Business Event Management

This essay analyzes how different scenarios influence spatial requirements and functionalities of business events. It discusses the importance of professional event management companies in organizing large-scale events.

Running head: BUSINESS EVENT MANAGEMENT
Business Event Management
The Name of the Student:
The Name of the University:
Author Note:

1BUSINESS EVENT MANAGEMENT
The purpose of the business events is to congregate people from different
organizations of an industry in a pre-decided venue to discuss and develop ideas, business
strategies, solutions and collaborations (Rogers 2013). Business events take place in forms
such as conferences, exhibitions, business summits, seminars and conventions. Organizing
and managing such events require identification of the different needs of the professionals,
delegates and attendees. Based on these different requirements, the event management
companies determine the budget, venue, catering, security and coordinate with different
stakeholders. The events may include exhibitions, plenary and concurrent meetings, gala
dinners and workshops. Factors like agenda, schedule, number of delegates and attendees,
duration of the event determines the spatial and functional requirements of the events (Rogers
2013). Proper spatial and functional planning utilises the spaces and programs in a way that
initiation of effective communication and building up of business connections are possible.
Hence, the role of event management organisations is crucial in hosting conferences. With
three scenarios of small, medium and large conferences, this essay analyses how the different
scenarios influence spatial requirements and functionalities of each event.
As in all three scenarios the conferences are conducted for more than one day, hotels
located near airport with conference rooms would be preferable choice. In the case of the
small size conference, the hotel must have an approximately 3000 sq. ft. conference room of
with a stage and classroom style seating arrangements to accommodate 100-200 delegates.
Conducting the two sessions of the workshop would require four rooms that can
accommodate 50 people in banquet style arrangement for the first session and another room
that can accommodate 200 people in the same seating style arrangement for the second
session. Banquet style seating will help in productive interaction. In these 2 days conference,
there will be five different exhibitions each day. A hall near the conference room will be
divided into five sections to conduct these exhibitions. For the intervals, there will be an

2BUSINESS EVENT MANAGEMENT
arrangement for beverages and refreshments in the conference lobby. Catering for the
delegates and attendees will require a room where 200 people can sit in a banquet
arrangement. These intervals can be utilized to interact and make business connections
(Verbeke 2015), and in addition, it gives time to prepare the rooms for the next session.
The spatial requirements for a medium size conference are quite different from the
small size conference requirements. A conference that has 600-1500 delegates and 50
exhibitors requires larger space to hold plenary session and eight concurrent sessions each
day along with social networking activities for three days. The plenary session requires a
large auditorium to hold all the delegates and attendees. Theatre style seating arrangement, in
this case, will be an effective style, as it will make the most utilization of the space. The
concurrent sessions also can be held in this auditorium or in another similarly arranged room.
The exhibitors will need separate rooms according to their different spatial requirements to
hold their exhibitions. In order to hold 50 exhibitions in separate rooms, a floor should be
dedicated to use only for the purpose of exhibitions. Two rooms adjoined with the auditorium
will serve as place for the delegates and attendees to have tea, coffee and snacks in the
breaks. Catering a large number of people in a single hall can make the room crowded.
Therefore, two halls can be used to cater in order to keep it less crowded and avoid queues.
Currently many corporate events have agendas containing social networking activities (Aral,
Dellarocas and Godes 2013). A large room near the auditorium can be allotted for this
purpose.
Hosting significant international conferences include a vast number of delegates,
exhibitors and attendees. Such an event requires the venue to be in a convenient location in
terms of accessibility (Evolang.org 2018). In the case of international conferences, the
selection of venue is an important process as the location of it plays the part in attracting
attendees. Hosting 5000 delegates and 400 exhibitors for 5 days, needs places that will be

3BUSINESS EVENT MANAGEMENT
dedicated for only this purpose. Therefore, hotels that have been built purposefully to host
corporate events are desirable choices. The purpose-built centre must have lodging facilities
for the delegates. The theatre style seating arrangement in an arena is the ideal choice to
accommodate 5000 delegates in the plenary session and the concurrent sessions. As social
networking is a great opportunity in business to communicate and make connections with
people, and publicise events (Wilkinson et al. 2015), there will be a room to conduct social
networking activities. An entire dedicated floor with medium size sections will be there for
the 400 exhibitors in this centre. In the breaks between the sessions, everyone can go to the
meeting rooms built around the arena to use as break-up rooms and a place to have
refreshments. As the number of participants in this kind of conferences is vast, there can be 3-
4 large halls to cater them. This will make the process smooth and time efficient. For the gala
dinner, a venue can be set in banquet style with 500-600 tables along with a dance floor. A
stage can also be set in this area for the award ceremonies.
In the case of small conferences where there are 200 delegates, the hotel must provide
proper accommodations and comfort to fulfil the functional requirements of the event. There
must be appropriate transportations and parking areas. The management of the hotel must
prepare signage to guide the guests to their destination rooms. There must be adequate chairs,
tables and napery in the every room. Technicians must set up the lights, microphones,
speakers, presentation screens and display areas before the start of the events and in between
the breaks; they must be available in case of an emergency. There should be proper and
sufficient toiletries in the restrooms. Adequate numbers of cooling and heating machines
should be there to serve the delegates and the attendees. The venue must be capable of
serving a range of meals to its guests.
The basic functional requirements of a medium size conference are similar to that of a
small size conference. Medium size conference also will require sufficient lights, chairs,

4BUSINESS EVENT MANAGEMENT
tables, napery, room and restroom set up. Nevertheless, medium size conferences need a
wider range and more enhanced quality of services than the small size conferences. That is
why medium size conferences mostly are organized by professional Event Management
Companies (EMCs) and Professional Conference Organisers (PCOs). The professional event
management teams employ strategic marketing to draw more exhibitors and attendees. While
making the contract with the management of the venue, the regulatory requirement
documents like accessibility rules, building codes, emergency codes, anti-terrorism rules
(Wbdg.org 2016), public liability insurance (Gccec.com.au 2017) and property rights must be
checked. In this case, guiding the large number of delegates will require staff assistance along
with signage (Jones 2017). The event management organizations and companies must employ
staffs to make sure that exhibitions and social networking activities are being conducted
properly and within scheduled time (Brown and Bessant 2013). The management also needs
to make arrangements to ensure the building of mutually beneficial interactions between the
guests (Verbeke 2015). The management of the hotel must cooperate with the event
management team to cater an extensive range of foods and drinks, and provide valuable
services (Sisson and Adams 2013).
Again, basic functional requirements in the scenario of the international conference,
such as technical set ups, and room and restroom set ups are similar to the other two
scenarios. The difference is, for international conferences, delegates and other guests have to
travel abroad, which requires proper documentation for visa, proper accommodation, and
coordinated transport; and in addition, preparation for gala dinner, award ceremonies, dance
and other entertainments for a vast number of people are also needed to be managed in these
conferences. Therefore, international conferences often include Destination Management
Companies (DMCs). An event of this size requires a larger platform for the interaction and
effective communication between the guests. Hence, a team should be engaged to conduct

5BUSINESS EVENT MANAGEMENT
active participation of the guests in different popular social media sites such as facebook,
twitter, instagram, and to make a proper display of those to encourage more people to
participate during the conference (Wilkinson et al. 2015). This will also require a separate
space and a team of experts for the proper technical set up. Usage of social media in this way
brings more media coverage. As an international conference includes participants from
several countries, the food should be catered keeping that diversity in mind (Van der Wagen
and White 2018). The event management team must create a proper entertaining program and
award ceremony in the night of the gala dinner. In the case of international conferences, it is
common for the event management oganisations to include leisure activities and city tour
programs in the agendas for the guests (Evolang.cles.umk.pl 2018).
The purpose of spatial requirements in any conference is to produce the opportunity
for the delegates, exhibitors and attendees to develop business connections, collaboration and
explore strategies and product ideas. Although the basic spatial and functional needs like
catering, lighting, toiletries, technical set ups and furnishing are present in all the three
conference scenarios, the above discussion evidences that the size of the conferences
determine the magnitude of these requirements. It further indicates the importance of PCOs,
EMCs and DMCs in organizing large-scale events. These professional organizations ensure
that the purpose of the events have been met for both the participants and the hosts.

6BUSINESS EVENT MANAGEMENT
Reference List
Aral, S., Dellarocas, C. and Godes, D., 2013. Introduction to the special issue—social media
and business transformation: a framework for research. Information Systems Research, 24(1),
pp.3-13.
Brown, S. and Bessant, J., 2013. Strategic operations management. Routledge.
Evolang.cles.umk.pl 2018. Conference Guide. [online] Available at:
https://evolang.cles.umk.pl/pdf/Evolang12-Guidebook.pdf [Accessed 26 Jul. 2018].
Evolang.org. 2018. Conference Hosting Requirements | Evolution of Language International
Conferences. [online] Available at: http://evolang.org/conference-hosting-requirements
[Accessed 26 Jul. 2018].
Gccec.com.au. 2017. Organisers Planning Manual. [online] Available at:
https://www.gccec.com.au/assets/Downloads/Organisers_Planning_Manual_2017.pdf
[Accessed 26 Jul. 2018].
Jones, M.L., 2017. Sustainable event management: A practical guide. Routledge.
Rogers, T., 2013. Conferences and conventions 3rd edition: A Global Industry. Routledge.
Sisson, L.G. and Adams, A.R., 2013. Essential hospitality management competencies: The
importance of soft skills. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education, 25(3), pp.131-145.
Van der Wagen, L. and White, L., 2018. Event management: For tourism, cultural, business
and sporting events. Cengage AU.
Verbeke, J., 2015. Four Layers for Designing Conferences as Learning Environments: Space,
Time, Communities of Practice and Trust.
Wbdg.org. 2016. Account for Functional Needs | WBDG Whole Building Design Guide.
[online] Available at:
https://www.wbdg.org/design-objectives/functional-operational/account-functional-needs
[Accessed 26 Jul. 2018].

7BUSINESS EVENT MANAGEMENT
Wilkinson, S.E., Basto, M.Y., Perovic, G., Lawrentschuk, N. and Murphy, D.G., 2015. The
social media revolution is changing the conference experience: analytics and trends from
eight international meetings. BJU international, 115(5), pp.839-846.