EVENT MANAGEMENT

The word event evokes visuals of a brightly lit stage with well-known cine artistes performing to popular numbers. But in simple words an event can be explained as a community get-together for the purpose of celebration, education, promotion, relaxation or reunion.

TYPES OF EVENTS Events can be classified in four categories on the basis of their theme, type, purpose and circumstances. o Organizational event: Organizations mainly conduct events for promoting products, improving corporate image, etc. organizational events include commercial events, political campaign, charitable events, sales promotion and product launch. Today, the corporate companies are regularly organizing number of events to attract client, customer, share- holders etc ; these events are board meeting, clients meeting, weekend get-together for employees etc. The corporate companies are outsourcing sales promotion activities to event management organization. Leisure events: They are the most popular events among people than any other event. Leisure events include sports events, music events, new year party, fashion shows, film awards and private parties, etc. Personal events: In recent times, personal events like birthdays and weddings are organized in a big way. Since these personal events are organized throughout the year, the event management organizations are entering in the zone of personal events to gain the regular revenue. Cultural events: It includes religious events, classical dance and music, art, heritage, exhibition, folklore, college cultural events, etc. Indian classical dance and music are becoming increasingly popular with the NRIs and foreign audiences. Almost all religions are organizing special events for their devotees which attract massive crowds like, kumbh mela.

EVENT AS A 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.

EVENT MANAGEMENT AND ITS ELEMENTS An event is a live multimedia package carried out with a pre-conceived concept, customized or modified to achieve the clients objective of reaching out and suitably influencing the sharply define, specially gathered target audience by providing a complete sensual experience and an avenue for two way interaction. Its elements are: Sponsorship: It has been evolving with time. Earlier it was used for philanthropic purposes to support a cause which evolved into transactional type involving give and take and present day is that of designing events to meet specific requirements and owning these properties for long term brand building. Earlier sponsorship were done for ad hoc purposes like launching a product to gain publicity but now they are more strategic with complex objectives like enhancing image, increase in sales etc. Organizer: Is the one who organizes the event. He/she can be an individual, organization, a corporate body or an event management company. Traditionally events were organized either by individuals or by organizations without any involvement of event management companies. Logistics: Is the management of the flow of materials and services between the point of origin and the point of use in order to meet the requirements of customers or corporations. Logistics involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing and often security. Logistics is a channel of supply chain which adds the value of time and place utility.

PLANNING Planning is a process for accomplishing purposes. It is a blue print of business growth and a road map of development. It helps in deciding objectives both in quantitative and qualitative terms. It is setting of goals on the basis of objectives and keeping in the resources. Nature of planning: o Planning is an intellectual process- planning as an intellectual process, the conscious determination of course of action. Thus, it is an intellectual stimulation. It possesses an element of day-dreaming. It involves foreseeing future development, making forecasts or predictions and then taking decisions. o Planning contributes to the objective- a plan starts with the setting of objectives and in order to realize it develops policies, procedures and strategies, etc. o Planning is a selecting process- It involves the study and a careful analysis of various alternatives and then selecting the best one. It not only pertains to defining a problem which immediately confronts the manager, but often it mentally searches the possibilities for problems that might appear in the future. o Planning forms the premises for the decision of the future- plans become premises, for the decisions of the future. Detailed planning may include several plans, which are mutually exclusive. It provides series or sets of decision that can be made under various possible circumstances. Thus, planning aids in making specific decisions, since it includes all of the important alternatives.

Planning pervades all managerial activities- it is a pervasive activity covering the entire enterprise with all its segments and its every level of management. It is not the exclusive responsibility of top management but it extends to middle and lower management as well. Planning is directed towards efficiency- the main purpose of planning is to increase the efficiency of the enterprise. It is an attempt on the part of a manager to anticipate the future in order to achieve better performance. It has become an important function due to uncertain and ever changing environmental of business. Planning is a continuous and flexible process- because of uncertainties of the future the planner must be ever alert and should form his plans in such a way as to adopt them to changing circumstances without inconvenience and undue costs.

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Need assessment- A needs assessment is a systematic exploration of the way things are the way they should be. These things are usually associated with organizational and individual performance. A needs assessment is a systematic way of determining the current state of an organization before developing solutions or programming. Needs assessment conducted to obtain baseline data on the service needs of a particular population can save an organization money and time. When organizations decide to save time by skipping this important task, money and human resources can be wasted on implementing solutions that did not hit the targeted population where it could be of the most benefit. The purpose of needs assessment is to identify performance requirements and the knowledge, skills and abilities needed by an agencys workforce to achieve the requirements. An effective training needs assessment should address resources needed to fulfill organizational mission, improve productivity and provide quality products and services. Policies and procedures- are set of documents that describe an organizations policies for operation and the procedures necessary to fulfill the policies. A set of policies are principles, rules and guidelines formulated or adopted by an organization to reach its long-term goals and typically published in a booklet or other form that is widely accessible. Policies and procedures are designed influence and determine all major decisions and actions and all activities take place within the boundaries set by them. Procedures are the specific methods employed to express policies in action in day to day operations of the organizations. GENERATING REVENUE Sponsorship- sponsorship is a partnership between a corporation and rights holder or property. In other words, sponsorship is when a business provides funds, resources or services to a club, in return for some form of rights and association with the clues that may be used to help the business commercially. This could be in the form of a logo on a football, signs at an oval or free advertising in the letter. There are five types of sponsorship: Event sponsorship Title sponsorship

Activity sponsorship Media sponsorship Facility sponsorship

The best way to generate revenue is to actually have the products sold at the event while such an arrangement is more conducive to food and beverage products, many non-traditional sports and entertainment events. This approach allows to control the message and visual branding around the sales environment. Fund raising- Fundraising or fund raising (also development) is the process of soliciting and gathering voluntary contributions as money or other resources, by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies (see also crowd funding). Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gather money for non-profit organizations, it is sometimes used to refer to the identification and solicitation of investors or other sources of capital for for-profit enterprises. Merchandizing and licensing- Merchandising is the methods, practices, and operations used to promote and sustain certain categories of commercial activity. In the broadest sense, merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to the variety of products available for sale and the display of those products in such a way that it stimulates interest and entices customers to make a purchase. FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT Financial risk has increased significantly in recent years, risk and risk management are not contemporary issues. The economic climate and markets can be affected very quickly by changes in exchange rates, interest rates, and commodity prices. Preparation is a key component of risk management. Financial risk management is the practice of creating economic value in a firm by using financial instruments to manage exposure to risk, particularly credit risk and market risk. Financial risk management can be qualitative and quantitative. Cash flow management- is a key aspect of financial management of a business, planning its future cash requirements to avoid a crisis of liquidity. It can help a company identify when it will require cash and devise ways of generating the same. It provides an understanding of when to put a freeze on investments, such as venturing into a new projects, business expansions and employee hiring. It aids enterprise in planning for loans. It improves the visibility into cash flow issues. Accounting- The systematic recording, reporting and analysis of financial transactions of a business. The person in charge of accounting is known as an accountant, and this individual is typically required to follow a set of rules and regulations, such as the generally accepted accounting principles. Accounting allows a company to analyze the financial performance of the business, and look at the statistics such as net profit. In order to meet the ever increasing demands made on accounting by different interested parties the various branches of accounting have come into existence. These branches are as follows:

Financial accounting Cost accounting Managerial accounting

Financial statement- is a formal record of the financial activities of a business, person or other entity. For a business enterprise all the relevant financial information, presented in a structured manner and in a form easy to understand are called the financial statements. The objective of financial statements is to provide information about the financial position, performance and changes in financial position of an enterprise that is useful to a wide range of users in making economic decisions. Financial statements should be understandable, relevant reliable and comparable.

Risk management- identification, analysis, assessment, control and avoidance, minimization or elimination of unacceptable risks. An organization may use risk assumption, risk avoidance, risk retention, risk transfer or any other strategy in proper management of future events. Risks can come from uncertainty in financial markets, project failures, legal liabilities, credit risk, accidents and disasters or events of uncertain root-cause. If risks are improperly assessed and prioritized, time can be wasted in dealing with risk of losses that are not likely to occur.

Budget- A budget is a financial plan. It is a projection of what will happen financially if certain strategies and decisions are implemented. This is something we all do from time to time. Budgets are more than just a few calculations that we throw away when our questions are answered. In fact operating a business without a budget is very bad management. Budgeting has three different purposes: A forecast of income and expenditure A tool for decision making A means to monitor business performance

Measurement of your financial performance- getting on top of financial measures of your performance is an important part of running a growing business, especially in the current economic climate. Most growing businesses ultimately target increased profits, so its important to know how to measure profitability. The key standard measures are: Gross profit margin Operating margin Net profit margin Return on capital employed

Financial controls- financial controls are the written rules and procedures for financial management that all organizations should have. These are the means by which an organizations resources are directed, monitored and measured. Financial controls play an important role in ensuring the accuracy of reporting, eliminating fraud and protecting the organizations resources, both physical and intangible.