Stakeholders Analysis in Organizing a Music Festival - Case Study Example

Event Management Name Institution Stakeholder Analysis Introduction Events contribute largely to the social and economic developments of any society. However, the benefits can only be realized if the events are organized with a proper emphasis on the importance of the interaction between the proposers’ and the event stakeholders. Stakeholders refer to any organization or persons that can in a way influence or can be influenced by the actions of an organization. The following are the major stakeholders of any event; host organization, host community, sponsors, participants, media co-workers. For the success of events, the interests of these stakeholder’s must be put into consideration. Each of the stakeholders always has a legitimate interest in the outcomes of the events. In music festival, for instance, the all the stakeholders has an interest on the performance. It is thus important to balance the interests and the requirements to make sure no conflicts arise. Good interaction among the stakeholders of the event is vital in creating the image which will, in turn, attract customers. Balancing of the interests of different organizations has always proved a challenge to many organizations. Stakeholders Analysis in Organizing a Music Festival The stakeholders involved in an event vary from event to event. These stakeholders may include organizers workers and the volunteers’ services as well as those providing contract services. Depending on nature their engagement, the stakeholders can be grouped as either primary or secondary. Major stakeholders include host organization, sponsors, spectators and participants, volunteers and attendees. On the other hand, secondary stakeholders are the government, host community, and the media. Host organization The primary stakeholder in an event is the host organization. Festival organizations are carried out by a coalition of stakeholders that incorporates the public, private organizations as well as volunteers. Music festival, for instance, can be hosted by the government, private organization or the community. The hosting organizations of any event thus fall into three categories, the government or the public, private organizations, or the community. a) Government events Events that are organized by the government are often managed by a government department. Most of the events that are held by the government are majorly meant to promote culture, tourism, social interaction and economy of the nation. Initially, such events would have free entry for the general public (Freeman, 2010). b) Community events Community events are managed by the teams that comprise the clubs and volunteer organizations. These events are usually organized to meet the needs of the local community. These requirements could include those from the hosting region or those areas with common interests. Some of the events that can be organized by the community organizations are fundraisers. These events are aimed at benefiting the community but not any of the organizing organizations. c) Corporate events The corporate sector manages its events through a management team normally headed by a manager. Corporate events are staged purposefully to benefit the organizers. The sponsors use the events to promote their businesses. The events also set the platform for the organizers to partner with other businesses that have agenda similar to theirs. The events are always held at strategic locations to meet the targeted customers. Host community An event must have a host community that impacts on it. The community determines the failure or the success of the event. The host community comprises the geographical location where the event shall be held and the community of interest. The key stakeholders here include the police, local government, residents and the businesses (Anderson& Getz, 2008). The success of any event is driven by the reputation that exists between the organizers and the host community. Creating a good reputation with the local community of benefit to the organizers as the community will participate in the organization of the event cutting the cost to be incurred. Consulting the local community before organizing an event helps the organizing in creating a good atmosphere with the locals which is critical to the success of the event. For instance, when organizing a music festival, the organizers should consider the reputation of the participating musicians with hosts to avoid conflicts. Involving the local community also helps the organizers to attract interested volunteers and those dedicated to service of the community. Active consultation and involvement of the community are also important as a measure of preventing the possible problems such as security issues by working closely with the police and the local authority (Freeman, 2010). Sponsors Sponsors play important roles in the success of events since they are often seen as the logo of the events. The corporations are investing huge sums in sponsoring events; also relocate additional resources to make sure the events are successful. The sponsors also use the opportunity to advertise their brands and to attract more customers. The events also offer the sponsors with the good opportunity to create and build good relationships with the customers. When organizing an event, it is crucial that the host organization looks for a sponsor that suits the audience and the targeted customers (Anderson& Getz, 2008). Choosing the suitable sponsor reinforces the image of the brands that organizations opt to promote. If the sponsor is not correctly chosen, the effect would be adverse to the business. Music festival sponsors must be those whose reputation is good to the host community so that the people can attend the event. Media The media plays an important role in the success of an event. The media helps in promoting the event and also the delivery of the same. The promotion and delivery of the event through the media give an event a global outlook. The events incorporate social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube among others for promotion (Getze et al. 2006). The organizers can use the media to give details such the calendar of events and other logistics such as ticket purchase and entry charges. The media is also important to the event organizers for the evaluation of the outcomes of the events. It is through the social sites that the host organization that can evaluate the customers' feedback after the event to understand the level of the success of the event (Reid, 2011). The media can be used to advertise a festival by posting the photos of the artist who are to perform during the event and can also be used to live show the actual performance. Co-workers For the success of events, the event managers must work closely with the colleagues. Incorporating co-workers in the organization of the event make the motivated hence feeling part of the whole process. It, therefore, vital for the managers to be dynamic to inspire others to help them achieve their goals. The co-workers get involved in the organization of the events through the provision of labor and financial support (Mossberg& Getz, 2006). Participants and Spectators The level of enjoyment during an event determines the success of the event. Managers must, therefore, strive to ensure that the participants and the spectators of the event are fully entertained. When organizing a music festival, it important for the management and the sponsors to go for the most musicians to host to attract the people and to ensure the event is lively. Risks of Not Conducting a Stakeholder Analysis Failure to do a stakeholder analysis by event organizers has numerous risks both the organizers and the stakeholders at large. To begin with, the not carrying out a stakeholder analysis might result in the imbalance of the event impacts. Each of the stakeholders has an interest in the outcomes of the event. It is, therefore, important to carry out a stakeholder analysis to be able to understand the interests of the stakeholders (Freeman, 2010). Event managers should identify the needs and interests of stakeholders such as host community so that the impacts of the event can be positive to the stakeholders. High turn up during a music festival, for example, would impact positively on the business. Events have a direct bearing on the social setup and the community. Carrying out an analysis of the stakeholders would thus enable the organizers carefully to plan the emotional and intellectual impact of the event on the community to ensure the effects are desirable. These effects range from pleasure, social interaction, mind stimulation and the atmosphere. Failure to carry out a stakeholder’s analysis poses the risk of creating an event whose outcomes conflict the expectation of the participants and the spectators (Getze et al. 2006). The primary reason for the host organization is to make a profit from the event. It is therefore of great importance to the host organization. The analysis would help in identifying the sources of the funds whether from sponsors or ticket sales. The study provides the host with a chance to evaluate whether the funds collected from both the sponsors and the sales of the tickets exceeds what the budget. Failure to carry the analysis would thus mean the host organization not being able to evaluate whether the business is making a profit from the event or not (Mossberg& Getz, 2006). Managers who ignore the role of stakeholders in event management are at risk of landing on wrong sponsors. Sponsor plays a major role in the success of any event since they form the logos of the event. Poor choice of the sponsors impacts negatively on the image of the brands the host organization intends to advertise to the clients. Carrying out the analysis would help in finding appropriate sponsors for the event making it attractive and fruitful in the end. Host community is always a delicate stakeholder in every event. The host organizations should, therefore, take great care to protect the community. The organizers can only understand the physical and the environmental implications that the event is likely to have on the host community. Failure to conduct a stakeholder’s analysis will thus threaten the community in matters about the environment. These impacts would be felt in waste management, noise levels, and the crowd movements. Major events may be required to seek permission from the authorities before being allowed to go ahead with the event (Getze et al. 2006). The failure carries out stakeholders’ analysis may result in organizing an event that does not have developmental impacts on the host community. Carrying out an event that does not directly impact on the community might be costly. The community would consider such events as disruptions of their daily activities hence would not be interested in the events (Anderson& Getz, 2008). This could be costly to the organizer because such events are characterized by low turnouts. Some of the costs that the organizers are likely to incur when organizing a music concert include paying the artists, transport costs, security and venue charges. Since organizations organize an event to make profits, low turnout would mean great losses to the organizers. Conclusion The level of success of an event is measured by the ability of the host organization to balance all the interests and then requirements of all the stakeholders. The stakeholders can be defined based on the nature of their engagement in the events. The primary stakeholders are considered essential since the event cannot take place without their involvement. To successfully balance the needs of the stakeholders, it is necessary for the event managers to carry out a detailed stakeholder’s analysis before the event to avoid the risks that come due to the failure to conduct such analysis. References Anderson, T. D., & Getz, D. (2008, September). Stakeholder management strategies of festivals. In Journal of Convention & Event Tourism (Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 199-220). Taylor & Francis Group. Freeman, R. E. (2010). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Cambridge University Press. Getz, D., Andersson, T., & Larson, M. (2006). Festival stakeholder roles: Concepts and case studies. Event Management, 10(2-3), 103-122. Mossberg, L., & Getz, D. (2006). Stakeholder influences on the ownership and management of festival brands. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 6(4), 308-326. Reid, S. (2011). Event stakeholder management: developing sustainable rural event practices. International Journal of Event and Festival Management, 2(1), 20-36. Read More