Introduction
In 2011 Wittenborg University and the University of Brighton decided to develop a Master of Science programme in International Event Management, and launch this at Wittenborg’s campus in Apeldoorn from September 2012, for both fulltime and part time students. Partnered with the University of Brighton, the International Event Management programme will be a strong combination of teaching and curriculum from a large UK University and the diversity and international character of a small Dutch Business School. This will be a real partnership with more than 50% of the curriculum being delivered by lecturers from the University of Brighton, who will be flying into Apeldoorn to teach a diverse and mixed group of Dutch and international participants.
The creation of an international event management Master programme in Apeldoorn required a number of steps to be taken. These included, defining the profile of an event manager, within an international setting, as well as defining the core knowledge and competence capabilities that an internationally orientated event project manager should aspire to achieving. This meant looking at trends and developments from a global perspective. However a consideration is that most graduates would often be in a working situation in which the notion of “think global, act local” would be an important one. Wittenborg essentially works in a global education market, and its students often come from around the world; however its Event Management programme is also geared towards professionals in the Netherlands, and even those directly in the Apeldoorn region. The University of Brighton / Wittenborg MSc in International Event Management is designed to train managers capable of managing an event from its conception to its completion from both marketing and an operational viewpoint.
The profile of an event manager:
According to recent figures, Companies spent 7% of their annual budget in events-based communication. Because of the rapid growth in this field, companies are seeking flexible, well qualified and trained people.
The overall profile of an event manager has developed in recent years, from a specialist arranging large entertainment or sports events to an all-round general project manager, in companies and organisations of all sizes. Event project managers are not only applying their project management skills to large projects such as trade fairs, conferences and festivals, but companies are also formalising the organisation of meetings, site visits, corporate hospitality events, press conferences, social occasions, marketing events, quality audits, training, the list goes on. Often in smaller organisations, the notion of a specific event manager is not even been defined, however the role is fulfilled by marketing staff, or Pas, or facility managers – all needing the same ability to plan, conceive and resource events. Due to the changing role, and the imbedding of the concept Event Manager, within even smaller SMEs, more and more organisations are formalising the function, and looking to professionalisation of the their even project managers.
In many organisations, event managers have become crucial to the successful branding of an organisation, it products and its strategic marketing strategy. These managers have a clear understanding of the impact that changing socio-economic, political, cultural and ideological environments can have on the creation and innovation of company or organisation events. For instance, the impact of global events such as the Tsunami in Japan, or more local events such as excruciating austerity measures having to be introduced by the Greek, Spanish even the Dutch government.
Traditionally, companies and organisations have employed the services of event management agents or services to help them create, design and implement large scale events, and event managers are also required to market themselves and an their services, by showing their creativity, their ability to provide scaling and cost ability. Many organisations still outsource their larger scale event management to external organisers, and even in the private sector individuals are employing professional event management bureaus to organise weddings, anniversaries, and private occasions such as house openings, for instance. However, nowadays, when it comes to companies and organisations, both in the corporate and SME sector, the daily need for synergy between event planning and organisation on the one hand, and branding and marketing on the other calls for a clear event projected management role internally, even if external bureaus are also employed.
The event manager is a great manager of people, often from different levels and backgrounds within an organisation. Knowing who the stakeholders are and what underlying ambitions a company, an organisation, a city or even a country has can be essential for the positioning and execution of some events, however even the organisation of a simple meeting can have great impact if organised, or not organised in line with the expectations of stakeholders (both in a positive or a negative way). For instance, sustainability is a driving ambition behind many companies aspirations, and even being used in organisational branding, requiring a strategic planning, from a sustainability viewpoint, to the organisation of events both internally and externally.
Event managers will often need a sharp sense of entrepreneurship, or more importantly, “intrapreneurship”. These means that they will be able to use their creativity and innovate whilst at the same time evaluate risk and pitfalls, and deal with crisis from a methodical and measured way. Event managers will need to understand budgets, cash-flows and often be at the forefront of fund raising and sponsorship acquisitions (bootstrapping).
The role of an event manager in an international operating organisation
As we have seen, the role of an event manager, within an organisation, is more than often a combination of different skills and competencies ranging from the communicative to the strategic, and the creative to the financial. From an international perspective, other issues become more important, such as language, cultural awareness, social and political correctness and often an even greater depth of understanding of products, brands and perception on an international, possibly global market.
At a company level, the international event manager is even more of an ambassador for the organisation. Often they will have direct dealings with similar experienced people in companies from abroad, sometimes operating in a different language than English. They will more than often also be the first person that delegations meet when visiting from abroad, and the last person to see them off again!
An organisation’s international event manager will need to have good knowledge of the countries their organisation is doing business with, their cultures and sometimes even their languages.
A simple example; for instance a company that organises an onsite visit for a delegation of business representatives from a particular city or province in China, and plans dinners and social events around the company meetings, must however ensure that the visitors’ aims and objectives are clearly understood, and that any social programme appeals to their cultural tastes and expectations. Similarly, there is no point in planning a field trip to visit factories in China and suggesting that you will “look after yourself” after the meetings, or in the evenings! Often an international event planner who speaks good Chinese is essential for the success of the event, which in turn can bring success to the project or business being supported by the event.
Of course, it is not suggested that every company have international event managers who speak tens of different languages: - an all-round event manager who speaks good English can go a long way, however if the main core of an organisations business is with China, then it might be an excellent idea to make sure that at least one of the team speaks good Manadrin.
Rationale for a Master programme for (International) Event Managers
Companies and organisations that operate within either a local or international / global market are constantly refining and tuning their practices, often following standardised quality systems. The move from ad-hoc event management to organised and carefully planned events has even taken hold in smaller SME organisations, with protocols and procedures being developed by event project managers for meetings, sales pitches and even marketing driven press conferences, at which journalists are pampered, prepared in advance, provided with written agendas, USB-sticks of important, and especially useful, texts and generally made to feel part of an event rather than a plain announcement.
The Master of Science in International Event management is a programme aimed not only at international students, but also at local professionals in the Netherlands, who can study the programme part-time over a period of 2 years, enabling them to combine their studies with work.
The programme is open to professionals from all industries and organisations who are involved in the planning, organisation and execution of events, from meetings to congresses, from opening events to sporting events and from a business gala to a national concert. Of course the programme is also open to professionals directly from the events industry, who wishes to learn and research more about their profession.
For companies, employees following a professional master in Event Management will develop their knowledge and understanding at a broader, more holistic level, for instance learning more about risk and investment or fundraising and sponsorship. They will look at project management from the perspective of event planning and organisation management. As an individual, a Master of Science degree is an extremely valuable asset to your CV, and the Event Management Master is also open to candidates who have more than 5 years working experience in a related area.
What we have seen in this short description of the development of the profile of an international project manager, and of what that person can bring to a company or organisation, is that there is an increasing need for staff to be able to think strategically, look at the planning and branding of events and their organisation from a top level, taking into account the aims and aspirations of the highest level stakeholders, such as shareholders, customers, governments, whilst understanding the dilemmas and challenges faces by stakeholders on the work floor, the operational and organisational aspects. Event managers are increasingly being asked to be creative and innovate, whilst balancing risks, they are expected to be part of a company’s overall strategic marketing and branding policies, and in some branches can even be asked to play a driving role in these.
Many organisations employ staff in event management positions that have not studied event management specifically, but have come into the professional from other educational and work experience backgrounds. Organisations are looking to professionalise and heighten their staff knowledge and awareness, and for these event managers a Master programme in International Events Management is an ideal way to increase their value and potential for an organisation!