Event management Meaning, Definitions, Essentials, Key Drivers

Event management, the most profound form of advertising and marketing, is a glamorous and thrilling profession. It provides an opportunity for unleashing one’s creative potential to a very high degree. It demands a lot of hardwork and effort but at the same time offers enormous scope.

Event management is a process of organizing a professional and focused event, for a particular target audience. It involves visualizing concepts, planning, budgeting, organizing and executing events such as fashion shows, musical concerts, corporate seminars, exhibitions, wedding celebrations, theme parties, product launching, etc. It is a good career option which does not require much investment and offers a lot of independence and flexibility. If you have a passion for conducting events, having good organizing ability and be flexible to work for long hours, you can make a successful career in this field.

Essentials

1. Analytical/Critical thinking and problem solving: Analytical thinking, critical thinking and problem solving are abilities that are a must in this field. You should be able to acknowledge a problem, recognize that it has to be solved then and there, and always think on how the situation could be avoided in future.
2. Client/customer service orientation: Client/customer service orientation is the ability to be client focused and committed to meeting the needs of your customer. An event manager has to be client focused; he must attempt to know the client’s needs, he must be able to put them at ease while interacting with them, build trust and respect with customers and clients.
3. Negotiation skills: It is a general opinion that negotiating means underestimating the seller. On the contrary, it is a skill in business which, when developed, makes you an astute minded businessman.
4. Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines: An event manager should be able to handle pressures and deadlines at ease. In spite of meticulous planning and arrangement, a small error or miscalculation can wreak havoc and disrupt the entire schedule. At such testing times, you should be able to remain calm and cool and perform your role as though everything is under control, so that others are not adversely affected.
5. Teamwork, facilitation and co-operation: Needless to say, one of the most important things in event management is the ability to work as a team. One should not only know how to lead a team but also work in co-ordination and co-operation with subordinates to execute jobs. The event manager should be able to build efficient teams of people and facilitate their effectiveness. Always remember, “There is no ‘I’ in Team”.
6. Planning, co-ordination and organization: This involves the ability to effectively coordinate and organize oneself, others, information and/or situations at a personal and/or organizational level.
7. Networking skills: An event manager needs to build up his own network. The greater number of contacts he has the more successful he will be. Any kind of business can be only expanded through contacts of perspective clients therefore having the skill and aptitude to interact and connect.

Key Drivers

Direct Costs

These are costs most familiar to event planners. They are the costs of hosting an event. Examples of direct costs include venue costs, food and beverage, travel, entertainment and rental equipment. Hopefully you are reconciling your budgets and have a good handle on direct costs.

Indirect Costs

Indirect costs offer a more complete view of the investments to run an event. They include salaries and overhead of the teams involved in staging an event as well as other shared expenses. Indirect costs are calculated using accounting processes such as activity-based costing, which assign attributed costs to products, services and events. To understand the indirect cost of your event, work with your finance team.

Opportunity Costs

Events have an opportunity cost. Your organization chooses to deploy its resources to an event as opposed to digital marketing, or some other activity. These alternative sources of value comprise opportunity costs. To understand this cost, you need to know the benefits the other activities would yield as compared to your events.

Knowledge Exchange

Knowledge exchange is the accelerated learning that occurs during events. This interaction between customers, prospects and the company can help shape product development, increase learning, fine tune marketing, and speed receptivity to sales. Your events must create an environment to share knowledge, which leads to brand equity and attributed revenue.

Brand Equity

Some benefits, such as brand equity, are more intangible and cannot be measured through hard dollars. Brand equity doesn’t deliver immediate monetary rewards, but event attendance has an impact on brand attitudes. Consumers like well-known and admired companies, which leads to doing business with that company. Brand equity can help propel Customer Lifetime Value, the long-term profit contribution from a customer. Your events should leave a positive impact on your attendees, driving positive brand equity.

Attributed Revenue

Organizations market and promote their products at events which drives future revenue. Onsite product demos and account planning conversations help fill the sales pipeline, fuel new sales, and increase customer renewals. As those new opportunities result in new business, the dollars can be attributed to the event as attributed revenue.

Direct Revenue

Direct revenue is the money made directly as a result of hosting an event. Examples include ticket sales, sponsorship dollars, registration fees, onsite product sales and advertising revenue. Direct revenue varies based on the size and scope of the event. This is the money you are hopefully calculating today to show the value of your event.