TASK 1 Operational Manual
Introduction
The food exhibition event is a useful activity to integrate different food habits and streamline cultural foods. Event production is a critical concept in the event management process. The event management has to apply various ideas and techniques to make the event pertinent and successful. Exclusive event management strategies are in the limelight, which is to be executed. From event planning to event outcomes, everything is to be managed and controlled. This report revolves around a food exhibition event on the school premises. The revenue has been generated by selling old school books. Also, the event management sold tickets. Faculty members were free to participate in the event. Design, catering, health & safety are the central departments. The event management streamlined food from Nigeria, Kongo, England, South Africa, Angola Ghana, Ivory Coast, and India
The rationale for the Event
The rationale for the event is to promote the sustainability event. The food exhibition event is a sustainability event, which streamlines several cultural healthy food trends. The most important thing is to gather people from different regions and make them taste different kinds of food. Also, people and event management have to assess food hygiene. Food Standard agency provides the hygiene assessment criteria. Every food item, derived from a different country, has to score (0 to 50). The main objective of the event helps people find healthy food and know different food cultures. Also, it seems an excellent opportunity for chefs to optimise the different foods of their countries.
Aim & Objectives
- The objective of the event is to donate the money to the library for the event department.
- The objective is to raise funds by selling books and tickets
- The aim of the event management is to promote the sustainability event
- Improving attendance is one of the prominent objectives of the event. The objective is to have attendance of 100 staff and students.
- Promoting networking among the GSM community is important, and it seems one of the mainstream objectives of the event.
Planning and Management
Definition: Planning and management are a prominent organisational concept to attain goals and objectives. The plan is a process of formulating different event strategies to meet event outcomes. On the other hand, management is a process of managing, controlling, organising, and monitoring the whole process to set the right direction to meet goals and objectives. This particular event is triggered by effective planning and management (Shone and Parry, 2010).
For Instance, the financial planning of the event was in the limelight due to useful fund collection. Every event stakeholder or event member donated £50 for food and £10 for T-shirt won on the day of the event.
The food exhibition has been conducted with adequate planning. The event management had several event activities to plan. For Instance, the event management planned group formation and event idea, book sales, monetary contributions, financial deadlines, catering services, T-Shirt design, venue view, group brainstorming, and feedback from previous subgroup meetings, the appointment of the speaker, ticket distribution, program posters, and event day commences. The management set 7 days for planning each activity. In seven days, these activities were navigated by the management regarding the feasibility and alternatives. Every activity tool sometimes, and within six days, the administration completed it. The 7th day was set to evaluate, monitor or review the activities. In all these activities, the event management used democratic or participative management approach to perceive different ideas, thoughts, opinions and reservations of various members or stakeholders. Thus, due to effective planning and management, the management expected the successful execution of all strategies, which were put in the Gantt chart (Artto and Kujala, 2008)
Gantt chart
Health and Safety
Definition: The health and safety are a process of reducing the vulnerability of all stakeholders in the event.
In this food exhibition event, the safety of people, including chefs and participants was important. The event was vulnerable due to valuable equipment, large crowd, cash handling, and the visibility of VIP guests. The risk assessment form was filled out by the management and shared with the event team. Based on the recommended precautions, several initiatives were taken. For Instance, to enable the security and safety of guests and internal stakeholders, the team hired first aid volunteers. These were trained people, who were always ready to resist any unfavourable activity. The most important thing was to give them access to the emergency services in the worst-case scenario. Also, the risk assessment form depicted the location of the first aid. On the sitemap, for instance, outside the room, volunteers intended to provide the primary aid services. The line of authority was also visible. The event organiser hired staff to monitor cameras in and outside the premises and take action. The event organiser and security team was authorised to make decisions immediately. The emergency evacuation plan was set along with the emergency evacuation alert system to control the crowd. There were some hidden exit points in the premises and security volunteer took responsibility of the emergency exit.
Interestingly, before and during the event, authorities conducted the audit of exit points. These exit points had to be clear to facilitate crowd. The event management adopted two different crowd controlling techniques or strategies. Queue management and optimising wayfinding were two active crowd controlling procedures. The plan was to reduce injuries or casualties in case of any debacle (Caterwings.co.uk, 2018).
On the other hand, as far as the health of participants was concerned, the medical team was there to treat possible food positioning and any other possible health problems such as suffocation and vomiting, etc.
Also, for workplace safety, the event organiser used different signs. For Instance, no smoking sign was used to stop possible Fire ascendant. Moreover, a white and blue circle sign was there as a mandatory action sign in case of an emergency. Hazard, Fire equipment signs, and safety equipment signs were used by the organisers to ensure the workplace safety.
Some prominent safety or prohibition signs in and outside the premises is the following.
Venue Site Design
Definition: Venue site design is a part of the event planning process. In the venue site design, the event management intends to create an atmosphere, which is pertinent to the event process, production, and purpose. In short, it is a process of designing the event environment (Getz, 2007).
Seven Facets of Event Design
Catering
Catering is the process of providing food in an event or organisation.
Catering for this food exhibition event was remarkable. The catering was a mixture of traditional country foods and drinkables. The best thing about this catering was the freshness. People had to see the chefs’ cooking food. Guests were divided into different segments. The event management assessed the food preferences and made the queue. For Instance, a group of people wants to eat or taste Indian food. The chef will interact with only this group. Every chef has to cook for 20 people, in the first round.
Content
Content is the kind of information that people may get into an event.
Music, cooking, art, and culture were three main elements of the content. Chefs were also cultural representatives of their countries, as they communicated with people to explore their culture, food and cooking art. The organisers arranged a notebook for people to write recipes about different foods. Posters recopies, and information about ingredients was highlighted (Berridge, 2007).
Entertainment
Amusement or enjoyment is called entertainment
Soft Rock, Jazz, and funky music was the part of the entertainment. Also, people were free to tell stories, have fun, and enjoy costumes.
Environment
Everything around people is an environment.
The room was covered with chef’s stalls. Bright white light made everything clear and precise for people. Speakers were arranged in the middle for music and announcements. Chefs were serving food in plates. Posters were hung in the middle. People were free to take pictures and enjoy different food items. People looked foodie in the environment.
Production
Production is an output of any effort or contribution.
The production of the event was the food. The whole team set the stage for chefs and people to enhance the visibility of interactions and explore the food culture. The school premises were redesigned temporarily for staging, tending, and flooring (Bowdin, 2012).
Program
A specific set of operations is called a program.
From group formation to event day commences. All activities are included in the event program. Also, on the event day, the program is to set the stage, create the space for guests or visitors (Carr and Newell, 2014). The mainstream program is triggered by the time (Everett and Swanson, 2015).
12:00: VIP arrivals
12:15: Speech
12:30: End of the VIP Luncheon
12:45-15:00 GSM Students
16:00 End of the Event
Theme
The event theme is also in the limelight due to the relevancy. For Instance, the event theme is integrated with the purpose and message. The purpose of the food exhibition is to streamline the hygiene food items from different cultures. People had to integrate with the culture of the different region. Food brought people together, and it also helped to derive other cultural insights (Ferdinand and Kitchin, 2012).
Site Communication
Site communication is a communication technique to facilitate people. Site communication contained several entry signs and information regarding several food events.
Parking Sign
This parking sign facilitated visitors. Organisers put the sign near the car park or enable organised parking. In the congested area, this sign was necessary to use. It facilitated incomings and outgoings in the event (Hassanien and Crispin, 2011).
Conversely, the event organisers helped people to gain information regarding the ingredients. Notebooks, posters, and direct interactions with chefs helped to meet this purpose. Spreading the information regarding hygiene food ingredients was the part of the food exhibition theme.
Temporary Structures
The temporary structure of the event is a design of the venue, which is temporarily shaped to conduct the event. Rearranging the room with lights, long tables, table covers, and the CD player was the plan to build the temporary structure of the food exhibition event (Times.com, 2019).
Lights
Using white lights, fixed to the roof ceiling, was a good idea by the event management to save the cost. It seemed a bright white light, which made everything prominent. Also, the administration conducted this event in the day. Thus, some daylight also made it delightful.
Long tables
Chefs use long tables to arrange the cooked food. It was easy for chefs to make a queue beside the long table and put the food boxes on it. Accordingly, people also made the queue. It was one of the better techniques when serving food to different people.
Table covers
There was no table cover for chefs and visitors, as tables were well furnished. However, in the bookselling process, members used light blue table covers on long brown tables.
CD player
By using a modern CD player, the staff or members played favourite music of the people. The CD player integrated with a sound system, and it helped for speeches and important announcements.
Working with Various Stakeholders
Working with various stakeholders was a wonderful experience for event management. They managed to make a team of 19 members successfully. Due to the support of the GSM, the event organisers made the effective management team to delegate the world such as security, health safety, and volunteer for emergency planning and execution. GSM students were the primary stakeholders of the event because they gave the space for the event and raised funds for use. Being volunteers, they bought tickets for £3. The library of this educational institution worked as a critical stakeholder because it gave old books to sell to generate the revenue. GSM students rationalised the event by gathering support from outside the institution. They called friends and some security professionals, who provided the volunteer services. Thus, the contribution of all these stakeholders in making the event successful is quite visible (Berridge, 2007). The stakeholder theory comes into the life when considering GSM students as stakeholders. The management had to know internal and external stakeholders to justify what really counted.
Production Technology
The production process needs modern technology to bring effectiveness and efficiency. In this food exhibition event, organisers used electric burners to cook food. High voltage generators were used to enable the backup supply of power. It is a fact that the high-resolution cameras helped to record the event. On the other hand, people were using mobile phones to take pictures. The event went live on different social media channels to grab the attention or attraction of an immense range of people. Some group members supplied the music to play on the CD player. High-quality sound system made the event noisy, and people enjoyed it. Mobile phones, music players, and camera shooting were some critical tools for the event management. The sound system was compatible with playing different audio or video inputs. It was a complete sound system, which played music and enabled effective and frequent communication. Some group members bring different technological equipment such as mobile phones, cameras, and music. It looked a volunteer work, which made the event successful and relevant. Production technology is important for the food event for better interaction with people or participants (Thongpapanl, 2012).
Ethical and Sustainability Considerations
Some ethical considerations were also visible to make the whole event sustainable. For Instance, the management used plastic cups and plates, which were to be recycled after the end of the event. Keeping the cost of the event low was the priority by using sustainable materials. Ethically, people threw plastic cups and plates in recycling boxes (Bins). Also, integrating with eco-friendly activities was a right idea. Using disposable and bin bags helps people to contribute to this sustainable event. Instead of putting everything in the garbage, bin bags made the used material reusable. Economically, T-shirts and catering services were offered at discounted prices. The low cost of the event was possible due to these discounted prices. It made the people’s entry in the event easy (Shone and Parry, 2010).
In the end, it is to conclude that the food exhibition in the school premises was a successful event. From the event planning and management process to ethical responsibilities, the event management showed responsibility. All critical stakeholders, including volunteers, worked effectively with the event members. The event optimised the objective of the food exhibition to enhance the people’s response. People’s assertiveness to participate, taste food at a low price, and the exploration of different cultures are measured to assess the success of the event management (Park and Park, 2017).
TASK 2 Critical Reflection
What went well?
The best thing that the event management has experienced in this event was the people’s appurtenance. People’s assertiveness was in the limelight, as people wanted to integrate with the different food cultures. Interestingly, it was good to incorporate with the mixed reactions of people regarding the food items of different countries. The uniformity of members was remarkable, as members managed the whole work effectively. The best thing in this event was the work delegation. For Instance, organisers were looking to make different teams and delegate the work. Based on several skills and capabilities, the management delegated the process regarding the decision making, problem-solving, and several crowds handling techniques. Security measures triggered the event. Security roles were distributed among team members precisely. The strength of the event was the information or communication.
Every food item was labelled. People wanted to know the information regarding the ingredients on food items. It seemed like a process of spreading the knowledge of the event. People learned cooking methods, unique tastes, differentiated recipes, and information regarding ingredients. Thus, it can be said that the event objective was fulfilled effectively. It has been revealed that 78% of people liked the event, and it depicts its success. 22% of people did not like the event due to different reasons. People’s feedback is a valuable insight for the management to make better decisions at the end. If a group of people does not like the event due to many reasons, it should be taken positively. Sustainability initiatives worked well in the event, as volunteers and participants or visitors contributed to making the sustainability program successful. People appreciated the use of plastic cups and plates, as these were easy to carry. Internally, worker’s bonding was quite strong. The event management celebrated the birthday of one member. It portrayed the friendly culture of the organisation. Overall, the event went well. However, many things are to be reconsidered in the future to integrate with new event management and food exhibition trends (Mair and Whitford, 2013).
What didn’t go well?
A few things did not go well in the event. First, time management was the big issue. Some things did not get completed on time, which increased the frustration among the participants. The arrival of VIPs created distraction in the production process. They had to arrive on time, but they were late. Thus, it distracted the production process. The decoration looked traditional in this event because the management used the same lights, which were fixed to the ceiling of the roof. Instead of just using bright white lights, the firm could use colourful lights to create a unique environment. The element of creativity and innovation was missing. People faced a shortage of plastic plates and cups. People were looking for cups and plates till the end of the event.
The event team brought more groceries to facilitate people. However, the overcrowded situation created problems. It made the bad reputation of the event, as some people walked out of the premises. 2% of people had a ticket refund because they thought that the food was not sufficient. Also, people had reservations over the crowd handling approaches. Debacle during the food distribution was the big issue, which restrained few people to taste the unique cultural food. People who came from western culture were willing to taste every food. However, large food quantity remained at the end. It was food waste, which put some questions on production management as well. 78% of people enjoyed the food and the event was successful. However, the venue looks congested for people. It seems like a big lesson to learn. For Instance, many people like to buy a ticket on the event day. It caused the overcrowded situation at the end (Jerbrant, 2013).
What could be done to make it better next time?
There are many things which can make the event better in the future. From event planning to ethical responsibility, event management has to evolve with time. The prominent role of the event administration is to create awareness in the school premises. So far, the website has not been used to create awareness. Thus, in the future, an appropriate marketing plan to create awareness and enhance the positioning is needed. It is a better technique to welcome foodie people. The event ownership should change the dependency regarding the finding. Instead of selling old books from the library and using it in the event production, the team has to give it back to the library. The event management needs to search for some investors to conduct the event. Still, the budget of the event is low because of limited financial funding. The event intends to improve time management. Time management techniques are better options for event organisers to start and end the event on time. A timely managed event may save the cost and time of both organisers and visitors. Instead of decorating the venue, there is a need to hire a design team. The design team may share some attractive ideas to make the event beautiful and attractive. The design team must assess the possible or available space in the venue and make decisions. The most important thing is to navigate all possibilities in the limited area, and the design team can do it in a better way. Furthermore, there should be an adequate quantity of plates and cups. The management should not repurchase the material because it increases the cost and creates a bad impression on participants. A vote of thanks should be provided by team members to perceive the lecturer’s content and students. Tickets should be sold online as well, as it can help people to save their time and money as well. Online traffic may go in favour of the company.
Managing the event has been always a big challenge. However, by using effective event management techniques, the difference can be made. Some flaws have been obtained from the whole process, and the management is entirely up to it to make some improvements and come up with some better arrangements in the future (Hassanien and Crispin, 2011).
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