Event Adelaide Fringe Festival - Case Study Example

Reflection on the Event Adelaide Fringe Festival By: Professor: Class: University: City: State: Date of submission: Reflection on the Event Adelaide Fringe Festival Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Executive Summary 3 Introduction 3 Event Background 3 Aim 4 Report Structure 5 Reflection on the Event 5 Motivations for the Event 6 Best Experiences: Event Planning and Management 7 Worst Experiences: Poor Logistics and Attendants Management 9 SWOT Analysis of the Event 11 Recommendations 12 Conclusion 12 References 13 Executive Summary This report focused on my experience on the Adelaide Fringe Festival held in South Australia capital Adelaide. Adelaide Fringe is a globally internationally known event that brings together all the artists from across the globe. The Australians refer to the event as Mad March since it occurs between February and March on daily and night basis. This assisted to bring together those who are busy based on their level of convenient. In this report, I will analyze the marketing strategies used in the event, best, and worst experiences. To achieve these factors, I undertook a situational analysis of the event (SWOT). The report started with highlighting the background of the event, aim, report structure, and my best and worst experiences depending on the knowledge that I acquired through event planning and management in class and my expectations. The report finished with recommendations on ways of improving the next Adelaide Fringe Festival and conclusion on important points noted in the event. Introduction Event Background Adelaide Fringe is one of the Australia’s largest open-access arts festivals. The festival is internationally recognized as one of the best. Artists from Australia and globally often take over various parks, warehouses, empty buildings, lane ways, and other established venues such as town halls, hotels, theatres, and art galleries. Globally, Adelaide Fringe is one of the most diversified art festivals and open to every person. In this year, the festival took a four-week long party from February to March. In this reflection, I will concentrate on the cues from the Gibbs model of reflection through looking at the event, teams, consulting, time management, progression, introspection, and planning. Adelaide Fringe is considered the second largest yearly arts festival and the largest in the Southern Hemisphere that often occur in South Australian Capital, Adelaide. The event took place for 31 days and nights that bring together more than 5,000 artists from across the globe including the Australians featuring the global premieres, new artists, and hit shows (Adelaide Festival 2017). Most of the activities involved include contemporary work in the art forms like theatre, digital and interactive and design, comedy, visual art, physical theatre, puppetry, dance, and film. The event began with the free opening night celebrations such as street parades through the centre of the city and having parties across different venues. In Adelaide, the locals refer to that period in their calendar as Mad March. The event is accompanied with various activities like WOMADelaide, which is a world music festival. The festival attracted interstate and overseas visitors. This year, the number of Adelaide Fringe visitors represented 6% of the 1,560,000 total guests. Aim Events are increasingly becoming activities that bring people together. With increased need to enhance globalization, it is evident that most organizations are keen on organizational international events such as Adelaide Fringe. In this event, two main activities reflected the most significance on ensuring effectiveness on my professional development. Some of these opportunities include networking, the sessions, and dining etiquettes. From Adelaide Fringe, I learnt a lot and most things I considered fun and exciting. Having attended some of the classes on event planning and management, I think this event was a lot more enjoyable due to enjoyable activities that were in place. Some of my friends still believe in the existence of racism; however, based on the number of attendants from different cultural and belief backgrounds, I believed that racism activities are fast eroding. Australians have become friendlier considering the manner in which people were interacting irrespective of the cultural different (Pernecky 2015, p. 112). To me, this was an opportunity to enhance my social skills. The main aim of the event was to bring Australians and people from other countries together in a bid to enhance their level of interactions with other people and allow people from different backgrounds to explore their expertise. Report Structure In this report, I will outline some of my event experience through highlighting the vision and mission and undertaking an analysis of the event market strategies. To determine both my worst and best experiences of the event, I highlighted the event’s SWOT analysis. The analysis assisted me in determining the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Best experiences from an event depended on my individual expectations as targeted audience. Based on the findings from the worst experience, I will offer recommendations on how the event organizers can ensure better target experiences while organizing the next events. Reflection on the Event It seems to that annually, since 2007, the Adelaide Fringe Festival has been convulsed by fresh bout of severe self-reflection from the manner in which the organizers stage and manage the event. In most cases, the invited artists and commentators on the event often have good sense of waiting until a comedian considered to have bleary-eyes leaves the city or return to another job before reporting important signs of the event. According to my experience, I think the examination of the event started prematurely. This year, Facebook broadside initiated the event from the British comic Alexis Dubus on March 5th 2017 over a week out of end of the event (Brooker 2016). To me, this year’s event was not properly organized as the others since Dubus was going to play for the last time. Most Australians were saddened by failure of Dubus to play in the event. In this year’s Adelaide Fringe Festival, something was not right anymore at used to be. When we first attended the event with some friends and parents in 2009, the event felt like it was a genuine experiment and exciting creative hub that drew many audiences that were seeking out tucked-away shows. For me, having visited the event previously, it was supposed to be a thrilling event that meets my expectations. Initially, I was blown away with the manner in which such a sleepy town got behind some of the weird and wonderful offerings that Fringe threw at people. If such were the case, the event would have met my expectations. Few years down the line, such people seem to have vanished making the event look very boring. For me, I would not be very cynical to suggest a marketing ploy lay behind the clearly heartfelt missive of Dubus. Even though, I understand that a part of him felt high levels of satisfaction especially when some media, locally, nationally, and internationally embraced his words in his show: Alexis Dubus Verses the World. For many years, Dubus has been the best performer in Adelaide Fringe so one can imagine the show in his absence. Motivations for the Event Popular events are important for both personal and collective experiences. Like any other event in arts and entertainment, Adelaide Fringe Festival provides an opportunity for economic development, social and cultural enrichment, destination marketing, and place branding. Events are increasingly becoming important to offer tourist destinations, which are evident in the ever richer and diverse activities in various motivations of the attendees and those attending the event, and differences in event experiences. The processes involved in event management need to serve several agenda that meet the primary needs of the stakeholders; therefore, it is no longer sufficient for an event to meet the needs of only the attendants. The motivation of the events is more intense compared to the attendees of the event since the former seem to represent the main stakeholders involved in the program. The motivation of the attendees is tied closely to the event. There are varied definitions of motivation; however, it is commonly defined as an internal factor arousing and integrating the behaviour of a person. Even though leisure motivation might be either intrinsic or extrinsic, it is accepted generally that individuals often choose leisure practices like engaging on tourism and events as a way experiencing freedom from the obliged activities. Studies have revealed varied motivations for event attendance. Most research indicate that there are various categories of event motivation such as cultural motivation, regression, known group socialization, recover equilibrium, gregariousness, and external socialization. Best Experiences: Event Planning and Management The most important activity that I enjoyed most in the event was networking. I am always passionate about interacting with people from different professional, cultural, and race backgrounds. In the event, there were many types of networking activities that took place throughout to enable me improve my social skills. In this modern environment, social skills are some of the factors that employers are keen on and as a passionate event manager and organizer, I consider this an opportunity to improve my employability skills. During the breaks within the event, I was lucky to have met students from various institutions that attended the event and the major organizers of the event, which I also consider an important step towards enhancing my skills. In addition, knowing these people assists especially in the future when I have possibly to see each person again in the event (Masterman 2014, p. 171). It was great to have meet students with similar passion in event planning and management. In addition, it was crucial for me to know some of their tutors, which to me is important especially in the future when we need some to contact on event management issues. As a group, we were lucky to meet the cameramen who were keen to take pictures throughout the whole event. This was also an opportunity to catch up with important activities that I might have missed in the event. From coordination to execution of the event, to me, the event was successful considering that each person had the opportunity to his/her expectations. Even though there certain weaknesses, the benefits were many. The cameramen mastered our faces, so he would probably ensure that that we get our pictures. Funnily, some of the pictures taken appeared on the Adelaide Fringe Festival Facebook page. This was a great way of showing how important networking is and not be afraid especially while conversing to other people. One of the aims of the events is to ensure that people interact freely. This event was successful on this (InDaily 2016). It was great experience to know that my school would be represented in the event through the pictures. While planning the event, it is important to understand that the activities in place need to meet the expectations of the audience. However, with the ever-changing needs, tastes, and preferences, planning and organizing events are even becoming a great challenge. Therefore, for me, the organizers successfully planned the event to accommodate the needs of people across the ages: children, youths, and the elderly. The luncheon of the event took place on a Friday, which I consider the best time to execute such activities. While organizing an event, the target audience determine the appropriate time that the organizers start the event (Walker 2017). On Fridays, especially in the evening, most people are available considering that the weekends are approaching. This was the best time to open the event; as a result, many people flooded the place signifying the amount of expectations that people. The activities that started ranged from dances, parading along the roads, and dramas, which kept most people awake. In addition, while planning the events, it is important to ensure that the areas is accessible from various directions, has enough parking slots, and has enough size to accommodate many people. Based on my experience and other events that I have attended, this was great. Each person was sorted. There was enough space to dance. However, it is important to note that the luncheon was on a separate area though I had an opportunity to attend (Adelaide Fringe 2017). The attendance assisted me to improve my dining skills especially etiquette. According to me, this was a catered event, which reflected the need to have some dining businesses with artistic festivals. It is important to note that any event will not only attract the targeted audience but also people from across diversified business environment that see opportunities associated with organizing the events. Therefore, the luncheons were not free. From such incident, I intended to learn the manner in which various business opportunities and event organizers would earn from the activities in place. For me, I really enjoyed the meal served which was a great experience that would love to do again. In the future, while organizing any event, I would consider inviting various businesses to offer their products and services which to me view would also assist to attract more people and make the event earn from their services (Warnaars 2009). In event management and planning, this is one of the ways of reducing the cost of management. Many sessions took place within the event that improved my knowledge on various topics on events planning and management. I intend to maximize the experience I acquired go get ready to handle examinations on even planning and management. This all makes me very excited to start studying various materials and take examinations for certification on event planning and management. Worst Experiences: Poor Logistics and Attendants Management Based on my observation, Adelaide Fringe Festival lacked vision. In most cases, vision and missions are the main factors that drive the success of an event. My analysis on the findings on the event suggests that the planners and managers of the event assumed the role-played by the vision in ensuring the success of an event. Event’s vision needs to be applicable across the event to ensure that it yields the results. In every event, there is need to have risk management plan to guarantee the event delivers the expected deliverables (Martin 2008, p. 182). This is also important in adjusting the outlined activities should they deliver unneeded results. To me, one of the people that made the event boring to me was the moderator in the music session. He was very disappointing. The moderator, the person responsible for talking the programme slots into whole, failed to interact with the audience. While organizing an event, the master of ceremony or the moderator needs to be someone with ability to bring people together and ensure adequate interaction to bring the event to a lively atmosphere. In this event, the moderator was very poor and failing to stage-manage the events properly, it became boring which made some people leave and even me at some point at considered leaving (Mallen 2008, p. 88). At some point, the event manager briefed him on his skills. The moderator needs to be subjected to his/her presentation skills, which is one of the important factors I learnt from even planning and management. The level of interaction seems to describe the level of activity expected from the audience. In this case, the event organizers failed to enable us to participate while organizing the event. In addition, the organizers failed to motivate the target audience to sent their proposals for various presentation slots and suggest the speakers that they needed to programmed on the event (Singh 2009, p. 163). Based on my view, I think failure to recognize the audiences are some of the factors that greatly contributed to the failures of the event in certain areas. In any event, health and safety of the participants comes first; however, this event lacked adequate health and safety management practices, which to me was failure on the organizers. Some of the event operation staffs lacked proper training on event safety and health awareness. In my observation, the managers failed to provide enough opportunities for the event participants to network. It is important to note that audiences d not just come to the event to listen and consume the products and services: they also need to mix and mingle with the attendees. This is important as it enables them share their views and acquire experiences from the fellow participants. The event organizers underestimated the significance of scheduling networking opportunities into the program as some people attend the events purely for such reasons. Therefore, it is important to take a proactive role in assisting people make important connections. The event lacked originality or creativity, which might have contributed to failures in certain areas especially in the low turnout of participants. People are attracted with new things. With increasingly events organized to increase the level of awareness on Adelaide Fringe Festival, it is logical that event planners need to find new ways of reaching their audiences. Besides, this is made it difficult to come up with new ideas. SWOT Analysis of the Event Strengths Weaknesses The organizers had experienced team who are highly motivated The event applied online event management solution to reach many targeted audience The timing was appropriate when many people are available to attend The event had a streamlined administrative workload Application of effective tools of promoting the event which guaranteed the achievement of the desired success Poor health and safety practices which increase vulnerability of the participants Inadequate funds that limited the scope and marketing practices of the event Imitation of previous themes and management practices Manual data entry of the participants which in most is unreliable Withdrawal of some common faces from the event Opportunities Threats Adelaide Fringe Festival is known globally Increasing numbers of both public and private entities that aim to market the Australian culture Internationally recognized artistes gracing the occasion Readily available donors and participating international recognized brands Poor planning of logistics and risk management practices which compromised certain activities Increased legal requirements to hold events is becoming tedious for most organizers Moderators with poor communication skills Inadequate resources to facilitate the success of the event Recommendations Marketing is an important area that the event managers need to improve to ensure the delivery of appropriate results. If I were the event manager, I would have presented the event in a manner that is desirable to the target audience. In addition to the functions associated with marketing, the event organizers should have considered advertisements, promotional activities, and ensure adequate service development, delivery, and adjustments to meet the needs of the target audience. In addition, in my view, the events need to use experienced team members who are highly motivated to cushion the already defined goals and objectives (Li & Petrick 2005, p. 241). To reduce the cost of reaching the target market, I would have considered using the social media platforms considering the target audience for this are the youth who spend most of their time on the social media. The venues chosen for the event also play important role in defining the number of participants attending. There is also need to consider the time factor. February to March is the most suitable time for such events to direct the youths from the negative situations that they might be experiencing at that particular time. Technology is becoming an integral part in ensuring efficiency and effectiveness of event activities. The managers need to ensure that it shifts its manual data entry to technological methods to eliminate the errors (Milohnić, Lesić & Slamar 2016, p. 211). With increased numbers of entities focused on social corporate responsibility through supporting events associated with prevention of the menace, the event organizers might have partnered with these organizers to increase their scope of operation. Conclusion The organization of this even is a clear indication that creative thinking plays significant role to determine the success of the event. There are many events that organizations hold with similar theme but most of them employ the existing concepts, which led to poor attendance of the audience. Creative thinking is mental process that needs to involve the discovery of new ideas. In this case, the event managers incorporated brilliant ideas such as fun games, music, and sporting activities to attract more participants. Considering Adelaide Fringe Festival accommodated people from across the ages, such ideas were irresistible to the target audience and played significant role in ensuring the achievement of required objectives. Some of the participants like me not only enjoyed themselves but also had the best education on event planning and management. In this case, the event coordinator was responsible to identify various event activities and delegation of duties to the involved parties, which ensured reduction in conflict responsibilities. In addition, the estimations were also realistic which ensured that no activity was rushed. 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