ABC London Events Co

¶ … Operations Management

Licenses and Requirements

Event Management

Risk Management

CSR and Sustainability

ABC London Events Co. will have many considerations to make before deciding on whether to host an event. One of the initial decisions will undoubtedly be financial as for-profit event management companies must return an adequate return to their investors. However, once the business case for the event is made, this is only the beginning and there are many subsequent decisions to be made. The planning phase of any event is arguably the most important aspect of hosting an effective event. There are many different objectives that events can address and planning for different types of events can take different approaches. This analysis will focus on cultural and sporting events and discuss various considerations that an event manager will have to make in order for the event to be a success. The research found that planning and risk management are among the most important aspects to hosting these types of events.

Analysis Overview

There are many considerations that must be had before organizing an event. The ABC London Events Co. should conduct a comprehensive analysis that includes many factors that stem from planning, operating, closing, and risk management among others that are related to event management. Different types of events can be classified by their size and scale, the reason for the event, or the result of the event that is hosted. These different classifications and different types of events have drastic implications for their operational management. For example, a concert might be a one-time affair that is hosted at a local bar or concert hall while a sporting event can be a reoccurring event that occurs on a fixed schedule each year and is hosted at a stadium. Different types and sizes of events can require significantly different scopes of the project and licenses to manage them effectively. This section will discuss many of the factors that should be considered related to both sporting events as well as cultural events.

Licenses and Requirements

One of the first things to consider when planning any event is how to acquire the licenses that are required by either the national, regional, or local planning authorities or some combination of these bodies. The types of businesses and organizations that need a license for entertainment might include (GOV.UK, 2015):

nightclubs

live music venues

cinemas

larger theatres

larger street and open air festivals

larger indoor sporting arena

In particular a license may be required by:

anyone that provides any entertainment between 11PM and 8AM;

anyone that provides amplified live or recorded music to an audience of more than 500 people;

anyone that provides recorded music to an audience on premises not licensed for the sale or supply of alcohol;

anyone that puts on a performance of a play or a dance to an audience of more than 500 people, or an indoor sporting event to more than 1,000 spectators

anyone that puts on boxing or wrestling

anyone that screens a film to an audience

Much of the licensing process depends on whether the event is held indoors or outdoors and the number of people that are expected to attend as well as if there will be alcohol severed or not. Small indoor events with an attendance less than five hundred can qualify for a temporary event notice (TEN) and can apply for this license as late as five days before the event. If the event has a larger attendance or if there will be alcohol served then the licensing requirements become more comprehensive. Ultimately the police and the local community board can have the right to approve or disapprove of any licensing application if there is some kind of problem that is identified. Such problems might include safety issues or scheduling conflicts; the characteristics of the venue can also determine the suitability for the event and its approval.

Event Management

Every event manager needs proper planning, leading, organizing, staffing, and controlling are aspects that are critical for the success of any organization. The aspects and principles of management are applicable to every event. Proper planning is the first step to accomplishing any objective and as the saying goes "a project properly planned is half done." Therefore the aspect of planning is of critical importance to event management. Once the plan is established, following the planning, the subsequent project activities such as organizing, leading, controlling and staffing are already established in many ways. However these are done with respect to the master plan so that the aims and objectives of the organization for which the plan is made is achieved (Hartmann, 2012). Therefore, the managerial functions of planning, organizing, leading, controlling and staffing are done and are useful to consider when planning any event.

Planning for any project is a very fundamental part of management -- even if that management is dedicated towards a sporting or cultural event. It is often referred to as the first of the managerial functions and all other functions such as organizing, leading, controlling and staffing are considered marginal functions and planning is considered to be the most fundamental of the functions. For example, the plan will determine the expected attendance and based on this attendance the levels of staffing needed can then be determined. Organizations are made to prepare for tomorrow today through proper planning. Planning will also define the goals and objectives that the event wishes to achieve and the means and resources that it has to accomplish these objectives.

In any organization, it is the role of the event managers in the planning stage for all sorts of events is a paramount activity. Based on an organization's or event's goals, division goals, departmental goals and team goals, planning can be a continuous, specialized as well as a dynamic process (Hartmann, 2012). Since there are so many factors to consider, it is a good strategy to use whatever resources in the community that are available to help identify what sources of liability that an event planner might face when hosting an event. For example, there are typically many staffing and security requirements that must be complied with in order to satisfy the local regulations and this information can be acquired through the local planning commission.

The type of event being hosted will ultimately determine how it is planned for and managed and what the criteria will be to evaluate its performance. For example, a sporting event might use ticket sales or total revenues as a metric if the event is hosted by a for profit organization. If an event is culturally based, then the event's profitability might not be the central focus. For example, a community theatre or art event may be hosted even if they expect the event to come at a financial loss. Many events also are hosted entirely for free and can be either publically or privately sponsored.

The reason that an event is hosted will guide the entire planning process based on the objectives that are created for the event. For example, some events may be designed to maximize turnout such as in some cultural events, others may try to maximize the attendance from a particular group or target market, others may be part of an outreach program that is trying to disseminate information to the local community, and others may be attempting to secure financial gain. Despite the particular objectives of the event, there can be similar metrics used to gauge performance. Some common metrics include calculations such as (Nicholas, 2014):

Cost per lead -- determining how much it will cost to market your event can be a fundamental factor in creating a budget for the event as well as plan attendance levels.

Cost per attendee -- this is the total costs based on the total number of attendees that visited an event. This can be used to determine profitability levels or even ticket prices for future events.

Expense to revenue ratio -- this calculation is an efficiency metric that is important in determining the profitability associated with an event and how efficiently your using your resources

Gross Margin -- this figure will provide insights into how much the event made overall by calculating the margin by using total revenue divided by the total expenses.

Return on Investment -- this metric gives a percentage representation of how much of a return the event offered the investors.

Risk Management

Risk management can also serve as the cornerstone of building an effective strategy to be successful in event management. Since there are many dynamic factors that must be considered when planning an event, there are several characteristics to risk management that apply to directly to event management. For example, cultural events and sporting events would have different types of risks inherent in there undertaking and these should be accounted for beforehand. It is sensible to analyze the total risks that the any event may face in order to create a plan to attempt to mitigate them in the event that they do occur. For example, in a sporting event one risk may be that the turnout would not be enough to provide the investors a profit. A risk for a cultural event could be that the turnout is so great that it exceeds the events capacity.

Thus risk management can be thought of as the practice of accounting for the potential risks that face any event in the broader context of event managmenet. The event manager's task is to determine what probability such exposure to risk has to the event and decide how to best mitigate the various risks that may be present in the hosting of an event. Since events are dynamic in nature, they often deal with a unique circumstances, and they are subject to many different types of risks (Benta, 2011). In many cases there may be no effective way to mitigate the occurrence of a risks and the event plan must instead form an action plan or a contingency plan as a response to the risk's occurrence. For example, if someone gets hurt at a sporting event, there should be emergency medical assistance on call to help the individual. In outdoor events, the contingency might be to have alternate dates available or move the event to a different location.

Risk identification is the process of identifying all the potential risks and then constructing a comprehensive risk list that can be used for the purposes of planning. The list should also include the likelihood that the risk will occur and the probability of the occurrence as well as the potential impacts that such a scenario may create (USBR, N.d.). For example, the likelihood of cultural event exceeding capacity is probable, then the event could attempt to increase its capacity or have some plan to handle capacity overload. However, risk management allows for an event manager to actively plan alternative and different strategies that can work to reduce the likelihood of such occurrences or the damages that could be done if a risk does manifest. In any given event, there are many risks difficult to account for as well as prepare for.

Because of the dynamic nature of risks, the event manager should regularly undertake comprehensive, focused assessment of potential risks to the event. The risk assessment should be carefully planned, documented and methodically compiled so that it can be expanded upon in for future events. Furthermore, since some events occur on a regular schedule, like sporting events, the risk management plan can continually be updated and refined so that the event management staff is better prepared for future sporting events. Each time the event is held, the risk management plan can be updated to reflect any new risks that were identified.

There are various strategies that can be applied to the risks that could potentially damage the organization and/or its event operations. While there are well developed best practices for risk identification and probabilistic analysis, there have only been recent developments in regards to adding an estimated cost for the contingency plan (Hollmann, 2009). There different categories of risk objectives which include strategic objectives, operational objectives, reporting objectives, and compliance objectives (COSO, 2004). The COSO framework is a risk management model that could be customized to fit the any specific challenges that might be related to a different set of circumstances.

Some large and complex events may require that a steering committee be designated to help identify and plan for a large number of different risks. For example, a large sporting event such as the Olympics contains very important cultural factors, historical milestones and tourism attractions which benefits the social and financial background of the country (Eventum, 2015). To identify risks in such events, it may be necessary to gather people with expertise in a range of different backgrounds. Therefore a steering committee composed of experts from different backgrounds can provide insights into specific areas of risk management that could affect the event.

There have been different models developed to help guide this process and planners can benefit from identifying any such models that are already in existence. These models often break down risks into different categories that can be designated to members of the steering committee. The committee might also be able to distribute responsibility of risks based on the different risk objectives; strategic objectives, operational objectives, reporting objectives, and compliance objectives. Using different models can significantly assist in the planning of a complex event because it provides the framework in which it is possible to manage all four risk management objectives. Complex events that occur in one location only once, such as the Olympics, will have to apply such methods rigorously but can also integrate best practices from previous events in different locations.

It is also possible to use sets of best practices for brainstorming the potential for various risks to occur. One risk management planning document was identified and includes the following list of questions that can help identify the risks in any scenario (Zita, 2011):

What could possibly happen before, during, or after an event?

How likely is the risk to occur?

What might be the outcome if the risk occurs?

How can we reduce the probability of the risk occurring (and by how much)?