Introduction to Event Management, Study notes of Management Theory

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Introduction

Rightly said “An event is only successful if it supports our

client’s business objectives. The first thing we ask is: ‘What do

you want to accomplish with this event?’ From these answers,

our strategy emerges. What can we do, in every phase of the

project, to help our client reach those goals? Everything else

hinges on that.”

OVERVIEW

Event Management when compared to other traditional professions such as medicine, law and

accounting is relatively a young field. It is an area that is growing rapidly and now represents

hundreds of professionals who are responsible for planning, coordinating and evaluating a wide

range of events all year round.

Event management is predominantly about creating an experience. Bearing in mind that first

impressions last, it is important when embarking on any event regardless of its scale to take the

correct approach and use the right techniques to ensure that your event is successful.

What Is Event Management?

Event management , also known as event planning, is really project management applied to creating

events, conferences and festivals.

Event management involves knowing the key brand and target audience, devising the event concept,

planning the logistics and coordinating the technical aspects of the event. It also includes managing

the event on the day and post-event analysis.

The event management industry includes events of all sizes from the Olympics down to a breakfast

meeting for ten business people. Many industries, charities and interest groups will hold events of

some size in order to market themselves, build business relationships, raise money or celebrate.

Event management companies and event managers can take the hassle out of coordinating events

and are frequently used for larger events like weddings, festivals and corporate events. Other event

types which require event management are sporting events, live music events, recreation events,

birthdays, anniversaries, commercial events, political events, charitable events, sales events, product

launches and expos.

The hotel, travel and hospitality industries, advertising agencies, public relations firms, corporations, news media, non-profit organisations and integrated marketing and communications all use events very effectively.

What is an Event?

Fairs view and/or sell products, services, and other resources to a specific

industry or the general public, scheduled alone or in conjunction with

other events.

Entertainment & Leisure

Events

A one-time or periodic, free or ticketed performance or exhibition event

created for entertainment purposes, scheduled alone or in conjunction

with other events.

Festivals

A cultural celebration, either secular or religious, created by and/or for

the public, scheduled alone or in conjunction with other events. (Many

festivals include bringing buyer and seller together in a festive

atmosphere.)

Government & Civic Events

An event comprised of or created by or for political parties,

communities, or municipal or national government entities, scheduled

alone or in conjunction with other events.

Marketing Events

A commerce-oriented event to facilitate bringing buyer and seller

together or to create awareness of a commercial product or service,

scheduled alone or in conjunction with other events.

Meeting & Convention

Events

The assembly of people for the purpose of exchanging information,

debate or discussion, consensus or decisions, education, and

relationship building, scheduled alone or in conjunction with other

events.

Social/Life-Cycle Events

A private event, by invitation only, celebrating or commemorating a

cultural, religious, communal, societal, or life-cycle occasion, scheduled

alone or in conjunction with other events.

Sports Events

A spectator or participatory event involving recreational or competitive

sport activities, scheduled alone or in conjunction with other events.

Event Contexts

Figure 1

Event Management Body of Knowledge Domain Structure

Revised 03 February 2013

where majority of people are Muslims, then you can't expect many footsteps. Therefore it is very important that you find out in advance who are your target audience (i.e. their age group, sex, qualification, profession, lifestyle, income, liking, disliking, customs, religions, traditions etc), where there live and what are their desires and expectations from your event. To do market research you will have to do survey in the area (town/city/state/country) where you wish to organize the event. If you wish to open a wedding planning company and there are hardly two or three weddings in a year in your area, then selling such type of services is not commercially viable.

Competitors' Analysis Find out:

 - who are your competitors

 - Where they live?

 - What are their employee base (i.e. number of employees)

 - Client base (i.e. number of clients)

 - Market value (i.e. what is their reputation in the market)

 - Market share (i.e. how much business they have occupied)

 - Turnover (i.e. annual sales)?

 - How many events they organize in a year?

 - Why people attend their events?

 - What is so special about their events?

 - How do they get clients and sponsors for their events?

All this will help you in developing a better business plan for your event management company.

SWOT Analysis for Event Management Company SWOT analysis is used to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats involved in your event planning venture. In SWOT: 's' stands for strengths, 'w' stands for weaknesses, 'o' stands for opportunities and 'T' stands for threats. Strengths Determine your resources and capabilities and how they can be used against your competition and in favour of your target audience. What advantages do you have? What you can do better than the others?

Weaknesses Determine the resources you lack. Determine the advantages your competitors have. What could you improve? What you should avoid? Opportunities Look at your strengths and determine which opportunities are opened for you. Determine how you can open up even more opportunities by eliminating some of your weaknesses. Threats Changes in external environment (like changes in economy or market trends) or any unfavourable situation can pose threat to your company or business. Determine all present and possible threats to your business venture. It can be the presence of a very powerful competitor or new or innovative ways of organizing events or a heavy tax on entertainment.

Step 3: Prepare business plan for your event management company

You will develop your business plan on the basis of market research, competitors' analysis and SWOT analysis of your event management company. Before developing your business plan, you should keep some points in mind:

1. Be realistic and avoid optimism while estimating capital requirements, sales and profits.
2. Don't ignore developing strategies which may come handy in case of adversities in your business.

Following steps can be adopted for developing a business plan for your event management company:

1. Outline your business objectives. What do you want to achieve in short term and in long term i.e. what is the mission and vision of your event planning company? However don't stick too much with long term objectives as they may become meaningless after a long time or changes in market situation. 2. Determine your staffing needs and what should be their skill sets. Develop the organizational structure of your event management company. Outline your own skills, knowledge and experience and determine how they can be used to achieve business success. Prepare resume of yourself and all of

the people who will be involved in your business. These resumes will come handy when you will look for partners/investors later on.

3. Determine how exactly you will find clients? How you will approach them and how you will sell your services. How you will expand your business? What will be your rules, regulations, policies and procedures regarding payments, reimbursement, penalties, cancellation and behaviour? 4. Estimate your capital requirements for one whole year. How you will manage the cash flow? 5. Prepare a contingency plan i.e. what strategies you will adopt in case of capital loss, economic crisis or market downturn.

Step 4: On the basis of your business plan determine your operating cost

i.e. the cost to run the business.

Step 5: On the basis of the operating cost, decide your own fees and the staff salary.

Step 6: Get investors/ business partners for your event management company

on the basis of market research, competitors' analysis, SWOT analysis and your business plan.

Step 7: Decide name and logo of your company and its status

i.e. whether organization will be a company, firm or establishment.

Step 8: Premises, recruitment and marketing your business

Hire office. Buy office stationary and recruit staff. Launch a new flashy website which effectively describes your business and services in great detail. Hire an internet marketing professional to promote it. If you won't promote your website, then nobody will visit your website. So in that case your website will be as good as nothing. Through your website, your business will get global presence, 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. You can also expect to get lot of clients once, your website becomes popular.

Step 9: Register your Company

If you have opened a company then get it registered under the Company's Act'. If you have opened a firm in India then get it registered under the 'Indian Partnership Act'. If you have opened an establishment in India, then get it registered under the 'Shops and Establishment Act'.An event management company is just like any other company. So whatever rules and procedures are required to start a company in your country, also applies to an event management company.

Step 10: Register to pay tax

Following taxes are to be paid by an event management company. Income Tax, TDS (Tax deducted at source), service tax, entertainment tax and taxes related to moving goods and merchandise from one destination to others. Get PAN card to file Income Tax return. TAN card to file TDS return. Get registration for service tax. The service tax on event management companies in India is 12.36%

Additional Resources

• Procedure for forming a company in India
• Procedure for forming a company in United States (US)
• Procedure for forming a company in United Kingdom (UK)
• Registration forms for Event Management Company in India
• Top Event Management Companies in India
• People involved in Event Management Companies

2. He is responsible for setting up and dismantling the infrastructure for the whole event like: a. Construction of boundary walls, entrance and exit gates, driveways, walkways and parking lots b. Construction of AC/Non AC hangers/ halls, seating arrangement, stage design/ set up. c. Construction of green rooms, staff rooms, storage rooms, power rooms, toilets, sewage systems, stalls, counters, booths and kiosks. d. He is responsible for setting up electricity, water and phone connections. e. He is responsible for conservancy (i.e. cleanliness).
3. He formulates, prepares and implements the risk management plan. (risks related to infrastructure management like sudden shortage of workers, materials, power failure etc)

People Involved in Sponsoring an Event

The following people are involved in supporting an event:

 - Organizers

 - Sponsors

 - Partners

 - Clients

 - Supporting Agencies

These people can either be an individual or a company. They either finance the whole event or some of its part or provide some service either at subsidized rate or for free.

Organizers

An Organizer finances maximum amount of money in an event. Therefore he has maximum control over the event. Among sponsors, principal sponsor finances maximum amount of money. Depending on the amount of money financed, a sponsor can be a principal sponsor, co-sponsor or associate sponsor.

Sponsors

Similarly, depending on the type of service financed, a sponsor can be: a venue sponsor, gift sponsor, crown and jewellery sponsor, catering sponsor, badge sponsor, banner sponsor etc.

Partners

Partners generally provide services either at subsidized rate or for free like media partners (which provide ad space), promotional partners (which do publicity), logistic partners (which move goods and merchandise from one destination to the other in the most efficient manner). Media partners can be: a newspaper partner, magazine partner, TV partner, Radio partner, Phone partner, Online partner or Outdoor partner. Any college, institute or publication can become: a knowledge partner, Research Partner, Scholistic partner, Holistic partner or Academic Partner to support an event.

Supporting Agencies

Supporting Agencies (either goverment or private) can also support an event by either financing the event or donating some service.

Career in Event Management

Event management is a multi million dollar industry which is growing at the rate of 150% per annum with events being hosted almost daily. So making a career in event management is a good choice. Organzing a perfectly synchronized, well planned, well conducted and memorable event, requires the supervision and services of well trained and experienced event professionals. Therefore event management companies are always on a look out for event professionals. The success of an event manger depends upon how well he organized the event and up to which extent he is able to achieve event and marketing objectives. The salary of an event manager depends upon his qualification, amount of exposure to events, media and corporate contacts. Working as an entrepreneur after two or three years of work experience is strongly recommended. If you can give value for money to your sponsors than sky is the limit for your income.

Event Manager Skills

Event management is a career which demands lot of hard work, high degree of energy, flexibility and motivation, good communication skills, strong networking, excellent PR (Public Relation) skills, eye for detail, strong organizational skills, leadership qualities, diplomacy, patience, market awareness and tons of creativity.

Event Manager Qualifications

There is no minimum qualification requirement to become an event manager for non-corporate events. Any person with strong organizational skills and excellent PR Skills can organize non-corporate events. However for organizing corporate events a degree/diploma in event management, PR, tourism, hospitality management, business administration or marketing is a must. This is because corporate events are organized to promote and sell company's products or services or to build/enhance its brand image. A person with 2-3 years of work experience in the field of sales/marketing can also organize corporate events without any formal education in event management or business administration.

ABOUT EVENT MANAGEMENT

` 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 beyind 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.

o Once you figure out what you're doing (celebrating, fundraising, educating, selling,

proposing, etc.), think about why you're doing it. Knowing your motivations can help

give you focus and drive.

o Having a few objectives can also help align you in the direction you need to be going.

You can't keep trying to reach a goal that hasn't been set! When you have $4,000 and

you're aiming for $5,000, that goal can push you through to the finish line.

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Pick your date and time. This is one of the most important factors in your event planning. Pick a

date and time no one can make and it doesn't even matter how great an event you have

planned. And pick a date and time that's too far into the future -- or coming up too soon -- and

your guests will either forget about it or already have plans. The Goldilocks syndrome of event

managing!

o Ideally, you want to let your guests know about two weeks out. That gives them a good

amount of time to not yet have plans and a good timeline for inviting them and

reminding them once or twice before the time actually comes. So have your event be a

few weeks into the future minimum, if you can swing it.

Pick your venue. Now that you have an idea of what you're doing and when you're doing it, you

can start thinking about venues and approaching potential ones with a date and things you'll

need. What kind of building do you want to host in and how will the space be managed? Are the

guests to be sitting on chairs in rows, on benches or at tables, or on picnic rugs in the open? Will

the weather pose a problem? Will there need to be room for dancing, speakers podium or a

stage? If so, plan to ensure the event space is large enough.

o It is always best to visit the site in advance and draw yourself a map of the area. This

map can be used as a "battle plan" and allows you to sketch and allocate table space,

service routes for food service, disabled access if required and exit routes, as well as

how you will get the equipment into place. You should also mark where the power

generator (if required), external equipment such a refrigerator, ice maker, barbecue or

stoves (etc.) will be, as well as where power points and cables will be (which may be

covered discreetly with a rug) and other safety hazards to address.

o Are legal and local government approvals required? In most instances approvals are

required for a bar, but also for excessive noise, vehicle access and parking, building large

enclosures such as a pavilion and other needs.

Settle on a budget. Hopefully you have a few people you can lean on to gauge together how

much money you'll need for this event. Are you paying any staff? Renting equipment and your

venue? Supplying food and drinks? Publishing pamphlets or postcards? Settle on a number that

seems doable and cater your plan to it. You don't want to wind up paying out of your own

pockets for this if you don't have to.

o You may be in a situation where you can get sponsorships or donations, but most of us

aren't so lucky. If you don't foresee any more funds coming in, it's imperative that you

cut corners when need be. Instead of having a catering team, form a BYO or a "bring-a-

plate" function (catering is minimal, but you will need to provide a food table, bain

maries and refrigerators). Instead of hiring a photographer, go around and take photos

yourself. Get creative where need be!

Assemble a team. Organize your service team (even if they are friends and relatives or other

volunteers) to handle different, relevant sections, even if you're not professionally running an

event, but running a small family event. Good event management in a big scale is about

organizing people to be in charge of individual areas of the event and making sure everyone

knows what the plan is.

o Your crew needs just as much advanced noticed as the teams you're hiring and your

guests. Assign them duties as soon as possible, giving them preference if you can. And

try to have a few people on standby -- there are always a few flakes in every bunch.

Part 2 of 5: Getting the Ball Rolling

Send out invitations. Because how else will people know to come?! You gotta send them

invites! And this isn't something you should scrimp on, either. Your invitation is the face of your

event. The first impression people get of what to expect and if they should even come. It's gotta

be good.

o Consider your typical invitations -- postcards, flyers, etc. But also go paperless: email,

newsletters, Facebook, Twitter, and sites like Eventbrite that serve as invitations, guest

trackers, and a calendar.

 Correction: if you're trying to get as many people to come as possible, definitely

use Facebook and Twitter. If you're trying to keep it to VIPs only, avoid these

platforms. That's just asking for trouble.

Keep track of those who have accepted. You'll need a headcount to know just how much and

what you all need, so keep track! It probably won't be the number that actually show up, but it

should give you a general idea. Websites designed for event managing can help you do this --

but so can Facebook and an Excel spreadsheet.