Health & Safety

 

Health & Safety is a massive issue in the workplace. NOBODY can bypass Health and Safety! The health and safety of the people at events is the highest priority for any event team. The risks in this part of the events managers responsibilities are enormous, not just to the event but to the key stakeholders as well. Bowdin, G (2008). As an events manager there is no point avoiding it as the consequences are not worth it, each event manager as a duty of care to take care of all stakeholders on site, if the event manager failed to do this, the punishment that you would be faced with is something that you wouldn’t want to even think about.

There are legal reasons as to why event managers need to take health and safety so seriously and why they have to pay a lot of attention to it. The Health and Safety at Work Act was brought in in 1974, this is now a legal requirement and every workplace has to have this license. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 , also referred to as HASAW or HSW, is the primary piece of legislation covering occupational health and safety in the United Kingdom. The Health and Safety Executive is responsible for enforcing the Act and a number of other Acts and Statutory Instruments relevant to the working environment. Health and Safety Executive. (2006).

Describing how you will manage health and safety in your event will let your staff and others know about your commitment to health and safety. This will be your health and safety policy. It should clearly say who does what, when and how.If you have five or more employees, you must have a written policy. Is there anything positive about writing a health and safety policy? Yes, there is,  as the policy does not need to be complicated and is not time consuming  It is just clearly stating the responsibilities of employees, health and safety risks arising from work activities, consultation with employees, safe handling and use of substances, competency for tasks and training, accidents, safe plant and equipment, first aid and work related ill health and monitoring. Health and Safety Executive. (2009)

Just remember, don’t be fooled. Its really not worth the punishment…

References

Bowdin, G (2008). Events Management. 3rd ed. Australia: John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd. 615.

Health and Safety Executive. (2006). Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Available: http://www.hse.gov.uk/legislation/hswa.htm. Last accessed 11th Dec 2012.

Health and Safety Executive. (2009). Health and Safety Policy.Available: http://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/faqs/policy.htm. Last accessed 11th Dec 2012.

HRM

 

 

 

Human Resource Management ”is a series of activities which: first enables working people and the organisation which uses their skills to agree about the objectives and nature of their working relationship and, secondly, ensures that the agreement is fulfilled.” Torrington et al (2005), in essence Human Resource Management can mean a range of different things involving employees in the work place, for example, managing skills and deciding upon yourself and as a team who is best for which jobs, making sure employees are reaching targets and working to their full potential, welfare, disciplinary and rewarding employees, this shows that Human Resource Management is a highly significant element to the working industry. Essentially we need HR managers… Agreed?

Our job descriptions have a lot to do with HRM, when going into a job I like to know my job role and responsibilities, don’t you?  I like to know what’s expected of me so I can meet those expectations and more. We also have to have a job analysis, this is the process of collecting information in order to develop “a comprehensive awareness about specific jobs, including job descriptions and person specifications.” (Van Der Wagon, 2007). According to Caruth et al

“Job analysis is the most fundamental of all human resource management activities because all other human resource functions, especially staffing, depend to a large extent on then successful execution of this one activity…” (Caruth et al, 2009: 96-99).

Complicated I know?!

Volunteers are a huge part of events, as without volunteers many events wouldnt be a success.Volunteers also link in well with motivation, especially in this case as at Manchester Food and Drink Festival, there are a huge number of volunteers and they are given incentives which motivate them. A volunteer is “Any activity which involves spending time, unpaid, doing something that aims to benefit (individuals or groups) other than or in addition to, close relatives, or the benefit of the environment.” (Institute for Volunteering Research, 2002). Volunteers in Manchester Food and Drink Festival are crucial as without these volunteers the event would not be able to happen; volunteers are used in these types of events for many reasons, a couple being, community involvement and personal development opportunities.

So now do we understand why HRM is so important in the workplace? I hope so..

References

Torrington, D, Hall L and Taylor, S (2005). Human Resource Management. 7th ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. 14.

Van Der Wagon, L (2007). Human Resource Management for Events. 2nd ed. None: BH. 104.

Caruth, L and Gail, D (1997). Staffing the Contemporary Event. 2nd ed. USA: Prager. 96-99.

Institute for Volunteering Research (2002). Volunteering Stats. Available: http://www.ivr.org.uk/. Last accessed 30th November 2012.

Champagne Showers..

 

 

 

Sat here thinking what to write my next post on, when at the back of my mind I’m thinking one thing, that one thing is that I can’t wait to go out and have a few drinks with the girls, so here it was, why not write my next post on alcohol. Alcohol is a big thing in society at the moment, but it seems for all the wrong reasons. It shouldn’t be like this, yeah some people binge drink and drink far too much, but not everyone, were not all like that are we? I prefer to drink wine and cocktails myself, but however this depends on many factors, such as, where I am, what kind of event I’m at, the clientèle and lastly what time of day it is, or even the season.

I believe that the beverages people drink highly depends on the type of event they are at, for example if you went to a ladies day at the races you would be expected to be served champagne and wine, rather than larger or beer, however if it was a football match you would expect them to sell larger or beer rather than wine and champagne. As an events manager and when planning certain types of events, when having food, they need to think about what beverages will complement the food on offer, for example, at ladies day at the races a 3 course sit down meal will be on offer, the event manager would need to think logically and serve the right beverages that will complement the meal, maybe a different wine for each course? Not only would this be the right thing to do in terms of food and beverage but also for customer satisfaction. Killkenny states that customer satisfaction is elevated when participants get what they came for and more, this is a good example of having different beverages to complement the food as the customers would be satisfied with the quality they received. If the customer is satisfied, you’re event will be successful! Killkenny, S (2006). It is also a good idea to hire professional beverage servers to each event as they are fully trained in beverage and which beverages go best with different foods, this is stated by Anderson, J (2010).

As events managers there are so many licenses to think about when planning different events. A license to serve alcohol is one of them, no license, no alcohol sale! In most cases, venues already have their own licenses to serve alcohol but as an event manager you do need to be aware that some don’t, if this was to happen the event manager would have to apply for a license through their local authority as stated by Anderson, J (2010). If a person is found selling alcohol without an alcohol license they would never be able to get a license again and could face fines or even imprisonment. So is it really worth it? I think we all know the answer to that…

References

Killkenny, S (2006). The Complete Guide to Successful Event Planning. Florida: Atlantic Publishing Group. 127.

Anderson, J (2010). Event Management Simplified. Bloomington: Author House. 172.

Anderson, J (2010). Event Management Simplified. Bloomington: Author House. 117.

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

Are you like me? I’m one of those people who starts to think about the next Christmas as soon as this Christmas has finished, I love Christmas  my favourite time of year by far! You can be assured its a time of year when everyone is happy and joyous for this yearly occasion. Even with the Baltic temperatures, it adds to the Christmas like feel.

“Don your Santa hat, dust off the mulled wine glass, and get into the festive spirit – it’s time to head down to Manchester’s world famous Christmas Markets” – Christmas Markets. (2012)

Christmas wouldn’t be the same without the annual Manchester Christmas Markets, the markets provide a time for people to get into the Christmas spirit and start preparing for the festivities! The Christmas theme runs through the whole of the markets, I believe its all about a persons visual experience as to whether they will enjoy something or not, well this is nothing to be sniffed at, the visual feel of the markets is something spectacular and would bring a festive feel to anyone’s eye, even the Scrooges of Christmas. The sparkle of the lights bring the Christmas feel to the markets, as you can see in this picture

The Manchester Christmas Markets attract shoppers from all over the UK and beyond. The array of over 200 stalls is mind-boggling, with mouthwatering delicacies from all over Europe  As this is now the 14th year of the markets the choice is now bigger and better and includes gifts, cards, jewellery, clothes, toys and an array of food and drink.  Christmas Markets. (2012)

A key relevance to Christmas themed events is food and beverage, this is stated by Goldblatt 2011. This is carried out throughout the Manchester Christmas Markets as they supply and sell a variety of different seasonal food and beverages, ranging from mulled wine, to cider, to beer, to wine then onto food such as hog roasts, home-made Dutch hot dogs and Dutch pancakes and waffles. This variety is enough for anyone to pop and have a look around, however the prices are not very cheap, but however the Christmas Markets are a fabulous experience in themselves so I for one am not bothered about paying the prices, and by my estimations I gather other people aren’t either as every time I walk past them (which is most days) is it ALWAYS busy!

Event organisers have to deliver the event as well as creating the event, this includes the entertainment, the catering, beverages, decoration of the event ans so forth. Therefore the Christmas Markets are there for the suppliers to make the event but it is also still down to the event organiser to make this event happen and be successful in doing so. In this case, it is Manchester City Council that are involved in the control of this event as well as the traders, the council need verification that each supplier will be back the following year as they need to make sure the event has enough stalls/traders to make the event a success and live up to peoples expectations. In order for the traders to return back the following year they must build a relationship with the event organiser and abide by the rules set by them. As stated by Robinson et al (2010) “A strong relationship between stakeholders adds event value and will impact on the success of an event”. Robinson, R, Wale, D and Dickson, G (2010). This shows that the traders are obviously happy and are therefore returning, making the Manchester Christmas Markets a success year after year.

References

Christmas Markets. (2012). Manchester Christmas Markets. Available: http://www.christmasmarkets.com/UK/manchester-christmas-market.html. Last accessed 11th Dec 2012.

Goldblatt, J (2011). Special Events. 7th ed. Canada: Wiley & Sons Ltd. 223.

Robinson, R, Wale, D and Dickson, G (2010). Events Management. Oxfordshire: CAB International . 26.

Crowd Control gone wrong…

Crowd Control is a major issue for event managers to consider when organising an event. With society today crowd control is becoming an increasing problem especially at large sporting events, concerts and when alcohol is involved. We all know what we get like when we’ve had a few too many, well I certainly do!! But there is a time and a place and at certain events this is not the time or place. So why sell alcohol at these events? That is the question many people ask themselves and it has still yet to be answered!

The potential problems of crown control should be assessed as soon as possible and contingency arrangements should be put in place to cope with the situation quickly, efficiently and effectively, if this was to occur. Tonge, R (1998) One occasion of very poor crowd control that we can probably all relate to is the tragic Hillsborough Disaster, this was tragic to many people and is a prime example of crowd control gone wrong..so what happened?

April 15th 1989, saw the worst disaster in the history of English football. 96 Liverpool fans attending their team’s FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesdays ground, Hillsborough. These fans were crushed to death and this meant that English football would never be the same again. This awful and fatal disaster was caused by the failure of South Yorkshire Police to control a large crowd of Liverpool fans outside one end of the stadium, here again extremely poor crowd control which we can now see if  imperative at a large scale event. No Author. (1989)

As you can imagine, a lot happened on this day, therefore i wont go into too much detail about the day but an overview is necessary. Like most large football matches each team are giving their own end of the stadium, by 2.30pm a large crowd had built up in Liverpool’s end of the stadium, leading to increasing congestion and then crushing at the front. Stewarding was also described as poor at this end of the ground.  Later that day the police then claimed that fans had been drinking excessive  this is also another implication of why the crowds were so unmanageable. The crowds were still building up throughout the day, awaiting for kick off, the crowds continue to worsen just 13 minutes before kick-off. This continued even when the game had started, the fans just wouldn’t stop, they were like vultures! Fans then started to climb up the fences and stands of the stadium  as you can imagine, there was no stopping them as they were fuelled with alcohol! Then at 3.06pm players had to be taken off the pitch for their own safety. The crowds continued  and people were getting crushed, by this time there were so many injured people and some fatalities. No Author. (1989) In total there was 96 deaths and 766 injuries, these figures are terrifying and this shows just how bad the crowd management actually was. No Author. (2012)

I don’t think I need to explain any more  do I? Going back to what I mentioned at the beginning about the consumption of alcohol, it has been concluded that this disaster wouldn’t have been half as bad if the consumption of alcohol hadn’t taken place. This just shows the need for superb crowd control measures at events, without these measures this shows what can happen and what will happen!

 

References

Tonge, R (1998). How to organise special events and festivals. Australia: Gull Publishing PTY Ltd. 65.

No Author. (1989). Fact sheet two: Hillsborough. Available: http://www.liv.ac.uk/footballindustry/hborough.html. Last accessed 11th Dec 2012.

No Author. (2012). Disclosed Material and Report. Available: http://hillsborough.independent.gov.uk/. Last accessed 11th Dec 2012.

 

 

Blissfully Beautiful…

Sound? We hear different sounds everyday as it is fundamental to our day to day life. Without sound the world would be a different place. Sound is an essential aspect at a wedding as it creates the atmosphere for the bride and groom and then reflects on their big day. Each couple have a first song in which they dance to, this shows that they are married and ready to go on a journey through life together. For a couple, choosing the wedding song takes a lot of time and preparation as they want to cherish that moment and not just them but all the other people around them as well. Not only is the sound from the song but also the sound from the speeches made at wedding. The principle reason for having sound equipment at a wedding is so that all of the audience can clearly hear the music, speeches and audio effects. Allen, J, O’Toole, W, Harris, R and McDonnell, I (2011)

At some events, not necessarily weddings, sound is classed as noise, in most cases this is at festivals. Some may call it noise pollution Environmental Protection UK. (2012). As we all know weddings are not exactly classed as noisy, normally wedding venues are used for weddings frequently and therefore are used to having sound in the building on a regular basis. However, if the venue is in a residential area, residents have the right to complain at any time about it being too noisy, if this was to happen they could complain to the council who would then have to investigate as a matter of caution and if they then felt that the noise levels were inappropriate then could then issue a notice of warning to the venue. Environmental Services. (2012).

In some cases, some couples choose to have outdoor weddings in which they have marquees, if this was to happen the event organiser would have to implement control measures to make sure the day went without any hitches. For an events organiser they would also have to consider the control of noise at work act 2005. Soundproofing the marquee would also be another controlling measure to stop noise pollution as well as speaker positions.

As discussed before, weddings are not the noisiest of events, but however you still need to think about the entertainment and make sure it doesn’t ruin your big day.

References

Allen, J, O’Toole, W, Harris, R and McDonnell, I (2011). Festival and Special Event Management. 5th ed. Australia: John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd. 432.

Environmental Protection UK. (2012). Noise Pollution. Available: http://www.environmental-protection.org.uk/noise/environmental-noise/noise-pollution/. Last accessed 10th Dec 2012.

Environmental Services. (2012). Noise Problems. Available: http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/412/pollution_control-noise/2956/noise/1. Last accessed 10th Dec 2012.

Logical Logistics??

What is logistics? Do logistics matter? Well here goes… Essentially logistics means having the right thing, at the right place at the right time. In events, logistics is key. Without logistics an event cannot be successful.  The management science of logistics assists the event manager to identify the elements of special event and festival operations. There are many specific logistics that are relevant to many different events, which are, ticketing, queuing, customer transport, and accommodation.

Most large scale events are ticketed. Ticketing is especially important to events whose primary income is from the entrance fee, in some events like sporting events the extent of the ticket sales can determine success or failure. Ticket distribution is regarded as the first major decision in event logistics. Allen, J, O’Toole, W, Harris, R and McDonnell, I (2011). Ever been to a sporting event in which you’ve needed to buy a ticket? I’m guessing you have, well now you will know that if the ticketed event has sold out then it is more likely to be a success than if its not sold many tickets at all. tickets need to display all the relevant information for the customer  If I was to get a ticket for an event I would want to know the, date, time, where it was and where I was sitting (if it was a seated event), I’m sure that’s just the same as all you too?

Now, here’s where the 21st century modern technology comes in, the internet is now primarily used for the distribution of tickets for large events, concerts and conferences in many countries  this illustrates the linking of logistics and marketing. But however, it is not all good news! No, the internet has introduced some unique risks in the sale of tickets. Putting aside the obvious  risk of security of the payment method, the online scalping of tickets on eBay is a risk. For those of you who are not familiar with  eBay it is a online auction area used to buy and sell goods. No Author. (2012). It has been known for people to bid for tickets on eBay and either not receive the tickets or receive the tickets and then find out that they aren’t genuine.

So we move onto another logistic in events….the queuing! Who wants to queue to get into an event? I know I certainly don’t, but we have to queue for health and safety reasons. When we are queueing up outside for tickets or parking we think at least we will be inside soon, then when we get inside we then realise we have to then queue event more for food, toilets and seating. We all know its a pain and we don’t want to do it but it has to be done. If we didn’t queue it would just be carnage and the event would turn out to be a failure.  Allen, J, O’Toole, W, Harris, R and McDonnell, I (2011).

This shows us that logistics of an event are put in place for a reason, to make sure the event is a success. Logistics need to be followed or else the event will fail!

References

Allen, J, O’Toole, W, Harris, R and McDonnell, I (2011). Festival and Special Event Management. 5th ed. Australia: John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd. 452.

No Author. (2012). eBay Definition. Available: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/eBay.html. Last accessed 10th Dec 2012.

Allen, J, O’Toole, W, Harris, R and McDonnell, I (2011). Festival and Special Event Management. 5th ed. Australia: John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd. 458.

Here comes the bride…

What all girls dream of? Their wedding.. Weddings are happening everywhere and all the time, and this will continue throughout many generations. Weddings are a time when everyone can get together and celebrate happy, memorable occasion of the start of two peoples journey through life together.

There are so many different types of weddings that event organisers organise, one being swanky weddings, have you ever been to a bar mitzvah/bat mitzvah or one of those wildly overdone Sweet 16s? Have you kept in contact with the host? I hope so because their wedding is going to RULE. It’s going to be on an enclosed rooftop in New York City (imagine something off Sex and The City) in the late spring or early fall and everyone in attendance is going to be stunning. Even the cocktail waitresses will look like sleek stock-photography models. And they’ll be serving foie gras and Veuve Clicquot upon your arrival.

Another wedding typology being, Vegas weddings, We can’t talk about weddings and fail to mention how much Las Vegas has done for us in this arena, can we? Sure, The Hangover and Britney Spears make it seem like a not-so great decision, but is it really so bad to get hitched on impulse while intoxicated and chock-full of illegal substances? Is it really so appalling to wake up in a motel wearing an “I ❤ random-person” tee-shirt and drooling on crumbled, marriage papers? Ugh, I guess it is. Whatever, It doesn’t matter because plenty of people still seem to go!

Then we have destination weddings, these can pretty much take the form of any of the listed weddings, just tag on a few extra grand per person and add a shade or two of sunburnt red to everyone’s skin tone in the wedding pictures.

Weddings come at a high price, they can be done on the cheap but the most extravagant and most talked about weddings are the most expensive ones.  There are so many different things to buy or hire for a wedding, such as, table decorations, table covers, chair covers, dresses, shoes, suits, caterers etc. Currently with the average wedding is costing between £15,000 to £25,000. No Author. (2011), we can see it is not a cheap occasion, therefore when people do get married they want to do it right.

Another key aspect to a wedding is the photographer. All us girls want a photographer at our wedding don’t we? We want to have photos of us looking our best on our big day! Photographers are fairly easy to find, however finding a good, reasonably priced photographer may be quite hard to come by, the average photographer would be around £1000 as stated by Average Wedding Cost,  No Author. (2011). 

Recent news, suggests that there is a new marriage law being brought in which is going to legalise same sex marriage. By 2014 it is suspected that same-sex marriage will be legal to take place in the United Kingdom. Ross, T. (2012). I believe this will cause much speculation to the public eye and to the Church of England. Will it definitely become legal? Who knows? Watch this space…..

References

No Author. (2011). Average Wedding Cost. Available: http://www.weddingsday.co.uk/average-wedding-cost/. Last accessed 10th Dec 2012.

No Author. (2011). Average Wedding Cost. Available: http://www.weddingsday.co.uk/average-wedding-cost/. Last accessed 10th Dec 2012.

Ross, T. (2012). First Gay Weddings by 2014. Available: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9737263/First-gay-weddings-by-2014.html#. Last accessed 10th Dec 2012.

Lights, Camera, Action!!

Earlier this year, during summer I went on holiday to Magaluf, me and my friends stayed in Mallorca Rocks Hotel, a hotel which has music artists/bands performing each week, whilst I was there, two well known artists played at the hotel, one being Keiser Chiefs and the other being Example.

Mallorca Rocks as a venue is a fairly large scale venue, and because it is open air there are many aspects to take into consideration in relation to lighting. The lighting at a venue has two functions, pragmatically lights allow everyone to see what’s happening, artistically, they are integral to the event. The general venue or site lighting is important in that it allows all other aspects of staging to take place, for this reason, it is usually the first item on a check list when organisers pick a venue. Allen, J, O’Toole, W, Harris, R and McDonnell, I (2011).

Specific to this event, organisers would have to take into consideration the risk of bad weather conditions as the venue is open air.  One example of a disastrous open air event is the stage collapse at Indiana State Fair in 2011, this stage collapsed along with all the lighting because of a gust of strong wind, the lights detached from the stage causing injury to the public. This shows that extra care needs to be taken when planning open aired events which need stages and lighting. Whilst  was at the Mallorca Rocks event I never thought about any of this, just like no body does, we just enjoy what’s going on around us and not think about the things that are happening backstage and the things that go into making an event successfully or the things that could go wrong so easily. CNN Wire Staff. (2011).

The lighting at an event is a key factor, especially in the case of a performance at night time in open air, if there were no lighting, the experience would not be half as memorable, it would also be highly unsafe for both the artists and the public. What I am trying to get across to people is that lighting is important, without lighting an event would not be successful! Lighting improves atmosphere, without atmosphere a spectacular and memorable event cannot be delivered. Goldblatt, J (2005).

References

Allen, J, O’Toole, W, Harris, R and McDonnell, I (2011). Festival and Special Event Management. 5th ed. Australia: John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd. 430.

CNN Wire Staff. (2011). Stage collapse at Indiana State Fair kills at least 4. Available: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/08/13/indiana.stage.collapse/index.html. Last accessed 10th Dec 2012.

Goldblatt, J (2005). Special Events. 4th ed. Canada: Wiley & Sons Ltd. 219.

BBC Good Food Show

Prior to the Good Food Show I didn’t really know what to expect from this event, I was obviously aware that is was a food show in which different foodies were there testing and selling their produce. Upon arriving at the Food Show I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of food stalls and the variety of different foods from all around the world. It was truly amazing! I also thought it was spectacular to see the cheese awards being held at the show, the variety of cheeses was just unbelievable. As I was walking around the extremely busy food show, I noticed that there wasn’t just old people there as I had imagined, there was a range of all different ages, it was nice to see young children there as well that obviously had a passion in food.

As mentioned by Birmingham Express and Star newspaper about the Good Food Show they state “It is also the perfect place to pick up some inspiration and unusual produce for festive dishes” No Author. (2011), I didn’t believe this before I actually went to the show, but it was right, I even picked up some Christmas dinner ideas, it definitely lived up to expectations from what friends and family had told me about it. We then had the fabulous opportunity to go into the super theatre and watch a master class, in fairness I was expecting something spectacular, in my head I was wishing for Heston Blumenthal to be there experimenting with molecular gastronomy, this would have been an unforgettable experience, however instead we had the Great British Bake Off judges baking, don’t get me wrong, this was really good and interesting to see, I just believe a master class in molecular gastronomy would have been a memorable and extraordinary experience. Also as not many people are aware of molecular gastronomy then this would have made it more known to people. Oh and for those of you who don’t know molecular gastronomy is the science of cooking but it is commonly used to describe a new style of cuisine in which chefs explore new culinary possibilities in the kitchen by embracing sensory and food science, borrowing tools from the science lab and ingredients from the food industry and concocting surprise after surprise for their diners. No Author. (2012).

The amount of health and safety precautions that will have had to go into this event is unreal as the amount of food out on the stalls and the food being sold to customers, the event director of this event would have had to check all the suppliers had a certificate for health and safety and food hygiene. It is necessary for the suppliers to have a food hygiene certificate if they are selling their own produce, this is stated by the Food Standards Agencies, No Author. (2012).

 

References

No Author. (2011). BBC Good Food Show Winter comes to Birmingham NEC. Available: http://www.expressandstar.com/lifestyle/food/2011/11/21/bbc-good-food-show-winter-comes-to-birmingham-nec/. Last accessed 10th Dec 2012.

No Author. (2012). Molecular Recepies. Available: http://www.molecularrecipes.com/molecular-gastronomy/. Last accessed 10th Dec 2012.

No Author. (2012). Polocies. Available: http://ratings.food.gov.uk/. Last accessed 10th Dec 2012.