The planning process is one of the most important
aspects in successful Event Management: the more robust the plan, the smoother
the journey to success. Good planning is a continuous process and
good plans should be adaptable and flexible– they require a solid foundation
and a straightforward structure.
The
scope of planning of any proposes successful events must cover the following:
o The
event concept
o Defining
and communicating the event’s vision and mission
o Setting objectives
o The
SWOT analysis
o Deciding
on event dates and venues
o The
Event Action Plan
THE
EVENT CONCEPT
Successful
events are usually based on a strong concept and purpose. Ideas for holding
events arise from a multitude of reasons. Whatever the impetus for your event,
you will have identified an opportunity and assessed the various broad risk
factors associated with its successful delivery. If the event is staged on an
annual or repeated basis, at the beginning of each year’s planning process
always make time to review the reasons that you are staging the event and to
consider how it can be developed further. Don’t make the mistake of just
ploughing on expecting everything to come together in exactly the same way it
did the previous year. With
annual or repeated events you should be looking at ways to improve the
event experience and impact year on year.
DEFINING
AND COMMUNICATING THE EVENTS VISION AND MISSION
If
you don’t already have an articulated vision and mission statement for your
event, you may be unsure or confused as to what it actually means to have one.
You may also be a bit sceptical about the need for such statements. Our advice
is pretty straightforward in this respect: by defining the vision and the
mission (or purpose) of the event at this stage, you will be able to more
clearly communicate to others what you hope to achieve, thus providing focus
and direction for everyone involved (including potential funders). In essence, don’t expect others to be able to
read your mind.
Your
vision statement should be a short statement that describes, in broad terms, the
event’s long term aim. The mission statement sits underneath this and gives more
detail about how the vision will be delivered. These are important positioning statements
and they need to be both concise and achievable. To give you an example, here’s an example of what a vision and mission statement might look like
for a visual arts festival in
‘X-Town’:
Vision:
To
put X-Town’s visual arts heritage and community on the Nigeria cultural map
Mission:
Stage
an annual visual arts festival with a programme of quality events, exhibitions
and community activities that showcase the work of local artists and engage
with the wider visual arts scene in Nigeria, whilst attracting visitors and
media interest from out with the region for the cultural, social and economic
benefit of the artists and wider community.
SMART OBJECTIVE SETTING
You should also be able to define and communicate your event’s
objectives. Your objectives should help deliver your vision and mission.
Objectives need to be clearly set out and should follow the SMART principle: Specific,
Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Based:
> Specific: Be specific about what is to be achieved. For instance, if an
objective is to attract tourists to the event, be specific about where they
will be coming from, how many you hope to attract, etc.
> Measurable: A system, method or procedure is required to allow the tracking and
recording of the action upon which the objective is focused. For instance, a
monitoring system should be put in place to record how many tourists came to the
event, where they came from, etc. This could be done through visitor research and/or
ticket data capture for example.
> Achievable: The objectives that are set need to be capable of being reached –
never overstate your objectives. If targets are unrealistic, all you will be
doing is setting yourself up for a fall. For instance, don’t set the target of
attracting 1,000 tourists from North America when you only have a short period
of time to market an event that, realistically, will only achieve 500
day-trippers from neighboring regions. 7
> Relevant: Is the objective important to the event? For instance, if the main
driver for the event is to encourage community activity – do you really need to
attract tourists as a priority?
> Time-Based: There must be a clearly stated start and completion date for each
objective. As a guide, event objectives often concern themselves with the
following types of goals, but yours should be SMART in accordance with
your own particular circumstances:
> Event Growth > Economic Benefit
> Event Quality > Tourism Development
> Event Sustainability > Social Benefit
> Sector Development > Educational Development
> Audience/Participant
Satisfaction > Community
Development
SWOT ANALYSIS: STRENGTH, WEAKNESS, OPPORTUNITY AND THREAT
At the beginning of the planning process if you undertake a simple
‘SWOT Analysis’ it will help determine the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities
and Threats (SWOT) in relation to the event. This will help you shape your
plans. Looking at internal and external influences that may have a positive or
negative impact, consider the strengths and weaknesses of the
event and how these will affect your ability to deliver it. Repeat the same
exercise for opportunities that the event can capitalize on, and the threats
that could undermine the event or elements of it.
Consider the following points:
> Event Management – experience within the organization, staffing numbers and
structure, financial stability, viability of planning, confidence of funders,
etc
> Partners/Clients – the support they can/cannot provide: finance, influence,
resources, etc
> Climates – social, economic, cultural and political
8
> Event Benefits – what the event offers, its ‘Unique Selling Point’ (USP)
> Potential to Develop and
Grow – factors that will assist or hinder
this
> Other Factors – competition, technology, legal, environment
In the initial stages of your planning process it can be useful to
list the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats relevant to your
event in a template similar to the one below. We’ve given a couple of example
entries for our fictional ‘X-Town Visual Arts Festival’.
CHOOSING DATE AND VENUE
Lead
Time
Having
sufficient time to plan, fundraiser, market and implement the event ‘action
plan’ is a critical issue. Never underestimate how long the process can
actually take. Failure to allow adequate lead time
decreases the chances of success in all aspects of event planning and delivery.
Think carefully about the size and complexity of the event, the resources and
funding that are required, as well as the time needed for effective promotion.
Be generous and realistic in your estimate and consult with all project
partners to ensure the time scale is suitable to them. Remember that factors outwit
your control may reduce organizational time (i.e. public holidays,
holidays to be taken by key team members, illness, etc) so it’s a good idea to
build a contingency into every element of your plan.
As a general guide, successful smaller events will require at
least six months lead-in time whilst larger events can take more than a year to
plan, and major international events can take years from the bidding stage to
delivery.
For new events, understanding the required lead time should help
influence the choice of event date. When the date is set and agreed by the
committee, partners, etc, it may be difficult to change it. Therefore, if you
predict that something may hold up the planning process – extend the lead time
if you possibly can. In some cases you will not have a choice in terms of when
the event is to be held. If this is the case, before going ahead and committing
to hosting the event, ensure that you undertake good initial planning in order
to convince yourself (and others) that it can be delivered successfully.
The Date
The choice of date for your event can have a major impact on its
success. Careful consideration should be given to the range of risk factors
involved in selecting the best date. Consider:
> Nature of the Event – is it an outdoor event; does it need to be staged in a
particular season; is its location intrinsic to its success (i.e. does
it have to be in a particular venue, city/town, location, etc)?
> Weather – what are the probable weather conditions at your preferred time
of year; will inclement weather affect the event; are there contingency
opportunities available?
> Target Audience – who are you hoping to attract to the event: is this more
achievable
if it is staged at a particular time of year, holiday time, at the
weekend, mid-week, etc?
> Clash Diaries – what else is happening at the chosen location/venue; is the
event diary overly busy? It’s worth talking to your local authority; you should
also check to see if your event clashes with any similar events further afield
that may also attract your target audience or participants.
> Complementary Activity – are there any complementary events or activities taking place at
the same time that could assist your event? Could you work together for mutual
benefits?
> Competition – are there other similar themed or scaled events taking place
that are targeted at the same audience? Is there room for your event in the
marketplace at your chosen time of year?
> Resources – are other major events (football, concerts, conferences, etc)
taking place at the same time that will impact on the resources required to
stage your event (i.e. the availability of accommodation, staff and
volunteers, hired equipment and facilities, venues, support from emergency
services, local authority, etc)?
> Other Factors – don’t forget to check out any other influencing or relevant
issues e.g. road or building works planned in the vicinity at the same
time as your event.
Shoulder Periods
It is also important to consider the value of placing your event
in ‘shoulder periods’ (i.e. times of the year outwit the main tourism
season). Placing events at these off-peak times may address issues regarding
the lack of resources and conflicting events, as well as introducing additional
economic benefits to communities by attracting new activity and visitors in an
otherwise quiet time. Events taking place in these periods may well be
prioritized for support from public bodies; however you must be confident that
you can attract the necessary level of audiences/spectators/participants when
considering this option.
The Venue
The
nature of your project will help dictate the type of venue you select. Events
are held in many different locations, from established venues to open spaces.
Your motivation for choosing a particular venue may include practicality,
financial viability, facilities, uniqueness, location, layout, perception, etc.
The bottom line is that the venue must be able to meet the needs of the event
and its audience.
THE
EVENT ACTION PLAN
The
next stage is to start formulating an Event Action Plan. This is
different (but works in tandem with) the Business Plan which we will
talk about later
To
be clear, the Event Action Plan is a live management tool that details key
project milestones and activity against a timeline – it should be continually
reviewed and updated as the event planning and operations progress. The
Business Plan, on the other hand, is a strategic vision and planning document
which outlines the event objectives, states the business case and gives
financial projections and information over a given time period (often 3–5
years). The Business Plan should be reviewed at key stages as agreed by event
partners (most likely at the beginning of each planning stage). The Event
Action Plan should also appear in the body of, or as an appendix to, the
Business Plan (see Chapter 2 for Business Plan guidance).
Although
you may have a good idea as to how the event will be developed and delivered,
it is important to commit your thoughts to paper. This is essential in order to
help you understand and share what has to be done, when and by whom. It’s also
a requirement if you are looking to convince others to invest in your event.
Putting together the Event Action Plan is a straightforward task that involves
listing key activities against a timeline and stating who will be responsible
for delivering each element. Critically, it will help you to ensure you have
enough time to complete all necessary tasks and help all involved understand
their responsibilities.
Key activities listed in your Event Action Plan may include:
> Writing/updating the
Business Plan
> Identifying event partners
and supporters
> Sanctioning/permissions
> Recruitment and training
> Fundraising activity and
deadlines
> Licensing, legal or
insurance issues
> Budgeting milestones
> Key meetings – i.e. steering
group or sub-committee meetings
> Confirming venue(s)
> Booking or commissioning
programme elements
> Pre-production/production
milestones
> Implementing the Marketing
Strategy
> Media activity
> Event build
> Live event
> Event ‘take-down’ or
‘de-rig’
> Monitoring, evaluation &
reporting
It’s really up to you how you set out your Event Action Plan as
appropriate to your event, but it may be helpful to table the plan on a
month-by-month basis to help build a chronological calendar of tasks leading up
to the event. Remember to build in contingency time for any tasks you are not
certain can be completed by a particular date or for those that require outside
influence or assistance. Use team meetings to update the plan and then make
sure that all revisions are circulated to those who are working from the plan.
Depending on the size and complexity of your event, you may have
separate, more detailed Action Plans for different work areas or ‘departments’.
For example, you may have one for marketing, one for production, one for
fundraising, etc. It’s a useful approach to be able to show the entire activity
timeline and also to be able to break it down into ‘departments’.
The complexity of your event will determine the complexity of your
Event Action Plan. You may have project management software to help you put
together your plan, but if not, a simple activity/month table is useful.
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