Explain the importance of event planning to achieve event success
“An event is a temporary and purposive gathering of people” (Bladen,2011) The events industry is growing every day and therefore nowadays there is an importance of event planning to achieve event success. “Event Planning is intended to ensure the event unfolds as intended, achieves its goals and creates the desired impacts.” (Quinn, 2013) There are many things to consider when planning an event and all tasks must be completed to even have the chance of your project being a success.
Firstly, a feasibility study should be the first thing completed when it comes to event planning. A feasibility study is “an analysis and evaluation of a proposed event to determine if it is technically doable, is feasible within the estimated cost and will be profitable.” From the authors experience, completing feasibility studies allows you to brainstorm ideas and is the best way of finding the event that will have the most potential of being a success. Each member of the Formal Committee completed a feasibility study including a neon theme, black and white theme and great gatsby theme. Overall, the black and white theme was the most feasible which lead to the success of the annual departmental formal. This process also identifies reasons not to proceed, if the event will generate adequate cash flow - highlighting if there will be any financial risks, and sees if their is a gap in the market to see if the even it s a “go or no go”.
Secondly, it’s important to set aims and objectives. This contributes to success of an event because it helps to keep the event planning process going and ensures that deadlines are met. Examples of objectives set for the Hospitality formal were “to create an exciting and memorable event” and “to sell 200 tickets”.
SWOT Analysis is also a crucial part of event planning. SWOT is a structured planning method that evaluates the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a project.
Excellent Event Managers keep team members motivated and always are optimistic even during hard times when planning an event. “Team dynamics influence the direction of a team's behaviour and performance.” Therefore, it’s the Manager’s role to control the team dynamic to ensure the event is successful. It’s important that everyone has a role that interests them and are competent doing such as marketing, finance or customer service. Belbin (2016) states a team is “not well balanced individuals but individuals that balance well with each other”. This quote reinforces that as team, everyone achieves more.
Contingency Plan is a plan devised for an outcome other than the usual (expected) plan. This allows the events organisers to know how to react if they are in this situation. However, this is not always the case. A current event industry example of this is Aiken Promotions