Designing a Corporate Event for Cancer Research UK

This study is aimed at designing a corporate event for an ‘ABC’ Company. The event aims to showcase a few highlights of the ABC Company and thereby, boosting collaboration between the employees. On top of all, it showcases the importance to support the cancer-oriented charitable firms. Cancer Research UK is being chosen for this study which is constantly engaged in supporting the medical teams with funds to bring the better treatments for the different types of cancerous diseases.

Running head: A CORPORATE EVENT
Events and Entertainment Operations
[A Corporate Event for Cancer Research UK]
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Executive summary
This study is aimed at designing a corporate event for an ‘ABC’ Company. The event aims to
showcase a few highlights of the ABC Company and thereby, boosting collaboration between the
employees. On top of all, it showcases the importance to support the cancer-oriented charitable
firms. “Cancer Research UK” is being chosen for this study which is constantly engaged in
supporting the medical teams with funds to bring the better treatments for the different types of
cancerous diseases. Moreover, an emphasis is being given to keep the attendees engaged with the
event and raise huge funds.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
A. Critical Success Factors (CSF's) for the chosen event and the way it influenced the selection
of the event location.........................................................................................................................3
1) Type of Event..........................................................................................................................3
2) Target audience.......................................................................................................................3
3) Accessibility............................................................................................................................4
B. Event Operations Plan for running the event on the day............................................................7
1) Licensing and Legal Issues......................................................................................................7
2) Risk Management....................................................................................................................8
3) Health & Safety (Security and crowd control)........................................................................9
4) Supply Chain Management.....................................................................................................9
5) CSR and Sustainability..........................................................................................................11
6) Waste Management...............................................................................................................12
C. A critical reflection on an own operational learning journey...................................................13
a) The changes in the planning processes as a result of the learning........................................13
b) The use of operations management theory to design and deliver the event..........................14
c) Challenges faced during the operations plan and the ways used to overcome those............14
d) Discussing if any interaction was there with a professional in the industry.........................15
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................15
References......................................................................................................................................16

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Introduction
A corporate event is one of the types of events which are nowadays celebrated across the
globe. Like the other types of events, corporate events hold a unique importance in raising
awareness towards a cause, appreciating employees for their achievement and building up the
teamwork in organisations (Bessembinder and Zhang 2013). The background for this study is
also centred on one of such purposes. “Purpose Productions” is being assigned with a task to
organise a corporate event for the client. The main purpose of this event would be to generate
awareness for cancer affected people and generating funds for the “Cancer Research UK”.
‘Cancer Research UK’ is engaged in bringing new and beneficial findings in terms of medication
and treatments for people suffering from cancer. They utilise those funds by allocating to
doctors, nurses and the scientists, so that, the level of research work and the treatment could both
be improved (Cancer Research UK 2018).
A. Critical Success Factors (CSF's) for the chosen event and the way it influenced the
selection of the event location
1) Type of Event
This would be a corporate event targeting both the client’s purpose for the event and also
to raise funds for the ‘Cancer Research UK’. ‘Purpose Productions’, the case-study event
organising firm, is aimed at generating funds to support cancer affected people by donating those
to the chosen charity. There can be a number of purposes for the case study client such as
encouraging teamwork, celebrating the achievements and supporting a charity.
2) Target audience

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This is the first and foremost thing which the event operations manager is needed to
consider. A good analysis of the target audience is always required to identify the target
audience. This can be done by using the suitable tools and statistical facts of the recently held
corporate events. The effort should be on to generate a sufficient piece of data, so that,
everything from presentation to fun sessions and to the food menus is relevant to the attendees
(Gatzert 2015). Hence, the loss of the target audience would include such as the follows:
 Corporate firms and the case study client
 Potential donors in the city
 Volunteer audience
It is important that the event establishes an effective tie between the cause and corporations
intending to look good in terms of corporate social responsibility. This is necessary to raise the
level of interest in them and also to encourage for making huge donations.
3) Accessibility
The purpose of any event can only be served or partially achieved if it is being planned
considering all the factors associated with it. On a very similar note, the case-fundraising event
would need to fulfil a few success factors to attract a good number of attendees. Following are a
few success factors for the event:
Making of plans:
This includes the venue for the event and budget. Event organising firm generally
requires an at least 15-16 weeks of time prior to the timeline of the event. During the span of

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time, event organisers take care of the necessary kinds of stuff without which the event can never
happen.
Venue Plaisterers’ Hall in London is being chosen because
it does not only fulfil the client’s requirement for a
500 sitter place but is also accessible. It has
transport links with Moorgate, St. Paul’s and
Barbican stations. The reasons do not end here as it
also offers an award-winning catering experience to
its guests. The venue is very supportive to the
charity causes because it saves on money, supports
in the marketing of the event, attracts more people
to the hall and donates the auction items to support
the charity (Plaisterers Hall 2018).
Budget  From £15663 to £23494
Marketing:
Goals
 Be able to attract at least a 50% of the visitors from the recent three events
 Generate a huge business and community awareness and impacting at least to two new
sponsors
 Attract new customers
Key messages

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 Brand name and logo
 Venue and date of the event
 Specific messages
 Prompting to book tickets on an urgent basis or else the tickets will be sold out
Partnerships
It is required to partner with suitable bodies such as social media experts, website
designers, printing suppliers, and media sponsors etc. (Low and Pyun 2016)
Communication plan for key stakeholders
Stakeholder Key Messages How Who When
(Add stakeholders in the provided template relevant to the event)
Marketing activities
Marketing tools will include word of mouth factor, direct mail, ticketing, signature, return
visitation event, media releases, radio, newspapers and magazines. Marketing platform to be
used are the website, event apps, social media, blogs forums, online advertising, banners and
notice boards. Communication will be required with local politicians, council, businesses and co-
promoters (Duffett 2017).

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Design:
This is another success factor which can be used to make the positive impacts on the
attendees. The design will include everything from sitting arrangements to foods and to the
presentation to the feedback gathering session. List of presentation include but is not limited to,
launch, functions, promotions, guest speaking opportunities, media releases and media editorial.
Data:
This is one of the success factors. The event must identify its attendees based on the
priority levels ranging from potential to the active clients.
Follow up:
All the data needs to be followed with priority based strategies.
B. Event Operations Plan for running the event on the day
1) Licensing and Legal Issues
Licensing or legal permission is required for which it is advisable to approach the local
council to know the types of permissions required. This may include anything from the
entertainment or catering licenses. The council will advise of the ways needed to conduct the
event safely and legally as well (Todd, Leask and Ensor 2017).
It is important for the client to ensure that their funds are utilised for no wrong purposes.
They need to monitor the collection boxes to know the expenses made on the different contents.
Few people can be made engaged in counting and noting the money. The funds raised at the
event should immediately be processed to the chosen charity (Phi, Dredge and Whitford 2014).

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It is also important to make the attendees aware of a few certain things like the charity’s
registration number, the registered address and the full name of the company (Bhatt, Manadhata
and Zomlot 2014). Donors and attendees must feel that they are into the event for a genuine
cause. This also ensures a transparent relationship with all those who will attend the event.
Fundraising can be done in two ways either through a raffle or lottery. A lottery will
require a license for it as it falls under the gambling law. Fundraising on such a large scale may
require a large society lottery license (Arantes do Amaral, Petroni and Hess 2016).
An auction can also be used to generate the funds; however, this does not need any
license. This indeed requires an adherence to consumer legislation specific to auctions.
Moreover, the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 will be needed to abide by to ensure that the auction
items are valued accurately and correctly (Edwards and List 2014).
2) Risk Management
To manage the risks, certain things need to be ensured like checking whether the food
stalls have insurance, they follow a quality risk management and they are from an identified
trade body. Insurance schedules should also be checked to identify whether they are actually
insured. It is advisable to design a risk map which would not just support in avoiding or
minimising the risks but would also prevent from a reputational damage. The risk map will act as
a documented proof. The fundraising event should also have one essential cover such as the
public liability insurance. This will prevent the client from any allegations of unwanted accident
and illness of a third party member. This will also prevent any claim to severe injury
(Thirdsector.co.uk 2018).

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It is advisable to transfer the financial consequences to the third parties mostly by
outsourcing or insurance. Activities that can potentially cause the risks must be avoided. For
example, any unwanted accident during the event can affect its productivity. Floors should be
kept dry to avoid the slips. This is one of the most common causes of the accident at the
fundraising events. Battery powered candles should be used rather than the traditional candles to
avoid a fire risk. An effective communication with staffs taking care of the event can provide a
much of a support to the risk management (Pika et al. 2016).
3) Health & Safety (Security and crowd control)
The corporate event is not a kind of events where crowd control will be a factor for the
event team. It is mainly a corporate event which would only sit around a close to 500 attendees.
Hence, crowd management should not be a big factor as it is in musical or any other event.
However, security-related threats can be a part of it and must be controlled with effective
measures. A first aid arrangement is a compulsory service to assist any unwanted incident
spontaneously. This may also be a good way to connect with people which would eventually
encourage them to make the donations. Moreover, nutritional values of foods must be maintained
to the level of possibilities. This will help to influence people who are increasingly growing with
health-specific concerns (Drury, Novelli and Stott 2015).
4) Supply Chain Management
Supply chain operation is a complex and challenging process to execute. However, the
complexity level can be controlled or reduced by applying a few suitable theories to the practice.
Nonetheless, theories alone will not make an impact provided that it has the assistance of
effective leaders who are equipped with the decision-making skills, required resources and the

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strategic capabilities of management. One such theory is ‘Channel Coordination’ which states
the importance of establishing an effective coordination between the supply networks (Silvestre
2015). It means that different divisions operating under one supply network must have an
effective coordination between each division. For example, a lack of coordination between
suppliers and the manufacturers or brands would in operational term mean an untimely delivery
of products & services, failure in meeting the quality standards, reputational damage of the firm,
monetary losses and lot more. In a similar way, an ineffective coordination between the
operations and advertising team can affect the quality of the advertisement campaign. Operations
team will not be able to control the advertising campaigns in real-time (Carter, Rogers and Choi
2015).
In the context of the corporate event, an effective coordination between the event
organising firm and the client will ensure a timely conduction of the event. Moreover, the client
will also be able to make the necessary upgrades to the preparation if required. The suppliers of
event shows are the venue owners, the event organising firm and the places where the event team
gets all the required things from. Supply chain operation in case of events can be explained as
follows:

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Figure 1: A Corporate Event Supply Chain
5) CSR and Sustainability
Corporate social responsibility places the economic, social and environmental
responsibilities on organisations across the globe. Businesses nowadays are not only judged on
the traditional parameters but also on a few contemporary parameters. These contemporary
parameters include the likes of air & water pollutions, waste management, use of renewable
energy resources, the economic contribution of the business, social impact and a lot. The theory
of CSR states that the contemporary firms must ensure that its operations are intended at
improving a few sectors such as the community it operates in, the local economy and the
environment. These things are required for a sustainable business (Slager et al. 2018).
In the context of the case study, the event must also be fulfilling the three basic needs of a
business such as the society, environment and the economy. The event is a type of corporate
event which will also aim to raise funds for the chosen charitable firm. The charitable firm
chosen for this study is engaged in providing monetary support to doctors, nurses and the
scientists. It does so to effectively treat cancer affected people under a joint collaboration of
R&D works and the treatment facilities. Nonetheless, cancer is a worldwide growing concern
which is also causing thousands of deaths every year across the globe (Ginsburg et al. 2017). By
raising some funds for the case charitable firm will be no less than a notable social cause.
Corporate events focussing the charity works will make news in media. People across the
globe will get to know that the particular firm has done this noble cause. Such corporate events
do not just provide moments for employees to know their colleagues well but also let them know
the importance of looking to those who are in some kind of troubles. The success of such events

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will keep on generating funds for “Cancer Research UK” and the likes of and they will be able to
identify the best medication and treatment for the cancerous disease. Other countries would look
to get the formula if the R&D in the “Cancer Research UK” is able to bring it. Moreover, this
will improve the economy in two ways such as by reducing the expenses being made every year
on finding the best treatment for the cancerous diseases and also supplying these to other parts of
the world (Masters et al. 2015).
Environmental related concerns can also be raised using such a bigger platform. During
the presentation, speakers can also raise concerns for the increasingly growing air & water
pollution and the other kinds of pollutants. Such things will be highlighted in news. People will
get to know that the case company is seriously engaged in supporting the community through
every possible mean (Worsley, Wang and Ridley 2014).
6) Waste Management
Corporate events particularly aimed to raise money to support a charity cause are a good
platform for organisations to establish their image as a socially responsible body. This is the
platform which firms can use to show their concerns for communities they belong to and the
environment which is getting worse by every single day (Wilson et al. 2015).
In the context of the case study firm, the client can present their feasible plans in a direction
to reduce the wastage. Auditing the facility, reducing the packaging, going paperless, getting rid
of bottled water, giving food remains to the available animals and measuring the performance are
some of the ways which can be used as the waste management strategies (Hannan et al. 2015).
The case study firm can pick a few such strategies for making the presentation. Those strategies
should be feasible with their resource capacity, so that, no failure occurs in terms of fulfilling the

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commitments. Points for others taking care of the wastage can also be raised. There are ample
numbers of ways which the general people can use to contribute to the waste management
activities. During the event, the firm can make the presentation about how to control the wastage
and can also suggest the attendees and the people around the globe take few preventive measures
to make a difference. Some of the suggestive points could be like as follows: (Lohri, Camenzind
and Zurbrügg 2014)
 Be equipped with recycling rules
 Do not use the plastic bags
 Avoid the food wastage by following a meal plan
 Rely on reusable containers
 Prefer to repair rather than discard
 Say no to disposable plates
 Do not promote the buying of plastic bottles
C. A critical reflection on an own operational learning journey
a) The changes in the planning processes as a result of the learning
The learner is still in the learning period and constantly working on a number of projects
to enrich its knowledge as the events operations manager. The learner has to make a few changes
in the plans such as the selection of location. The change in locations was being done to stage the
event on a much better platform. "Plaisterers’ Hall” based in London has everything from the
capacity to the designs and to the quality of meals which is required to keep people engaged
throughout the corporate event.
b) The use of operations management theory to design and deliver the event

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To design and deliver the event, the total quality management (TQM) theory was one of
the theories being used by the events operations manager. The theory states the importance of
customer perspectives and motivates to consider its implications throughout the stages of a
project (Valmohammadi and Roshanzamir 2015). The events operations manager had used this
theory to identify the different elements which will be used at the different stages of the
presentation. Hence, efforts are being given to make everything look just the perfect.
The supply chain management theory was also being used to understand the behaviour of
supply networks. The theory states that an ineffective coordination between each of the channels
of a supply network can lead to serious damage which will eventually disrupt the whole supply
network (Brandenburg et al. 2014).
The theory of inventory management states that the entire management of inventories
depends on two factors such as dependent and the independent demands. The theory further says
that dependent demand is that which is easily predictable (Touboulic and Walker 2015). Hence,
the events operations manager has used the dependent form of inventory management theory.
c) Challenges faced during the operations plan and the ways used to overcome those
The learner has faced challenges in the form of selecting the most appropriate operations
management theories, so that, the impactful arrangements can be made. After doing a lot of
research, the learner could find the resources which helped to identify the relevant theories. It
was also being challenged for establishing the effective coordination with suppliers. The learner
could manage it by being in regular touch with suppliers. Necessary changes and the needs for
upgrades were being identified in real-time. In the given budget for the event, the learner was

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troubled for selecting the most feasible marketing strategies. However, the years of experience
did help to analyse the effective ways of marketing.
d) Discussing if any interaction was there with a professional in the industry
The learner never hesitates to take necessary tips from the industry experts. The learner
did so by meeting the expert in personal. Plans were discussed and on common agreement,
things were finalised. The learner believes to start working on a project in two ways such as by
accessing to genuine article resources and also interacting to one of the industry experts.
Conclusion
In summary, this can be concluded that the event should be a success. It has everything in
it which is needed to make the attendees engaged with the event. It is being well organised under
the guidance of the learner's experience as an events operations manager and the use of relevant
operational theories. The success will definitely be measured against a few goals as mentioned in
this study.

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