Page 70 - DMGT304_EVENT_MANAGEMENT

Unit 3: Event Feasibility and Legal Compliance

The venue and equipment will not suffer unexpected damage or loss Notes
The reputation of all parties (including the sponsor if one exists) as event organisers
remains in tact.

3.4.2 Time Feasibility

There are a number of crucial factors that determine whether there is sufficient time to make all
the necessary plans and arrangements to stage a special event. In particular, the two most
important factors are:

the ability to book a venue; and
the necessity to give participants an appropriate length of notice
The first factor, venues, whether they are ovals, sports centres, theatres, pools or other types of
facility, must be booked months in advance. This has a direct bearing on the feasibility of
staging an event. It is not possible to organise an event unless the hosting organisation has a
venue booked. The time needed to plan and organise the event must be sufficient to ensure that
a venue can be booked.

Did u know? The most popular venues may be booked more than one year in advance
The second factor is having sufficient time to promote the event and ensure that competitors are
able to attend. Imagine staging an event and finding that a very few competitors were able to
attend. If insufficient notice is given to competitors (and officials) they may be unable to book
air flights or arrange for leave. Furthermore they may NOT attend because they have other
engagements that they cannot change or simply because they have had no time to prepare for
the event. There needs to be sufficient planning time to enable the event date to be inserted on
to a great many event calendars. This is especially so when there is a likelihood of competitors
travelling large distances to attend (even from overseas).
The sheer number of tasks to be performed when organising an event also suggest that would-
be organisers should look very closely at the time allowed to complete such tasks.

3.4.3 Funding Feasibility

The feasibility study needs to be able to predict the financial outcome of staging an event to a
reasonable degree of accuracy. This entails developing a budget where all expected revenues
and all known costs are listed. It is most important that would-be organisers exercise a high
degree of realism when estimating possible revenues. Furthermore, it is vital to ensure that all
costs are included. Two typical situations can spell disaster:
1. The event goes ahead despite the loss of a major source of income i.e. sponsorship is not as
much as planned, a funding submission to government fails or only half as many participants
enter.
2. An unexpected cost arises but it is too late to cancel or change the event i.e. venue costs
escalate, errors are made in calculating the cost of officials, or extra equipment has to be
bought at the last moment.
History shows numerous organisations large and small that have run into financial difficulty
and even bankruptcy as a result of staging an event. A general rule for running events is that
they must not run at a loss except in special and planned circumstances. Therefore it would be
prudent to ensure the initial budgeting processes are accurate and to aim for substantial profit.

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