Lesson 2 Topic 3: Internal/External Communication I.

Students should be able to

I. Media involvement differentiate internal
II. Protocol related matters communication with
III. Volunteers’ management external communication.
II. Students should be able to
identify how media can be
used to measure the size
and reach of audience.
III. Students should be able to
know the protocols involved
in all phases of an event.
IV. Students should be able to
manage volunteers for an
event.

Why This Lesson

In this lesson, you will be exposed to the communication process and procedures involved in any event planning.
Also, you will be introduced to various infrastructural items involved in an event and how to manage these items
logistically.

Internal/External Communication

Having an effective communication chain is crucial in any event management. The flow of communication
going through a hierarchical process provides plenty opportunities for communication breakdown to take place
which would jeopardise the overall management of any event.

There are TWO (2) types of communication which takes place within an event which are Internal Communication
& External Communication.

INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS are ways for transferring information among people of your organisation. Internal
communication solutions keep people on the ball and tuned into the things that important to your brand in an
era where just 24% of global employees are engaged.

• Types of internal communications might include:

• Employee newsletters: Similar to an email marketing campaign, a newsletter keeps different parts of your
company informed about what's going on.
• Intranets for social media: An intranet is an online portal where members can receive useful event information
such as brand manifestos and personality rules.
• Tools for team collaboration: In today's digitally altered environment, there are a variety of apps and tools
that can assist members communicate more effectively. (Examples include WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams,
WeChat, Telegram, and more.)

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Various elements will influence the EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION techniques you employ. Everything from the
event's brand positioning to the marketing goals and even the budget can have an impact on how external
communications are presented.
Examples of external communications are as follows:
• Website content and blogging: For example, the official website, which provides information about the
event.
• Brief promotional event intended at marketing the major event via a short campaign or an official online
debut via social media or live events or conferences.
• Email and newsletters: The official event write-up or anything linked to the event that is delivered to a third
party, someone who is not affiliated with the event organisation.

Involvement of Media

Reach is a one-way, quantitative measure of passive involvement that can be used to estimate the size of a
social media audience without taking feedback into account.

The term "social media engagement" refers to the amount to which followers connect with event-specific
content found on social media. It is calculated by combining data from numerous social media platforms.
For example:
• Total likes on Instagram/Facebook.
• Total hits on Google.
• Total retweets on Twitter or shares on Facebook.
• Total pins on Pinterest.
• Total comments on Facebook.

Measuring interaction on various social networks allows event organisers to see which channels are functioning
well and which ones need improvement. In order to determine whether the material being generated is
effectively delivering an event's objectives, it is necessary to track engagement rates over specific timeframes.

Protocols

Event Protocols
Protocol is a set of norms for official or serious ceremonies and deeds that are defined by standard or
custom. It can also be thought of as a set of rules or instructions that have been formed by tradition or
consensus. The protocol instructs us on how to conduct ourselves during specific operations. In this
approach, it collects a set of behaviours, activities, and procedures that are seen to be appropriate in
specific contexts.

Protocol is a term that refers to the norms that determine proper behaviour in a formal social occasion.
Protocol is thus linked to etiquette, which refers to the usages and traditions that must be observed
when doing public acts.

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For example: ways of dressing, good manners, greeting with reverence to an authority, respecting
punctuality, etc.

Protocol is a vital communication tool used to gauge the success of an event in the planning stage.
Because it is necessary to take care of the image and values to be sent in order to stand out from the
competition and achieve the intended commercial value in the event's execution.

Pre-organization protocol for an event.

When planning an event, the first rule is to figure out why we're doing it in the first place. In this initial
phase, we must consider the following steps once we have identified the meaning and objective of
the event and what we want to accomplish:

• Place and time: The events in outdoor spaces have a more informal air than any other event
that takes place in an interior space (room, in a congress centre, theatre, etc…) The protocol
applied to each event will be different. On the other hand, as far as the schedule is concerned,
it is important to maintain the initial punctuality and closing of the event, as well as, during the
day throughout the program of the event.
• Infrastructure: It is important not to neglect all the detail, as such we should not forget to make
a list of all the necessary material (audio, sound, video, lecterns, brochures, presentations, etc…)
to carry out the event and prevent us from forgetting something on the day of the event. We
must have everything requested and ready before the big day.
• Program: Before the event takes place, it’s important to design and plan the event schedule.
Make a program with all the people who will talk and the intervention time of each. It is
recommended that the speech of each speaker should not exceed one hour so as not to lose
the public interest. On the other hand, and to avoid conflict between speakers, it is important
that everyone has the same duration for their interventions.
• Guests: It is important to know the audience that will attend the event and the number of guests.
If it is a particular event with few guests, about 20 people or less, it is not necessary to make the
invitation long in advance or send a formal invitation. For more formal, professional events with
more than 20 guests, it is important to formulate an official paper invitation and send it well in
advance.

Protocols during event.

The most crucial day is the day of the event. The success or failure of the event will be determined by
how this day unfolds. As a result, it's critical not to overlook the following aspects to ensure that
everything runs smoothly on event day:

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 • Host: The person responsible for the realization and organization of the event will be the main
figure during the event. As such, the protocol dictates that the host must receive each of the
guests upon arrival as well as say goodbye to each one when the event ends.
• Reception of guests: Guests must arrive around 30 minutes to 1 hour before the start of the
event/ceremony. This allows you to welcome them and lead them to their place where the
necessary material will be delivered to accompany the development of the event.
• Meals: If the event includes a meal or dinner, there are two ways to distribute the tables
according to protocol. On one hand, the host sits at the head of the table (English method) or,
on the other hand, the host sits in the centre of the table (French method). The other guests will
sit according to their rank or position. Culturally, these may be seen differently by different
individual.

Post-event protocol.
The job of an event planner does not cease when the event is over. It is critical to take care of the
following functions in the days following the event's conclusion:

• Survey: Conduct a survey with the guests to find out if the event has been satisfactory or to the
liking of the attendees / guests or not and to understand if the objectives set were achieved.
• Conclusions: Make a dossier with the conclusions of the event and send it to all attendees.
• Gratitude: Send a thank you note to each guest for their attendance and participation in the
event.

Management of Volunteers

Volunteer management is the process of establishing mechanisms for volunteer recruiting, training,
engagement, and coordination. At simple terms, it entails overseeing the activities of volunteers in a
non-profit organisation. Putting in place a competent volunteer management plan can aid an
organisation in accelerating its operations and achieving its goals.

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There are several strategies that organizations can use to manage their volunteers and tap into their
skills and talents.

Some of the strategies include:

• Recruitment: Recruiting the right volunteers is the first step in volunteer management.
• Engagement: The next step after recruiting and accepting volunteers is to engage them in a
way that makes them feel valued and helpful to the organisation. One of the most common
blunders is assigning volunteers to duties in which they are inexperienced, resulting in decreased
productivity and significant volunteer turnover.
• Retention: Most non-profits struggle to retain volunteers because of the difficulty of managing
huge volunteer teams with varying skills and talents without a comprehensive volunteer
management system in place. Keeping volunteers connected to managers is one approach
for an organisation to enhance retention.
• Tracking: Another method that can help with volunteer management is tracking. It entails
automating the work process for volunteers to know how many programmes they have
supported over time and how many hours they have contributed to each programme.
• Communication: Putting in place an effective communication route for volunteers and
management to convey information is an important element in managing volunteers. An
organisation needs an effective communication channel to promote future volunteer activities,
provide volunteer information to participants, keep volunteers informed about major events,
and interact and follow up with volunteers to gather feedback on the volunteer activities.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Nicole, F. Paul, J, K. (2022). Events Management: An International Approach. 3rd Edition. Sage
Publications Ltd.
2. I.T. Christopher, G. Leigh, A. D. David, S. (2019). Managing Sport Events. Human Kinetics Publishers
3. Donald, G. (2019). Event Studies: Theory, Research and Policy for Planned Events, 4th Edition.
Routledge.
4. Getz, D. (2016) Event studies: theory, research and policy for planned events. 3rd ed. London:
Routledge.
5. Ferdinand, N. and Kitchin, P. (2012) Events management: an international approach. Los Angeles,
[Calif.]: Sage.

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