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Event Management

Notes and minimize the traffic impact on the non-event community & the emergency services and
minimize the costs (Guide to Traffic and Transport Management for Special Events, 2006).
Human Resources

Human resource management is much more than recruitment and selection of staff and
volunteers; it is a wide-ranging activity, involving the long-term strategic development
of the event organization. The expected outcome of this is a positive culture of commitment
and co-operation developed in the process of managing the work force (Wagen, 2007). In
events also there are the volunteers. They are representatives from the community who
freely choose to give their time and skills to support club activities for no payment other
than reimbursement for out of pocket expenses. Volunteers come from all age groups,
educational backgrounds and genders. People generally volunteer to have fun, socialize,
learn new skills, help others, develop new friends, explore career opportunities etc. (AFL
Club Management Program, 2004). Working with volunteers requires that their special
contribution to the success of the event be acknowledged and shared. Working with
volunteers requires consideration, flexibility and enthusiasm because volunteers often
work for the 'fun of it' of for charitable purposes. Volunteers require just as much
management and coordination as employees (Tassiopoulos, 2005).
Budgeting

According to Goldblatt (2002) the budget represents an action plan that each successful
event manager must carefully develop and is the most important tool to use the financial
decisions within the event management business. Since different events are designed for
different purposes, they may fall in to three different categories, named, "Profit-oriented
events, Break-even events, lost leaders or hosted events."
Marketing and PR
Being very trendy at the present, event marketing is however not a new phenomena. In
the US and in the whole world, event marketing has existed as long as traditional marketing
hasbeen conducted. It is a natural part of the marketing mix, and now goes under the name
special events (Eriksson and Hjalmsson, 2000). Effective marketing can attract the 'right'
people and the 'wrong' to an event. However, it is even more crucial to ensure that the
event is supported by sufficient numbers of participants to make it success (Tassiopoulos,
2005). When marketing something purely intangible, such as sporting contest there is a
large service component. In some respects it is far more difficult to market something that
the customer cannot take home or physically consume. Thus promotional efforts might
suggest that the audience will be entertained and have fun at the event. Zeithaml and
Bitner (1996) define services as 'deeds, processes and performances'. The definition suits
the event business well, whether it refers to a sporting contest, and clearly places event
marketing (Wagen, 2005). In management of the events, public relations have two roles.
On the one hand it supports marketing activity in the form of promotions; on the other
hand it is also the tool that disseminates non-promotional information to other target
publics that are important to the organization. An event's leading aim is to achieve positive
coverage on the media for the event without paying for the space or air-time it occupies.
Strong relationships with the key media and a range of innovative techniques and tools in
order to evoke an attraction are important when trying to create the desired media exposure
(Masterman, 2004). Also, media relations and publicity should be given a lot of attention.
A well-planned publicity campaign should run alongside any advertising campaign. Ideally
this drive should be spread over the period of months, building up to a peak shortly
before the event. Early warning allows potential participants and spectators to book the
event in to their diaries and prevents potential clashes with rival attractions (Tassiopoulos,
2005).
Contd....

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