Event Planning - an Ideal Birthday of the Superstar's Kid - Research Paper Example

Principles of event planning and management  I. Event summary:  Birthdays are always a very colorful occasion to celebrate. This colorful event becomes even more joyous if it is celebrated properly. The event under discussion here is a birthday party of the famous Rock Band Guitarist Allan Bob’s son Timothy Bob who is nick named Tim. Tim is an 9 years old boy who is happy to celebrate his birthday with his friends and some of the celebrity friends of his father. Being a super star’s son, Tim is used to getting public’s attention from very young age, and by the age of nine, he was adamant that he needed a picture perfect birthday celebration at a five star hotel. Considering it was his son’s birthday and he was also in London for the week, Allan Bob planned his son’s birthday at Holiday Inn Resort located at 20 minutes drive from the East End of London. The event was a birthday party, celebrated at Holiday Inn Resort just outside London, by Allan Bob. It was planned for his son. The party took place on 15th of August, 2011. It was an event which was planned in a way that the young and the old can enjoy it. For the young people most of them were Either Tim’s friends or some celebrity sons or daughters, a fancy dress completion, a pool game and a water fight was planned. For the older, who were mostly Allan’s friends or Tim’s friends’ parents, there was a dance floor, lots of Champaign, and some delicacies on the menu from all parts of the world. This event was a well planned well thought out event. All arrangements were made keeping the target market and especially the guests of celebrity nature in view. Feasibility:  The biggest issue in management of such a huge party was that the time given for planning and arrangements of this party was too short. Allan informed about his requirement of this party only at a notice of 5 days. A lot of stuff was required including all games arrangements for kids and a relaxing environment for the elders. The only thing that made this party feasible was the fact that Allan Bob could afford to pay extra price for quick arrangements. When checked on urgent basis, the location was available and the food vendors had enough margins to accommodate another high society party on 15th of August 2011. The event management is usually based on the fact that number of guests or people involved in a particular event has a clear impact over the way an event manager has to work. There were around 80 guests invited on this party. 80 guests are a huge number to arrange a party for when the event manager has only 5 days to arrange it. However, the quality of an event manager actually shows when he or she manages such impossible events as smoothly as other events where the manager has ample time to decide things. Time:  Party started at 7 p.m. in the evening as most parties in London do. However, as most of the gusts in this party were young boys and girls, the cut off time for the kids was 10.30 p.m. Although it was mainly a 3 hours and 30 minutes event, every minute of it needed to be Labor:  Considering that there was little time for arrangements and the party was high profile, a lot of labor force was required to get the venue ready for the event. The venue was actually divided in three parts. 1. Canopy hall for the cake cutting ceremony 2. Games and recreation hall for the kids 3. Dance floor, bar and sitting area for the adults A huge number of labor force was involved in constructing these three sections at the venue. 50 laborers worked for 4 full days to ensure the venue was picture perfect by the time the party started. Finances:  For managing such an event at such a short time, a lot of finance was involved. A sum total of 30000£ was charged for this 4 to 5 hours party. This amount was a little higher than the market price but it was as per event management policy of the company. A lot of tasks were to be done with the help of extra funds. For example, at such a short notice it is not easy in London to find labor force who is willing to work on such events arrangement and who are reasonably experienced and skilled at it. Needs Assessment: The requirements from this party or event were two fold. For Tim it was his birthday party so it has to be perfectly done and naturally Allan had the best intentions for his son so he thought the same. On the other hand, as an emerging event management company, this event meant very important to the company managing it. Thus, it was very important event for all parties involved. Limitations: The biggest limitation of this event and its management was the fact that the timeline was too short and all arrangements could only b done through ready made resources only. For example, flower arrangement was not possible in this event. The flowers of Allan’s choice were imported only, and due to lack of time they could not be entered to the arrangements. Stakeholders: There were 3 stake holders in this case: 1. Allan and Tim Bob 2. Event Management Company 3. Guests who were there to enjoy the party and to meet their favorite celebrities. Theme: Although there was little time for planning and implementation of management in this event, the following theme was utilized: 1. For boys, it was dinner jackets with bow ties 2. For men, it was black coat suits with neckties 3. For girls and women it was evening gowns The theme of the venue was modern London. There were some ready made miniatures of famous places in London which were used to decorate the canopy hall. The other two halls were a little casual in comparison to the main hall. Goals: Goals from this event were: For Allan and Tim, it was a good chance to entertain their friends For the event management company the goals were to successfully plan and manage this celebrity event and to get further ahead from the competitors by the world of mouth publicity by the celebrities who were enjoying this party. II. SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis is the study of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and Threats for an organization under study. Here the SWOT analysis of this event will be presented. Event summary:  -A celebrity’s son’s birthday party -80 guests -Event took place on August 15th, 2011 -Venue was divided into three sections Strengths of the event:  Celebrities were there so the average people were not very critical about the arrangements Financially viable Good venue Weaknesses:  Short time line Many celebrities and their kids have tendency of not feeling satisfied with any event management so there was a high risk in this case too Labor proved costly as they were hired on very short notice Opportunities:  Exposure of event managers Advertising as press covers every celebrity event Word of mouth publicity in high upper class Threats:  The biggest threat in this case was rain. All arrangement was done under the sky and London receives lots of rainfall all through the year. The only consolation was that there was an alternate sitting arrangement in case of rain fall. As time of arrangements was very short, it was probable that some of the required labor force might not be available and the company might loose this project to competitors in the business III. Budget Outline Although this event was charged a little higher than the market rate, there were valid reasons which include: Shortage of Time Many extra demands from Allan Bob Shortage of labor for decoration and venue preparation The budget was distributed as: 40% of the amount was dedicated to Venue preparation Tasks done under this amount include labor cost for venue preparation, purchase of decoration items for the venue and all things big and small required for a comfortable and nice to look at sitting arrangement in three halls 25% of the amount was dedicated to food Tasks done under this amount included the cost of food item purchase, bar construction in the adults hall, unlimited supply of drinks, bar-b-que and all other food during all this time and the payment made for hiring the best chefs in the city. This was another of Allan’s requirements 10% of the amount was dedicated for bookings and venue charges After cutting overhead charges, rest of the amount was company’s profit from the event managed successfully IV. Timeline for your Event For the management of this event, the following people were responsible: Research: It was the first task. Research Department was responsible for it. Though Manager Research Department was in charge of this task but his Assistant Lisa Ray was responsible for this event’s research in particular. Considering the very short time offered by Allan Bob, Ray only had practically 12 hours to complete all research. Design: Designing team had only one day for this task. James Black and Oliver Kahn, Assistant managers designing department were responsible for this task. Planning: Senior Manager of the company was responsible for planning of the event along with his staff members The planning work was done side by side when Research and designing work was in progress. By the end of first day, plan was ready Co-ordination: Manager and executives of co-ordination department were involved in this task Their responsibility started from the receipt of order and ended after the party ended Evaluation: Deputy manager of the company was responsible for this task This task started after the party ended phase Tasks Participants in event and responsible persons Start date and time End date and time Research About the celebrity, about such events Research department 11th August 9 a.m. 11th August 9 p.m. Design Venue, Decoration Design department 12th August 9 a.m. 13th August 12 noon Planning Planning of the whole event Manager planning 11th August 2 p.m. 13th August 2 p.m. Coordination Coordination of activities of various department Coordination Department 11th August 9 a.m. 15th August 12 a.m. Evaluation Evaluation of services provided Deputy Manager 16th August 9 a.m. 18th August 12 noon V. Contract with a Supplier A lot of suppliers were contacted for this event. Some new contracts were signed. Soft and hard drink providers Canopy and decoration items providers Labor providers VI. Floor Diagram Play Area for the youngsters Canopy for Cake Cutting Ceremony Dance floor for elders VII. Risk Management Memo and Checklist for your Event Rainfall cover Fire extinguishers Checking of all required food and drink items before event starts Checking of all staff’s presence before the event Arrangement of alternatives in case anyone failed to provide some supply on time VIII. Production Schedule Confirmation of Event time and date with client Booking of venue, deals with suppliers Research and planning of the event Designing of the event Venue planning and execution of plans Execution of all plans Actual event’s management IX. Gap Analysis of event At present this is a small event management company for which a celebrity’s son’s birthday is the biggest event managed till now. In future, this company wants to grow to a level where every celebrity would like us to arrange his or her events and parties. At the moment there is a huge gap in the sense of capability, management skills and experience. With such experiences as this one, the company managers get great chances of learning proper event management. X. Reference: Raj, Razaq and James Musgrave. Event Management and Sustainability. CABI Publishers. 2009. Print. Read More