Presentation which outlines the role of events in today's world.

1. Chapter 1
Events in Our Changing
World
Nicole Ferdinand &
Stephen J. Shaw

2. Learning Objectives
At the end of this session you should be able to:
• Reflect on the meaning of events for individuals in
different societies
• Identify the practices of business, communities and
countries which have been influenced by the
popularity of events
• List and evaluate the positive and negative impacts
that events have on communities and the urban
environment
• Critically discuss the potential of events to achieve
long-term, sustainable economic development

3. What do Events Mean to Us?
Sites where individuals
• Opportunities to can come together to
appreciate critical connect with other to
achieve a sense of
milestones: enhanced identity and
 For example, weddings, to find meaning
birthdays, graduations,
anniversaries and cultural
and religious observances

4. What do Events Mean to Us?
• Modern day events represent the evolution
of societies, communities and individuals
• The original significance and perception of
some events have shifted:
Gay Pride parades’ sexual politics have given
way to family fun and festivities
The symbolism behind Trinidad and Tobago
Carnival has shifted from rebellion to a
message of freedom and self-expression

5. Events in Organizations
• Create linkages
• Disseminate information
• Provide motivation and
opportunities for
celebration
• Brings people together
from different countries

6. Events in Organizations
• Event Marketing – the process planned by an
organization, of integrating a variety of
communication elements behind an event theme,
most often through the sponsorship of another
organization's event (Tuckwell, 1991)
• Experiential Marketing – seeks to create an on-
going, emotional attachment between a brand
and its customers by bringing it to life in the
form of an event, experience or interaction
(McCole, 2004)

7. Events in Communities
Religious and cultural These events can:
festivals sometimes • Reinforce shared identities
known as ethnic • Evolve new
festivals, can play an meaning, through the
integration of cultural
important role in uniting influences
communities comprising • Help to achieve a
of ethnic and cultural 'cosmopolitan' character
that can be promoted as a
minorities positive feature to external
audiences

8. Events and Cities
Festivals and other events – together with impressive urban
landscapes on which they can be staged and promoted – have
become 'a means of improving the image of cities, adding life
to city streets and giving citizens renewed pride in their city'
(Richards and Palmer, 2010: 27-31).

9. ‘Eventful cities’ also undertake the creation of fixed cultural capital,
such as: iconic buildings, sports stadia, museums, art galleries and
concert halls, upgrading of public spaces, etc.
The Olympic Tower, Montreal –
Built for the 1976 Olympic Games

10. Events as Place Marketing
for Cities
• 'Festivalization' – the temporary
transformation of a place into
symbolic space in which the public
domain is claimed for particular forms
of consumption
• Media-oriented festivalization – helps
to cultivate an image of the city as a
backdrop for events that can attract
global financial interests

11. Events as Place
Marketing Debate
The 'ultra-modern' aesthetic
of these global spectacles
or developed fixed cultural
capital (shopping
malls, theme
parks, airports, etc.), lends
itself well to the diminishing
of the sense of spatial and
cultural identity, inevitably
intended for mass
replication (Relph,1976)

12. Events as Place
Marketing Debate
Kotler et al. (1993) noted a shift in the
principles and practices of Place
Marketing, from replication to
reclaiming and nurturing the
originating cultural identity
ı “...astute place marketers adopted
more sophisticated 'product
development and competitive niche
thinking...seeking to define
themselves as distinctive places with
competitive advantages for target
industries.” (Kotler et al., 1993: 78)

13. Place Marketing Challenges
• Striking an acceptable balance –
events should enthuse all sections
of the resident population as well
as appeal to external audiences
• Making the right presentation –
events must present the
city/locality itself in ways that
attract the attention of footloose
globe-trotters whose engagement
with the place may be temporary
and somewhat superficial
• Avoiding and/or minimizing
public dissatisfaction

14. Events and Countries
Events have been important engines of
economic recovery and growth for
countries
Events:
• Reduce high unemployment rates
• Revitalize neglected inner city
streetscapes and infrastructure
• Regenerate industries
• Create wealth for the locality
through increased expenditure on
local goods and services

15. Events and Countries
Events also have a
host of negative
consequences for cities
Events:
• Generate losses
• Create long-term debt
• Are sources of political criticism
and dissent
• Can initiate regime change

16. Summary
• Events are a chance to celebrate milestones, gather
with others to gain a sense of identity and can be used
to evaluate changes that have occurred in cultures
and societies
• Businesses use events to disseminate information to its
internal stakeholders as well as to engage external
stakeholders with the use of Event Marketing and
Experiential Marketing
• Events can have both positive and negative impacts on
communities as they hold the potential to unite
communities as well as create or maintain divisions
• Events hold significant positive potential revitalizing
urban environments