The implications of best practice event management when applied to small-scale local events

MA-Thesis / Master von Sven Damm

Abstract:

Event management is a ubiquitous word in modern society. The word is used for small business breakfasts, large corporate shows and also for big international sport events, such as the Olympic Games. We all have an idea of what management is, but what is an event?

An event is often described as something that ‘happens’, and therefore, in that sense, we could use the term event management to describe the organisation of everything that happens. Getz defines an event as ‘an occurrence at a given place; a special set of circumstances; a noteworthy occurrence’, and this definition embraces a wide range of possibilities with one important thing in common: they can only occur once. As such, one key characteristic of events is that they are not continuous, for they each have a beginning and an end, and every event is different from the last one. ‘No matter how hard one tries, it is literally impossible to replicate an event”; thus, when watching the Olympic Games, we do not see the same picture repeating itself every four years, for the event changes and evolves over time. Consequently, to fully understand how things happen within any given event, it is necessary to get involved in the planning and execution of an event.

Malhotra writes that events are an important aspect of human life and that our understanding of them is poorly developed. He thinks that there is a ‘need to enhance the understanding of the subject”, and this opinion is supported by the relative youth of academic study into the topic. In their book, ‘Festival & Special Event Management’, Allen, O’Toole, Harris and McDonnell (2008) date the birth of the industry to the 1980s, where ‘several seminal events set the pattern for the contemporary event industry as we know it today”. Thus, especially compared with other disciplines in the field of social science, event management is a young discipline, and there is not yet a huge base of research to work with. In addition, rather than academically rigorous research conducted by professional researchers, much of the knowledge in the field has been generated by practising event managers who have written books about their own experiences, knowledge, and skills.

It is of no surprise that these practitioners, and the events they discuss, tend to reflect the planning of the biggest events the earth has seen, such as the Olympic Games and US presidential inaugurations. These authors possess a great deal of experience, and their past involvement has generated a variety of different ideas about what constitutes best practice in event management. Consequently, the literature concentrates on events that change not only the local community, but also influence a broad variety of people on earth, from international participants and spectators through to TV broadcasting and internet coverage.

Getz reinforces the distinction between academic researcher and front-line practitioner, commenting that only a few event managers write about their experiences: ‘Speaking as a journal editor, I can say that it has proved close to impossible to get practitioners to contribute research papers or case studies to the refereed, academic literature. The starting point is for practitioners to be reflective, not just focused on the task at hand, and to use this reflection in part to initiate research projects’. Getz emphasises that the ties between practitioners and academics are currently loose, and that the field of event management could be significantly improved by both sectors working more closely together.

Ultimately, this thesis combines a range of differing views about best practice and recommended behaviours; it identifies and recommends an event management model that potentially enables small-scale event managers to fully develop the potential of such events. This thesis reduces the gap between theory and practice and the framework of best practices can be applied to significantly improve the quality of management similar events in the future, in Auckland.

Table of Contents:

Text Sample:

Chapter 2.3.2, Best practices in Event Management:

The history of best practices in event management begins in 1992, when a Canadian consortium introduced a set of ‘occupational competency standards’ with consideration towards administration, risk management, management skills, marketing, interpersonal skills and HRM In 1996 Perry, Foley and Rumpf conducted the first research in Australia (and the first for the southern hemisphere). They attempted to identify event organisers’ training and education requirements and came up with the following key knowledge areas:

-Legal / financial.

-Management.

-Public relations / marketing.

-Economic / analytical.

-Ethical / contextual.

This research assumed that a good knowledge base about the best practices in the above fields would lead to a successful career in the field. Other research disproved the findings. Getz and Wicks confirmed that ‘management theory and skills are essential, but their application... requires adaptation similar to that required for recreation management. And because there is so much variety among event types and settings, it can be argued that only generic concepts can be taught, with experience providing the detail”. Their research identified energy and ambition as the key success factors within the event industry.

On top of energy and ambition, creativity has been identified by various sources as key to creating exceptional events. Creativity is the part that makes an event unique and distinguishes it from previous ones organized by the same manager, company or organization. A lot of research has mentioned the importance of creativity while planning events but none of them attempted to create a framework for best practices in the area. It is reasonable to assume that artistic expression is hard to measure and therefore difficult to put into a framework, but it is nevertheless a worthwhile venture.

Slivers et al. continue in the same vein when they write that the combination of ‘creativity, strategic thinking, continuous improvement, ethics and integration are the values that must permeate all decisions throughout event management regarding every element, phase, and process”, and only have to be adjusted to the needs of different cultural conditions.

One of the obstacles that research into best practices in event management has to face is that funding is mostly given for the investigation of the social, economic and cultural effects of events. Sponsors, especially governments, are more likely to invest in continuous events when the research shows that the event has a positive impact on the community. Consequently, ‘less research has been focused on special events operational management”. At the same time, governments are influencing the execution of events by devising laws and acts in order to limit the negative influences of events. With the lack of international or even national standards for the evaluation of events, the event environment is becoming more complex and regulated, as every town, city, community, country, and continent has different laws in place, and it is hard for professionals to maintain a synopsis.

It can be argued that event managers are artists and that it is their conscious decision to continue their dynamic and creative way of doing things rather than supporting the creation of ‘reliable, disciplined and consistent systems” which could transform the current ‘people-dependent’ system into a ‘system dependent’ system.

The confusion the current situation is producing results in the lack of respect and value for the industry along with limitations to the funding and support by officials. It can be expected that the creation of an effective quality assurance system would improve the quality of the individuals within the industry and would allow for the creation of standard terminology to be used for events and festivals. It would clearly change the focus of the research from economic and marketing concentrations to standards and frameworks. The industry could ameliorate from an immature occupation to a well-established, highly-respected profession through the creation of a conceptual framework to recap present knowledge and best practises for event professionals.

Every city and town around the world has the potential to host events. For locations who want to tap into the future growth of the event industry and who want to be continuously successful in doing so, it is imperative to handle their assets properly. Melbourne is an excellent example for a destination that successfully implemented its events strategy early on and created value on a national basis while managing its potential with care and determination. The first business plan of Tourism Victoria in 1993 identified the priority of developing and attracting special events and subsequently repeated the importance in the next business plan in 1997.

The city tapped its ability to host successful special events and was host of the World Police and Fire Games, the Formula One Grand Prix, the Australian Open, the Melbourne Cup and uncountable smaller events.The strategic plan to attract events has not only led to the hosting of those events, it has also attracted a large number of professionals to live and work in the city. The City of Melbourne introduced networking opportunities to tap the knowledge of its citizens and to find ways to attract more visitors to the city. The combined knowledge and political backup has led to a vibrant event environment that is thriving.

Melbourne’s economy has gained largely from the professional management of its event environment. The public and the private sector are working together for the benefits of all stakeholders. The city is one of only a few examples around the world where best practices for the attraction and hosting of events have been established with all the benefits coming with it.

With the Formula 1 Grand Prix and the Australian Open tennis on its calendar, the city hosts two of the major events of the Southern Hemisphere, ensuring that the image of the city is continuously displayed worldwide. Following the success of Melbourne, cities all over Australia have attempted to compete for world class events, and event management ‘has emerged to become a key sector of the Australian tourism industry”. The drawback of the momentary fast growth of the event industry is that it was not organic, but rather erratic and ‘has produced a climate that is confusing, lacking in credibility as compared to other professions, and perhaps detrimental to its future long term health”. Nevertheless, the economic benefits of hosting events make them worth taking a chance on, even though globalisation has made the staging of global events more competitive than ever. An example of this would be the bid for the 2016 Olympic Games, won by Rio de Janeiro.

Baum and Lockstone have noted that ‘interest in all aspects of the politics, financing, planning, management and operation of mega sporting events has been highlighted both by success stories and ongoing problems associated with Olympic Games, Football World Cups and other similar events. There is a growing literature that addresses these and related matters through both case history and comparative analyses”. There is also an increase literature about the impacts of events on cities, communities and countries. The Soccer World Cup in South Korea, in particular, was researched a lot, but the research provided ‘little that is definitive to guide policy makers and politicians along a path of certainty in their decision making in this area”. This statement indicates that there is a lack of decision making guidance for policy makers and politicians when deciding on the realization and support of an event. To support the decision makers and to get political support from them, it can be argued that a framework of best practices for event management could be of value. The framework would guide the event team and make the outcome of any event more predictable.

In the current economic climate in particular, money for events is limited and clients are reducing funding to events and demanding more securities for the events they are planning with regards to the outcome for the companies. Until the early 2000’s research focused on economic evaluations after the event, since was necessary to find indicators to measure performance against before research could, in the next step, find indicators to use to evaluate the event prior to its execution.

In 2008, Loos, Hermes and Thomas highlighted the importance of evaluations during the planning of events to achieve sustainability. They voiced for the introduction of risk management and controlling within all stages of the event; a clear indicator that there is no framework at the moment.

Goldblatt asks for a pilot project to be introduced for a three year period to test the viability of different processes and reach a framework of best practices. This study will not fulfil his request to the full extent; however, the next section will attempt to come up with a framework of best practices based on Goldblatt’s recommendations in his book: Best Practices in Modern Event Management and test the framework against current practices in New Zealand.

So far we have concluded that, at this stage, that there is no agreed theoretical framework to guide the management of large-scale special events and consequently a framework has not been tested until today. To answer the third and fourth sub-questions it is necessary to create a framework of best practices of event management. Given the scarcity of referenced journal articles on this subject, the literature foundations for this venture are necessarily focused on books written about the topic, and here it is clearly possible to note the distinction between those written by practitioners and those written by academics. Practitioners tend to focus on the design, planning and coordination of the event rather than the theories that underpin its management – for example, Tum, Norton and Wright have a clear emphasis on the importance of time, risk, and supply chain management, while Goldblatt focuses on the design and creation of an overall event environment.