considered to be one of the most effective tools. There is a need to maintain continuous communication with the different teams and committees associated with the event. To ensure proper communication, I have used microphones and walkie-talkie. Throughout the event, I decided to call the different teams on phone instead of texting as they keeping in mind the rush of people may overlook it. Before the onset of the event, I sent mails with proper headers and the outline of the evnt to the committee, stakeholders and the student community to provide everyone with the idea of crux of the event and what to expect from the event.

Venue Site Design

Since the event was organized in the conference room, there were no specific temporary structures. Ballooons, festoons, ribbons, cloths, hydrogen balloons, posters and flags were the temporary structures of the event. The notion behind the incorporation of these temporary structures was to enhance the aesthetics of the event and grenerate excitement and awe among the visitors. The temporary structures were in consonance with the theme of the event and elevated the beauty of the event. Another reason behind selecting these temporary structures is that all these materials are affordable and therefore were within the budget. However, we laid emphasis on the quality of the temporary structures as we prioritize quality above everything.

An event comprises of a period that guide the multiple stakeholders of the event about the time required in achieving the goal. All the parties need to engage in homework at different junctures of the event. The term stakeholder refers to parties who are interested in the business, it can be individuals, groups or organizations who are informed and have specific function in relation to the event. The stakeholders of the event were students, staff and teachers. Money was collected from each of the stakeholders; however, no fixed amount was imposed on any of the stakeholders. They can also be understood as the primary stakeholders without whom the event would have seen its daylight. In this case, the contribution of the students need special mention. The students who formed different committees were involved in the event since its planning to its execution.  They can be understood as internal stakeholders who are within the spectrum of the event and have a say in the unfolding of the event. The The final day of the multicultural event was epitomized with various events like dressing according to the culture of different of continents namely North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Europe. To advertise and promote the event, flyers were made and distributed with the objective of generating excitement about the event. Another advertising strategy that was adopted was the time tested formula of word-of-mouth publicity. Decoration was given the foremost importance. The event premise was adorned with balloons, ribbons and flags that was appropriate for the theme of the event. The students collectively accomplished the theme music and arrangement of food. The planning and management committees enthusiastically participated in the event and this was manifested in their efforts. All the students arrived at the event premise around 7:30 am to ensure that the arrangements have done with aplomb. The success of the event can be attributed to the teamwork and coordination of the different stakeholders in the event.

Site Communication

In our event, the priority was given to the attendees and the guests. We decided to use RFID technology to easily collect data in real-time to adjust to the traffic patterns (Braglia and Frosolini 2014). We decided to use a cloud-based event management software that was mobile-friendly to ensure that the changes could be made on the fly and could be viewed with the essentials for the purpose of planning and implementation. Another technology that we used for the event was livestreaming of the event so that it could be seen my people who could not have made to the event due to their personal problems. The feature of Facebook Live and Instagram Live was used to live stream the event and provides bits and pieces of the event to the interested viewers. The deployment of this technology generated more interest among the students and they made to the event to experience the diversity and pluralism of different cultures. We also decided to crowd-source for the event to generate funds for the event. The crowdsourcing technologies and platforms have made it smoother to elicit data about the quality of the content from the attendees through the use of apps, social media platforms and others (Getz 2014). The crowd sourcing technology allowed me to monitor the topics that were trending and the possible ways to conduct the event in a more efficient and attractive manner.

Some of the ethical considerations that were taken into consideration during the course of the event were making meaningful cross-cultural encounters, ensuring service quality excellence, keeping the interests and comfort of the guests at the core, effectively managing the budget, assessment of the risks and maintenance of security measures (Jones and Jones 2014). In addition, I ensured that eco-friendly materials were used for the event, as those were easily disposable. I ensured that all the stakeholders and the committees in the events were properly informed at each step of the event planning. Another ethical measure adopted was to inform about the financial breakdown and budgeting to all the parties informed in the event planning. I realized that integrity and honesty are the keys for the organization of an event successfully. Being a leader, it was my responsibility to take intonconsideration that none of the stakeholders and commiittes felt unduly pressurized. I also had the responsibility of ensuring that the committees adopted ethical behavior towards the guests and follow an ethical coduct throughout the course of the event.

Temporary Structures

In event studies, sample size is of a huge concern as the test statistics intrinsic to the discourse of event studies are premised on normality assumptions that are connected with large samples. In the light of event studies, the deployment of test statistics tend to be quite sensitive (McNeil, Frey and Embrechts 2015). A small size has its limitations. It is because generalizing the data generated from a small sample size. It is important to probe whether outliers catalyze the generated results. A researcher needs to modify and adapt the technique of research in correspondence to the size of the sample. Locating and recognizing the outliers has some issues. Some researchers have the tendency to eliminate the outliers from the sample with the concern that it may lead to measurement error. Outliers herald an important signal regarding the presence of confounding effects. However, one problem is that eliminating the outliers becomes a problem. The framework of event study provides a measure of the financial effect of an event. Some of the assumptions pertinent and evident in case of event study is that there is the efficiency of markets, there are no confounding impact on the window and that the vent is unanticipated. Studies have shown that the articles of management do not provide adequate information that would allow the readers to assess whether these assumptions have validity or not.

 Project management is understood to be the absorption of useful techniques derived from other disciplines, improvising on these techniques and having a focus on it. The highlight of the method lies in its combination of operations and systems research that would culminate to the integrated system and science. The techniques of project management emanated in the field of space and arms as against the popular notion of the construction industry (Fleming and Koppelman 2016). NASA is credited for being the primary contributor for developing the techniques of project management. Advancement of information technology has important implications for the project management (Basdas and Oran 2014).In the recent times, an illustrious example of project management is that of the University of Technology, Sydney as it employs Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) that harps on the principles of change through human resources and consensus. Project management has drawn techniques from multiple disciplines namely operations research tools, of linear analysis, probability and optimization methods. It also utilizes production tools like scheduling of research and Gantt Chart (Kerzner and Kerzner 2017).

Experience and Strategies of Working with Multiple Stakeholders

These should be of concern of the event manager and the event industry might be able to provide solution. Project management is premised on three basic tenets- quality, cost and time (Dutta 2014). The central concern pertaining to this is there is the possibility of all these features overlapping each other. Some of the solutions that have emerged in the context of these issues are dismissal of the milestones, overhaul of the critical path method or keeping away project management out of the boundaries of middle management and also taking into account the broader strategic issues. Then there is also the interest of the stakeholders who have a paramount role to play and their objective functions need to be identified with the aim of driving the entire process.

Therefore, the urgency created and sustained through deadline is a major obstacle in relation to the project management industry. It has been found that the thrust on the analysis of critical path and the traditional task is quite different. Another impediment in the light of project management is the role of venue. Event has a lifespan and whatever is done is fixed to time and space. Events may have a legacy, however these are considered to be the secondary characteristics of the event. Organizing an event demands huge human resource. Hence, comes the volunteers. The volunteers are indispensable whether for a small-scale event or a glamorous and splendid large scale event. Using the volunteers for an event motivates the leader or the entrepreneur for the improvement of the industry (Aapro et al. 2014). However, volunteers can also pose challenge in conducting an event. The inclusion of volunteers may make it difficult to make standard estimations of the allotted tasks and for the resources. Another constraint pertaining to event management is the ability to make decisions in a changing environment. In the recent years, there has a been proliferation of project management. This indicates the change in the practice of business in the organization (Jones and Jones 2014). Some of the recent works pertaining to the risks in the industry ensues that there needs to be an integration of risks that would enable in the understanding of risk in the event industry. In the present context, there is a need to identify the life cycle of the objective functions. According to Getz (2014), management of the project can provide new insights that would refine the study of project management. On the other hand, project management would contribute to an established system that is characterized by efficient management and control (Korstanje, Tzanelli, and Clayton 2014). In addition it will lead to a system that would be able to categorize and connect the fields to the event management, a system of documentation that would improve the communication and recording of the event and nomenclature that can be utilized in all domains of general business and events. The field of event management is veering towards a systematic approach, for planning and control, there is a rising complexity that emerges from the environment that is regulated and demands standardization, events as they turn more central they need greater regulation from the market for the pursuit of a uniform business methodology. Management of projects would present a solution to these problems and will continue to transform with the incorporation of event management.

Production Technology

Throughout the course of the event, my concern was whether the event will be organized properly. I was also concerned whether the class would be able to execute the event considering that this was the first time that we have organized in event on such a grand scale. Event management can be understood as the organization, production and execution of an event by integrating a range of issues that includes planning for the event, involving the stakeholders and coordinating with the different teams, looking into the issue of health and safety of the event, deciding on the venue site, production technology and emphasizing on the ethical and sustainable considerations for the event. The organization of the multi-cultural event provided the calss an opportunity to apply the theoretical framework of the event management principles. Location is important on the grounds than an event needs to be taken place in a proper venue. Works inherently have a transitory nature. This needs to be manifested during the course of planning of an event (Geisler and Wickramasinghe 2015).

Based on the learning techniques, we planned the event quite advanced to the actual day of the event. Since this was a multicultural event, we placed special emphasizing on upholding the notions of inclusiveness, diversity and pluralism. The coming together of different participantrs under one umbrella made me realize about the futility of barriers posed by ethnicity, religion, race and so on. This event became an opportunity for people from diverse background to interact and shed their inhibitions. The red carpet event, which was the highlight of the multicultural event, enabled the class and the vistors to get a taste of different cultures. At the end of the event, it was found that visitors were were much motre relaxed and were interacting with bonhomie with people from different cultures. I feel this is where lies the success of the event. The event also provided an opportunity for the families to seek respite from their exhausting schedule and engage in quality family time. The entire class gave a lot of effort in the arrangement of the event especially in the preparation of food. Some of us were cooking for the first time. This event taught us the importance of coordinating among the team members and the principle of teamwork. At the end of the event all the vistors were handed out a feedback form with the aim to assess their interest about the event. It was found that 39 people were very satisfied with the event, 53 people were very satisfied with the quality and presentation of food, 40 people were very satisfied with the event and the kind of entertainment it provided and 35 people were were very satisfied with the timing of the event. 39 people were found to very satisfied with the location of the event and 45 people were quite satisfied with their overall experience about the event. The results from this feedback demonstrate that the majority of the vistors were quite happy with the event. This event could have been possible due to the collective effort of the year 6 events nad entertainment students batch of 2018.

Issues of Ethical Considerations

Conclusion

The above discussion on the event management of multicultural day highlighted the different characteristics essential for event management and planning. There were discussions on the various facets of event management and the adoption of a systematic and planned approach for organizing an event. The paper also explored the different techniques that are important for conducting research in event studies. The discussion on project management underlined its features and characteristic in contrast to event management. Managing and organizing an event involves vision and mission. This can be achieved by the concerted effort of the leader and his team. Coordination, teamwork, collaboration and communication at every stage of the research. Based on the feedback collected from the visitors it can be concluded that the event was great success and for this, the entire class needs to be given the credit. Organization of this event provided me an opportunity to understand the requirements based on the theme of the event and the importance of planning to set the stage for the event. Working with different stakeholders helped to understand their role and importance in relation to the event.

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