U18A1 P1 P2 M1
Unit 18 Assignment 1
P1/2
The skills required of an event organiser
Communication
An event organiser has to be able to communicate well to make the event
successful, Sarah Lynn plans events for the council which means they are usually
larger events and therefore lots of people need to be communicated with to be
able to pull it off. Sarah needs to be able to communicate information to
everyone involved, for example the people who are supplying the marquees for
Flavour Fest, she has to be able to tell them how many marquees she needs and
when she will need them. This communication has to be done well to ensure
everyone knows what is going on, bad communication could lead to people not
turning up at the right place or not knowing what they are supposed to be doing.
Problem Solving
Problem solving is an important skill for an event organiser such as Sarah
because she has to make sure she has a backup plan for everything because
people can drop out last minute, or problems may occur and she needs to be
able to fix these issues to ensure the event can still occur and be successful. For
example, if a celebrity chef dropped out of Flavour Fest, she would need to be
able to organise someone to fill in for them.
Organisational Skills
Organisational skills are key to ensure that Sarah can stay focused on multiple
tasks, this is important because sometimes she may have to work on more than
one event, as well as needing to be able to focus on multiple smaller tasks within
a project. Good organisational skills ensure Sarah’s time is used efficiently and
that everything can run smoothly. For example, during Flavour Fest, she needs to
be able to be sorting out sponsors one day and marquees the next without
spending loads of time finding the details and information for these different
tasks due to poor organisation.
Time Management
Sarah has to be able to manage her time, for example being able to know which
projects to prioritize when and to not leave everything to the last minute because
this can lead to mistakes being made and things not being as good as they could
be if time had been managed better. Some things have to be done months in
advance, such as permissions for road closures which takes a minimum of 3
months, so she has to be able to know when she will need to ask for certain
things to be able to have things sorted in time for the event. During Flavour Fest,
Sarah has to make sure she knows how many marquees will be needed so that
she can let the marquee hiring company know enough in advance to ensure she
will be able to have the amount of marquees she needs on the right day.
Ability to work under pressure
, This is an important skill to have when planning events because things can go
wrong last minute, such as people dropping out, and Sarah has to be able to
things of a resolution quickly which can be difficult when under the pressure of
the event being really soon. Without this skill, the event may not be able to occur
or may not be as successful as it could have been if last minute issues aren’t able
to be resolved to the best of their abilities considering the time frame.
Planning
Sarah has to have good planning skills because she has to be able to plan what
she wants to happen, where it will happen, who will be there, etc. She also needs
to plan her timeline, so when she will be contacting certain people about it, when
she will be advertising, how she will do this, and so on. Sarah will need to deal with
different stakeholders when planning, including internal stakeholders, city
council, and external stakeholders such as contractors, sponsors and traders,
etc. Planning is important in making sure everything will come together, for
example during Flavour Fest she has to be able to plan when to start advertising
the event, when to release the celebrity chefs, where to advertise it, and how to
advertise is.
Resource Management
When planning an event, Sarah has to have good resource management skills,
this includes being able to use resources effectively. She has to ensure all the
resources, such as marquees, kitchens, lighting, tables, etc are organised, as well
as having backup plans in case these things break. During Flavour Fest, Sarah
has to be able to organise all of these things for the event, they are crucial for
the event to be able to happen, without it there wouldn’t be an event so it is a
very important skill.
Negotiation Skills
Sarah has to make sure she can negotiate with people to ensure she gets the
best deals on things to keep within budgets, as well as to be able to get what she
wants and needs for the event to be the best she can. For example, she would
need to negotiate sponsorships for events such as Flavour Fest. If the event is
not occurring on city council spaces, she would need to negotiate with the land
owners about the prices for using the space, etc.
P2
Pre-event (concept stage)
Event Purpose
Sarah has to decide what the purpose of the event is, she would have to look at
who the client is, what they want, and what they want to achieve through this.
Flavour Fest is aimed at foodies and people interested in trying different foods, it
also looks to encourage tourism within Plymouth as it is the largest food and
drink event in the South West so people who are interested are likely to come
from out-side of plymouth. Flavour Fest aims to celebrate local producers and
restaurants as well as to encourage a better profile of the city.
Sarah will need good communication skills for this step because she has to be
able to understand what the client is wanting and be able to discuss ideas on
how to do this. Knowledge and experience is also an important skill for this
