stakeholder management for an event and impact assessment

Stakeholder Management for Events and Impacts that Events Make

By : -

Neeraj Gupta

Stakeholders Stakeholders involved will vary from event to event and may include:

event organisers employees and volunteers service and contract providers (e.g. catering, merchandise, amusement

structures and equipment) emergency services (e.g. SA Ambulance Service, SA Police, Metropolitan

Fire Service, State Emergency Service, Country Fire Service, etc.) local council security services transport services (e.g. Department of Transport, Energy and

Infrastructure (DTEI)) regulators (e.g. SafeWork SA, Office of the Technical Regulator (OTR)) Media members of the public who attend the event

Classification of Stakeholders

Primary or Secondary Stakeholders for the events are there

Defined on the basis of nature of engagement and on the basis of impact they have on the event that is taking place.


Primary stakeholder groups are deemed essential to events as without them the event cannot happen or cannot take place.

Primary stakeholders are important because: “… without the direct support of these stakeholders the event would not exist”

Rest of the stakeholders will be known as Secondary stakeholders


The essential primary event stakeholders are defined thus as: employees; volunteers; sponsors; suppliers; spectators; attendees; and participants.

Secondary stakeholders are also important to the success and survival of the event but do not have the same direct impact upon the event as primary stakeholders. These stakeholders are classified therefore as: government; the host community; emergency services; general business; media and tourism organisations.

Some of the Stakeholder Groups are

Participants and spectators (supporting the event and being rewarded with entertainment); co-workers (who provide labour and support in return for payment and other rewards); the host organisation (reciprocal participation and support); the host community (impacts and context); sponsors (financial or in-kind support in return for acknowledgement and exposure to audiences); and finally media organisations (promoting the event in return for advertising revenue or editorial).

Stakeholder theory to the management of events

“… the organisation is a system of stakeholder groups and a failure to retain their participation will result in the failure of the enterprise”.

Event management is a strategic process, differing from other organisational contexts in terms of the often limited time-spans of events.

In managing successful events, it is essential to engage event stakeholders throughout the event planning process to gain community satisfaction and support for the event: resulting in competitive advantage.

Stakeholder Management

Capture multiple addresses and contacts at each organisation

Categorise organisations and individuals (customer, prospect)

Define organisation/stakeholder hierarchies and relationships

Define stakeholder roles and responsibilities Capture individual’s relationships with organisations

(advisor) Define account managers and team responsibilities Assign contact strategies and account management plans

Stakeholder Management

Store enhanced profile information (interests, memberships) View all interaction with the organisation, address and

individual Capture subscriptions and publication requests Manage preferences (methods of communication, opt outs) Create a consolidated view with information from external

systems1 View event history (interest, attendance, non-attendance) Pre-defined online surveys to capture feedback and

requirements

External Stakeholder Access

Secure access to restricted data and functionality

Update account/personal information Raise and track enquiries and issues Subscribe and unsubscribe from communication View and register for events Request a call/visit Request publications/literature items Membership portal for managing renewals

Various Impacts Events can have Events do not take place in a vacuum – they

touch almost every aspect of our lives, whether the social, cultural, economic, environmental or political aspects.

The benefits arising from such positive connections are a large part of the reason for the popularity and support of events.

Strategies are being developed to enhance event outcomes and optimize their benefits.

Various Impacts Events can have However, events can also have unintended

consequences that can lead them to have public prominence and media attention for the wrong reasons. The cost of event failure can be disastrous, turning positive benefits into negative publicity, political embarrassment and costly lawsuits.

Core task in organizing contemporary events is the identification, monitoring and management of event impacts.

Balancing the impact of Events Events have a range of impacts – both positive and

negative – on their host communities and stakeholders

Event manager need to identify and predict these impacts and then to manage them to achieve the best balance for all parties, so that on balance the overall impact of the event is positive.

So the success of the event depends on the event manager achieving this positive balance sheet and communicating it to a range of stakeholders.

Balancing the impact of Events Firms need to manage the Triple Bottom Line of the

events – Social, Economic and Environmental impact. Key success factors – Collaboration, Empowerment Tripple Bottomline approach Public-Private partnerships can lead to more

sustainable events Encourage corporate sector – training provider

partnerships to develop research capacities and to enhance outputs

Social and Community Impact All events have a direct social and cultural impact on their

participants This impact may be as simple as a shared entertainment

experience, as is created by a some social events or concerts.

Other impacts may include – Increased pride, validation of particular community

groups in society, lead to creation of awareness regarding the richness in some cultures, benefits of social inclusion, to highlight some issues of importance

Events have the power to challenge the imagination and to explore possibilities.

Social and Community Impact Live 8 concerts coinciding with G8 summit to highlight the plight of

Africa due to debt and Make poverty History campaign was used. As per the research undertaken to assess the impact of 2200 funded

Millenium Festival events found the following social benefits – Communities were mobilized and involved. There were high levels of community integration. Organizers and volunteers benefited from significant personal

development opportunities. High numbers of volunteers were involved, giving significant amounts of

creation of educational and recreational opportunities. Attracted a cross-section of the community to come and participate. Vast majority reported a strengthening of links in the local community

and an increased sense of local pride. Provided entertainment in a friendly atmosphere. More likely that festivals will continue in some form in the future.

Social and Community Impact Events can also have some cultural impacts and strategy

can be formed to using various themes to ensure that the desired cultural impact can be produced using an event.

New Governance Arrangements Showcase Developments and a strengthened economy An environment which supports good quality of life Local area strategies

Social and Community Impact

To celebrate some social gathering Some social events are more carefully planned and have an

impact on the emotional and intellectual outlook, in terms of pleasure, social interaction, stimulation of the mind, and the senses ranging from the consumption of food and drink to enjoying the atmosphere, participating in activities such as games or dancing, or doing unusual or sometimes outrageous things.

Social and Community Impact

Some negative aspects related to crowd behavior are – Some people consider the events to be disruption of their

normal daily routine lives, Some events lead to spectators trying to imitate events

activities which might not be acceptable socially outside the event venue

substance abuse, bad crowd behaviour and an increase in criminal activity

Effect on traffic

Tourism and Economic Impact

A primary concern of an event entrepreneur or host organization is whether an event is within budget and, hopefully, results in a surplus or profit. This is a simple matter of whether the income from sponsorship, merchandise and ticket sales exceeds the costs of conducting and marketing the event.

Events related to tourism are often seen as image makers, creating profile for destinations, positioning them in the market and providing competitive marketing advantage.


In addition to their spending at the event, external visitors are likely to spend money on travel, accommodation, goods and services in the host city or region.

This expenditure can have a considerable impact as it circulates through the local economy.

Provides a large number of business opportunities The media exposure generated by the success of an

event can dramatically illustrate the capacity, innovation and achievements of event participants and/or the host community.

Tourism and Economic Impact Whatever the generation of new business at the macro

level, the suppliers of infrastructure, goods and services undoubtedly profit from the staging of major events.

A research on Atlanta Olympics on 7 important businesses – a wholesale restaurant equipment dealer, 70-80 % increase in

business one-person home rental business for olympic visitors lost US$

23000 due to lack of games business frozen lemonade stand franchise failed due to problems with

inventory, staffing, unanticipated and unregulated competition and lower than expected attendance

an established beverage distributor, who became an approved Games vendor and reported increased profits through additional sales to usual customers

Tourism and Economic Impact A research on Atlanta Olympics on 7 important businesses

– a craft retail location at Stone Mountain Park, a major tourist

attraction for Atlanta, the owner lost US$10 000 on a special line of Olympic theme dolls, sculptures and so on, as a result of added costs and a lack of customers

UK-based currency service and foreign exchange business lost as people preferred to use debit cards or credit cards

an established sporting goods retail store that reported increased sales of established lines and regular merchandise, but not of Olympic merchandise stocked to sell in front of the store.


Generates Employment opportunities Governments use events as economic development

strategies – China as an example According to Faulkner (1993), the impacts of an event derive

from three main sources: expenditure by visitors from outside the region capital expenditure on facilities required to conduct the event expenditure incurred by event organizers and sponsors to stage

the event. Cost benefit analysis Monitoring long term impacts

Tourism and Economic Impacts

Political Impact

Political nature of Roman Gladiator games Now China have not sent their athletes to Archery

world cup in Japan because of unrest that is there now.

Some times some countries boycott some events because of political tension between the two countries

Sometimes strong political backing can lead to an event becoming so successful which was not imagined by the authorities organizing the event also.

Political Impact

These events sometimes provide those political powers a mechanism to showcase their superiority over the others.

Many a times various leaders fight with each other just to inaugurate a particular stadium or any other function.

That is why you can see Mamta Bannerjee going to Kolkata’s Eden Garden stadium to become a part of team’s success just to gain political milege.

Political Impact

Some times these events are used by the politicians just to show to the world that they are taking some serious steps so as to enhance the reputation of the place by highlighting the overall image of the place.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda also utilised the occasion of facilitating the olympic medal winners to showcase the work that his Government had done for upliftment of sports in the state.

Political Impact

Politics and politicians are an important part of the equation that is contemporary event management.

Shrewd politicians have had an eye for events that will keep the populace happy and themselves in power.

Governments around the world have realized the ability of events to raise the profile of politicians and the cities and areas that they govern.

Political Stakeholders to an Event

Political Parties Parliament Government Agencies Interest groups Local Council Funding bodies Companies Sponsors Local People

Political Impact

Physical and environmental impacts Host environments may be extremely delicate and great

care should be taken to protect them. A major event may require an environmental impact assessment to be conducted before council or government permission is granted for it to go ahead.

This impact will be fairly contained if the event is to be held in a suitable purpose-built venue, e.g. a stadium, sports ground, show ground, conference or exhibition centre.

Aspects such as crowd movement and control, noise levels, access and parking will be important considerations.

Physical and environmental impacts Other major issues may include wear and tear on

the natural and physical environment, heritage protection issues and disruption of the local community.

Waste management, recycling and sustainable events

Concern for sustainability and consideration of the environmental impacts of events is increasing, with a number of industry initiatives being developed.

An eight point action plan for the industry: Measure, monitor and report Raise awareness within the industry and with exhibitors, promulgate best

practice and report bad practice Improve environmental performance throughout the industry Ensures all areas of industry are compliant to Duty of Care Undertake research into how to improve applied practice & promote outputs

& encourage adaptation throughout industry Reduce waste to landfill with zero as the ultimate target Offset carbon dioxide emissions associated with exhibitions Education & training

For London 2012 Olympic games the agenda was Zero carbon – using non polluting energy resources Zero waste – reducing waste and then reclaiming, recycling

and recovering Sustainable transport – reducing the need to travel, and

providing sustainable alternates to private car use Use local and sustainable materials Local and sustainable food Sustainable water – managing rain and waste water Natural habitats and wildlife – increase ecological value Culture and Heritage Equity and fair trade Health and happiness

Seven steps given by UK sports for greening events Adopt a green policy Carry out an ‘Environmental Scoping Review’ of venues

and operations Establish environmental teams Define programmes and set appropriate targets Implement programmes Monitor implementation and adjust Evaluate and publicize results programme accordingly.

Physical and Environmental impacts

Development Implications

Some events do not have developmental implications at all or have a very little developmental impact.

Can you define the impact that events like Formula 1, Moto GP have

But there are some events which do have a developmental impact-

Name a few of them

Thank You