Event Management

Lecture 2
Meaning of Event
• The dictionary defines an event as ‘anything that happens, as
distinguished from anything that exists’ or ‘an occurrence, especially
one of great importance’. These definitions specify the subject of
these text-event-things of significance that happen.

• Event is commonly understood as an occurrence or something that

happens. A unique moment in time celebrated with ceremony and
rituals to satisfy specific needs.
Event Definition
• The Accepted Practices Exchange Industry Glossary of TERMS (APEX,
2005) defines an event as, ―An organized occasion such as a
meeting, convention, exhibition, special event, gala dinner, etc. An
event is often composed of several different yet related functions.

• Goldblatt (2005) focuses on special events as ―a unique moment in

time, celebrated with ceremony and ritual to satisfy specific needs.
Special event in two perspectives:
• One time or infrequently occurs event outside normal programs or
activities of the sponsoring or organizing body.
• To the customer or guests, it is an opportunity for Leisure, social or
cultural experience outside the normal range of choices or beyond
everyday experience.
Here are some key questions for the group
working on an event: ( VIP)
• What are our goals for the event? How many people do we want to
attend?
• Who is the audience? Who do we want to make sure is in attendance?
• When will be the best time to hold this event such that the most people
will attend?
• What should happen at the event? What should the schedule be in
order to facilitate an educational, exciting, and impactful event?
• How will you make the event happen?
Classification of Events
There are different criteria for classification of events.
• The basic one classifies events as planned and unplanned.
• Planned events are the subject of study of event management and
they require setup, management, executives and certain length of
time.
• Unplanned events are accidents, natural disasters and other
similar, and they will not be taken into consideration in our course.
Types of Events
• Cultural celebrations
• Arts and Entertainment
• Business and Trade
• Sport competitions
• Recreational
• Educational and Scientific
• Political and state
Specific Types of Events
• Cultural Celebrations
• Festivals
• Carnivals
• Commemorations
• Religious events
• Political and State
• Summits
• Royal occasions
• Political events
• VIP visits
• Arts and Entertainment
• Concerts
• Award ceremonies
• Business and Trade
• Meetings, conventions
• Consumer and trade shows
• Fairs, markets
Specific Types of Events
• Educational And Scientific
• Conferences
• Seminars
• Clinics
• Sport Competition
• Amateur/professional
• Specator/participant
• Recreational
• Sport or games for fun
• Private Events
• Weddings
• Parties
• Socials
• Business events and tourism
Types of Events
• Finally, all events can be categorized as profitable and non-profit events.
• Non-profit events are characterized by special programmes mainly
devised to enhance the image of the organizers, participants or some
organizations.
• Another type of non-profit events is charity events, devised to collect
funds, not for the organizers or participants, but for charity purposes.
• Nevertheless, the majority of events are profitable. Their economic goal
is the profit, and social objectives are related to implementation of
various types of programmes - sports, cultural, artistic, business,
educational, political or scientific.
Functions Of Event Management
1. Planning
2. Organizing
3. Staffing
4. Leading and Coordinating
5. Controlling
Functions Of Event Management - Cont
1. Planning:
Benefits of Event Planning
• To define and practically apply good event planning and financial management practices
in annual planning and day-to-day work.
• To provide logic and justification for prioritising different tasks and decisions over others.
• To systematically define tasks, logic, roles and responsibilities, strategic alignments
(internally and externally), timetables, and budgets.
• To provide an opportunity for key players such as boards, staff, stakeholders, and
partners to be consulted when setting key objectives and methods.
• To provide frameworks for developing strategies related to manpower management,
marketing, competitor analysis and stakeholders.
Functions Of Event Management - Cont
• Planning (cont):
Event Planning help us to
• Help us to think ahead and prepare for the future clarify goals and
develop a vision identify issues that will need to be addressed choose
between options consider whether a project is possible make the best
use of resources motivate staff and the community assign resources and
responsibilities achieve the best results
• Help to eliminate overambitious projects, unsustainable projects,
undefined problems, unstructured project work plans
Functions Of Event Management – Cont
Objectives Of Event Management
• Every event must have a clearly stated overall aim; otherwise the
event should not happen. Events demand a lot of concentrated effort
and commitment. This commitment can only come out of a genuine
belief among all participants that the aims are worthwhile and that
they will be beneficial in the long term.
• As well as an overall purpose any specific event must have its own set
of objectives, these must be clear and be set down in a way which
will allow you to judge the success of the event after completion.
Functions Of Event Management – Cont
Objectives Of Event Management should always be SMART.
• SPECIFIC The event should be specific, not abstract or general. The
purpose should be well-clarified to ensure that steps of planning are
correct and appropriate.
• MEASURABLE express the objectives in numbers and quantities
• AGREED make sure all team members know the objectives
• REALISTIC set objectives the organising team can realistically achieve
• TIMED set a timescale for achievement of the objectives; time-bound
concerns the time-management, time-frame and schedule.