Colorado Springs Welcome Home Parade - Admission/Application Essay Example

Colorado Springs Welcome Home Parade project Colorado Springs Welcome Home Parade project Project overview The Colorado Springs Welcome parade is a project started to receive the soldiers returning from the Iraq war to that they feel accepted. The project involves public parade so that they feel wanted in the community and American society. For instance in 2009, over 45000 people participated in the parade for the welcoming of the soldiers. The parade shows that there is the increase in public participation, in the welcoming of the soldiers returning of war in Iraq. The Colorado Springs home parade with the broad public inclusion creates a security threat in the form of terrorism attack on the convoy. For the project, it is vital for the understanding of the traffic changes and the requirement in the security needs. The project has three main components which are indispensable in the process. First the welfare of the soldiers returning from war must be looked at with support from the veteran affairs department. The areas of coverage are the six main bases located in Colorado Springs including Fort Carson and Air Force Academy. The project will require a project team with a management committee. The management team must in harmony with each other to ensure that the operation of the project is successful (Kerzner, 2009). The roles of the teams are identified and clearly stipulated in the operation of the two teams. The role of group cohesiveness in the success of the operation cannot be understated (Thompson, 2010). Group cohesiveness ensures the focus of the group is on the organization goals. Challenges of the project The project requires a massive capital for success to be achieved. It is a short project which requires high capital. The current situation of the project is dire. It does not have any direct funding from the government, and depends on sponsorship offered by the support partners, such as; the society and corporate institutions leading to the success of welcoming parade. The major sponsors to the project are the coca cola company. Coca Cola Company will give half of the required finance with other sponsors contributing the remaining capital. Currently, no other sponsor has come up to offer support for the remaining amount. The lack of sponsor creates a significant problem for the project. The other challenge facing the project is the last minute changes in the plan. The project depends on the success of the welcoming parade as such the completion and challenges of the event organization affect the whole planning process of the project. The change of the plans in the implementation phase is possible due to enormous external interference. Activities for the project The project activities include; coordination of the donation of buses for the transportation during the welcoming event, organize the parking of the buses with the help of the city police. Coordinate with the city engineers in order to ensure that the coordination of the program is possible through the control of traffic flow. Additionally the town must be informed in advance of the effect of the event on the normal operations within the town. The effects include any road closures or delays caused by the parade preparations. The last significant activity is the provision of food to the troops. The provision of food s to the troops is a serious challenge due to changes in the number of participants in the parade. Evaluation of the risks Several risks exist in the management and planning of the parade event. Fire, traffic congestion, health issues and other related issues must be monitored in order to avoid catastrophe during the parade. In response to the risks, several actions must be taken process to avoid problems arising from risk occurrence. For fire risks, the project managers must meet with police and fire department, to develop a comprehensive fire evacuation plan in case of outbreak while also developing prevention models and activities. The position of the fire department crew along the route is vital in the process. For traffic congestion, the police must develop and highlight the alternative routes for the vehicles during the parade. The health risks involved in the process include dehydration of the participants of the event. The paramedics must reduce the occurrence of dehydration of the participants through the provision of water. Targeted composition of the parade The welcoming parade will have eight marching bands, 23 fire trucks, 27 floats and several antique military vehicles and aircraft. The expected crowd is of over 60000 people. The number is increasing due to the increasing publicity of the event. The increased publicity is a result of media involvement in the publicity campaigns of the project. The activity is occurring yearly; therefore, the knowledge of its existence has been understood by the masses. Time span of the project The planning and execution of the project will take a period of one month. This is because it takes a single day but involves a lot of government departments to be successful. The planning of activities will take one week with remaining weeks being for implementation of the set activities. During the planning process, the budget will be drafted in the process with the encouraging of sponsors by the team, to contribute towards the project. The second week of activities will involve the cooperation of police and city engineers in the designing of the routes to be used by the cars during the event and the selected routes for the event. The communication of the changes to the public will be done during the week. The third week will involve the evaluation of the risks and putting the protective measures in place so as to avoid mishap. The process will need the involvement of police and the fire department. The fourth week will involve the finalizing of all activities including the planning of the amount of food to be consumed during the parade. The final day of the week will be the event day thus the conclusion of the project with the review of the success or failure done the same day. Conclusion The project is short; therefore, the management process is easy despite the enormous nature of the event. Additionally the main event occurs once per year, making it easier for monitoring and evaluation. It is vital for the management to look at security issues with extraordinary precision due to the increase in the terrorism threat risk (Cleland & Ireland, 2006). Terrorism targets events that create mammoth crowds as such the event may be targeted. The planning process of the project requires the inclusion of all the organizations involved in the parade. Reference Cleland, D. I., & Ireland, L. R. (2006). Project Management: Strategic Design And Implementation. New York: McGraw-Hill Prof Med/Tech. Kerzner, H. (2009). Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. London: John Wiley & Sons. Thompson, J. (2010). Strategic Management. London: Cengage learning EMEA. Read More