Events and Operations ABC London

Question: You have applied for a position of Events Manager/Organiser in ABC London Events Co.They are considering organising an event indoors or an open one outdoors (of your choice). The company asked you to provide a report in a format of a manualincluding key operational issues and risks that could be faced in these two venues. You should propose the best option to the events company in your conclusion. Answer: Introduction Events form an integral part of our routine lives with different levels, magnitude and type of event occurring in the neighborhood. Event management companies take up the responsibility of managing the event (indoor and outdoor) and apply business concepts in the theories of event planning. Use of some practical strategies is suggested to put the plans into action in an operationally refined manner (Getz, 1997). ABC London Events being a reputed firm is planning to organize two events indoor and outdoor at some specific locations and this report would dwell deeper into the event management operations and strategies to come up with creative event management plan (Yolum, 2002) of these two events including all the related aspects of the events. The Outdoor Event: A Sponsored Run There are some limited number of spaces available in Royal Park to conduct small scaled events in the space like a family picnic, a guided walk, a community sports, a concert, art events, recital events (Knemeyer, 2009). This is an outdoor spot available for small events. In some other gardens, large scale outdoor events can be arranged scaling to Olympic Games, music concerts and sports events. The event that would be organized in the Royal Park for the charity would be a sponsored run of a few hundreds of people to promote for a charity purpose. This run would be organized as a circular track and would include all the requirements of the run including medical support. This event is for the social cause of healthy lifestyle and for the refined physical, mental and social well being. These charity runs attract more number of participants including fund raisers, sponsors, volunteers, and non runners who wish to run for a social and charitable cause (Field, 2012) by giving their valuable contribution towards the society. These events are specifically associated with a basic theme of action and the participants comply with the theme to bring out the true essence of the charitable cause. The Indoor Event: Lunch for Business Proposal In the indoor campus, the Chelsea Old Town Hall can provide refined services for holding of special small scaled indoor events like parties, discussions, business meetings, business proposals, marketing events etc. The event organized at Chelsea Old Town Hall will be a business proposal for contributing to a charitable non government organization raised by that event. This business proposal can be very well arranged in the form of a lunch discussing a business proposal aimed at raising funds for charitable trust. The general requirements for the Chelsea Old Town Hall is that the hall is only available from 8am till midnight but the alcohol can be consumed only between 11 am to 11 pm. The constraint over music is that it must be closed by 11 pm for everyday and for every event. There is no AC facility but availability of standing fans so alternative facilities should be used for special occasions. The marketing of this event would be the responsibility of the event organizer. The sound system is only suitable for the public speaking activities (Field, 2012) but not for the music concerts. Attributes of the audience The audience in the event of sponsored run are of various age groups ranging from children to teenagers, from adults to aged people. The income does not matter for the choice of people that can participate in the charitable run and neither does the nationality matters. Anybody can participate in the sponsored run and can contribute for the charitable reasons. The participants of event at Chelsea Old Town Hall would be businessmen and elites that would discuss a business proposal that would be to raise funds and arrange sponsors for the charitable cause. Licenses and permissions required For the purpose of a sponsored run, it is required to have access to some of the licenses and permissions before starting up of the event. These licenses are required to ensure a healthy environment for the run and also ensure safety (Yeoman, 2004) of the participants. Some laws and licenses are issued for protecting the health of the sportsmen and voluntary runners and also prevent them from consumption of illicit drugs which curb the sportsman spirit (Earl, 2005) of the sponsored run. The participants require to present the proof of the fitness level which should comply with the minimum medical requirements set for the run. This proof should be in the form of a medical certificate issued by legal and authorized doctor following some specific and set medical examinations. The certificates pertaining to health and safety of the food items or water provided during the run should be obtained before starting of the run. The sponsors must obtain fitness certificate for the water served t o the participants and volunteer supporters (Jones, 2006). Permits should be taken from the local government that permits the type of charitable race. The company has to provide insurance coverage of the event to get the permit when this coverage would protect the company for putting the event. For the business proposal lunch, it is required to have a certificate for the liquor served at the Old Town Hall and the quality of liquor should be checked (Jackson, 2010). For the music too, there should be permission taken from the venue hosting internal events. The businessmen participating must have their identity cards with fool proof security checks before entering into the venue. Risk management and mitigation There are various risks associated with the event of charitable run which must be efficiently managed and mitigated by the team organizing it making it the responsibility of the event handlers to work attentively and responsibly for the potential accidents (Crawford, 1990) that might happen at the site of the event. However, Royal Park has all the safety and security arrangement done but the event managers need to cater to the requirements of the safety of the participants. There must be crowd controlling barricades that can separate the participants from the general volunteers and crowd. If case of any medical emergency like collapse, dehydration or fainting of the persons, a medical practitioner must be arranged and they must be present at some distances during the whole track. Proper aid stations should be made having appropriate arrangements of medicines and hydrating agents. There must be arrangement of emergency hydrating agents and drinks to revive and rejuvenate the runners a nd other participants. Another risk can be a human stampede that might occur due to illogical and rude behavior of the crowd. This risk should be managed with the help of volunteers that might control the over excited crowd and mitigate this potential risk. Finding of the sponsors is also another challenging task for planning the event of sponsored run. This would be a challenge for the organization as a huge amount would be required to ensure health and safety of the volunteers and participants. The risks associated with the indoor event of business proposal lunch can limit to organizational level risks including some unrest at the lunch, conflict among the attendees or can extend up to the risks of disruption in the venue including light system, LCD screen malfunctioning, or sound defect. Health and Safety in Event Planning Event planning includes ensuring the health and safety of the employees, volunteers, staff, participants, audience and other related persons. The health and safety for the participants of the sponsored run going for a charitable cause should be monitored closely and carefully. Public restroom must be created within the venue for ensuring health of the environment. The participants should be provided with continuous supply of water or more of an electrolyte drink for sustain and maintain their energy level. A high protein chocolate bar can be offered to keep the run healthy. Participants must be checked for any of the conspicuous material carried out by them during the run and use of cell phones or any related device must be prohibited. Medical considerations (Tum, 2006) must be thoroughly checked and people with proper approvals should only be allowed to go for the charitable run. For ensuring the health and safety of the indoor operational event, the quality of catering and hygiene of the place must be thoroughly checked. Electronic scanner machines can be arranged by the event planning company to ensure a complete safety of the lunch guests. There should be provisions for fire control at the venue. Strategic Event Management The event management team has a pivotal role to play before, during and after the event. They must initiate their strategic operations right from the approach of the company which wants to hold that event. The role of event management company is to take over the task completely over then and ensure that the event goes smoothly. The company must put forth a strategic plan for the charitable run in which the sponsor would be the company holding the event and collection of funds and money raised by the run would be collected the team members of event management team. The plan should include a rough draft of the budget of the run (Clausen, 2001) and also the equipment or special operations required during the run. The event management team must come up with innovative event marketing strategies and must focus over social networking sites to attract more number of participants leading to a better charitable donation and a social cause. The event marketing can be done by distribution of pa mphlets in the newspapers surrounding the event region. Online registration application can be arranged from the side of event management to promote the cause of the event. Strategies should be employed for arranging the required material for the run. The team must ensure a safe collection of funds for a charitable cause (Narasimhan, 2009) and should execute post event plans. The security of the sponsored run is the responsibility of the company and hence there must be officials at reasonable gaps during the entire track of the run taking care of the participants. The volunteers may also look into the security matters of the run. Police agencies must be informed about the run and a security van can be arranged for the day of the event. Security must include the search procedures imbibed in the process to check all the participants before entering the venue or the Old Town Hall to ensure a smooth functioning of the event. Team work is the key to successful integration of all the operational and strategic tasks in the project. Team work should be modularized giving them specific roles and responsibilities prior to the event, during the event and post the event. There must be arrangements made for the emergency situation handling taking the contribution form the police department. Some cases of conflict management can be handled by the team internal to the event management company and there must be a team leader appointed to look into the conflicting tasks and acting as a disturbance handler (Heizer, 2004). In the Town Hall, there must be provisions of fire alarms an emergency alarms which must be checked prior to the event. Therefore, the whole event must be a part of ethical conducting with efficient planning and effective implementation of the planned strategies and techniques (Van der Wagen, 2010). Event Marketing Marketing of the events is also one of the core tasks of the team which must be focused upon by the management and marketing team of the company. Event management is primarily made for the outdoor events requiring a large group of people as participants. The potential volunteers and sponsors should also be arranged for the purpose of financing the event. For this task, event marketing is essential and a prime task for the team to undertake carefully. The event marketing for the sponsored run should be taken up at a huge level (Gupta, 2006) including viral marketing on social networking websites. Social media should be thoroughly used for marketing purposes of the charitable event. This must call of the aesthetic part of the event and hence must be able to attract more number of volunteers and participants for the event (Ivanov, 2010). This marketing can extend up to advertisements given on famous websites and may also use digital print media for the purpose of spreading awareness. For the indoor event, since it is a personal event of some professional business elites, it is just required to spread the information about the event to the concerned participants and make them aware about the sufficient required information about the event. Therefore, even the marketing strategies differ with the type, magnitude, scale, and venue (Voss, 2002) of the event. Event Business Proposal The event management must have strategic business proposal in order to comply with the requirements of all the events indoor or outdoor. The business proposal must have inclusion of all the stakeholders connected with the project and event proposal. These stakeholders must plan everything well in advance to ensure a smooth functioning (Legato, 2001) of the event and include strategic approaches for monitoring, measuring and meeting up the requirements and demands of the event. This business proposal should be a written contract between the event organizing party and the event planning company. This contract should include the venue specifying the internal details of the venue, the date of the event, the time of the event, the duration of the event, and some other basic knowledge about the event (Berlonghi, 1995). It should also include the requirements pertaining to arrangements made in the event. For example, for the outdoor event at Royal Park being a sponsored run there are requir ements of water, electrolytic drinks, food, registrations lips, portable toilets etc. For the internal event being a business proposal meeting and a lunch, the requirements limit to catering, seating arrangement, display options etc. This business proposal must be like the requirement specification document serving as a proof of the project contract. Supply Chain Management at Events The event management company can ensure the companies who have placed the order to automate the monitoring system of the events organized may it be an outdoor event being a sponsored marathon or run or may it be an indoor events organized as a business lunch for putting up a proposal. The companies can get real time alerts and some pinged notifications from the event management team that can further allow them to take proactive, adaptive or corrective actions (Stadtler, 2005) suiting up the demands and situations of the event organized. The inventory control, turns, productivity, output and cycle time of the event can be efficiently managed by the company with the help of the event management company. The end result of such an efficient supply chain maintained with the event management company as an intermediary improves the overall consumer satisfaction and the supply chain management with human intervention (Allen, 2008) noting every real time operations occurring during the event. The schedules and milestones features of the supply chain management allow the company to trace the event systematically on a specific date and time of the event. Exception alerts notify the multiple parties and participants vie the means of emails and event user interfaces whenever delay or discrepancies occurs in the delay routine. The suppliers of the requirement of the event ensures the fulfillment activities to execute in accordance with the event management. Carriers and transporters ensure the pickup of the special guests and the requirement materials required for the event and deliver them to the venue on the required time. Participants ensure that they reach the venue on time and be prepared and aware about the events and complete the inventory details (Stadtler, 2000). Some of the main business processes handled by the supply chain management intrigued in event management are monitoring, simulation, control, notification and measurement. Softwares can also be used to keep the track of all the schedules of the events and also measure the milestones in terms of achievable things. Some applications too are developed for supply chain management to manage distributed events. Waste management at events It is the responsibility of the event management companies to comply with the waste management after the events. Waste management is essential to ensure a successful completion of the event and this responsibility is leveraged with the event management team. For the outdoor event of the sponsored run, the whole track and the park should be cleaned up after the event disposing every waste generated out of it. Similar holds for the indoor event and the cleaning of the hall after the lunch. Conclusion The scenario of event management for outdoor and indoor events vary to a great level and require specific and detailed solutions for managing the events. The outdoor event requires inclusion of field work and a complete supply chain management with a widespread marketing requirements (Stadtler, 2008). In contrast, the indoor event requires just small arrangements with reporting to the participants and arranging of monitoring strategies. The event management company must employ creative strategies to take over the operational, technical and management tasks. Recommendations The event management company must incorporate techniques for sustainable event management including all the aspects relating to corporate social responsibility (Allen, 2000). There can be efficient use of software and technology for real time event notifications and to update the whole team without any much human intervention. The event management company must segregate each of the task to each of the sub team and control the tasks in a modular manner. A lot of the focus must be laid upon coherent integration of the business plans, operational methodologies, strategic techniques (Stadtler, 2000) and key issues related with the event management purpose. The development plan of the event management cycle should be well presented after a thorough discussion with the whole team coming up with the practical experiences blended into theoretical proposals giving creative solutions. Alternate solutions for event management can be extensive use of technology and applications that will monitor the whole event in real time. 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