Producing an event is the step by step formula for event planning that is used from the conceptualization of an event to the actualization of the event. It involves the stages passed through to make an event successful. Event planning can be said to be similar to movie production since it involves; conceptualizing the event, planning the event, marketing the event, managing the event, selling tickets to the event and many more elements.
Sporting events, such as the World Cup, are a great example of an event that has an ongoing global market. Be sure to catch tonight’s UEFA 2014 World Cup Qualifier soccer game -England vs. Montenegro!
Here are some of the stages of producing an event.
Event Conceptualization and Analysis
The first step of planning an event for marketing is seeing a need for producing an event. It is important to establish a specific goal that can be accomplished before you decided to move forward with event marketing. Smart event production managers do a market analysis to determine their demographics and to seeing a gap that needs addressing. A good example is a sporting event. After realizing there is a lot of teams that are practicing and performing well in a sport, an event producer may come up with a sporting event that brings all these teams together to enhance the competition. The teams will get rewards for their hard work; while at the same time make the event producer makes money as well. In the above example, there is a need, a platform and a result. Many event producers utilize the S.W.O.T. (Strengths, Opportunities, Weakness, and Threats) analysis to come up with events
Event Preparation
Event planning involves budgeting, setting the dates, looking for venues, getting permits and taken care of the event logistics. No event can be successful without strategic planning of how an event should flow. In the example above, event producers would select the participating teams, secure the venue, sell the tickets to the event, look for venues and begin promoting the event.
Getting Partnership
Most events are not funded by an individual. Rather, it is a collective effort by many individuals with an interest in the event. In the example above, the event producers can apply for government grants, broadcasting rights, in addition to reaching out to sponsors from sportswear manufacturing companies, those who wish to advertise in the stadiums, people with financial muscle to fund the operations etc. Event production is big business. Event producers are seen as the ultimate bosses of the whole event.
Event Calendar
Event planning also involves coming up with a calendar of the event. Proper timing is crucial here. You should not plan an outside ice skating event during summer. Similarly, you should not plan a fun family event when kids are in school. Also, it is important for event producers to do their homework when selecting an event date to ensure that there are no other competing events on that same day in order to maximize attendance.
Logistics
An event producer will be directly involved in the event logistics team. Event planning involves coming up with a budget for the event. Logistics such as infrastructure, hospitality, ticketing, human resource management and quality assurance can require a lot of funds to finance. An event producer, being the financier in chief of an event, needs to be in the know of how this money is being utilized. In short, event production is the umbrella to all the other activities done when organizing an event.
