EPMS
Tips and Trends
Successful event managers are sensitive to trends in the both the external environment and the event industry. Below is a list of trends. It must be stressed that these views are personal and should not be used as the basis of any forecasting.
Each type of event has unique operational practices. The event manager needs to know in advance the type of problems they may face when including new elements to their event. The second section is devoted to tips and tricks of the trade provided by event managers.
Tips and Tricks
Entertainment on Board : imagine you are in charge of events on board a cruise liner ; according to a recent conference presentation by a person who does just that ; "you have no back up for the entertainment - you're stuck with what you have got - so make sure they are good before they board". Also the presenter notes how they train their new crew members with a buddy system and after a week the Captain and officers have a cocktail party for all the new crew. 2005
At another conference the speaker talked about the 'boring presenter' - such as the CEO . They solved this by changing it to an interview. The CEO was interviewed - it enabled the CEO to relax and the audience to be entertained - well at least not bored! 2005
The latest in theming (2005) is style and NOT theme. -i.e. decor, simplicity and subtlety. With a white background - i.e. white set , the style can be created with intelligent lights and projections.
Communication is often a big issue - who said they'd do what and when and where is it NOW!!!
I use a workbook,
usually a spiral bound notebook (NOT bits of paper) with a page for each person/organisation
I'm dealing with. In it I give dot points about the conversation and what was
agreed, the date and the time. At the end of the conversation I repeat what
has been agreed and note any follow up to be carried out. Then, if there are
items to follow up, they go straight on to my "to do" list for the required
day. This may sound like a long winded way to do things but believe me the extra
seconds have saved me many embarrassing (and potentially costly) moments.
Jenni
Wright Adelaide, South Australia
Show and Shine Show and Shines events comprise car enthusiasts showing off their cars. It includes a parade with commentary and an area where the cars can line up for a display. Nambucca Valley hosts four of Show and Shines per year and they bring in needed economic benefits to the town. The town has the right facilities with a large main street and accommodation in the local caravan park.
Wayne's operation
tips are:
"Make sure that
humans and cars don't come into the wrong kind of contact. Especially at the start
it is important to keep the people off the street as the cars arrive. They tend
to wander out too early. Also at the finish where the cars like to do a bit of
a burn out as they leave and people like to get good camera footage. That's when
they tend to get in the way.
One of the
problems is if too many cars arrive and they don't all fit into the main street
- where do you put the extra 50 cars? - it needs extra roads closures with all
the required permissions and extra people. With the car parade, the tail needs
to be out of the display street before the head of the parade arrives. This
is because the cars are announced as they line up.
The main thing is the communication between all the bodies, police, road closure
people and traffic control people. They have to have a main contact person because
you've got so many cars and people moving around.
We use four hand helds, one at either end of the street, one for the procession
where they leave and one for the person lining up the cars at the display area."
Wayne Lowe
"I have developed
costing sheets that cover every possible line item , even really obscure things
such as showers for Roger Foley's Table Hoppping Kangaroos on site at Fleet
Steps ( I ended up booking a hotel room it was cheaper!).
Also crew and performer meals (inc riders) are easy to overlook, security, handtowels
in the bathroom, exit signage, toilets for waiters and performers (doesn't always
look good for street theatre in costume to use the same loos as formally dressed
guests); breakages and losses on site, music stand hire (often requested by
bands at the last minute), security fencing during set-up (eg Fleet Steps).
A contingency amount is often very useful!"
Pamela Wheat - ICMS Australasia
Trends
David Grant of David Grant Special Events gave a recent (June 2001) presentation on trends in the event industry. He began by stressing that his opinions were an insider's view and based solely on his experience. His company was heavily involved in the Olympics, Sydney.
( It is important the reader realise that this is only a description as seen by DG and should not be taken as a forecast)
q Rising fees for event companies. A result of the USA clients associated with the Olympics. David mentioned that the companies in the US may mark up 45% whereas in Australia we are used to a 20% mark-up.
q Event management becoming a profession. The indicator of this is the job definitions arising in the industry - Event Director, Manager, Co-ordinator
q Buy-up of smaller event companies by larger overseas companies. This is a global trend and enables a client to use the one event company in any country. One advantage is a standardisation for the client.
q Sydney market is flooded with event companies. David saw this as a result of the Olympics.
q 2001 was the worst year for the number of events with retrenching (30% drop in HR) and less work (10% drop on last year).
q Increase in USA clients with better budgets and wanting boutique events.
q Grouping of people to create an event company and find only one client.
q Quoting against other event companies is reduced from 6 to one or two. Possibly due to the cost to the client of obtaining and evaluating quotes
q Sponsors pulling out of events as they are getting lost in the clutter
q The needs for proper metrics to forecast events by clients
q A move towards in-house event management by suppliers. However this can lead to conflicts with the event companies as they will be competing with their suppliers for events.
q Themed events are back in replacing the sleek minimalist look
q Need for younger staff to represent the company and give a hip glow to the proposals.
q Retainers are on their way out. At one stage corporations would pay an event company a monthly retainer.
q Venues are letting go their preferred suppliers as it stops some event companies from hiring the venue.
q Payments for proposals. The client pays a small amount for the event proposal to the applying event companies - however the client owns the ideas.
q Flashy proposals (pitches) to companies is going out.
q A move away from high tech events to high touch events.
q Event managers are individually forming consortiums to pitch for events. Each manager is a specialist and therefore the consortium has the competitive edge.
Copyright W.J. O'Toole 2005