Events Design and Experience

Events Design and Experience

Prelims-H6453.qxd 11/21/06 5:35 PM Page i

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 (second edition)

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

Events Design and Experience

Graham Berridge

Marketing Destinations and Venues for Conferences, Conventions and Business Events

Rob Davidson and Tony Rogers

Human Resource Management for Events

Lynn Van der Wagen

Prelims-H6453.qxd 11/21/06 5:35 PM Page ii

Events Design and Experience

Graham Berridge

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

SAN DIEGO • SAN FRANCISCO • SINGAPORE • SYDNEY • TOKYO

Butterworth-Heinemann is an imprint of Elsevier

Prelims-H6453.qxd 11/21/06 5:35 PM Page iii

Butterworth-Heinemann is an imprint of Elsevier

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

30 Corporate Drive, Suite 400, Burlington, MA 01803, USA

First edition 2007

Copyright © 2007, Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or

transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher

Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier’s Science & Technology Rights

Department in Oxford, UK; phone: (+44) (0) 1865 843830; fax: (+44) (0) 1865 853333;

email: [email protected]. Alternatively you can submit your request online by

visiting the Elsevier web site at http://elsevier.com/locate/permissions, and selecting

Obtaining permission to use Elsevier material

Notice

No responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons

or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or

operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress

ISBN-13: 978-0-7506-6453-0

ISBN-10: 0-7506-6453-3

Typeset by Charon Tec Ltd (A Macmillan Company), Chennai, India

www.charontec.com

Printed and bound in Great Britain

07 08 09 10 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For information on all Butterworth-Heinemann publications

visit our web site at http://books.elsevier.com

Prelims-H6453.qxd 11/21/06 5:35 PM Page iv

Contents

Series editors vii

Series preface ix

Preface xi

List of figures xvii

List of tables xix

List of case studies xxi

Part One: Study of Events: Rationale 1

1 Defining Events 3

2 Event Management Literature 23

3 Events Industry 41

4 UK Events Education 55

Part Two: Ideas of Experience and Design for Events 63

5 Understanding Experiences 65

6 Understanding Design 81

7 The Experience Industry and the Experience Economy 115

8 Experience Design 159

Part Three: Analysis of Events 177

9 Analysing Event Interaction and Experience 179

10 Using Symbolic Interaction to Analyse Event Experiences 197

11 Studying the Significance of Event Design 247

References 281

Index 293

Prelims-H6453.qxd 11/21/06 5:35 PM Page v

This page intentionally left blank

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 managing

events-related research. He is co-author of Events Management. His research interests 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 and 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 and 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 manage￾ment, 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 advi￾sor to England’s East Midlands Tourism network.

Prelims-H6453.qxd 11/21/06 5:35 PM Page vii

This page intentionally left blank

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 contribu￾tion 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 stake￾holders and to balance their needs and objectives. Though mainly operating at national lev￾els, there has been significant growth of academic provision to meet the needs of events and

related industries and the organisations that comprise them. The English speaking nations,

together with key Northern European countries, have developed programmes of study lead￾ing 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 management, marketing, finance, human resource management and

operations. Modules in events management are also included in many tourism, leisure,

recreation and hospitality qualifications in universities and colleges.

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

● prioritises publication of texts where there are current gaps in the market, or where cur￾rent 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 recognised as being of consistent high quality;

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

Prelims-H6453.qxd 11/21/06 5:35 PM Page ix

This page intentionally left blank

Preface

Completing the final touches of this book coincided with the final of the FIFA 2006 World

Cup, the second biggest event in the world. According to most commentators the event was

organised wonderfully well with the whole of Germany and its’ host cities joining the cele￾bration and providing not only a football tournament but also a cultural festival par excel￾lence. Cities that hosted matches played their part with free festivals and exhibitions and the

whole event was, to coin a phrase, a true celebration of global football’s finest. The World

Cup also saw the real breakthrough of ‘vicarious events’ or ‘vicarious spectating’ with most

of the major cities showing the games live on large screens located in or around the main

city centres. In some places numbers watching these live transmissions were estimated at

over 50,000. Although not the first time this had happened the 2006 World Cup was the first

time it had been an integral part of the design of such an event. But then in the final

moments of the tournament itself a strange thing happened. With the World Cup Final

match between France and Italy concluded, the officials prepared the podium in the centre

of the stadium for the presentation of the winners and losers medals. France collected theirs

and Italy theirs and then, inexplicably, the proceedings stuttered. Fabio Canavarro, the Italian

captain, was left waiting almost in state of suspended animation as he prepared to act out

the final and pinnacle moment of the event, the lifting of the World Cup itself. The players

readied themselves for that moment of optimal pleasure, when as winners, they alongside

fellow countryman in the stadium and around the world watching on TV, would cheer in

exalted delight as the captain hoisted the trophy aloft. And they waited. And they waited a

bit more. Finally, in one of the most bizarre conclusions to a major sporting presentation,

an Italian squad member (believed to be the reserve goal keeper) sidled up to the trophy,

grabbed it and thrust it into Canavarro’s arms. He duly did the rest. After some 5 years of

planning and organising was this final act deliberately designed to unfold in this way? The

question we have to ask is: Was it really in the organisers’ mind to have this, the optimal

experiential moment of the World Cup for players and spectators alike, to be carried off in

such unbecoming circumstances? The hoisting of a trophy is the symbolic finale of many

such sports events and provides the conclusion to what has often been a long and arduous

endeavour by the players to reach this pinnacle of success. As such it should be seen as a key

experiential moment in the unfolding of the whole event, much like the ‘kiss’ after wedding

vows, and is therefore an occasion that should be carefully and deliberately designed since

it is providing the culminating and defining moment for the winners.

This example illustrates the importance of such pivotal occasions for event experiences for

they help provide memorable moments that often form the basis of our recollections of them.

Prelims-H6453.qxd 11/21/06 5:35 PM Page xi

xii Preface

It also shows that if we do not plan and consider every minutiae of an event then it is easy for

such occasions to be disrupted and for the flow of the experience to be, albeit momentarily,

interrupted. In modern society such pivotal moments are features of events all over the

world, and are becoming more so as the value and presence of events is becoming more

recognised both for individuals and society. In this relatively golden period for the industry

more than ever events are used to showcase someone (celebrity events, weddings, birthday

parties, awards), something (new product, brand, service) or some place (country, region,

city, town, attraction). Many events today seek to make a stunning visual impact, something

that is commonly referred to as the ‘wow’ factor. The term is sometimes erroneously used

suggesting that there is only one single ‘wow’ moment when in fact there can often be sev￾eral but serves its purpose to help highlight that an event contains elements of spectacle that

enthuses, and possibly even enraptures, those attending. It can be the total impact of a single

event or the result of several occasions within an event but what is clear is that to create such

an impact requires careful and detailed planning to design the requisite outcome. The expe￾rience of either participating or attending such events is becoming increasingly framed by

recognition of the components that create these occasions. As such they are carefully and

deliberately designed. The components used largely reflect the purpose and concept of the

event and can consist of many and numerous elements within the event. It is the study of

these deliberately designed event occasions and the components used to create them that are

the focus of this book.

This book is nominally divided into three sections. Chapters 1–4 provide the underpin￾ning rationale for the study of events. Chapter 1 re-visits attempts to define events and

explores the characteristics of event management and there is a case study on designing

an event for different stakeholder. Chapter 2 provides a brief overview of the main focus

of event management literature, in particular examining the general event texts that deal

with event organisation and impact. There is also a preliminary discussion on the role of

design in event literature. In Chapter 3 the discussion moves on to explore the emergence

of the events industry looking at the significance of the Millennium and Olympics as a

vital boots in the industry’s new found recognition and highlights key trends in specific

events sectors. The emergence of event management education is outlined in Chapter 4.

These chapters are by nature introductory and are not meant to be definitive on any of the

topic areas. They serve only to highlight some of the key points about the study of event

management that enables this book to be written. Chapters 5–8 are concerned with

exploring and analysing ideas on experience and design for events. The study of experi￾ence is explored within the context of leisure and tourism in Chapter 5 as a way of under￾standing how the notion of experience can be applied to active and passive occasions,

whilst Chapter 6 looks at the definitions of design and its applicability for event manage￾ment, arguing that it should be seen as an integral part of the whole process of manag￾ing an event. It includes a case study on participatory design and a Discovery Channel

launch. The emergence of the experience industry or economy is the focus of Chapter 7 that

examines the core concepts of experience and offers examples of how event experiences

Prelims-H6453.qxd 11/21/06 5:35 PM Page xii

Preface xiii

can be studied. Bringing the two ideas of experience and design together is the subject of

Chapter 8 with further observation on how specific experiential elements of an event can

be designed. Chapters 9–11 are concerned with the analysis of events. Chapter 9 introduces

symbolic interaction and explains its use as a tool for developing experiential foresight in

event design and for analysing event experiences via case study on Formula 1, whilst

Chapter 10 applies the model of symbolic interaction to study event experiences through

the six different elements of experience. Finally, the meaning and interpretation of events

is considered in Chapter 11 by explaining and applying the concept of semiotics to events

and event communications. There are several learning activities and case studies used

to illustrate key points and these increase in number and depth as the reader progresses

through the chapters.

There are several occurrences at events, much like the one described above, that have influ￾enced me to attempt this study. I frequently wondered how was it that I could turn up to an

event and come away feeling unhappy about what I had experienced. In studying these

events I persuaded numerous researchers to analyse and evaluate their experiences with me.

Their responses often confirmed by own analysis of some of these events, that they too expe￾rienced emotions of displeasure, disappointment and sometimes even anger at the way the

event had been organised. They also experienced emotions of enormous pleasure as well, or

optimal arousal as studies of experience tend to call it. In investigating this further I realised

that academic critical analysis of these event experiences was not in great supply and that the

approach to the study of events adopted a fairly conventional route, a route that was tradi￾tionally positivist and often lacking in critical insight into the way an event had been

designed. I wondered, if all events were good, then why is that I have attended several

events and not felt this to be the case. Why have I come away with the feeling that the expe￾rience of attending, participating or working at a particular event has been less than perfect?

In some cases the experience had been so poorly designed that it was little more than a

charade to call it an organised event and in some others I left feeling that not only had value￾for-money not been had, but that the events were simply commercial merchandising

opportunities disguised as events, consequently they were poorly designed and executed,

presumably put together on a whim but with sufficient business acumen to attract people via

effective communication strategies. In some cases I was appalled at what I saw as the most

glaring and obvious design flaws in the event, where, amongst other things sound, text,

image and lighting competed with each other rather than complemented each other.

Such uncertain experiences seemed at odds with the emergence of what O’Sullivan and

Spangler call the ‘experience industry’ or Pine and Gilmour refer to as the ‘experience econ￾omy’. The concept of experience has developed into various models for studying and

explaining aspects of marketing whereby a product or service are ‘imbued with additional

qualities’, qualities above and beyond their actual real time usage. It has also been applied

as a concept for describing some of the features of events and the experiences of guests or

participants who attend. This means that a Gala Night or Awards Ceremony or Prom is seen

Prelims-H6453.qxd 11/21/06 5:35 PM Page xiii

xiv Preface

as not only as an ‘event function’ but is created and construed as an experience (occurrence,

occasion or moment) specifically designed to illicit a positive and meaningful feeling of well

being for those attending. This feeling should be one whereby they have, in some way, been

internally reached or touched; emotionally, physically and psychologically by what their

senses have noted and that some element of this experience has been the result of interac￾tion with other people or objects. The focus of this book is to critically unravel the way some

of those experiences have been designed. During the next 11 Chapters many ideas on events

design and experience will be introduced some of which appear to contradict each other

and some of which appear to be of little relevance to event management.

The purpose of this book is not to create a definitive model for analysing event experiences

but rather through the help of selected case studies to show how a number of concepts can

be applied to the study of the design and experience of events. Some of the concepts over￾lap, for instance the idea of interaction is a feature of symbolic interaction and experiential

theory. The tools are provided to help the reader begin their own process of analysing event

experiences and to understand why elements of an event have been designed in such a way.

One way to explore the experience of an event (or any other kind of activity) is to obtain

responses of those at the event, and there are several methods of experiential analysis rang￾ing from immediate experience, immediate recall to post reflection. This often results in sat￾isfaction responses, which after all is a reasonable tool to evaluate an event, but tends to be

very much a quality based or customer service exercise looking at issues around promptness

of service in the cafeteria, cleanliness and response of staff to queries, etc. And whilst it can

be used for deeper insight it is rarely used to explore issues of design, environment or ambi￾ence. A common feature of modern events (especially larger exhibitions, conventions or con￾ferences) is to have a stand of computers where visitors to the events can complete a simple

multiple-choice questionnaire on the event and its organisers and sponsors. The list of ques￾tions tends to produce valuable statistics that can no doubt be later used for market research,

but this type of evaluation of the event barely touches upon the design of the event or the

nature of experience at the event. Another way to study event experiences is to apply theo￾retical tools to vicariously study the event, that is to look at the signs inherent in the event set￾ting and attempt to understand some of the meanings and messages behind what we see and

to interpret these. This observation requires that we understand the significance that differ￾ent elements have to play in creating the environment and enables us to critically examine

how these elements have been constructed so that we can ask questions about their effect. In

this way we can begin to explore some of the thematic elements that have been introduced

and deconstruct their meaning and the experience created.

At the root of this point is the idea that an event, for some stakeholders but not all, is an

activity that is, at that point, meant to be unique and memorable. And outside of business

events, visits to or participation in them is for most people part of their leisure experience,

their freely chosen use of time. What we want from that time is of course something

Prelims-H6453.qxd 11/21/06 5:35 PM Page xiv