Events And Entertainment Planning And Project Management

The event: the entertainment aspects of it

Discuss about the Events and Entertainment Planning and Project Management .

Event management is defined as that domain of management that utilizes project management  concepts, tools and techniques   so as to plan and materialize large scale events like  that of formal  parties, convocation, festival, conferences  and so on and so forth (Rojek, 2014).

The students of the  University of Plymouth have arranged for  an event,  with  the  aim of raising funds  that would  be donated to one of the most  renowned  NGOs of the United Kingdom,  the  WDC or  the Whales  and Dolphin Conservation.  The details of   this event have been provided  in  the report.

The students  of the  University of Plymouth (in cooperation  of the  administrative   authorities of  the  organization) have decided  to  conduct   the “Save  the Dolphins Weekend” at the  University premises. The   said festival   would include the following events for the students of the institute,   the alumni and their families:

1. Stage Performances:
2. Performances confirmed so far: AQ Flying Orchestra, Beat Breakers, Blue Spots, Co Op Big Band, Fanfara, Haunt the Woods, Kouatchou, Reggasjas, RSVP, The Turbans and Yaaba Funk.
3. Traditional Thai dance performances presented by the Plymouth Thai Association

iii. Traditional Indian dance performances presented by the Plymouth Indian Association

1. Performances by the song writer-singer students of the Plymouth University
2. The Plymouth Film Program: a screening of short movies developed by the students of the Plymouth University.
3. Workshops
4. Zumba lessons by the students of the Plymouth University
5. Salsa lessons by the students of the Plymouth University (Turner, 2016). 

iii.Spanish Guitar lessons by the students of the Plymouth University

1. Activities for the alumni and their families
2. Campus tours for the alumni and their family members.
3. Reunion for the alumni

iii. A harbor cruise trip

1. Health checkups

The total revenue generated from the festival would essentially be donated to the Whales and Dolphin Conservation, so as to assist them in their worldwide activities.

The scope of the project

The scope of the project includes the following:

1. Making arrangements for all the performances, activities, workshops and programs that have been mentioned in section 2 of the report.
   
   
2. Develop and conduct the programs in a manner that creates awareness regarding the conservation of dolphins and whales among the audience.
   
   
3. Making lodging arrangements for the alumni and the other spectators who visit the University during the festival.

The project being described in this report has the following objectives:

1. To organize and conduct a festival that would entertain the spectators.
   
   
2. To create awareness among the spectators regarding the need for conserving the underwater ecosystem and the activities being conducted by the ‘Whales and Dolphin Conservation’.

iii.   To raise significant amount of funds that would be contributed to the WDC.

The budgetary estimation of the project is being provided below:

Table 1:  The budgetary estimation of the project

(Source: Developed by author)

The target audience for the event can be divided into the following classes:

1. The students enrolled to the Plymouth University: The under-graduate and post-graduate students, along with the research scholars who are currently enrolled to the Plymouth University are being considered as the primary target audience of the festival ((Turner, 2016).
   
   
2. The alumni of the Plymouth University: The alumni of the Plymouth University (as well as the members of their families) are expected to participate in the festival.
   
   
3. The faculties and administrative personnel associated with the Plymouth University are also expected to be presented at the festival along with their families (Kerzner, 2013).

In the following sections of the report, discussions have been made on the schedule  of the entire  project, along with  the expected outcomes  and deliverables of the project.

The schedule of the project has been provided in the table below:

Table 2:  The schedule of the project

 (Source: Developed by author)

The figure below depicts the Gantt chart of the project.

Figure 1: The Gantt chart of the project

(Source: Developed by author)

The following outcomes are being expected from the project:

1. The successful conduction of the Save the Dolphins Weekend Festival.
   
   
2. Awareness regarding the conservation of the underwater ecosystem (Kerzner, 2013). 
   
   
3. Significant amount of funds for supporting the activities of Whale and Dolphin Conservation.

The deliverables of the project are:

All project reports including the budget and schedule estimations, the contracts being made with the performers, the permissions granted by the government authorities, the expenses being made, etc (Hill, 2013).

Background of the event

The progress reports of the project, submitted on a weekly basis.

The final events to be held on 15^th, 18^th and 19^th of July, 2016.

The structure of the project management team has been   depicted in the figure below:

Figure 2:   The structure of the project team

(Source: Developed by author)

The following section of the report emphasizes on the stakeholders associated with the   project and the methods that would be utilized for communicating with them as and when the project commences.

The stakeholders associated with the project under consideration have been enlisted below:

1. The administrative authorities of the University of Plymouth: The event in consideration is not only being supported by the administrative authorities of the University, but the said authorities are making active participations in making arrangements for  the festival (Hill, 2013). 
   
   
2. The festival committee: The festival committee (consisting of students and faculty members of the University) are responsible for making all the arrangements necessary for conducting the festival.
   
   
3. The sponsors of the festival: The sponsors of the project are facilitating the financial activities of the project. Thus, the sponsors are being considered as one of the primary stakeholders of the project (Crawford, 2014).
   
   
4. The target audience of the festival: The students presently studying  at  the University  of  Plymouth, the faculty members   of  the University and  the alumni ( along with  their family member) are being considered  as the  target audience, as  well as one of   the key stakeholders of   the festival.
   
   
5. The ‘Whale and Dolphin Conservation’: The ‘Whale and Dolphin Conservation’ or the WDC    would be highly benefitted from the festival (the revenue generated from the festival would be donated to this very organization) and thus should be considered as one of the stakeholders of the project (Heldman, 2013). 
   
   
6. The performers: The success of the entire festival depends on the performances of the performers, thus the performers are being included in the list of stakeholders of the project under consideration.

 The stakeholder analysis matrix of the project under consideration is being provided below:

Table 3: The stakeholder matrix of the project

(Source: Developed by author)

The following table depicts the methods to be utilized for communicating with the stakeholders   of the project:

Table 4: The communication management plan

(Source: Developed by author)

The following risks, associated with   the project, have been identified:

Table 5: The Risk Management Plan of the project

(Source: Developed by author)

 The following techniques would be utilized for evaluating and controlling the project   under consideration:

Project control:  Tools like Tracking Gantt charts,  control charts and baseline Gantt charts help  in comparing  the progress  made by the  project (on a particular date) with the expected progress of the of project on that  particular date, which in turn can be used for  controlling  the  project (Heagney,  2012). 

Project evaluation: The earned value analysis method is widely utilized for evaluating the progress   made by the project (terms of completion of activities and utilization of budgetary resources) and  would be utilize  while evaluating  this project (Kerzner,  2013).

Conclusion:

The entertainment aspects of the Save  the “Dolphins Weekend”, along with its aims and objectives have  been  discussed  in  section 2 and 3  of the report, while an  estimation  of the budget  required for  conducting the  event has  been provided  in section 4. The   other  aspects   of  the  project, like that of the structure of  the project team,  the tools and techniques being utilize for  managing the resources,   the project communication and risk management plans and the control  techniques to be  utilized by the project manager  has also been  discussed  in the report. In the  light  of  the discussions made  in the report, it can be  concluded   that  the said event  can be successfully  conducted, thus  meeting  the  aims and objectives of the project.

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