Analysis
The objective of this report is to analyse the event, “Clunes Booktown Festival”. The annual Clunes Booktown Festival happened back on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th May, with close to 20,000 people joined the most amazing whole town bookshop experience in Australia. This is an annual event where various author talks about their books and there are various panel discussions. This year, Headline authors included Clementine Ford, the Hon. Tim Fischer AC, Hannah Kent, Kate Grenville, A.S. Patric and Annie Raser-Rowland. It can be said that this event is one stop destination for all book enthusiasts. In this event, people got the chance to discover the rare books. People also got a chance to listen to live music and watch the street performances of various artists. This report will discuss the positive and the negatives of the event. In the analysis, the focus would be on sustainable business practices as demonstrated in the event and triple bottom line approach. The report would also discuss the few recommendations and suggestions for the upcoming event.
One thing is evident from the execution of the event that a lot of planning is involved to make any event successful. Event management and planning could be tricky as event managers have to manage the expectations of various stakeholders. Generally, the event marketing and managers would have to manage the internal and external variables to get the best output from any event (Niekerk & Getz, 2016). The event “Clunes Booktown Festival” was a good event. The participation was good in the event and there were people from various backgrounds. The event management team did a great job to manage the event. Once the event is over, it is important to evaluate the event. There are various measures to evaluate the success of any event. The three key evaluation measures that are be used to evaluate this event can be discussed as:
- Users feedback: On the spot feedback, was collected from the users who visited the event. This method of evaluation is the best method as it involves direct interaction with the users (Jones & Newsome, 2016). The chances of biasness are very less in this method.
- Past Data point: The past data points are used to compare with the current data points. For example, in the last year’s event, the footfall was 18,000 people and the footfall this year was 20,000. This data point clubbed with other data points will be a great source of information to evaluate the event.
- Evaluation against the set KPIs”: There are various Key Performance Indicators that are used to assess the event. For example, customer satisfaction index and employee satisfaction index. It is important to mention that evaluation is done from the perspective of various internal and external stakeholders (Buning & Gibson, 2016). It is important that people should not leave the internal stakeholders while doing the evaluation.
- Adherence of sustainable business practices: The event is also evaluated against the use and demonstration of sustainable business practices.
Overall, it would be correct to label the event as a successful event. The event managers demonstrated the use of sustainable business practices in whichever form they could. For example, the use of plastic water bottle was not encouraged. People were request to use the tap water. On the similar line, the event zone was a completely plastic free zone. There were few shopping kiosks at the event location. However, these kiosks were selling stuff in paper bags. The various positive and negative impacts of the event can be discussed as:
The purpose of the event was to spread the awareness about the books and create a platform where the interested people can get the access to various books. One of great thing about the event was the fact that it reflected some elements of triple bottom line framework. TBL (Triple Bottom Line) is s an accounting framework with three parts: social, environmental (or ecological) and financial (Govindan & Khodaverdi, 2013).
The event managers were able to use the mix of various small strategies that enabled them to practice sustainable business measures. The demonstration of these bottom lines by the event can be discussed as:
Positive impact of event:
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PEOPLE |
The event managers were considerate about the various stakeholders involved in event. The business practices were fair and beneficial for all the team members and volunteers. Therefore, it can be said that event demonstrated high value in this bottom line. |
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PLANET |
There were various efforts taken to ensure that event is completely GREEN. For example, no use of plastic in the premises, limited use of plastic bottles, etc. Therefore, it can be said that event demonstrated high value in this bottom line. |
|
PROFIT |
The tickets of the event were very reasonably priced at $10. In fact, there was a special 50% discount for students and students got the ticket for $5 only. It can be said that event planners have used a very effective pricing strategy as people didn’t feel any burden. Therefore, it can be said that event demonstrated high value in this bottom line. |
Another positive impact of the event is that it helped to increase the intellectual level of people through the means of books. As a society, there is a reduction in the use of books. It is important that the events like this should be prmoted.
One of the negative impact of the event was the increase in the pollution level around the event. The event had the attendance of close to 20,000 people. However, event managers didn’t organize and car-pooling facilities. There were various people who visited alone in their car and this increased the pollution level. In fact, this is not a sustainable business practice and against the policies of triple bottom line framework (Harris, Edwards, & Foley, 2014).
Another negative point that was observed in the event was the use offline channels of promotions. This era is marked with technology advancements and the use of social media platforms (Vu, Hales & Arcodia, 2015). The event managers could have easily avoided the use of posters and pamphlets. The use of paper is an additional burden to the environment. The focus on value creation and identification is also important in event management. With many regulatory and financial pressures, events sometimes lose its focus on real user value.
Some of the negatives could also be observed in terms of people. It was observed that all the volunteers of the event were not committed. There were some volunteers at the event that were not taking their job and responsibilities seriously. For example, some of volunteers were not guiding people to different stages and in fact, there were few volunteers that were doing litter at the event space.
It is imperative that the event managers should be able to overcome the negative impacts of the event in 2018 and beyond. The event management team can have a stage of advanced planning wherein they can analyze all the things that went wrong in 2017.
Event management can help support social determinants if it is promoted at all levels of government, community leaders and local agencies. If they work together, they can support a more sustainable and healthier community. With this prioritization of events across all policies, we can focus on promoting opportunities for better health, it will in turn address issues such as poverty, discrimination and lack of access. The key recommendations to further improve the future edition of this event can be discussed as:
Demonstrate value creation- This step can be related to the planning function of event management which is the key function because it involves the process of determining ahead of time what needs to be accomplished, when, by whom, how, and at what cost. Planning can contribute greatly to success as well as productivity. Planning also is about determining any organization’s goals and objectives. The value creation and value delivery is also one a fundamental practice of sustainable development.
Demonstration of triple bottom line
Generate business model options– This step could be related to the organizing function of event management because it involves establishing structures and systems through which the organization objectives will be defined and coordinated. This is where management can strive to create that unique product or creating a culture that’s unique only to the organization, which stands out and sets that organization apart in its uniqueness. The use of business model options would ensure that event is able to adhere to the principles of triple bottom line approach.
Prioritize the risks- This step can be looked at as the leading function of management. Leadership can identify variables that are likely to have the most success, which leads in cultural alignment, and best-practice management processes, which can effectively transform the organization.
Reduce risk through experiments- This step provides a window of validation so it can be related to the controlling function of management where the leadership teams or management can leverage to create a meaningful, manageable, and sustainable strategy for fulfilling an innovative vision (Gold & Hahn, 2013).
Increased used of social media platform- With the latest marketing tools like social media and Internet making, it is relatively easy to reach out to target audience. However, it is important that event marketing managers should make continuous attempt to keep the targeted audience engaged (Lee, 2013). It is suggested that the use of social media should further increase and event should come out of traditional form of marketing like paper and pamphlet distribution.
To have an event manager and leader that has the ability to look to the future and made decisions on how to keep production fresh, relevant to the current and future market and expand to new possibilities and maintain the daily administrative duties as well would serve as a dual role of leader/manager (Nikolaou & Evangelinos, 2013).
Conclusion:
The Clunes Booktown Festival was an event to celebrate the books and conversations. It was a platform to get to know the like-minded people and enjoy the various books on numerous topics from art and literature to support, technology, life-sciences and fiction. It can be said that this event was a successful event. The event managers were focus on sustainability and triple bottom line measures. For the upcoming editions of the event, the event managers should more closely focus on sustainable business practices. Proper training and examples, visuals, guidance and consistent assessment throughout each planning process, helps to minimize interpretation when the change process is being implemented (Ruhanen & Whitford, 2014). It is important that the emphasis should be given to further streamline and optimize the event processes. The process would streamline and create consistency with all clients and the two individuals who were chosen are extremely change-focused, positive and would leave a positive and encouraging impression with the users. With the involvement of the employees the leaders can develop leaders around. Leadership doesn’t have to be a lonely business. The leaders can competently share responsibilities, vision, and commitment with event managers and the challenge of event planning can be met. It is expected that the future editions of the event would be more successful.
References:
Buning, R.J. and Gibson, H.J., 2016. The role of travel conditions in cycling tourism: implications for destination and event management. Journal of Sport & Tourism, 20(3-4), pp.175-193.
Govindan, K., Khodaverdi, R. and Jafarian, A., 2013. A fuzzy multi criteria approach for measuring sustainability performance of a supplier based on triple bottom line approach. Journal of Cleaner Production, 47, pp.345-354.
Gold, S., Hahn, R. and Seuring, S., 2013. Sustainable supply chain management in “Base of the Pyramid” food projects—A path to triple bottom line approaches for multinationals?. International Business Review, 22(5), pp.784-799.
Harris, R., Edwards, D., Foley, C. and Schlenker, K., 2014. Australian Event Symposium, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 13-14 September 2012. Event Management, 18(4), pp.405-472.
Jones, C., Newsome, D. and Macbeth, J., 2016. Governance and environmental implications of motorised events: insights from Australia and avenues for further inquiry. Current Issues in Tourism, 19(7), pp.680-696.
Lee, T.H., 2013. Influence analysis of community resident support for sustainable tourism development. Tourism Management, 34, pp.37-46.
Nikolaou, I.E., Evangelinos, K.I. and Allan, S., 2013. A reverse logistics social responsibility evaluation framework based on the triple bottom line approach. Journal of Cleaner Production, 56, pp.173-184.
Ruhanen, L. and Whitford, M., 2014. Indigenous Tourism and Events for Community Development in Australia. In Tourism as an Instrument for Development: A Theoretical and Practical Study (pp. 183-194). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
The annual Clunes Booktown Festival. 2017. Retrieved from: https://www.visitmelbourne.com/regions/Daylesford-and-the-Macedon-Ranges/Events/Art-and-exhibitions/Literature/Clunes-Booktown-Festival.aspx#overview
Van Niekerk, M. and Getz, D., 2016. The Identification and Differentiation of Festival Stakeholders. Event Management, 20(3), pp.419-431.
Vu, H.N., Hales, R., Arcodia, C. and Andrade, L.B.D., 2015. A people-centred approach to destination planning and management: A paradigm shift toward sustainable development. CAUTHE 2015: Rising Tides and Sea Changes: Adaptation and Innovation in Tourism and Hospitality, p.745.
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