HISTORY (EVOLUTION) OF EVENT MANAGEMENT | KNOW THE SIZE AND

GROWTH OF EVENT INDUSTRY.

Event management is not a new term in today’s era. Everyone knows today what event
management is and who event managers are.  It has been tremendously increasing since some
decades. 

This increase in demand of event companies is a result of people’s busy schedule, to maintain
their social images and not getting enough time to plan & manage their own events. It is one of
the fastest growing sector.
Event management has diverse nature of its services, job titles and various types of events. 
It can start from
- a baby shower to baby welcoming, 
- engagement to the farewell of the bride, 
- company inauguration to the company’s 100th year celebration, 
- birth place to the graveyard, 
- a local singer to the mega concerts, 
- small birthday treat to the grand party, thus now people has developed tendency to integrate
event industry all over their work and celebrations.
So it becomes important to understand how this event industry came into existence. This will
only be possible by looking into the history of events.
 
 Evolution and history of event management
It is obvious that event management is not something that came into existence recently.
Previously also people use to manage their own celebrations, promoting businesses, sharing
education, marketing things, dealing with vendors etc. so they were acting as an event manager
themselves. 
Isn’t it? It may be or may not be because at that time the concept of event managers were not into
existence. So probably this sector is being running unknowingly from last thousands of years.
But however it is necessary to conclude everything today and it includes the deciding point of
how this event concept originated into people’s mind. Let’s go back to the time of Cleopatra. 
Now you may think who was Cleopatra, right? Cleopatra was the last active ruler of the
Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. Assume taking time machine & travel back to the Ptolemaic
Dynasty and the world of Cleopatra and Marc Antony.
Cleopatra was well-known at that time for orchestrating elaborate and lavish meetings in an
attempt to woo a lover. History tells us that Marc Antony was taken by Cleopatra because of her
planning something to impress Marc.
That time she was the one who hosted fancy over the top meetings in pursuit of lovers. Cleopatra
entered one meeting by drifting down the Nile River on a boat filled with candles and perfume in
order to impress Mark Anthony. 
Cleopatra’s events would not have been possible without her servants and free labors.
Communication was very limited. Messages were hand delivered and it could take weeks if not
months to deliver them.
Elaborate events and parties continued with the Medieval French Royalty. Rich aristocratic
women were in charge of event management. 
The most notable was Madame Pompadour, the mistress to King Louis XV of France and Marie
Antoine. Parties were themed with costumes and popular musicians of the day.
So that was the brief history of how event came into picture.
It is obvious that the working methods could be different now as compared to older days because
the education of that time was different, the spending pattern was different, people’s mindset has
changed over a period of time, rituals and customs has been revised, families have started
becoming nuclear etc thus all that has a great impact on managing events then and now.
Let’s consider some essential points on which we can find some differences over the period of
time.

    Hospitality & Registration process

 Then: Talking about the registration process of any events, event managers were left with the
only option to post the courier or send any person to get the details in order to complete the
formalities. 
It was risky and they were having high chances to lose the data.
But now with revolutionary change over the internet services it has become damn easy to get all
the details of participants across globe at one click on any devices.
Example:  Google doc, exclusive hospitality applications, from social media etc.
    Logistics & transportation
Then: That time finding location and easy transportation facilities were bit tough. If people had
to travel then it was really like a hard nut to crack. There were less facilities and also were
consuming a lot time to reach long destination.
But now the transportation is as easy as travelling from drawing room to bed room. Public
transport and personal vehicles have been increased tremendously over last few decades. 
Also the distance has been reduced by constructing highways and making fastest vehicles all
around the nation.
Example: Bullet train, Metro train, Airways, Railways etc.
    Audience attention
Then: Back in to older days if anyone wanted to organize public events which required people to
take part and to show interest, it was difficult to call and visit door steps.
But now with advancement of social media, internet and other devices, it has become far easy to
get the audience’s attention and to get their interest for our events. 
It is now very easy to get in touch and built connection with audiences.
Example: Facebook & Instagram ads, Google ads, applications etc.
    Advertising and searching Events
Then: Before the internet, flyers, posters, and word-of-mouth were popular ways to advertise
events. These were the only ways to market products and advertisement.
But now: People can search for events utilizing websites. Users can type in their location and
find hundreds of events they may not have even know existed!
Example: LocalHop, Facebook etc

Size & growth of event industry

You will be amazed to know the size of the event industry. How it is growing larger and larger
day by day. 
According to one report of EEMA (Events and entertainment management association) carried
out in 2017, it was estimated that Indian event industry will cross INR 10,000 crore of value by
2021. 
But it is also a truth that major income of event companies are not being displayed in official
reports so the original value may be much higher than this too. 
Report narrates that the value of event industry which was around INR 5,631 crore in year 2016-
2017 was expected to grow at CAGR (Compound annual growth rate 16% every year which was
more than the India media and entertainment industry (M&E) growing at 11-13 % CAGR
annually. 
Thus this growth is unstoppable to achieve the high rates of success. This report was carried out
with survey of 64 event companies and 31 marketers. 
As per officials, there are some key features in event market due to which it is growing vastly
across India and globally. 
Some of the main features were digital activation, personal events, high budgeted weddings,
sports tournaments, sponsored events, trade fairs, expo, government events, product launch etc. 
If looking into the global scenario of event market, according to one report issued by Allied
market research, the global event industry which was valued at $1,100 billion by 2018 is
expected to reach at $2,330 billion market value by 2026 with an annually growth of 11-13%
CAGR. 
Wow just look at those values, that’s incredible! No one could have thought of this much
estimation of market value of globally event industry. But yah ! why it can’t be this much?  
People are spending this much value in order to save time, save health, save hustle and bustle etc,
it may be more valuable for them than the money they spends on their events. 
Also today is an era of management fellows. Management rules the principle of work
getting done by others.

Questions:

How did the event industry begin and develop?

How did the event industry evolve and what are the new trends in conducting events?