Event Studies

Event Studies

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Books in the Series

Management of Event Operations

Julia Tum, Philippa Norton and J. Nevan Wright

Innovative Marketing Communications: Strategies for the Events Industry

Guy Masterman and Emma. H. Wood

Events Management 2e

Glenn A. J. Bowdin, Johnny Allen, William O’Toole, Rob Harris and Ian McDonnell

Events Design and Experience

Graham Berridge

Marketing and Selling Destinations and Venues: A Convention and Events Perspective

Tony Rogers and Rob Davidson

Human Resource Management for Events

Lynn Van der Wagen

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Event Studies

Theory, Research and Policy for

Planned Events

Donald Getz

AMSTERDAM • BOSTON • HEIDELBERG • LONDON • NEW YORK • OXFORD • PARIS

SAN DIEGO • SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO

Butterworth-Heinemann is an imprint of Elsevier

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Butterworth-Heinemann is an imprint of Elsevier

Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP, UK

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First edition 2007

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ISBN 10: 0-7506-6959-4

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Contents

Series editors ix

Series preface xi

Preface xiii

Dedication xix

Acknowledgements xxi

List of figures xxiii

1 Introduction and Overview of Event Studies 1

What Is Event Studies? 2

Event Studies: Core Phenomenon and Major Themes 9

2 The World of Planned Events 17

Describing and Classifying Events 18

Planned versus Unplanned Events 27

Typology of Event Forms 30

3 Foundation Disciplines: Part One 49

Introduction 50

Anthropology 50

Sociology 55

Psychology 61

Environmental Psychology 65

Social Psychology 68

4 Foundation Disciplines: Part Two 75

Philosophy 76

Religious Studies 78

Economics 80

Management 89

Political Science 98

Law 101

5 Foundation Disciplines: Part Three 105

Introduction 106

History 106

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vi Contents

Human Geography 114

Future Studies 119

6 Closely Related Professional Fields 127

Introduction 128

Parks and Recreation Management: Leisure Studies 128

Tourism Management and Tourism Studies 138

Hospitality Management and Hospitality Studies 146

Education and Interpretation 147

Communications, Media and Performance Studies 152

Arts and Cultural Management 158

Cultural Studies 159

Sport Management and Sport Studies 160

Venue, Club and Assembly Management 162

Theatre Studies 163

7 The Event Experience and Meanings 169

Defining ‘Experience’ 170

A Model of the Planned Event Experience 177

Generic and Specific Types of Planned Event Experiences 182

Meanings Attached to Planned Event Experiences 196

8 Event Design 207

What is Event Design? 208

Designing the Setting 212

Theme and Programme Design 223

Service Design and Quality 228

Design of Gastronomy and Other Consumables 230

9 Antecedents and Choices 235

What Are Antecedents? 236

Barriers and Constraints 245

Decision-Making 249

Post-experience Evaluation and Feedback 253

10 Management of Events 257

Leadership, Founders and Organizational Culture 258

Organizational and Inter-organizational Behaviour 264

Planning and Decision-Making 271

Operations and Logistics 275

Marketing and Communications 278

Resources and Financial Management 282

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Contents vii

Human Resources and Volunteer Management 286

Risk, Health and Safety 291

Research, Evaluation and Information Systems 293

11 Outcomes and the Impacted 299

What are Outcomes and Impacts? 300

Personal Outcomes 301

Social, Cultural and Political Outcomes 303

Economic Outcomes 309

Environmental Outcomes 314

Impact Assessment and Cost–Benefit Evaluation 317

12 Events and Public Policy 327

What Is Public Policy? 328

Justifying Public-Sector Involvement 329

Economic Policy and Events 334

Cultural Policy and Events 337

Social Policy and Events 340

Environmental Policy and Events 342

Public Policy-Making 344

13 Creating Knowledge in Event Studies 351

A Framework for Knowledge Creation 352

Philosophy and Knowledge 355

Research Methodologies 359

Research Purposes and Methods 362

A Research Agenda for Event Studies 371

14 Conclusions 383

The Planned Event Experience 384

Designing Experiences 386

Antecedents and Choices 387

Conclusions on Management 388

Conclusions on Outcomes 389

Conclusions on Events and Public Policy 390

Conclusions on Creating Knowledge 391

Final Comments 392

References 393

Index 427

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Series editors

Glenn A. J. Bowdin is Principal Lecturer in Events Planning at the UK Centre for Events

Management, Leeds Metropolitan University where he has responsibility for man￾aging events-related research. He is co-author of Events Management. His research inter￾ests include the area of service quality management, specifically focusing on the area

of quality costing, and issues relating to the planning, management and evaluation of

events. He is a Member of the Editorial Boards for Event Management (an international

journal) and Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, Chair of AEME (Association for

Events Management Education), Charter Member of the International EMBOK (Event

Management Body Of Knowledge). Executive and a Member of Meeting Professionals

International (MPI).

Don Getz is a Professor in the Tourism and Hospitality Management Program, Haskayne

School of Business, the University of Calgary. His ongoing research involves event￾related issues (e.g., management, event tourism, events and culture) and special-interest

tourism (e.g., wine). Recent books include Event Management & Event Tourism and Explore

Wine Tourism: Management, Development, Destinations. He co-founded and is a Member of

the Editorial Board for Event Management (an international journal).

Professor Conrad Lashley is Professor in Leisure Retailing and Director of the Centre

for Leisure Retailing at Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University. He

is also Series Editor for the Elsevier Butterworth Heinemann Series on Hospitality Leisure

and Tourism. His research interests have largely been concerned with service quality

management, and specifically employee empowerment in service delivery. He also has

research interest and publications relating to hospitality management education. Recent

books include Organisation Behaviour for Leisure Services, 12 Steps to Study Success,

Hospitality Retail Management and Empowerment: HR Strategies for Service Excellence. He

has co-edited, Franchising Hospitality Services, and In Search of Hospitality: Theoretical

Perspectives and Debates. He is the Past Chair of the Council for Hospitality Management

Education. He is a Chair of the British Institute of Innkeeping’s Panel Judges for the NITA

Training Awards, and is Advisor to England’s East Midlands Tourism network.

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Series preface

The events industry, including festivals, meetings, conferences, exhibitions, incentives,

sports and a range of other events, is rapidly developing and makes a significant con￾tribution to business- and leisure-related tourism. With increased regulation and the

growth of government and corporate involvement in events, the environment has become

much more complex. Event managers are now required to identify and service a wide

range of stakeholders and to balance their needs and objectives. Though mainly oper￾ating at national levels, there has been significant growth of academic provision to

meet the needs of events and related industries and the organizations that comprise

them. The English-speaking nations, together with key Northern European countries,

have developed programmes of study leading to the award of diploma, undergraduate

and post-graduate awards. These courses focus on providing education and training

for future event professionals, and cover areas such as event planning and manage￾ment, marketing, finance, human resource management and operations. Modules in

events management are also included in many tourism, leisure, recreation and hospital￾ity qualifications in universities and colleges.

The rapid growth of such courses has meant that there is a vast gap in the available

literature on this topic for lecturers, students and professionals alike. To this end,

the Elsevier Butterworth Heinemann Events Management Series has been created to meet

these needs to create a planned and targeted set of publications in this area.

Aimed at academic and management development in events management and related

studies, the Events Management Series:

● provides a portfolio of titles which match management development needs through

various stages;

● prioritizes publication of texts where there are current gaps in the market, or where

current provision is unsatisfactory;

● develops a portfolio of both practical and stimulating texts;

● provides a basis for theoretical and research underpinning for programmes of study;

● is recognized as being of consistent high quality;

● will quickly become the series of first choice for both authors and users.

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Preface

There is great satisfaction to be derived from producing, assisting or participating in a

planned event, but the study of events is equally fulfilling. I am always delighted to

learn more about the great diversity and historical development of events, fascinated by

their multi-faceted importance and meanings in every society, and ever-curious about

the planning and production of unique event experiences. Event Studies includes event

design and management, but it is also a lifelong voyage of discovery about the very

nature of culture and civilization.

Can you remember your first special event experience? For me it was the county fair,

or the travelling circus, I cannot remember which came first. They were thrilling and

memorable family experiences. When I was young we annually visited large regional

and national exhibitions in Kitchener, Toronto and Ottawa, trips that were the high￾light of summer holidays. I will never forget Expo 67 in Montreal, both as a family

experience and a national celebration – it was Canada’s centennial year, my brother got

married, and I moved away from home to start university. There are many event experi￾ences that will always stand out in my fondest, most poignant memories, from those

early family occasions, to trips with my own wife to attend the first Canada–Russia

hockey showdown and with children to attend musical theatre. My frequent global

travels often include exotic cultural experiences, new sport events and stimulating

conferences. It’s a beautiful world of events.

What meanings have you attached to your event experiences? What about your own

personal milestones, the graduations, anniversaries, weddings, the birth of children –

How were they celebrated? Do you enjoy meeting new people, participating in sport

events or going to concerts with friends? Just how important are events to our personal

and collective lives? We do not even have to think about economic impacts and cul￾tural policies to realize that planned events are timeless and vital parts of civilization,

of life itself.

My first goal in writing this book is to build a solid foundation for the profession of

event management. It is my belief that simply teaching how to design or produce an

event is equivalent to teaching a trade or an art, whereas teaching event management

absolutely requires a dual foundation in management theory and Event Studies. My

second aim is to establish Event Studies as an academic field on par with leisure, sport

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xiv Preface

or tourism studies. This new academic field can have its home in the social and behav￾ioural sciences, although it will also draw in a multi-disciplinary fashion from arts,

humanities, design and engineering. A third major aim is to examine the myriad policy

issues related to events, and to provide the basis for rational and inclusive policy-making.

Hopefully this will advance the development of planned events.

Who Is This Book Written For?

For Students

Primarily I have written this book for students, to be used as a text for senior under￾graduate and graduate students in event management degree programmes, and for other

graduate students pursuing research degrees in any discipline or field that involves

planned events. This book provides the theory and knowledge base for your careers in

event management, for conducting event-related research or policy-making pertinent

to events.

Each chapter starts with Learning Objectives which both indicate the main topics

covered and the knowledge areas you are responsible for. Not all learning objectives can

be met through this book alone, but the foundations are all present. Experience, further

reading and additional studies are needed to completely master all the questions.

The many Research Notes included in the text connect you to the vast and diverse litera￾ture pertaining to events in many academic disciplines and related professional fields.

You will need these sources to undertake research, to inform your essays and to eventu￾ally assist you in making real-world decisions. Look at the research journals represented,

as collectively they probably cover the most relevant sources for your own research.

In the early chapters on disciplines and closely related professional fields, numerous

theoretical foundations and methodologies are presented. They might be confusing and

even seem irrelevant at first, but in the later chapters you will be able to see the appli￾cations to events. Most of these connections are made quite clear in the text, but some

you will have to search out.

A Summary and Study Questions conclude each chapter. Use these to prepare for exam￾inations by trying to write an answer for each study question. I always recommend

that students study in groups, each writing an answer that will be shared with and con￾structively critiqued by others in the group. Further Readings are some of the sources

cited in the text that will provide greater depth of understanding, or connect you to

many event management and event tourism applications.

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