Wedding Event in the Legendary Palace of Oakland California - Research Paper Example

Event Management of the of the Executive Summary Parameters of the ReportThe main purpose of this report is to scrutinize the possibility of successfully conducting a wedding event in the Legendary Palace of Oakland California. This event management was examined in the context of Asian consumers. There has been considerable growth in events and festivals, across the world. This implies that management cannot be on an ad hoc basis. For instance, events such as the Asian Games produce an effect on the concerned communities and the entire nation. The event industry has grown to the extent that it incorporates events from the size of the Olympic Games to small meetings involving a few businessmen. In order to promote themselves, several industries, charitable organizations and interests groups have resorted to holding events. This measure is also adopted by those who desire to reinforce business associations, raise money or just celebrate (slideshare, 2013). The Legendary Palace is a Chinese dim sum restaurant. It has the capacity to accommodate 500 members at a time. Prior to become a restaurant, it had been used as a night club, garment factory, book store and rooming house. The Legendary Palace is located in the bay area of California. It was constructed in 1917 and it has become a historical land mark of that place. This report will deal with conducting a wedding event at the Legendary Palace. Hospitality services tend to be intricate. They fulfil social affiliation and self-identity needs, and generate vast opportunities for differentiation. Several products are simple and necessitate performance to a technical norm. As such event management is a novel procedure that requires creativity and innovation.The customer should feel happy and comfortable, during these events. As such, customer satisfaction should be highest priority of event management. The Chinese consider the two-storied restaurant as an ideal place for hosting wedding parties. In addition, customers are provided with parking, which is a major issue in this locality. Description of the Problem In general, there will be no issues for a land mark hotel like the Legendary Palace, with regard to conducting a wedding on a grand scale. However, due to competition, this hotel has to adopt novel practices and procedures to make it a memorable occasion for the Asian customers. This research will identify the problems if any, with the management of a wedding event in the Legendary Palace. Finally recommendations will be provided for the improvement of procedures of the wedding event for Asian customers. Methodology I have made a thorough research with regard to the event management of s wedding in a land mark hotel, such as the Legendary Palace. To this end, I perused many books and articles for retrieving the necessary information. I have consulted online libraries for the extant literature on the topic. Moreover, I have been observing weddings in the hotel, during my internship as an assistant manager for event management. Summary of Findings The Legendary Palace is a land mark Chinese restaurant, with a seating capacity of 500 and ample parking space for its patrons. Conducting a wedding event in this historical hotel is a great opportunity for all the stake holders. However, there were some negative reviews regarding the cuisine of this hotel. These reviews could work against the reputation of the hotel. Event management being a very competitive market, the event manager should be very cautious about any emerging problems during the event. The event manager should take special care towards the Asian cuisine in the wedding event. After evaluating the findings of the study, some recommendations were made with respect to the event manager, while conducting the wedding of Asian customers in the notable Legendary Palace. Recommendations In cases of event management, failure to allocate the right resources with the required skills, proves to be a major failing, which leads to monumental failures. It is essential to include the right people with the right skills, as even the best plans cannot achieve success in the absence of the necessary talent. Thus, event managers have to possess adequate and accurate information regarding the resources at their disposal, and the contractors and outsourcers. As such, at the very outset, the event manager has to evaluate the resources, skills and workloads in a thorough manner. In addition, failure to monitor alterations to the scope of the event. The majority of events undergo change of plans, during the period preceding the final event. In the absence of proper monitoring, budgets could become uncontrollable or the time schedules could prove to be impossible to maintain. Under these circumstances, the event manager should have in place an effective process for monitoring change. Any request for change should be analyzed from the perspective of time schedules and budgets. Consequently, it is indispensable to acknowledge that several things could create problems. These could arise at any time without any warning. The event manager should arrive at a clear assessment regarding the various difficulties that could arise and the things that could wrong. After such an analysis, the event manager should take proper steps to either prevent or to overcome such issues. Event Management Section One – Introduction and Background Event management consists of the application of project management, in order to bring about the generation and development of conferences, events, and festivals. This activity entails the study of brand complexities, identification of target audiences, formulation of the event concept, planning of the logistics, and the coordination of the technical features, prior to actually conducting the event. Moreover, post-event analysis and ensuring return on investment have emerged as important factors for the event industry (slideshare, 2013). As such, several definitions of event management are extant. For instance, event management is regarded as the planning and management of an event, project, or activity. As such, an event transpires and does not exist, it is dynamic and not static. Therefore, some person is necessary for the event to take place. Thus, successful events take place via action, some person or group of people who get things done (slideshare, 2013). History of Legendary Palace The Legendary Palace is situated proximate to the South-West corner of Oakland Chinatown. It is a block away from Broadway and opposite a Salvation Army building. It is very near to the Alameda Court and the Oakland Police Department. Moreover, the business district is located within walking distance from the Legendary Palace. This restaurant has, over the years, emerged as a favorite eating place for the non-Chinese who wish to experiment with Chinese food. In addition, the Chinese regard this two-storey restaurant as an ideal location for hosting wedding banquets. Furthermore, this restaurant provides customer parking, which is at a premium in this locality. As such, one of the largest restaurants in Oakland Chinatown is the Legendary Palace. This place has a better ambience than the other Chinese restaurants of the area. The premises are maintained in a hygienic manner, and the cuisine is very good. It is commonplace to have to wait for a considerable time to be served, due to the heavy crowds that frequent this place. This restaurant is rightly famous for its dim sum, which most of the guests find delectable (menuism, 2015). The Legendary Palace in the Bay Area of California, was constructed in the year 1917, and it constitutes a historical landmark of that place. After three years of remodeling and the introduction of outstanding Chinese chefs, this place has been providing what can be arguably regarded as the best Chinese cuisine in the Bay Area. In addition, it has been providing delectable selections from superior American, French, and Japanese cuisine, in conjunction with its legendary Chinese cuisine. The seafood items can be selected from the aquariums, thereby ensuring the freshest possible items. This restaurant has 11 kitchen wok chefs, 10 Dim Sum Chefs, and two barbeque chefs. These culinary wizards prepare more than 200 selections of Dim Sum, a wide selection of live seafood, and Chinese dishes from every region of China (The Menu Page, 2015). Most of the restaurants in Chinatown are closed down, by evening. However, the Legendary Palace remains open till midnight, all seven days of the week. In addition, this restaurant provides free parking, which is rare in this bustling commercial area. The building is gaily festooned with red lanterns and other Chinese paraphernalia. Moreover, almost every table has a chandelier hanging over it (Bartlett, 2007, p. 139). Despite the presence of a large number of customers, the Legendary Palace is less crowded than several of the other restaurants in this area. The dim sum available at this place is of a superior quality, and the customers have to experiment to some extent, as the waiters speak little if any English. Pork is a staple filling for noodle rolls and dumplings (Bartlett, 2007, p. 139). The Legendary Palace is a Chinese dim sum restaurant with 500 seats. Prior to its use as a restaurant, it had been a nightclub, garment factory, bookstore, and rooming house. In order to transform it into the Legendary Palace, around $3 million had been spent on it. It is an 11,500 square feet restaurant with dishes prepared by chefs from China and Hong Kong. The social activists of Chinatown had opposed the opening of this restaurant, as they were desirous of utilizing it for housing the elderly and the poor. However, commercial interests prevailed in the long run, and the Legendary Palace became a reality (Reed, 2007, p. 106). The firms that manufacture products and services that complement the lifestyles of consumers and convey their hopes could charge a premium price for these products and services. The higher price is essential for recovering the expenditure incurred, while providing the singular experience. The success of a differentiation strategy depends upon comprehending customer lifestyles and aspirations, in order to provide the customers with such goods or services (Enz, 2010, p. 179). Wedding Event at Legendary Palace A wedding is a celebration that portrays a wealth of beautiful traditions. These are influenced by culture, history, family, media, politics, and religion. Consequently, consultants, in this area, should necessarily acquire competence in these elements, in order to transform themselves into informed consultants who have the required comprehension and sympathy towards the assorted needs of clients. Weddings constitute a commemoration of the institution of marriage, and in general, are accompanied by extraordinary fanfare and gaiety (Daniels & Loveless, 2007, p. 3). There is a surfeit of culture, tradition, history, symbolism, heritage and superstition in these functions. The choices are made by the betrothed couple. Technology, globalization, the media, changing gender roles, and economic development are some of the factors that support the decision making process, whilst confronting the bride and groom with typical challenges (Daniels & Loveless, 2007, p. 3). Consequently, wedding events require a special category of management that addresses the several issues in a novel and innovative manner. In addition, customer aspirations increase with affluence. The success of a value enhanced service depends upon the willingness of the customers to pay more for that service than the expenditure incurred by the firm in creating it. The target of an organization that adopts a differentiation strategy is a broad market. Hence, the differentiated product or service should have a design that is preferred in several sectors of the market (Enz, 2010, p. 182). Moreover, the consumers of the US have become quite familiar with Chinese food. This has generated interest in other types of Asian cuisine, such as Indian, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Thai. It has been acknowledged by several of the consumers that flavor is of considerable significance in Asian cuisine. As observed by some researchers, the incidence of Asian appetizers and food has increased significantly in even the non-Asian restaurants. For instance, as of the year 2010, there has been a 19% increase of Asian food items on menus, in comparison to the year 2009. This trend has been noticed in McDonald’s also, which reintroduced the Asian salad in its menus. Another factor attributed to the increase in the popularity of Asian food was that of population growth. From 2000 to 2010, the Asian population had the same growth rate as that of the Hispanic population, namely 43%. This was disclosed by the US Census. Asians in the US, as of the year 2011, numbered 14.5 million, with the largest groups being the Chinese, Indian and Filipinos, in that order. The Chinese population had grown by 38.5% from 2000 to 2009, and was around 3.2 million (Morrison, 2011). It has been discerned by the hotel industry that customer expectations have changed dramatically, on account of exposure to foreign destinations, especially those in Asia. Thus, domestic travelers have expressed the desire to be provided with the same level of service that is being provided overseas. Some of the hotels have found this demand to be daunting, due to the level of staff and flexibility needed for providing such service (Service Skills Australia, 2011). Furthermore, many hotel guests have stated that they expect the same level of technology that they enjoy at their homes, including high speed broadband service, pay TV and movie downloads. In addition, these guests expect to be provided with these facilities at no extra cost. Moreover, several hotels have been utilizing mobile technology to make their services state of the art, and to reduce expenditure. An instance of this is provided by the use of iPads for menus and ordering, in restaurants (Service Skills Australia, 2011). Another development is the endeavor of hotels to discern methods for interacting with social network sites and achieve real return on investment. In order to achieve these aims, the hotel staff will have to acquire effective communication skills, sound judgment and discretion. There are several websites that provide reviews and customer ratings of tourism and the hospitability industry (Service Skills Australia, 2011). These are being increasingly accessed by the potential consumer. Moreover, the hospitality sector has indicated that there has been a steady increase in consumer awareness regarding the variety of existing foods. As such, this sector has noticed an enhancement in the expectations of customers regarding choice, quality, and value for money. The preference among consumers is for fresher and locally produced items. It has been perceived that certain high profile television programs, including Masterchef, have brought about this increased sophistication among consumers and their perception regarding restaurant standards (Service Skills Australia, 2011). An event manager should take all these issues into consideration, while making decisions regarding menus in a wedding event. In addition, whilst selecting the optimal wedding catering service the following precautions have to be taken. First, feedback from previous users of the service and references should be carefully perused. In fact, an honest attempt should be made to obtain references from people who are known personally. Furthermore, service providers should be requested to provide contact details of their recent clients (Jenkinson, 2015). Second, a decision should not be taken, solely on the basis of the price of the service. Several caterers offer very low rates, in order to lure the unwary customer. The service, in such cases, tends to be unsatisfactory. Third, it should be ensured that the caterer is insured and licensed (Jenkinson, 2015). The preparation of food entails considerable care, and this makes it necessary to ensure that the caterer adheres to the industry norms and has the required liability insurance. Conclusions For evaluating the quality of food and services in Legendary Palace, the following customer reviews were analyzed. A client described his experience at the Legendary Palace in the following words. He had visited it on the 16 February 2015, with some of the members of his family and other relatives. The food was lackluster and there was nothing outstanding about it. The honey walnut prawns were quite delicious, as were the steamed fish and savory fried rice. However, the goose legs were atrocious. In addition, the taro pudding, which exhibited a faint aroma of taro, was bland in the extreme and tasteless. Thus, several of the items were devoid of taste. The quality of the food had undergone considerable deterioration over the years, and there was no guarantee that a sumptuous meal could be procured at this place (C, 2015). This review indicates customer dissatisfaction regarding the food quality of this hotel. An event manager should ensure that this complaint is addressed satisfactorily, in order to make the wedding event a grand success. Nevertheless, some customers of the Legendary Palace have emphasized that the best dim sums are to be found at this place. One customer was extremely enamored of the following dim sum dishes of which he partook generously. The first consisted of egg tarts that were hot and had a sweet taste. The crust of these tarty was flaky and light. The other dish was comprised of chasu pork buns. On the whole, this Chinese restaurant was characterized by long queues of waiting patrons on the weekend and a chaotic atmosphere (C A. , 2012). This review indicates absence of orderliness in the premises of the Legendary Palace hotel. However, it was one of the better class Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. Several friends of this customer had dined at this place, and some had even celebrated their wedding reception at this restaurant. It was perceived by many customers that the Chinese banquets at this place were of a very high quality (C A. , 2012). This place had been recommended for dim sum and wedding banquets. Recommendations Inexperienced event mangers had posed a major problem during the management of a wedding event. Such personnel can be blamed for an event to rapidly become unmanageable. This requires the presence of an experienced event manager at the helm of affairs. This individual should supervise the performance of the event managers under his authority. In addition, the emergence of problems during the event could be attributed to the failure to adhere to the standard event management procedures. On such occasions, it had been noticed that difficulties had arisen, due to the failure of the event managers to adhere strictly to the established procedures. In order to circumvent such undesirable outcomes, there should be a well-defined event plan. This plan should be followed meticulously by all the concerned persons. The adoption of these measures will prove to be of great benefit in conducting an event successfully. Event manager should be concerned about Asian cuisine, since the Asian customers prefer their traditional cuisine during formal occasions, such as weddings. Consequently, the event manager should not compromise upon the quality and service of food, and should live up to the customer’s expectations. A circumspect evaluation and innovative methodology can transform a wedding event at the Legendary Place into a memorable occasion for the customers. List of References Bartlett, S. (2007). GrassRoutes Travel: Oakland: The Soul of the City Next Door. Oakland, CA, USA: Grass Routes Travel Press. C, A. (2012, September 19). Legendary Palace. Retrieved May 6, 2015, from http://www.yelp.com/biz/legendary-palace-oakland?hrid=pnzSo6iZiT97XM0c954ElA&rh_type=phrase&rh_ident=wedding_banquet C, C. (2015, February 16). Legendary Palace. Retrieved from http://www.yelp.com/list/oakland-chinatown-my-old-stomping-grounds-oakland Daniels, M., & Loveless, C. (2007). Wedding Planning & Management: Consultancy for Diverse Clients. Oxford, UK: Routledge. Enz, C. A. (2010). Hospitality Strategic Management. Hoboken, New Jersey, USA: John Wiley & Sons. Jenkinson, A. (2015). Benefits of Professional Wedding Catering Services. Retrieved May 6, 2015, from http://askaboutweddings.com/benefits-of-professional-wedding-catering-services/ menuism. (2015). Legendary Palace. Retrieved May 4, 2015, from http://www.menuism.com/restaurants/legendary-palace-oakland-282200 Morrison, M. (2011, May 16). Table Set for Fast-Casual Asian Invasion. Retrieved May 4, 2015, from Advertising Age: http://adage.com/article/news/table-set-fast-casual-asian-invasion/227577/ Reed, I. (2007). Blues City: A Walk in Oakland. New York, NY, USA: Crown/Archetype. Service Skills Australia. (2011). Tourism, Hospitality and Events. Retrieved May 6, 2015, from http://www.oph.fi/download/145170_TourismHospitalityEventsScan_Print.pdf slideshare. (2013, October 4). Event Management. Retrieved May 6, 2015, from http://www.slideshare.net/mustafachangi/event-management-26869845 The Menu Page. (2015). Legendary Palace-Fine Chinese Cuisine. Retrieved May 3, 2015, from http://www.themenupage.com/restaurant/Legendary-Palace---Fine-Chinese-Cuisine/115/0 Read More