Managing Conference and Events

This report assesses the efforts required to manage conferences and events at Hilton Hotels. It discusses the dimensions and categories of events at Hilton Hotels, trends influencing the event industry, designing event layouts, and additional services important for events at Hilton Hotels.

Managing Conference
and Events

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
P1 Dimensions and Categories of Events at Hilton Hotels.........................................................3
P2 Trends that Have an Influence on the Event Industries..........................................................5
Designing Event Layout..............................................................................................................6
P4 Additional Services Important for the Event at Hilton Hotels...............................................7
LO3..................................................................................................................................................8
P5. Management role within event industry................................................................................8
P6. Review of management skill and personal attribute for event industry................................9
LO4................................................................................................................................................10
P7. Approaches related to safe and secure event venue............................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
An event is described as a corporate, social or personal gathering of individuals for a
specific, collective purpose, at a location. The event organiser is required to choose the event
location and layout based on the type of event that is expected to take place and the number of
people attending (Park and Park, 2017). This report assesses the efforts required to manage
conferences and events at Hilton Hotels. Hilton Hotels is a multinational brand, comprising of
various resorts and full service hotels. It was founded in 1919, an astonishing 101 years ago and
currently operates from its headquarters in Virginia, USA. Having operated within the hospitality
industries for such a long time, Hilton Hotels has been able to expand its current operations to 85
different countries around the globe, operating 586 distinct establishments across six continents.
As Hilton Hotels is a successful and popular business within the hospitality industries, it hosts
numerous distinct events at its establishments.
MAIN BODY
P1 Dimensions and Categories of Events at Hilton Hotels
There are several categories and dimensions of events that take place within the premises
of hospitality business organisations such as Hilton Hotels. The main types of events that take
place at hospitality businesses can be categorised into four main categories private, corporate,
live and charity. The main types of events that take place at Hilton Hotels are as follows:
Corporate Events:These are the events conducted by business organisations for various
operations. These include the following types of events:
 Seminar: A seminar is a corporate event organised by a business organisation to impart to
the audience operational information that is relevant to the business. Seminars include a
single or a small number of speakers that address the audience on information that is
primarily dedicated to training and instructions, making the event academic in nature.
 Conference: Conferences are corporate events that host a significant number of speakers.
Conferences are aimed towards encouraging conversations by offering people a platform
through which thy can effectively articulate their opinions, views, experiences and ideas

(Beeton, and Morrison, 2019). Conferences can include keynotes, roundtable, interviews
and panel discussions.
Private Events: These are events conducted by individuals or families for their own private
needs and requirements. These include:
 Weddings: Wedding is a private event that can be hosted within the premises of
hospitality businesses such as Hilton Hotels. These tend to attract varying number of
individuals, dependent upon the needs and requirements of the bride and groom, with the
event manager needed to arrange for various additional services such as music, flowers,
food, decorations etc.
 Festival Gatherings: These are private events where numerous individuals belonging to a
particular religion or culture come together to celebrate festivals within the premises of
the hospitality business such as Hilton Hotels. These require specific decorations, food
that is culturally and religiously appropriate to the festival being celebrated.
Live Events:These are entertainment events that are hosted within the premises of hospitality
businesses such as Hilton Hotels and include:
 Music Concerts: These are events where music artists play live music to a select number
of audience within the hotel.
 Plays: These are live shows for entertainment in which various professional actors
demonstrate their skills through skits and plays for an audience
Charitable Events: These are events hosted with the primary purpose of generating funds for
charitable causes or NGOs and include:
 Charitable Auctions: These are auctions hosted within the premises of hospitality
businesses such as Hilton Hotels, where the sums generated by the auctioning of various
goods, items and products are donated to charitable causes or NGOs (Day,Van Niekerk
and Okumus, 2017).
 Celebrity Dinners: These are charitable events where celebrities come together for dinner
within the premises of hospitality businesses such as Hilton Hotels, with the intention to
raise funds which would later be donated to charitable causes or NGOs.

P2 Trends that Have an Influence on the Event Industries
There are several external trends that have immense impact and influence the operations,
productivity and profitability of businesses operating within the event industries. One of the most
prevalent trends that has revolutionised distinct and diverse operations of businesses within the
event industries is that of technology. The advancements in technology in the past decade and the
widespread adoption of the internet by increased number of individuals within the population
have enhanced and streamlined the operations of business operating within the event industries
and have effectively increased their operational performance, efficiency, productivity and
profitability. Through technology nowadays, businesses operating within the event industries can
simply decide to host an event at a future time and venue (O'Leary and Mottiar, 2019). While in
the previous years, the business would have to expend considerable resources to market, promote
and advertise the event to the public, in order to generate interest and attract public to the event,
the technology nowadays allows for businesses operating within the event industries to make use
of digital channels of marketing to promote and advertise their events online to millions of
individuals within a population, generate interest, interact and engage with them. Through
technology, businesses within the event industries can now also offer tickets of the event to
consumers in an effective and efficient manner, with nowadays popular events being booked to
the brim within mere hours of their tickets being made available for sale to the public, something
was undreamt of prior to the widespread adoption of the internet. An example of this is the music
concerts of popular artists, which are nowadays marketed to the public through digital mediums,
with tickets being made available to the public solely through the internet on first come first
serve basis. Tickets for these events are so immensely popular that they are sold out within mere
hours being made available to the public.
Technology also allows for the event managers to effectively manage and control the
various operations of events within the event industries. Through technology, event managers
can now dynamically keep a track of all the needs and requirements that need to be achieved for
the event to successfully take place and monitor their progress so as to conduct the event in a
successful manner (Naaman and et.al., 2019). Technology also allows for an event manager to
keep a digital list of all their clients who have purchased tickets, further reducing the scope of
errors related to their entry into the events, which can have a negative influence on the client’s
experience with regards to the event.

Designing Event Layout
For the private wedding event that is hosted within the premises of Hilton Hotels, various
factors need to be considered in relation to designing the layout of the event, based on the
specifications provided by the clients of the wedding event. This section of the report designs an
event layout for a private wedding event that is supposed to accommodate 120 guests.
Figure 1: Event Layout of wedding at Hilton Hotels
As the client has specified for the wedding to accommodate up to 120 different guests
that is to be hosted within the premises of Hilton Hotels, the layout factors this demand of the
client and has been designed to sufficiently factor in the seating requirements of 120 guests. For
the purposes of designing an effective wedding layout, both round and traditional rectangular
shaped tables have been selected, with the round table being able to accommodate up to 8 guests
at each table, and the rectangular tables also being able to accommodate for the seating
requirements of 8 guests. There have been place 15 rectangular shaped tables in the wedding
area, with 10 tables designated to accommodate for 80 guests, 3 tables designated to service the
seating requirements of the groom and bride and their respective families, able to seat additional
8 individuals at the absolute centre of the room, where they can get a direct view of all the

happening of the wedding without having to move a lot from their designated seats. The wedding
design layout also adds 4 round table that are able to accommodate for another 32 individuals,
totalling to a total of 120 individuals that able to effective be seated within the wedding area
(Park and Park, 2016). Based on the specifications of the clients a large area is segmented in the
middle as the dedicated dance floor, for the celebratory operations of the guests and family at the
wedding, with all tables being strategically placed around the dance floor, so that all guests,
groom, bride and family members are able to get a good view of the celebratory dancing of the
invited guests at the wedding. Based on the client’s demand, another table has been allocated for
the DJ, who will ensure music keeps on playing for the dancing operations, and his table has
been strategically placed at the corner, so that other guests do not interfere with his operations in
the wedding layout. A podium has also been placed for announcements, whose position is also
strategically designed to be in view of all the guests so that they do not miss the wedding
announcements (Stone and et.al., 2017). Finally, the layout also accounts for a gift table to house
all the gifts that the bride and groom receive, with this table also being strategically placed at the
other corner of the room, adjacent to the head table, so that the family can place gifts at the table
at their convenience, without having to travel much with the gifts, which can be large in size.
P4 Additional Services Important for the Event at Hilton Hotels
For any event to successfully take place within the premises of Hilton Hotels, the event
manager is always required to ensure that a host of additional services are also provided to the
clients based on the type of event that is expected to be hosted at Hilton Hotels. One of the most
common additional services that Hilton Hotels has to provide to all its event clients towards
private, and live events relates to the decoration of the event premises with regards to the event
that is going to take place within their premises. For example, in private wedding events,
additional services in relation to décor of the event area include decorating it with flowers,
bouquets, etc., to make the area look fit for someone’s wedding. On the other, hand private
events such as festival celebrations need to be decorated with the festival in mind, showcasing
the culture and reason for the festival being celebrated within the event area. Another additional
event service that Hilton Hotels has to provide to its clients for a major number and types of
events relates to providing the guests with food based on the specifications of the clients and the
type of event that is expected to take place within the premises of Hilton Hotels (Bury, 2016).
Most of the time, the clients of the events detail the event managers of Hilton Hotels, in regards

to the type of food cuisines and delicacies that is required for their particular event, while other
times, Hilton Hotels provides additional food services that is dependent on the type of event
being organised. For example, in private events related to festival celebrations, the food at the
event is required to be culturally appropriate to the type of festival that is being celebrated at the
event.
LO3
P5. Management role within event industry
Event manager needs to play the following roles as a part of the professional duty.
Plan events: Planning events is among the primary role associated with event manager. On the
basis of the needs and requirements of the client event manager needs to suggest the best way to
conduct such events (Murrell, Piccard and Mock, 2016). Planning involves all aspects of event
such as decoration, lighting, schedule of event and other key features. Event planning conducts
by the event manager are based on the budget of the client also. All resources event manager
offer as per the budget suggested by client.
Handling logistics: This is also among the key role associated with the event manager. Based on
the amenities requires in the event manager needs to handle all logistics in event. As the event
management requires plenty of factors such as food, lights and other facilities. Event manager
needs to ensure proper availability of all equipments and elements require conducting the event.
Negotiating sponsorship deals: Event manager also play an important role in negotiating with
sponsors involve in event. Sponsors are the ones who invest in the event for the brand promotion
(Giannoulakis, 2019). Manager needs to negotiate with all the various sponsor about the
promotion charges and the financial resources requires to conduct the event. Event manager also
needs to consider profitability while negotiating with sponsors.
Dealing with issues: Event manager needs to involve in dealing with various issues arises during
the events. As the event management is a very hectic task which involves plenty of stakeholders.
Many times due to schedule and work pressure issues arises. Event manager needs to solve all
issues in order to conduct the event.

Managing event activity: Event manager needs to manage and control all activities associated
with the events. Activities are decided based on the nature of events. Manager takes part in
scheduling all such activities and tasks and also to control such tasks. This is also among the
primary role event manager needs to play as a part of the professional duty.
The abovementioned roles event manager needs to play in order to conduct its duties and
responsibilities.
P6. Review of management skill and personal attribute for event industry
Event industry is among the fastest growing industry associated with business
environment. Over the period of time the sector has improved its growth potentials on a
continuous basis. The operations involve in event management are also hectic in nature due to
tight schedule. Many skills are also required being an event manager and organiser to work in the
sector.
Communication skill: Event manager needs to communicate with all the stakeholder associated
with the event. Event management involves various functions that are requires to manage the
event and all such operation needed to communicate properly (Novikova, Bekeneva and Shorov,
2017). Many times due to hectic schedule of event many issues also arises in event. Manager
needs to solve all such issues as a part of the operation functions.
Time management skill: Even manager requires having a time management skills. This is
among the important skill that is needed for being the even manager. As the event consisted with
various activities and all such activities needed to conduct in a precise time so that all events can
sum up in a predetermined time. All such actions require time management skill for being a
event manager.
Work management skill: Work management skill is also among the crucial skill requires for the
job role of event manager. Events are comprises with different functional ctivities and also one
individual event is also associated with different small events also (Adam and Ping, 2018). All
such events require managing by event manager. Effective management skill supports event
manager to perform all its duties. Due to work management skill manager able to complete the
entire event in the stipulated time. This skill also play an important role in coping up with the
expectations of all stakeholders involve in events.

Decision making skill: Event manager needs to consist up with the effective decision making in
respect to different operations of event. As the event is comprises with various activities like
sound, lighting, decoration and other associated activities. Manager needs to take all key
decisions that can improve the significance of the event. With the support of effective decision
making manager try to make the event memorable for all the peoples and stakeholders associated
with the event.
The above mentioned skills are among the key skill requires to meet the expectations of
the stakeholder associated with the event.
LO4
P7. Approaches related to safe and secure event venue
Safety and security is every event is also among the key concern event manager is
associated with. Following points summarises the key approaches that can improve the safety
and security at every event.
Check points: Event manager can implement check points at every location in event. This will
take care of guest taking part in event (da Silva and Renzi, 2019). Many times some random
peoples enter in the event without any invitations which becomes the concern to the safety and
security in event. Check points will ensure the security at the place of event.
Keeping event private: This is also an important driver which ensures security in events. If it is
not needed to make the event public than all events must be private. As private events include
only selected peoples and guest that becomes more convenient and feasible to control and
monitor restricted number of people. This play an important role in improving the security at
every event.
Check ID: This is also an important feature that can install to improve the security at the event
venue. Checking ID ensure the identity of the person involve in the event. This is possible in
case of private event but in case of public event this is not feasible in nature. Event manager use
this trick to improve the security and safety at event place.

The above mentioned points indicate about all key approaches needed to ensure safety
and security at event place.
CONCLUSION
Based on the findings of the report, it can be concluded that effective management of
events by skilled and competent managers is immensely important for the success of the event
within hospitality organisation. This report assesses the various dimensions and categories of
events that are hosted at Hilton Hotels. The report also identifies features and current trends that
influence the events sector. Then the report designs an event layout at Hilton Hotels and
evaluates the additional services that are available to the guests attending the event. Further the
report analyses management roles required within event industries and reviews personal
attributes and management skills that are essential to operate successfully within the event
industries. Finally, the report identifies the appropriate safety measures that are required to be
provided to make an event safe and secure for the staff, employees and clients.

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