Event Strategy
CHAPTER
Event strategy
1
INTRODUCTION
Events and festivals are an economic and social driver of many companies, cities, regions and countries. They need to be assessed for their benefits and placed in the development plans of the organisation. The only way to achieve this sensibly is to devise a framework for the development. This chapter describes how these frameworks or event strategies are created. It begins with the recognition of events as being part of a development portfolio and not isolated instances. A company or city has a range of events spread over the year. Each event is an asset and should be treated in the same way as other projects are developed and assessed. The returns on this asset assist the organisation to reach their objectives. The chapter has numerous real cases and concludes with a detailed example of a local authority.
1.1 STRATEGY CHECKLIST
A strategy is a long-term plan of action, encompassing all divisions of the organisation and designed to achieve organisation-wide goals. Once an organisation, such as a company or government department, reaches a certain level of complexity, it is necessary to have a common method and direction understood by all the divisions or departments. The strategy provides the common direction for all the subdivisions. It enables the various departments to work in their area of specialty and know they are helping the organisation as a whole. Generally large organisations have strategic plans with 3, 5 and 10-year cycles. Near the end of each cycle the past strategic plan is evaluated and the new strategic plan is developed. Despite insightful criticism of strategic planning by analysts such as Henry Mintzberg, organisations invariably use it. Understanding the strategy of an organisation is essential to understand the reason for their events and the feasibility of future events. The limitation of strategic planning is that the plan, once adopted, tends to have a life of its own, regardless of the
Event strategy
1
INTRODUCTION
Events and festivals are an economic and social driver of many companies, cities, regions and countries. They need to be assessed for their benefits and placed in the development plans of the organisation. The only way to achieve this sensibly is to devise a framework for the development. This chapter describes how these frameworks or event strategies are created. It begins with the recognition of events as being part of a development portfolio and not isolated instances. A company or city has a range of events spread over the year. Each event is an asset and should be treated in the same way as other projects are developed and assessed. The returns on this asset assist the organisation to reach their objectives. The chapter has numerous real cases and concludes with a detailed example of a local authority.
1.1 STRATEGY CHECKLIST
A strategy is a long-term plan of action, encompassing all divisions of the organisation and designed to achieve organisation-wide goals. Once an organisation, such as a company or government department, reaches a certain level of complexity, it is necessary to have a common method and direction understood by all the divisions or departments. The strategy provides the common direction for all the subdivisions. It enables the various departments to work in their area of specialty and know they are helping the organisation as a whole. Generally large organisations have strategic plans with 3, 5 and 10-year cycles. Near the end of each cycle the past strategic plan is evaluated and the new strategic plan is developed. Despite insightful criticism of strategic planning by analysts such as Henry Mintzberg, organisations invariably use it. Understanding the strategy of an organisation is essential to understand the reason for their events and the feasibility of future events. The limitation of strategic planning is that the plan, once adopted, tends to have a life of its own, regardless of the