Event management is the application of management practice of project management in order to create festivals and events. It is a very detailed and involved industry studying the details of a particular brand, identifying the company's target audience, devising the event concept and planning the co-ordination of the technical aspects of an event before actually executing it.
The growth of music festivals over the past 20 or so years has seen the event management industry as a whole grow around the world - and events such as the Olympics now are seen as being a long-term project in which the impact of the local area is studied in detail.
Event management encompasses every industry, charity, society and group - all of which hold events of some type or size so that they can market themselves, build relationships, raise money or simply just celebrate.
As one of the strategic marketing and communication tools used by companies of all sizes, small to corporate, event management is involed for anything from product launches to press conferences. Promotaionl events help companies to communicate with clients and potential clients - targeting their audience using the media. They are hoping to generate media coverage in an aim to reach thousands/millions of people (despite being able to invite the audience to the event directly).
Event management companies and organisations offer a variety of management products:
- Product launches
- Press conferences
- Coprorate conferences
- Corporate meetings
- Road shows and grand openings
- Concerts, awards, film premieres and launch release parties
- Fashion shows
- Commercial events
- Weddings, birthdays and anniversaries
Event management companies are hired to handle all aspects of services for the given event, or from anywhere in between depending on the client's budget.
The person responsible for the planning and exeuction of the event is the event manager. Event managers and their teams are fully involved behind the scenes in the execution of the event. They may also be a lot more involved than just this, they may also be in control of building a brand, marketing, and the event's communication strategy.
Event managers are experts at the creative, technical and logistical elements of a successful event including the design, audio-visual production, the scripts, finances and logistics.'
Event management is a multi-million pound industry, and is growing rapidly. Mega shows and events are hosted regularly. Despite this, there doesn't seem to be any official or formal research conducted to assess the growth. The industry also includes fields like MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Events), exhibitions, seminars and even conferences, including the large amount of live music and sporting events.
Over the past few years a lot more universities are starting to offer graduate degree/diplomas in event management - particularly in the UK. You can now even get a masters degree in event management.
In addition to the academic side, there are a plethera of associations and societies providing training courses on the many various aspects of the industry - thought they may not have any official accreditation, they will also look on a CV.
The study of event management includes:
- Event management organisational skills
- Technical knowledge
- Public relations
- Marketing
- Advertising
- Catering
- Logistics
- Decor
- Law & licenses
- Risk management
- Budgets & finance
- Study of related media
The University of Derby again organised a National Student Events Conference in April 2009 to improve links between students and industry. Speakers at the event read like a who's who list of the event management industry, Dick Tee, Andy Brett, Roger Barratt, Sian Richards, Richard John, Rebecca Jones and Steve Heap.
Events for event management can be classified into four different categories based on the purpose of the event and it's objectives:
- Leisure events such as music, recreation, parties etc.
- Personal events such as weddings, birthdays etc.
- Cultural events such as art, heritage, folklore etc.
- Organisational events such as commercial parties, political, chartiable and sales events.
