Event Management

Event management is the area of project management that is applied to create and develop festivals, events and conferences. As a marketing tool, event management entails studying a brand, establishing a target audience, determining the concept of the event, handling the logistics and coordinating the technical aspects before the event, as well as doing a post-event analysis and making sure that there is a return on investment. Promotional events are undertaken by companies with the dual goal of communicating with their existing client base and find new clients.

Just like in marketing and advertising, there are event management agencies which organize corporate events such as product launches, press conferences, corporate meetings and conferences; marketing programs like road shows, grand opening events; and special corporate hospitality events like concerts, award ceremonies, film premieres, launch/release parties, fashion shows, commercial events; and private events such as weddings and bar mitzvahs. Clients who hire an event management agency may expect it to either manage a single area of the event, or actually take care of all creative, technical and logistical elements.

The person upon whom this some or all of this responsibilities may fall is known as an event manager. An event manager not only plans an event, but may also be running it as it is taking place. They can be in charge of brand building, marketing and communication strategy as well. Event managers should be proficient at the creative, technical and logistical elements that lead to the success of an event. This entails event design, audio-visual production, scriptwriting, logistics, budgeting, negotiation and customer service. In order to plan an event, the manager has to carry out several tasks, such as site surveying, client service, brief clarification, budget drafting, cash flow management, supply chain identification, procurement, scheduling, site design, technical design, and health and safety.