In this module, you will be given the opportunity to learn the theories and principles behind the successful planning and delivery of conferences and events both in house and externally. You will cover areas such as:


Literature review, research design, data collection, data analysis and data presentation e.g. Stone Food and Drink Festival, Christmas market events, event industry

Designing and running interviews and focus groups

Ethics, health and safety and risk assessment

Strategies for planning events and conferences

Stakeholder Analysis

Customer satisfaction

Venues and logistics

Events sales and marketing (in house and external)

Risk management

Themed event design and delivery

Human Resource and Budget management

Developing and selling events



By the end of this module students will be able to design and run a customer survey to analyse and to produce relevant outputs for an organisation to use for future marketing and other activities. The development of skills starts as a team activity with the intention of a student being able to do this independently in their Level 6 Knowledge Exchange Project module.

Careful planning is essential for the success of any meeting, event, or conference.



A1 will allow students to demonstrate an understanding and awareness of the events sector and then in A2 apply this knowledge by pitching a fully justified and reasoned ‘live’ event idea to industry professionals.



A1:

Poster presentation (LO1)

Guidelines:

Design an appropriate mystery shopping measurement tool suitable for the visitor attraction based on the principles and management theories surrounding service delivery and customer satisfaction.

Participate in a field visit to a visitor attraction and complete the mystery shopper exercise

Report back findings (via the poster presentation) the areas of the event/conference that were done well (consider customer experience) and areas of the event/conference that can be improved (consider customer satisfaction)



A2: Event Pitch (LO2-3)

Based upon the theoretical underpinnings provided in class and after evaluating a ‘live’ event students must now in groups of 2-3 present an event proposal.



An in-class presentation (15 minutes plus five minutes questions) with a conceptual overview of the event focusing on several key principles:

Conceptual overview of the event, giving an indication of the event typology & event characteristics

Event details, financial/ marketing/ operational feasibility, competition considerations

Structure, impact and delivery standard



Students should aim to deliver a highly professional and persuasive pitch, giving lots of detail as well as ‘selling the event concept’. It will be free of basic mistakes an demonstrate a strong understanding of event management theory.



ALL members of the group must contribute.

The learning strategy for this module is based around students committing a total of 200 hours of activities towards achieving the learning outcomes. These will be split between 48 hours of direct contact with a tutor and 152 hours of directed, guided and self-study, together with preparation for and completion of, the assessment tasks.



The module will draw upon a mixture of activities including lectures, web-based activities, case study analysis, relevant videos and in-class discussions, individual and group problem solving and self-directed learning



Students will be required to attend an event in a sector, i.e. sport, meetings or cultural, in order to provide a written analysis and underpin their own ‘live’ event idea.



The tutor led sessions will tend to follow a general pattern of introduction of a topic and provision of frameworks and models for student learning, followed by application by students to appropriate data or case study materials. Students will be expected to perform set exercises/case study, etc., these will include the analysis, discussion and presentation of case-based work both individually and as part of a learning group. Students will be expected to obtain supplementary information from a number of sources as part of their preparation, as recommended by the tutor.

Engage with and analyse a specific event sector

Enquiry
Learning
Application


Gain an understanding of the importance of creativity in event design

Knowledge and Understanding


Communicate an event concept to industry professionals

Communication

VLE learning support material to be provided for independent /self-directed learning.

Module handbooks

Open Textbook Library

Selected contemporary problem/practice-based case examples

Arnott, I., Nadda, V and Sealy, W. (2020).¿Legal, Safety, and Environmental Challenges for Event Management: Emerging

Research and Opportunities.¿ United States:¿IGI Global.

Armstrong, D. and Allan Scott, J. (2016) The Event Professional's Handbook: The Secrets of Successful Events. Petersfield: Harriman House Ltd

Clifton,¿D.¿(2019).¿Hospitality Security: Managing Security in Today's Hotel, Lodging, Entertainment, and Tourism Environment.¿United States:¿CRC Press.

Getz, D. and Page, S.J. (2016) Event Studies; Theory, Research and Policy for Planned Events. Third Edition. Abingdon: Routledge.

Morgan, D., Pendergast, D., Wilks, J. and Leggat, P.A. (2021) Tourist Health, Safety and Wellbeing in the New Normal.¿(2021).¿Singapore:¿Springer Nature Singapore.

O'Toole,¿W.¿(2019).¿Crowd Management: Risk, Security and Health.¿United Kingdom:¿Goodfellow Publishers Limited.

O'Toole,¿W.,¿Silvers,¿J.¿R.¿(2020).¿Risk Management for Events.¿United Kingdom:¿Taylor & Francis.

Quick, L. (2020). Managing Events: Real Challenges, Real Outcomes. United Kingdom: SAGE Publications.

Raj, R., Walters, P. and Rashid, T. (2017) Events Management: Principles and practice. 3rd Edition. London: Sage Publications Ltd.

This module will aid your understanding of how to operate as an event practitioner. The first part of the module is experiential in nature put you in the mindset of analysing the event by considering what has been done well and what needs to be improved. The second part of the module puts you in the driving seat by allowing you to explore the feasibility of delivering an actual ‘live’ event.



There is an included field visit