Events management at EF Corporate Solutions
Lehdonpolku, Ida (2019)
Lataukset:
Lehdonpolku, Ida
2019
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2019060514945
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2019060514945
Tiivistelmä
EF Corporate Solutions, which provides language training for organizations, annually organizes local and global events for business clients all around the world. The event planning and organizing process of local events relies mostly on Country Managers, and was detected to be quite unstructured. The numbers of attendees and cancellation rate were widely raised as the main concerns in events management while I was working at EF Corporate Solutions. Consequently, as the topic was alluring, the thesis was decided to construct a useful tool for managing events at EF, and aligning practices in various countries. Before completing the final product, a manual, the research aimed to find more specific current practices and bring alternative solutions for increasing the number of attendees and the effectiveness of events as sub-research questions.
The event life cycle has been considered from a project management perspective and the thesis as well as the manual follows the structure of five separate phases: initiation, planning, mobilizing, staging and closing. The guide book will be managed and updated by the Web Publishing and Events Manager at EF. The final product is mostly intended to be distributed for Country Managers and Marketing Managers of the organization in several different locations.
In order to set sensible limitations for the study, the research area was decided to be the Northern Europe Region, which have comparable markets, and the concentration would be on local events. The qualitative research methods: semi-structured interview and non-participant observation provided valuable information of current event management practices in the company. In October 2018, interviews were conducted with Country Managers of Finland, Germany, Netherlands and Sweden virtually, with an aim of gaining more information of their struggles as well as their best practices. The non-participant observation method provided with a detailed description of the event process in Germany 2018, and resembles other events organized at the company.
The other main issues detected during the research, besides a number of attendees and unstructured process, were mainly the lack of communication and insecurity regarding the real benefit (return on investment). Consequently, the manual provides the general instructions through all phases providing useful tools including event tracking instructions. The sub-research problem `how to attract more participants’, was concluded with a sentence: `more important than high number of attendees is to attract the relevant people`. However, a great number of relevant attendees can be achieved by an early-start in planning, active communication, and compelling content. The effectiveness of events is ensured by following the structured event process, and decisions that are made that follow the real objectives of the event.
The study concentrated on collecting knowledge from inside the company, and can consequently be developed to survey events from clients’ perspective. Feedback from clients seemed to be lacking, the following surveys could dive deeper into more specific issues detected such as feedback level, or conduct an interview survey that asks clients and prospects, what would make them more attracted to EF events. With the help of the manual, event organizers can manage events so that they are better related to sales and guide their actions more efficiently towards objectives that ensure better a return on investment.
The event life cycle has been considered from a project management perspective and the thesis as well as the manual follows the structure of five separate phases: initiation, planning, mobilizing, staging and closing. The guide book will be managed and updated by the Web Publishing and Events Manager at EF. The final product is mostly intended to be distributed for Country Managers and Marketing Managers of the organization in several different locations.
In order to set sensible limitations for the study, the research area was decided to be the Northern Europe Region, which have comparable markets, and the concentration would be on local events. The qualitative research methods: semi-structured interview and non-participant observation provided valuable information of current event management practices in the company. In October 2018, interviews were conducted with Country Managers of Finland, Germany, Netherlands and Sweden virtually, with an aim of gaining more information of their struggles as well as their best practices. The non-participant observation method provided with a detailed description of the event process in Germany 2018, and resembles other events organized at the company.
The other main issues detected during the research, besides a number of attendees and unstructured process, were mainly the lack of communication and insecurity regarding the real benefit (return on investment). Consequently, the manual provides the general instructions through all phases providing useful tools including event tracking instructions. The sub-research problem `how to attract more participants’, was concluded with a sentence: `more important than high number of attendees is to attract the relevant people`. However, a great number of relevant attendees can be achieved by an early-start in planning, active communication, and compelling content. The effectiveness of events is ensured by following the structured event process, and decisions that are made that follow the real objectives of the event.
The study concentrated on collecting knowledge from inside the company, and can consequently be developed to survey events from clients’ perspective. Feedback from clients seemed to be lacking, the following surveys could dive deeper into more specific issues detected such as feedback level, or conduct an interview survey that asks clients and prospects, what would make them more attracted to EF events. With the help of the manual, event organizers can manage events so that they are better related to sales and guide their actions more efficiently towards objectives that ensure better a return on investment.