Seasonal Event Management - Essay Example

Running heading: Event management Event management Name Course Tutor 28th October, 2010 All organizations carry out events at one point in the year, for several reasons. Management, Incentives, Conference and Exhibition is a form of travel by members of an organization involving both leisure and professional tourism. A company could engage in such tourism in order to enhance communication, generate new ideas, increase commitment, or enhance the spirit of cooperation as they are aimed at changing skills, changing efforts, changing behavior or encourage good behavior. When choosing the venue and the destination, the planner should put into considerations some factors. These factors should coincide with the objectives of the travel. The desired destination should reflect the theme of the event. Should the destination be rural or urban? This depends on what the meeting is all about. For the destination, the planner should consider the weather, Is the atmosphere conducive for the event?, the cost of living for the locals, infrastructure convenience of the destination, range and availability of accommodation, transport cost, accessibility, extra conference facilities like entertainments, theatres, and museums (Tarlow, 2002). These considerations should be made keeping in mind the number and profile of the delegates expected to attend. The destination product consists of both tangible and intangible elements. The above mentioned factors are the tangible elements. The intangible elements refer to the feeling, or perceptions that the delegates have about the destination. These include perceptions of safety, perceptions of atmosphere, perceptions of relations, is it friendly? Perceptions of the destination’s efficiency and reliability of the services required. A good destination for event should offer the basic needs of meetings or conferences. It must offer the desired venue, accommodation and physical attractions for the after conference activities (Rogers, 2003). In comparison, almost all the requirements for destination coincide with those of the conference venue. The conference venue should be easy to trace and access. Before choosing a venue, the planner should consider the budget, the objectives of the meeting/conference, the conference length, and the number of people expected to attend. When all these are considered, the event organizer finds out if the venue is suitable for the meeting, considering their needs (Silvers, 2008). Destination is the final place of focus for the event, in terms of geographical placement like, country, city, or town. Destinations are meant to provide all the requirements of the event. This means it should also provide the venue, attractions and other needed requirements for the event. Venue on the hand is the place where part of the event will be held, like a hotel, or a conference centre. Venue in this respect only provides the services required for the event. After considerations of many venues to carry out event, we decided to go to Glasgow, the SECC Glasgow. In this respect, Glasgow is the destination, while our venue was the Loch Suite within the SECC Glasgow. Our reason for choosing Glasgow was its central location in Scotland, enabling us to meet our distributors, customers as well as branch employees. The event was also to be attended by delegates from other parts of the world, and Glasgow offers easy access as well as affordable rates for conferences and meetings. With the popularity of Glasgow, it would be easy to advertise, exhibit and sell our products with little efforts as many other activities are held at the venue all year long (Reez, 2002). The SECC Glasgow The Scottish Exhibition and Conference center, (SECC) is one of the largest Conference centers in Europe. The SECC Glasgow, a national venue, is at the banks of River Clyde, in Glasgow, Scotland. The SECC holds public events with the capability of hosting several thousands of people at a time, in its halls and auditoriums. The SECC is an excellent venue for exhibitions, conferences, or concerts as it hosts great bands and artists, and also offers special facilities like an insider bar which provides soft drinks, coffee, alcohol or tea, and onsite eating/drinking amenities. Accessibility Glasgow international, Glasgow Prestwick and Edinburg International are all international airports through which patrons can easily reach the SECC. Visitors using air, bus or train can all easily trace SECC as Glasgow city is lies on a nation wide transport system, providing rail and road transport to all cities in the United Kingdom. Its 45mins drive from Glasgow Prestwick Airport, while it is only fifteen minutes from Glasgow’s International airport. For public transport users, Traveline Scotland is reliable to provide accurate and updated information on quick public transport routes. At the Eastern entrance, which is adjacent to the SECC’s Clyde Auditorium, there is Hackney. A Glasgow Taxis rank that acts as a drop off and pick up point. Apart from this, other pick up pints are Buchanan Station, Queen Street, central stations and hotels, with taxis ranks all round the city. An average cost for taxi from the city to the SECC is about five Euros. Bus services are available, e.g. the First bus 62 and the Arriva 26 services that operates daily and travels to the center of Glasgow. Visitors can also use bicycles and pedal power, while the locals could walk to the SECC (Raj & Walterts, 2008). The SECC is easily accessible for all visitors, even those in the wheel chair, as it is modernized and considerate to everyone. At both the east and west entrances, there are automatic doors into the SECC building. There are patrons at all centers to help open door, while all the suites are accessible by lifts, and the halls situated at the ground level. A visitor travelling by train alights at Exhibition centre station which equipped by a lift to take visitors to the street level from the train station. There is an easy walkway leading from the exit to the eastern entrance of the SECC building. There is and well maintained parking area, well kept by parking stewards and security officers who direct the parking. Holders of “blue badge” are advised to use car park one while attending events in the main SECC or the Clyde Auditorium. The parking area is however not free as normal parking rates are applied, and the spaces provided on a fair basis, according to who comes first. The SECC has been attempting to provide friendly services for all; have wheel chairs that can be borrowed by visitors on a daily basis. There are also toilets for the wheelchair users, which are situated at the building’s main concourse. At the concourse, there are also public telephones for visitors who are hearing impaired. There are also induction loop systems at the box office and the reception area. Accommodation while at the SECC The SECC is centrally located in Scotland, making it accessible to other cities. Because of this, finding accommodation is not a problem, as there are hotels and guest houses readily available. Examples are the Charing Cross, Glasgow hotel, Premier Inn Glasgow, Belgrave guest house, Agryll hotel, Mint Glasgow Hotel, Sandyford hotel Glasgow and many others. All these hotels offer fine dinning, comfort and a home feeling, at affordable rates. Services from these hotels can be customized and packaged during different times of the year to offer discounts to customers. All the hotels’ rooms are fitted with entertainment Medias like televisions, and internet connections (Getz, 2005). Our major attraction to Glasgow, in addition to its location and beautiful scenery, are the services it offers. The SECC aids organizations plan for their events, if they wish to, availability of a digital communication with advanced technology. Conferences delegates as well as exhibitors have the benefit of using state of the arts communication infrastructure, catering services, presence of a “Front of House”, a team which is ready to answer any questions and help in any way delegates and exhibitors may want, through out their stay at the SECC. In addition to these, they have an Information and Business centre where visitors can exchange their currencies or perform other equally important business activities, a medical centre and audio visual facilities. Sound and light visual amenities are also available and are computer managed preventing any human inefficiency (Musgrave, 2009). For our event within the SECC, our venue was the Loch Suite. The Loch Suite is at the centre of the SECC providing a perfect illustration of whole centre adaptability. Because it is centrally located, the Suite can either be used as a stand alone venue or offer a link between the Clyde Auditorium and other exhibition halls. It also permits staging of a variety of events from intimate meetings to big seminars or product launching activities. Within the Loch Suite, is a Lomond Auditorium capable of holding six hundred and twenty four delegates? However, there are six other rooms capable of seating a capacity from ten to two hundred and twenty people. The Loch suite has Lomond, Alsh, Boisdale, Fyne, Carron, Etive and Dochart rooms (Damster, 2006). Impacts of the SECC Glasgow to the destination, Glasgow The main benefits of the SECC are the economic benefits gained by the city, and are in turned felt nation wide. These economic benefits are gained through the visitors, exhibitors and organizers’ expenditures. The events held at the SECC attract people worldwide, in and outside Scotland. During their visits, they stay in hotels and eat at restaurants; these are expenditures that in turn bring revenue to the government. Most visitors to the SECC travel around the city, buying gifts and visiting other attraction sites thus boosting the economy. Consequently, exhibitors spend large sums of money on their stands. This money is spent locally to the benefits of the immediate destination. The events develop the cultural and social infrastructure in the region. During those events, there is a mixture of cultures who come together to learn and understand each other during their stay. This enhances mutual understanding and communication between different cultures, promoting peace. Visitors get to gain knowledge about Glasgow and Scotland by visiting various sites, during their stay at the SECC. This acts as a marketing strategy for other sectors of the community (Hoyle, 2002). Another positive impact the SECC has on Glasgow is the growth in the employment sector. Majority of jobs offered by the SECC are in the accommodation and meals sectors. Because of the visitors visiting the SECC frequently, it is important that the infrastructure is well maintained. The infrastructure connects Glasgow to other cities and equal important areas in Scotland. This improves travelling for the locals as well as the citizens of the United Kingdom. For visitors, it makes Glasgow better accessible as well as integrated with other communities. The SECC is also involved in a number of projects that improves the social lives of the local population. The projects include; Anderson Quay, Lancefield Quay, City Park, Capitol Park, Canting Basin, Digital media center, Festival Park, and the pacific Quay Portoon, some of which are completed, while others in the planning stage (Chaturvedi, 2009). The SECC hosts some Scottish festivals that are meant to improve the living standards of the locals. One of the events includes the Scottish Learning Festival. The festival has taken place at the SECC in the last decade, acting as an educational tool. It brings together the teaching community, education ministers as well as other high profile government and international speakers. This event impacts positively on the locals as they gain invaluable information that is helpful to their lives. There are however other negative effects the social interactions could have on Glasgow. Through such interactions, certain undesirable lifestyles could be copied into the culture. The SECC has also received attention from environmental activist requesting maintenance of the atmosphere and decrease of universal warming. The SECC Glasgow has taken great initiatives to conserving the environment by integrating a tree planting initiative, and being part of a green project that seeks to protect the environment by all means. To illustrate their seriousness, the SECC employees are encouraged to use power pedals to go to work, reducing environmental congestion especially by personal cars, thus reducing pressure in the environment. A major criticism has also been the rise in congestion and traffic along roads leading to the SECC. This is specifically so because of the large number of visitors the venue attracts all year (Browdin & Allen, 2006). International musicians have regularly performed at the SECC. Some notable artists are Alicia Keys, who performed in 2010, Lady Gaga, and Shakira. Other big celebrities are scheduled to perform at the SECC Glasgow, amongst them include meatloaf, Boyzone, westlife, Ne-Yo, Katy Perry, and many others. This shows the popularity of the SECC in the international arena (Anderson, 2010). Glasgow as a city is vibrant and active, offering entertainment opportunities to visitors. The city has an active nightlife, and wide range of choices of pubs, restaurants, arts scenes and clubs. There are free admissions in most parks, gardens, galleries and museums promoting its attractiveness to tourists. Amongst the free entry entertainment spots are the kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow Bottanic garden, Museum of Transport, and the Hunterian Museum. Other attractions are the Glasgow Science centre, which offers interactive exhibits and information on science and technology. There is a comedy club opened seven nights a week to keep visitors laughing and entertained as well. For visitors who love shopping, Glasgow does not limit this activity as it is the second largest centre for shopping in the United Kingdom. There are shopping galleries along the Sauchiehall Street. Shopping facilities include border books, star bucks, Zavvi and many others. There is an Italian centre and designer boutiques in the Merchant city offering a variety of branded items for diversified shoppers. The Italian shop offers designer clothing, bars and cafes. Five miles away from Glasgow city, is the Braehead shopping centre with many shops and an ice skating arena. The fun does not end there as there are numerous venues hosting rock concerts, films, live music, plays, and clubbing (Allen, 2009). In conclusion, event venues are important for their successes. They should be flexible to allow change of dates or accommodate last minuet delays, rooms should be efficient with enough spacing and break out areas, availability of chairs, and tables, should also be considered while selecting a venue to hold conferences and meetings. The rooms should be safe, well arranged and fitted with modern technologies like sound enhancers and provide refreshments for delegates. As for the destination, it is important to consider the climate, accessibility, safety and the entertainment spots in the region. In relation to the theme of the conference or the event, a destination should be carefully selected. Glasgow SECC offers quality facilities and a choice of three venues to choose from, depending on the kind of event to be held. The Loch suite is favorable as it is centrally situated at the SECC Glasgow allowing a variety of activities. Glasgow city offers a variety of entertainment spots including night clubs, bars, restaurants, shopping malls, museums, galleries and parks. Accommodation is affordable and provided by a variety of guest houses and hotels, all covered in this paper. References Allen, J., 2009. Time Management for Event Planners: Expert Techniques and Time- Saving Tips for Organizing Your Workload, Prioritizing Your Day, and Taking Control of Your Schedule. New York: John Wiley and Sons Anderson, J. L., 2010. Event Management Simplified. New York: Author House Browdin, G. A. & Allen, J., 2006. Events management. New York: Elsevier Chaturvedi, A., 2009. Event Management: A Professional and Development Approach. Durban: Global India Publications. Damster, G., 2006. Event Management: A Professional And Developmental Approach. New York: Juta and Company Ltd. Getz, D., 2005. Event management and event tourism. 2nd ed. New York: Cognizant Communication Corporation. Hoyle, L. H., 2002. Event marketing: how to successfully promote events, festivals, conventions, and expositions. London: John Wiley and Sons. Masterman, G., 2004. Strategic sports event management: an international approach. New York: Butterworth-Heinemann. Musgrave, J., 2009. Event Management and Sustainability. New Jersey: Cabi Raj, R., & Walterts, P., 2008. Events Management: An Integrated and Practical. New York: SAGE Publications Ltd. Reez, C. K., 2002. Event risk management and safety. London: John Wiley and Sons. Rogers, T., 2003. Conference and Conventions: A global Industry. New York: Butterworth-Heinemann. Silvers, J. R., 2008. Risk management for meetings and events. New York: Butterworth-Heinemann. Read More