Margaret River Wine Festival - Event Management - Case Study Example

Heading: Event management analytical report Your name: Course name: Professors’ name: Date Margaret River Wine Festival The Margaret River Wine Festival is managed by the Margaret River Wine industry Association (MRWIA) since 1997 and is a non-profit organization. The Margaret River Wine Festival was established in the late 70’s by Margaret River Grape Growers & Winemakers Association. It had handful members then but it has developed with time and has over 300 members including grape growers, wine producers, consultants, individuals, commercial partners and associated industry bodies (Margaret River Wine Industry Association 2011). The region covered by the Margaret River Wine stretches 100km north to south and approximately 27 km wide. The Margaret River Wine Festival objectives are to enhance interstate and international visitation in order to promote the premium wine and tourism. Maximize their investment through working closely with stakeholders, the government, wine producers’, tourism association and operators and businesses and residents. To improve the festival experience to the attendees and ensure that the festival has a wider range of events that meets the needs of all the demographics. To continuously improve the presentation of Margaret River Wine in the best way possible. Event theory Margaret River Wine Festival has grown over the past three decades because of the design, programming and experience that the event has utilised in order to sustain its growth. It is for this reason that the three aspects are closely discussed and applied to the Margaret River Wine Festival in order to determine the success of the festival and if it has achieved its objectives. Design According to Gatz (2007, p.233) the design of the event is the genesis of the event experience. This is mainly because it closely links with the event theme, setting, service quality and even spatial and temporal perspectives (Berridge 2007). Event design can be described as the development and creation of an event in order to enhance the positive effects to the participants of the event; this signifies the importance of the event design as an essential contributor to its success and future improvement (Berridge 2007). According to Berridge (2009, p.208) there are four ‘core values’ of an event design that are foundational. Establishing why the event is being held, who the event targets or meant for; what are the broader perspectives of the events products and the intended achievements lastly, want is the target achievement of the event or measurable outcomes. These values are essential in the determining the scale, focus, shape building and timing of an event (Carlsen & Charters 2007). The four main categories of event design include; setting, program design, services and consumables. There are several factors that ought to be considered when designing an event. Firstly it is imperative to create an aesthetic design and conducive atmosphere, the scale of the venue should be at par with the needs of the event. The theme of the event should identify what the event is all about; other themes too should acknowledge the main theme. Entertainment, layout and décor of the event should also match the theme (McDonnell 1999). Programming According to McDonnell (1999) programming refers to as the planned schedule of scripted activities or happenings in an event in which the attendees will participate in. The major drivers of a program are; the mission, the theme, the objective and the target audience. The mission defines the purpose of the organization, theme defines the unifying concept, the objective defines the goals that the audience should achieve and the target audiences are the attendees’. A program consists of three categories which accommodate three levels of attendee’s participation: activities, this is where the attendants are actively engaged in areas such as instructional classes and capturing demonstrations; services, these are defined functions done for a certain amount of time and the participants are passively occupied with the experience; events, are the collective activities which are based on the common event theme (Hall 2008, p.191). The planning of the program should thus incorporate intended audience, span of attention and responses in order to enhance the event impact on the participants. Event design should thus be based on the participant’s needs in order for the design and programming to be tailored towards the needs (Yeoman & Robertson 2004). The core element of the program determines the level of positive experience. The design and implementation of the activities, the events services and performance enhances public interaction and enjoyment and hence bringing out positive and memorable experience of the event cementing programming as an integral part of the design process. Experience According to Getz (2007, p.172) an event should engage the participants in a memorable and personal way. The theme of the event should change the participant’s sense of time, place and reality and hence leaving lasting impressions on them. The themes are made lasting through high quality customer service, entertainment, beverages and foods and other sensory stimulations. According to Getz 2007, p.181) Hover and van Mierlo’s levels of experience are; basal experience, emotional reaction to a stimuli but not adequate to last long; memorable experiences, the emotion can be recalled at a future date; transforming experience, where the results are long lasting and changes behavioural or attitudinal levels. The three dimensions of event experience are; Conative , defines the actual behaviour of physical activities that people do; Cognitive , shows awareness, memory perception and understanding or rather what people think and learn; Affective, defines what people feel in terms of emotions, feelings, values and preference. The two important theoretical experience constructs are intrinsic motivation, which is doing an activity for satisfaction and not other separable consequence; extrinsic motivation, is when the action is instrumental to other separable consequence. Event experience is brought about by the collective design and programming activities that makes the event successful. As seen in the levels of experience, a transforming experience can only be achieved through a delicate balance of the event design and programming with the attendees needs in mind (Yeoman 2004). Event analysis Based on the theoretical design, programming and experience of the event detailed above, the application of theory in the case of Margaret River Wine Festival will thus be discussed in order to demonstrate what can be found out when theory and application are closely compared. Design of Margaret River Wine Festival According to Berridge (2009, p.208) the four core value of the event that provides the fundamental platform for event design; determining why the event is being held, who the event is meant for or targets; what are the broader aspects of the events such as the products and the achievements intended; lastly want, the measurable outcomes of the event or the target achievements. These core values are further elaborated through the main event design categories which are setting, program design, services and consumables. The Margaret River Wine Festival is held to showcase Margaret River Wines to its visitors and also make them experience the unique and attractive way of life of the Margaret River Wine area through its foods, arts and natural attractions. The Margaret River Wine targets both interstate and international visitors in order to enhance the sales of premium wines and tourism. The wide range of events attracts all the demographics; it consists of wine appreciation, educational and enjoyable day out for its visitors (Margaret River Wine Industry Association 2011). During the five day visit to Margaret River Wine, the art, music and other manner of celebrations are converged to enhance the visitors’ experience. The festival also gives its visitors and opportunity to talk with different wine producers, taste the region’s outstanding food, scenery and hospitality besides the wine. The event is managed by Margaret River Wine industry Association (MRWIA) with its main objective being promoting wine sales and maximizing their investment by working closely with stakeholders, the government, wine producers’, tourism association and operators and businesses and residents (Swaffer 2003). Programming of Margaret River Wine Festival The programming of Margaret River Wine Festival is based on the events theme which also represents the events mission of showcasing Margaret River Wine and also enabling the attendees to experience the unique and the breathtaking lifestyle of the region through its foods, arts and natural attractions. Margaret River Wine Festival 2011was a celebrity Twenty20 Cricket Match which was played in Cowaramup. Other activities includes both ticketed and free events such as interacting with celebrities, cooking classes, a scenic 80 minutes flights with helicopter to Margaret River. The fan offer ranges from Augusta to Busselton with many events such as showcase of region’s outstanding wine, food, scenery and hospitality (Carlsen & Charters, 2007). Other major activities include Vintage Vibe Street Fiesta with the locals in the main street of Margaret River. Listening to live music like the jazz presented by James Morrison, checking local artist’s works, Feasting on local gourmet like berries, olives, fudge, cheeses and crayfish; laying petanque with the locals while enjoying gourmet winery tour with pizza. Testing local wines such as Semillon, sauvignon blanc and cabernet sauvignon (Margaret River Wine Industry Association 2011). In the Margaret River Wine Festival program, the three categories of activities that actively engage the attendees includes, cooking classes, interactions with celebrities and helicopter flights. Services like offers the participant’s unique opportunities to play a passive roles includes wine produces demonstrations of arts &craft, celebrity lunches and exceptional dinning the regional gastronomic assortment. The events revolve around the main theme of experiencing the regions wine, arts & craft and foods. The five days experience enables the participants to personally interact with wine producers, experience the regions wines, foods and arts (Margaret River Wine Industry Association 2011). Experience of Margaret River Wine Festival As stated by Getz (2007, p.172) an event ought to engage the participants in a personal and memorable way. These should change the attendee’s sense of time, place and reality in order to leave a lasting impression. As also elaborated by the three levels of experience put forward by Hover and van Mierlo’s basal, memorable and transforming experiences are the levels which the participants achieve at the end of the festival. The three dimensions, conative, cognitive and affective also define the experience of the individuals in the event. Experience can also be explained by considering the theoretical constructs such as intrinsic and extrinsic motivations (Getz 2007, p.181). The Margaret River Wine Festival engages the participants in a unique and personal way. The participant’s sense of time, place and reality is changed in a distinctive way by the activities and the experiences put forth by the event. The scenic helicopter flights over Margaret River coupled with the live jazz music, local gastronomy, wide range of wine and cooking classes which actively engage the participants instils memorable and long lasting experience as Hover and Van Mierlo will consider as transformational experience. The reason for this is mainly because of the impact that the experience will have especially on international tourists. The conative aspects include wine testing, interacting with wine producers, dancing to local tunes and having a scenic 80 minutes flight with a helicopter. The Cognitive dimension of the experience is the learning of how to cook local gastronomic assortment as a result of attending cooking classes, learning different unique brands of wine like Semillon, sauvignon blanc and cabernet sauvignon. The affective dimension is experienced through exceptional live music presentation by jazz musicians like James Morrison and also dancing to local music. The Margaret River Wine Festival experience is more intrinsic motivation because of the voluntary participations of the attendees in order to gain satisfaction and not because of any external force. The balanced design and programming is thus responsible for the extreme satisfaction gained from the Margaret River Wine Festival (Yeoman 2004). Conclusion Margaret River Wine Festival has been successfully held over the past four decades and has even improved with the management of Margaret River Wine industry Association (MRWIA) since 1997. The objectives of the Margaret River Wine Festival are to enhance distinct experience of the Margaret River Wine area with its foods, arts and natural attractions. It also seeks to cooperate with stakeholders and government in bid to improve their investments. The theoretical frameworks such as event design, programming and experience are closely aligned with the analysis of the Margaret River Wine industry Festival. The core design issues such as the four values of why the event is held, who is the target audience, what are the broader aspects and what is does the festival want are fully covered in practical analysis of Margaret River Wine Festival. The programming activities like the wine and cooking class attendance are analysed, the service such as music presentation and dinner coupled with events such as flying across Margaret River in a helicopter shoes the link of the topic’s theory and the practical experience of the event. The experience leaves lasting memories on the minds of the attendants because of the conative, cognitive and the affective dimensions of the experience. References Berridge, G 2007, Events design and experience, Butterworth-Heinemann, Thousand Oaks. pp. 67-103. Berridge, G 2009, ‘Event pitching: The role of design and creativity’, International journal of Hospitality Management, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 208 – 215. Carlsen J & Charters, S 2007, Global wine tourism: research, management and marketing, CABI, Canberra. Pp.7-19. Gatz, D 2007, ‘Event studies, Theory research policy for planned events,’ Elservier, Oxford. Pp.223-239. Hall, MC, Sharples, L 2008, Food and Wine Festivals and Events Around the World: Development, Management and Markets, Elsevier, London.pp.190-200. Margaret River Wine Industry Association, 2011, Margaret River Wine Region Festival, Viewed on 18 May 2011. http://www.margaretriverfestival.com/about.html. McDonnell, I, Allen, J & O’toole W 1999, Festival and Special Event Management, John Wiley & Sons, Brisbane. Swaffer A & O'Brien, K 2003, West Coast Australia handbook, Footprint Travel Guides, Sydney. 164-170. Yeoman I & Robertson, M, 2004, Festival and events management: an international arts and culture perspective, Butterworth-Heinemann, Victoria. Pp.241-249. Read More