Industry Based Group Project Issues - Case Study Example

INDUSTRY BASED GROUP РRОJЕСT Insert Name Course Professor’s Name Institution Date Introduction The 2013 UniSA Employment and Careers Expo dated 19th March was organized for the sole purpose of exploring the convention, exhibition and business meetings sector (CEBMS) wherein the involved stakeholders had a strategy to reach the target audience and market their products and services. The main facets of the event which I dwell on are Marketing, Human resources and contingency plans, sustainability, recommendations and impacts of the event. i) Event In event organization it is exceptionally prudent to factor in the aspect of timing since it influences several other organizational aspects such as flexibility and availability of the target groups or rather audience. For instance, the festive season is not a preferable time to organize an Expo given the merry making and eventful seasonal travelling especially amongst the population. The 2013 Uni SA Career and Employment Expo took place on 19th March 2013 11 am to 3pm. This timing was quite effective and it caters for both students and alumni since it is not a busy school month and the weather is relatively favorable. Thus, it was apposite for the organizer to pick this particular timing (Getz, 2004). The event is organized by the university of South Australia wherein the attendees or rather the target audience are students from the university. The event brings on board companies that is potential employers at the venue, Adelaide Convention Centre’s staffs. The companies seek apposite staff and students in search of employment. The Adelaide convention centre and Adelaide expo hire is responsible for the logistics of the event inclusive of the organizational planning wherein the transport is also catered for in liaison with the university. Sustainability Sustainability entails all forms of activities undertaken by Uni SA in preparation of the Careers and Employment Expo to ensure that each target stakeholder benefits from the Expo principally the students who are in the process of establishing links with the employers. Essentially, marketing is core factor in enhancing sustainability. In essence, marketing revolves around creating, conveying and delivering values to the clientele. In additional marketing involves an extra effort to establish profound relationships with customers thus benefiting the organization as well the stakeholders collectively. The chief goal to ensure that customer satisfaction is achieved without compromising the guidelines given and the interests of the stakeholders. This is critical event that transforms a society by enhancing a smooth transition from a graduate life to the corporate life. Thus, it achieves the core aim of networking student with their prospective employers. In addition, it does offer an opportunity for a firsthand experience with professionals who are prospective work colleagues of the students. The marketing activity is subdivided into numerous entities to cater for different customer needs such that the entire market is catered for according especially to fulfill customer needs and tastes which might be instrumental in demand for particular services from different companies or a particular company or field of interest. The UNi SA arranged the event such that employers from related fields or rather professions were assigned a designated area and exhibitors as well to facilitate easy and smooth interaction between them and students (Getz, 2004). ii) Marketing The 2013 Uni SA Career and employment Expo is simply a business event that is tailored for both students and alumni to equip them with a special opportunity to meet prospective future employers in their field of study or rather field of interest wherein the professional from this companies are present at the Expo and offer a one on one response to the participant present. Precisely, the employers present at the vent were both international and local organizations who were in an endeavor to reach to student and market their field of expertise such that they provide to the university students to help them settle for an auspicious career and equip themselves with related market information about their particular choice of career such that they have adequate guidance life after school (Getz, 2004). iii) Human Resources The venue was perhaps well chosen given that it facilitated easy accessibility, transport, and passage. The Adelaide convention center was a suitable and exceedingly convenient for both the employers and employees unlike the situation whereby they would have to attend four different occasions in four distinct campuses. Additionally, the Adelaide convention centre is very convenient and makes it easy especially dealing with logistics of the event wherein the freight is well taken care of and parking as well as catering for arrivals whose one day stay is well prepared with proper air conditioning and lightning that is in the designated rooms or rather accommodation facilitates. The proximity of the venue of the Expo to the University main campus and both the East and west Campuses eases the burden of logistics pertaining to transport facilitation for the university staff (Getz, 2004). This particular event, that it the Uni SA Expo of great significance since it portrays the university’s capacity in assisting student’s realize their academic goals whilst networking with the corporate world as well getting skills on future planning. Generally, such an event offers a comprehensive performance assessment of the university in all its functions such as management and promotes an exemplary model for other tertiary institutions as well The 2013 Uni SA Careers and Employment Expo were planned such that the planning was done internally whereas the implementation was allocated to a professional conference controller. Precisely, the internal organization was carried out by Uni SA and utilized their own human resources and incorporated volunteers as well. In essence, the organizer was well equipped with organizational skills given prior experience in handling such an event. It is crucial for the organization of such an event to put into consideration the qualification of the persons involved since it has advanced complexities especially logistical organization. For instance, it was prudent of Uni SA to outsource the Adelaide Convention Center which is a reputable company and a main player in the Australian Expo and Exhibitor industry. Subsequently, its experience and large-scale investment in this industry puts it in an irrefutable position thus, offers classic environment with a proven efficacy to facilitate the Expo. Consequently, this will enhance the image and reputation of the Expo and attract more investors in future. The sustainability of the Uni SA Employment and Career Expo is primarily dependent on the promotion strategy utilized by the organizers in order to attract the public to participate in the purchase of goods and services on sale at the Expo. Practically, this cannot be realized with proper creating effective awareness among the public regarding the arrangement and hosting of the event. Advertising the Uni SA Career and Employment Expo through the university’s website that is the home page and posters proved to be effective. The advertising activity was reinforced by use email advertising strategy which was applied mostly to reach out students who received hard copies of SMS and e-mails. The strategy worked quite efficiently for the university and the foundation established (Fenich, 2005). In this activity business have an opportunity to show case their reputation or improve it and advocate fro positive social perception and behavior towards the environment hence the positive image and sustainability of the Expo. Additionally, the sustainability of the Uni SA Expo cannot be concluded without an assessment of the financial viability of the activity given its complex financial demands. In actual fact, the nature of the Uni SA Expo is quite daunting and puts a financial burden on the organizers who have the obligation of realizing its market potential. Thus, it is apposite to consider the type of sponsors to lure to the event such that there is a profound organization to ensure there is future success of the program planning financially with committed and experienced sponsor who reliability has proven track record. In this scenario the commitment of the organization must portray the intent of long term involvement with the Expo event planning eyeing long term benefits. This implies that the Uni SA must embark on non-traditional sponsor whose interests match the goals of the Uni SA Career and Employment Expo. The reputation and public image of the sponsor must match an echelon of professionalism to attract potential buyers of the Expo material and a greater target audience. Impacts Through such witty organization, the CEBM stakeholders co-ordinate and managed ideal service delivery that is responsive to customer needs and provides the anticipated value to the clientele. Given the significant appreciation of the CEBM industry in Australia for a period of one and a half decade; tremendous growth has been witnessed mainly being driven by capital investments in the infrastructure and CEBM facilitates. The emphasis on supporting this industry has been an key agenda for the government and sustaining a long term performance in this industry has been enhanced by a painstaking management of economic as well as social benefits which have been attributed to CEBMs. In addition, commercial links have been established between business and (Fenich, 2005). In this particular event, the impacts are straightforward and there is direct absorption of graduates into employment. There is also exposure to the corporate world in which graduates learn the perceptions of behavior and people in the society which their employer serves. Furthermore, the UniSA employment and Career Expo incorporates environmental considerations hence meets the environmental requirements of green meetings hence abates negative environmental impacts. Additionally, the use of recycled materials is applied and reducing non-degradable hence positive environmental impact. Evaluation Similar to any other major undertaking of this nature, it is common that feedback is needed mainly by the organizers to evaluate how well they fared in the organization as well as the overall impact or rather success of the activity. It is crucial to get feedback from delegates and comments from the persons in attendance and the opinions and perhaps scientific data collection methods could be applied to make more comprehensive and effective. This is a reliable channel to get genuine information about the event and the shortcomings as well as opportunities from improvement wherein future organizers will get an explicit understanding of the problems acquired and how to mitigate them. In this particular case, the Expo was definitely successful and the feedback submitted by both the students and the employers was quite assenting. The students were g generally pleased to have met the corporate personnel one on one and asked relevant questions whose answers they got n the most detailed manner possible. On the other hand, the employers were also content and t with event and glad to have achieved such success in attracting students to their field of specialization hence securing future employees in those industries (Getz, 2004). i) Technology In essence, the success of the event was a combination of a series of mutual partnerships that brought together different players with distinct roles such as pre event planners, logistics operations management as well as critical path analysts. Additionally, there were marketing personnel responsible and technologists for broadcasting the event in a bid to attract more people to the event. This is achieved through advertising the Expo via the UniSA website homepage and its desktops. Furthermore, there are risk management and emergency service personnel to prevent inconveniences and enhance security for the event. Lastly, the evaluation and recommendations pertaining to the report are featured which are fundamental in assisting the organizer to expand the event in future. Conclusively this is useful to both the students and alumni since they an opportunity to speak with human resource managers hence they get exposed and information on the dynamics of the professional job market. Contingency Plans The contingency concern is quite relatable in any form of setting wherein risks are involved. In reality, every undertaking has its risks and the Uni SA Expo is no exception. Thus, it is prudent to have contingency plans at hand. For instance, an accident could occur resulting into an unforeseen loss. Thus, there is need to have a rescue team in place set and ready. In addition, there is need to be more sensitive of people disabilities and facilitate their welfare at the event by providing special resources for them and allocating a set of human resources to guide them all through. In addition, it is fundamental to have a back up team of trained personnel in case exhibitors are absent. Likewise, risk mitigation is an obligation for the organizers in case of a calamity and disaster management. Essentially, there is need for cooperation with the locals especially their representatives to inform on brief on disaster management and reliefs measure as well as consensus of whether to postpone or carry on with the vent in case of a dire situation. The staff ought to be equipped with skills on how to inform the target audience on the background of the Expo and the emergency arrangements for their safety (Getz, 2004). Recommendations Given the complex logistical issues related with organizing an Expo, it is commendable to choose a venue that has the capacity to accommodate a dense population without congestion such that there is no overcrowding in a particular area in the premises where the event is hosted. In addition, the essential environment conservation measure ought to be taken seriously. For instance, the supply of adequate litter bins, adequate malls and human resource to attend the visitors in case of emergencies or need is vital. In addition, the malls could possibly sell food stuffs in recyclable wrappers. The university can also embark on bringing on board some other universities such that the event is transformed into an inter-Expo activity involving several universities hence diversity. It is necessary to have an unconventional power supply, first aid personnel as well as an ambulance service in case of an emergency. Additionally, it is crucial to adopt a reliable strategy of sharing roles amongst the human resources to execute the duties of facilitating the Expo and possibly recruiting more to improve is efficiency. The advertisement of the Expo should be taken a notch higher to attract greater number of students such that they come and meet possible employees and book internships with them hence cementing relationships. Marketing of the event can be improved by use of commercial television advertisement platform as well as famous websites such as search engines. The university also has to chip in and provide financial incentives towards this activity such as providing free transport and food for that particular event especially for students. Conclusively, it is ideal to adopt an insurance policy, thus, cancellation of the event would not be disastrous since there would be compensation from the insurance loss cover. Reference List Fenich, G. G., 2005, ‘Special events management’, in Meetings, expositions, events and conventions: an introduction to the industry, Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, pp. 177-201. Getz, D. 2004, ‘Bidding on events’, Journal of Convention & Exhibition Management, 5:2, 1- 2.4 Rogers, T 2013, Conferences and conventions: a global industry, 3rd edition, Routledge, Oxford, chapter 4. Read More