Event Planning and Management

This assignment explores the multifaceted world of event planning and management. It delves into essential aspects like emergency planning, sustainable practices, ethical considerations, and advanced planning techniques. Students will gain insights from scholarly articles and industry resources, examining best practices and emerging trends in the field.

Event Planning

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
A) Critical Success Factors for the chosen event ........................................................................3
B) Event Operations Plan ............................................................................................................5
C) Processes followed for developing the operations plan..........................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12
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INTRODUCTION
Event planning is a process in which different social gatherings are organised according
to the occasion and demands of hosting party. In this report, the various aspects of organising an
event have been discussed in context of Classic Entertainment Productions planning a film
festival at Greenwich Fields. This venue is amongst the 8 royal parks of London with lavish
arrangements and facilities. The report consists of an events operational plan which has been
prepared with relevance to different planning issues. Furthermore, all these elements will be
supportive in enhancing knowledge and understanding regarding event planning.
A) Critical Success Factors for the chosen event
Events are planned public or private social gatherings which hold certain importance in
different aspects. Currently the Classic Entertainment Productions is delegating with a client that
wishes to organise a film festival in one of the Royal Parks i.e. Greenwich Fields. The company
aims to conduct a successful event so that customer is completely satisfied. There are different
types of events which have been depicted as follows:
 Seminars and conferences
 Trade shows
 Exhibitions
 Sports events
 Cultural festivals
 Formal events, etc.
The type of event is a major factor in deciding the venue or location where the event has
to be conducted. Film festival is a cultural event that involves large gatherings. Hence, it is
important for the venue to be big enough for gathering huge crowd (Gaffney, 2013). The Royal
Parks is an organisation which looks after the 8 historic event venues i.e. Hyde Park, Kensington
Gardens, Richmond Park, Bushy Park, St. James Park, The Green Park, The Regent's Park,
Greenwich Park, Brompton Cemetery, Victoria Gardens and Grosvenor Square Garden. The
reason behind selection of Greenwich Fields as the venue was its tourist attraction point. The
place is hosting Prime Meridian Line and also has a Royal Observatory which has now become a
world heritage site.
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The event being a film festival will definitely host a large group of people who have to be
controlled and monitored with best in class security (Conway, 2014). The Royal Parks charity
considers the protection and safeguarding of individuals who are a part of the event they are
hosting at the venue. Correct choice of venue is a very important feature which has to be
addressed by the events planning company so that any sort of inconvenience doesn't bother both
the audience and the participants of events.
Target audience: The target audience are the potential customers who are going to be the
part of event in some form or the other. For example, the film festival generally has two sets of
audience: one belongs to the group of artists that are a part of the film industry while the other
group is fans and normal visitors. Classic Entertainment Productions has to arrange the amenities
according to convenience of both these groups. If target audience is happy and satisfied with all
the arrangements then, it can be said that event has been successful. This factor is one of the
critical factors which contribute to successful functioning of an event (Adina and Ramona,
2013). Moreover, it is important for both organisers and the host parties to look after the fact that
any sort of abuse or harm doesn't take place during the course of event.
Accessibility: The ease of access or mobility is also an important factor which contributes
to the success of an event. Being a fund raiser event, which is to be held for 3 days, event
planners have to make sure that at-most accessibility is provided to customers and visitors. The
audience should be able to reach the venue without any inconvenience (Getz and Page, 2016).
Classic Entertainment Productions had opted for Greenwich Fields as the venue for this film
festival because of its accessibility. The venue is open from morning 6 am to 8 o'clock in the
evening. This provides a plenty of time for organising different events and planning the activities
accordingly.
All these factors are significant for making a decision regarding the choice of venue and
planning of activities (Carteni, A. and De Luca, 2012). The event organisers have to plan
accordingly by keeping the demands and needs of visiting audience in preference. Greenwich
park is one of the prime locations which will be helpful in raising large amount of funds for the
respective charity through the film festival.
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B) Event Operations Plan
Strategies are required for effectively implementing or executing different business
activities. Event planning is a complex process and there are various issues which are related
with organising of a social gathering (She, Tong and Chen, 2015). When a strategy or
operational plan is devised, the solutions to these corporate issues can be acquired quickly.
Following details help in understanding the various operational issues which can be experienced
by Classic Entertainment Productions when organising the 3-day film festival.
Licensing and legal issues: Every event which is to be planned and organised requires
legal considerations. Written contracts and various licenses have to be acquired by the respective
company before taking any decision so that legal complications can be avoided (Urmy, Sexton
and Curtis, 2015). Amongst the different types of permits and licenses, the most common and
popular one is for serving alcohol, permission for noise levels, public liability insurance, etc.
These licenses and permits help in getting legal access to certain attributes. It is the prime
responsibility of Classic Entertainment Productions to take necessary permissions and licenses
for avoiding blockades during the event.
Risk management: The process of evaluating probable risks and threats which can hinder
the functioning of event is considered as risk management (Getz, 2012). The Classic
Entertainment Productions has to perform risk management at every stage of the operational plan
so that proper precautionary measures can be adopted. For example, the possibilities of
stampede, fire breakout, withdrawal of sponsorship, any sort of medical emergency, financial
breakdown, etc. are some of the risks which prevail during the execution of event. Henceforth, it
is important to create an operational plan that helps in reducing risks and threats.
Health and Safety (Crowd security control): The crowd consists of people from diverse
backgrounds. Every social gathering or event is addressing a major issue of health and safety.
The presence of celebrities creates a different type of excitement amongst the respective fans.
This can lead to sudden outbreak of violence or abusive activities. Hence, the event planners
have to implement effective security measures and forces so that any sort of damage or loss of
life is not experienced (Jones, 2014). Since, this film festival is a charity event, the entire
gathering must be peaceful and harmless. This can only be possible when strictly disciplined
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security arrangements are made. The development of check points and no allowances of arms
and ammunitions will help in reducing security threats to crowd.
Supply Chain Management: An event has to have different set of arrangements for food
and catering, beverages, restrooms, emergency gateways in case of medical help, etc. The supply
chain relations should be strong enough for maintaining the supplies and flow of inventory
(Ziakas, 2013). Often weak supply chain management results in delay of services to audiences
which results in deterioration of the corporate image of event planners. Since, the visitors that are
coming to the event are potential customers for the company, Classic Entertainment Productions
have to make proper arrangements in delivering effective services to the audiences.
CSR and Sustainability: Corporate social responsibility is a principle aspect which
denotes that business activities or processes are arranged with a motive of community welfare
and development (Fleischmann, Meyr and Wagner, 2015). The film festival is organised for
raising charity. This automatically directs the company to a path where welfare of other citizens
has been thought about. Classic Entertainment Productions has to plan out the event in such a
way that no negative impact is assessed by the surrounding environment or people living in near-
by communities. Furthermore, sustainability can be achieved only when CSR principles are
inhibited in the event operations.
Waste Management: Huge gatherings and social events have large number of people
who are eating, drinking and performing various other activities. People litter plastic bottles,
waste food, throw packaging of food materials, etc. every where. This is totally unhygienic and
takes a lot of cleaning arrangements post the event (Wates and Thompson, 2013). This implies
overall costs of organising and planning the event is increased. Hence, waste management has to
be performed. There have to be dustbins in every possible corner of the Park with guidelines
provided to audiences to throw their waste in respective places. This shall help in reducing
efforts regarding waste management post event.
The following event operational plan has been developed for Classic Entertainment
Productions so that the arrangements and administration for film festival of 3 days can be
effectively performed.
Developing a vision:
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The vision of Classic Entertainment Productions is to reach sustainable competitive
advantage with best quality services to clients and customers.
The vision for this project or event which is to be organised for three days is to raise
maximum charity from this event.
Establishing objectives:
The objectives are essential in gaining a workable path. If objectives are not developed,
then activities and functions which are to be planned and organised ahead will not be aligned
correctly (Sieber and Tolich, 2013). The probability of unsuccessful planning increases without
SMART objectives. SMART is the abbreviation used for specific, measurable, attainable,
realistic and time bound. Following objectives have been designed for this film festival which
needs to be attained by Classic Entertainment Productions:
 To develop a platform which will be recognised as world's finest events.
 To design a security system which will help in controlling and monitoring the gathered
crowd.
 To provide proper facilities regarding accommodation so that individuals do not suffer
any sort of inconvenience. To implement all suppliers and establish arrangements at-least 4 days prior to the event.
Assigning roles and responsibilities:
The human resource of the company has to be used effectively so that best results in
terms of productivity and profitability can be achieved. This task has to be attained by designing
roles and responsibilities according top the needs and requirements of the event (Haynes III and
et. al., 2013). For example, the basic distribution of responsibilities in a event planning group is
transportation, distribution, amenities, ticket collection and distribution, etc. The event manager
has to perform the role of distributing respective authorities and responsibilities to different set of
individuals. Furthermore, this stage of the event planning involves evaluation of resources which
will be required at the time of ongoing event.
Allocating financial resources:
Financial resources are required at every point of time during the event planning process.
The respective planning or operational manager has to distribute money and other financial
resources to the functioning teams. Once, this distribution is done, the main organising part is
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initiated. The candidates and workers who have been given the particular responsibilities will
bring required raw materials and resources at-least 2-3 months prior to the event according to
complexity stage planning.
Setting up of timelines:
The timelines and deadlines are useful in meeting the objectives and goals which have
been developed by organisational heads (Krumeich, Jacobi and Loos, 2014). If deadlines are not
maintained then chances of delay in delivery of services increases.
 Sponsors and marketers have to be confirmed for gaining financial resources to stabilise
the prepared operation plan.
 The venue has to be finalised within 1-3 weeks before implementation of plan.
 Equipments, devices, amenities and other resources which are required for processing or
different functions have to be gathered in 1 month from the activation of action plan. The last deadline for distributing tickets and entry forms should be fixed 5 days prior to
the event. This will help in gauging whether individuals are interested in the event or not.
Fixing venue:
The venue must be fixed according to the requirements of client. The accommodation
capacity, facilities inside the premises, accessibility towards target audience and the cost per day
are some of the elements which need to be remembered while fixing the venue (Challen and et.
al., 2012). For this film festival Greenwich Park has been selected as the venue.
Setting performance indicators:
The manager has to look after the entire operations. Performance of different individuals
has to be assessed and monitored so that overall output of the activities is in accordance with set
objectives and principles. Performance indicators have to be developed by the manager for
evaluating and comparing the level of skills and competencies which are applied by the
employees (Events: Planning and Management, 2015). Standards are also helpful in setting up
benchmarks which need to be attained by the engaged personnel so that appropriate rewards and
incentives can be distributed. This also helps in monitoring and supervising effectively. The
company can further improve its strategic planning regarding human resource management if
performances do not meet the required benchmarks.
Feedbacks/suggestions:
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Customers, clients, shareholders and employees are some of the important stakeholders
of the company Classic Entertainment Productions. Any sort of strategy that is applied in the
functioning has some impact over these stakeholders. It is important to evaluate and address the
feedback that is generated irrespective of their nature (Gaffney, 2013). This shall help in
recognizing and implementing necessary changes in the strategy and planning process of events.
C) Processes followed for developing the operations plan
It is critical that events should be planned in systematic and strategic manner so that
required objectives from the events can be achieved. All the required activities that are needed to
be completed have been planed and on the basis of that resources have been allocated (Conway,
2014). Working as an operation manager for the event I have made some changes in the existing
process. It has supported for making significant improvements in event organizing process.
Waste management has been introduced as a new method that will be used for improving the
events. I have taken initiatives for involving support of the group members so that required
objectives from the event can be completed. I have made it mandatory for placing dustbins at
small distances in the events that are organized by Classic Entertainment Productions. This
approach has supported in reducing the cost of clearing the event location after completion of the
event. I have instructed the cleaning staff to follow the guidelines that have been given to them.
Mutual support given by all the group members have supported in adopting this change in
effectual way. Event organization process has become more successful. I have adopted
innovative approaches for introducing waste management.
I have been able to develop an operations management plan which is more effective as
compared to the traditional ones adopted by the company. Classic Entertainment Productions
considers this event as most significant one because if effectively managed, this event shall bring
in more customers in the near future. I have used the basic principle of operations management
theory for implementing the roles and responsibilities of individuals who are a part of my team.
When comparing the practicality of a plan with theoretical principles, the chances of getting
precise and accurate results increases.
I developed the budgets and provided sufficient resources to the individuals who were
distributed into 10 different teams. There were further goals and deadlines set for these teams for
bringing more excellence in quality and to avoid mismanagement or confusion. The stage was
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perfectly developed according to the designs produced by our stage planners. Certain
construction activities had to be initiated for developing separate restrooms for audiences who
belonged to the celebrity community i.e. one with VIP passes. I personally looked after the
security arrangements so that crowd control is effectively achieved.
During the entire process, there were certain challenges which I had experienced while
developing the Event Operational Plan. It was not easy to convince higher authorities for
constructing an extra restroom so that less chaotic situation will happen. Furthermore, there were
certain situations in which the climatic changes had caused delay in construction of platform
were the celebrities will perform. This implies that a possibility was generated whether event
will take place on time or not. But we were able to overcome all these consequences and achieve
the set goals and objectives. The progress level of out team was quite appropriate. Despite of
facing so many challenges, I was able to execute the plan accurately and get desired results in the
form of positive feedbacks from audiences.
The performance indicators which have been developed by me for comparing the
performances of individuals. It helps in identifying the areas that require training and
development for gaining better quality of work. Moreover, productivity of individuals have to be
increased. There cannot be any other option better than implementation of evaluation techniques.
There are a large number of suppliers who are engaged in the event planning activities at
different stages. I had to make negotiations with the event sponsors so that their financial input
would help in facilitating other activities of the company. These professionals demanded written
contracts and balance sheets of the organisation initially. This posed as a challenge because
exposing the secrets and confidential information of organisation to external agents brings in a
lot of competitive threats. Hence, I negotiated with them by depicting the potential benefits
which they will address after event. My marketing experiences have helped me in overcoming
these challenges and set effective communication channels with business sponsors.
CONCLUSION
Through this report, one can understand that event planning requires a lot of
considerations. Since, the film festival is a sort of national event because individuals from across
the country are going to participate; there is no scope for negligence and irrelevant practise. The
report depicts the major issues which are addressed in the event planning and a detailed
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Operational Plan which can be executed by Classic Entertainment Productions for bringing in
more effectiveness in the working. Furthermore, the reflective account depicts the major
changes, challenges and solutions which have been implemented by the Event Manager of the
company for effectively implementing and developing the Event Operations Plan.
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REFERENCES
Adina, F. and Ramona, C., 2013. Innovation in the creative industries-case study of an event
planning company. Annals of Faculty of Economics, 1(1), pp.640-649.
Books and Journals
Carteni, A. and De Luca, S., 2012. Tactical and strategic planning for a container terminal:
Modelling issues within a discrete event simulation approach. Simulation Modelling
Practice and Theory, 21(1), pp.123-145.
Challen, K. and et. al., 2012. Where is the evidence for emergency planning: a scoping
review. BMC Public Health, 12(1), p.542.
Conway, D. G., 2014. The Event Manager's Bible 3rd Edition: The Complete Guide to Planning
and Organising a Voluntary or Public Event. Hachette UK.
Fleischmann, B., Meyr, H. and Wagner, M., 2015. Advanced planning. In Supply chain
management and advanced planning (pp. 71-95). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Gaffney, C., 2013. Between discourse and reality: The un-sustainability of mega-event
planning. Sustainability, 5(9), pp.3926-3940.
Getz, D. and Page, S. J., 2016. Event studies: Theory, research and policy for planned events.
Routledge.
Getz, D., 2012. Event studies: Discourses and future directions. Event Management, 16(2),
pp.171-187.
Haynes III, J. M. and et. al., 2013. Planning a Meeting or Event. U.S. Patent Application
13/539,272.
Jones, M., 2014. Sustainable event management: A practical guide. Routledge.
Krumeich, J., Jacobi, S. and Loos, P., 2014, May. Towards planning and control of business
processes based on event-based predictions. In International Conference on Business
Information Systems(pp. 38-49). Springer International Publishing.
She, J., Tong, Y. and Chen, L., 2015, May. Utility-aware social event-participant planning.
In Proceedings of the 2015 ACM SIGMOD International Conference on Management of
Data (pp. 1629-1643). ACM.
Sieber, J. E. and Tolich, M. B., 2013. Planning ethically responsible research(Vol. 31). Sage.
Urmy, M. B., Sexton, J. A. and Curtis, J. A., 2015. Action alignment for event planning, project
management and process structuring. U.S. Patent 9,064,015.
Wates, N. and Thompson, J., 2013. The Community Planning Event Manual: How to use
collaborative planning and urban design events to improve your environment. Routledge.
Ziakas, V., 2013. Event portfolio planning and management: A holistic approach. Routledge.
Online
Events: Planning and Management. 2015. [Online]. Available
Through:<http://www.bbc.co.uk/safety/resources/aztopics/event-planning-
management.html>. [Accessed on 5th April, 2017].
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