Definition and characteristics of event

The concept of hospitality is as old as civilization itself. Its development from the ancient custom of
breaking bread with a passing stranger to the operations of today’s multifaceted hospitality
conglomerates makes fascinating reading, and interesting comparisons can be made with today’s
hospitality management.

Special events can therefore be characterized as follows:

1.organized for a specific purpose

2.attended by a number of participants

3.held in one particular, pre-determined place

4. time-bound (such that it has a beginning and an end)

5. cost a lot of resources

Based on the characteristics mentioned above, we can draw the basic questions we need to ask when
organizing an event. The questions can be summarized as the 5Ws and 1H or

5 wives and 1 husband, for easier recall. The 5Ws and 1H stand for:

1. What event are we organizing?

2. Why are we organizing the event?
3. Who is expected to attend and to organize the event?
4. Where is it going to be held?
5. When will the schedule be for the event?
6. How much is it going to cost?

Therefore, the elements of an event are the following:

1. Type and title of the event

2. The purpose for holding an event
3. Participants of the event and roles they play (organizer or participants)
4. Place or venue where the event is going to take place
5. Date and time of the event
6. Resources

TYPES OF EVENTS (MICE)

Let us define and differentiate each type of event. The International Association of Professional
Congress Organizers (IAPCO) provided the most comprehensive definition of MICE.

Meeting

The meeting is a general term that refers to gathering people to discuss a set agenda or do a particular
activity. It can be called on an ad hoc basis (as needed) or following a set pattern such as an annual
stockholders’ meeting. Meetings do not include exhibits.

Incentive

The incentive is a tool to encourage employees to increase sales or provide solutions. Incentive travel,
therefore, means using travel as a reward for accomplishments such as reaching a sales quota, winning a
competition, and the like. One of the high-ranking executives of the travel café, Japan said that people
usually wish and work for more money; when people have the money, they wish to have more time, and
when they have both time and money, they wish to travel. The Executive concluded that many people
dream of traveling, hence the birth of The Travel Café concept. This supports the claim to the
effectiveness of travel as a powerful incentive. Another support to this claim is the popularity of trips as
raffle prizes.

Congress/Convention/Conference

Congress is the regular gathering of people who belong to religious, cultural, professional, or other
associative groups. A congress is often staged to shed light on a particular subject, question, or issue.
Presentations, contributions, and discussions pertaining to the subject matter come only from the
association members. This focus on question-resolving means makes the term “congress” more popular
for associations than corporations. The length of time between congresses is usually established in
advance and can be annual. A congress lasts for several days.

The convention is the term used interchangeably with congress. Convention refers to a large national or
international meeting. However, unlike a congress, a convention is usually held to commemorate an
event or milestone for the host organization; thus, it is usually held at regular intervals. Each staging is
given a theme. Moreover, compared with congress and conferences, conventions have more innovative
programs planned to encourage participants to network and interact. Thus, conventions sometimes
include an exhibition related to its theme.

A conference is a scholarly gathering to exchange views and consequently to convey a message, open a
debate or give publicity to some opinions on specific issues, such as climate change. Most conferences
are for study purposes. It involves research output and sharing of findings and requires active
contributions from the attendees. Conferences are aimed at establishing position papers as a result of
the exchange of views. Compared with a congress, a conference is on a smaller scale, which facilities
easier exchange of information. It requires no tradition, continuity or periodicity, and is generally held
for a short duration of time.

Exhibition. An exhibition is an event that showcases new products, services, information, or promotional
materials mounted for public relations, sales, and marketing. According to Ladkin and Spiller. The
exhibition is designed for targeted supplies of products, goods, and services to demonstrate and
promote to a certain market.

Two Types of Exhibition

A consumer show is a showcase of products that are offered to the public, mostly for the purpose of
direct sales or promotion to end-users.

The trade show is for commerce on a bigger scale. It brings together industry players targeting similar
markets. It is intended to provide a venue for sales leads, contacts with influencers and suppliers,
networking, gathering competitor intelligence. And building an image to the customer.

The term “exhibition, fair, trade show” is interchangeably and “exhibition and exposition.” Ladkin and
Spiller (2000), however, differentiated exposition as being larger in scale than an exhibition and
generally consists of a monumental public display of the goods and services of a particular industry. The
abbreviation “expo” is often used.

Terminologies related to Exhibitions

Exhibition Manager – The head organizer or promoter of an exhibition. The exhibition manager leads the
exhibition organizers team and is responsible for managing the exhibit finance, sales of exhibit space,
and operations.

Exhibitor – The company or business person who rents the booth space from the exhibition manager to
showcase the exhibitors’ products for other purposes.

Booth Contractor – He subdivides a huge empty exhibit space into smaller spaces which the exhibitors
are going to rent; the contractor also provides temporary facilities to exhibitors, such as the shell or
walling for the booth, carpet, table, chair, signage, lighting, and power source- for a fee. The exhibition
manager appoints an official booth contractor for every event and grants the contactor exclusive rights
to construct booths at a particular event. The official booth contractor may ask for certain fees from
unofficial booth contractors, like a corkage fee, should the exhibitor prefer to hire another company to
build their booth for them. Exhibit spaces, whether raw or shell scheme, are rented on a per square
meter or per-square-foot basis. The usual minimum size is 2x2m for local exhibitions and 3x3m for
international exhibitions. The standard height is 8 meters.

Raw Exhibition Space – a raw space or floor with rough markings to indicate the boundaries and size of
your rented space in the exhibition hall. An exhibitor may design the raw space in any way as long as no
venue house rule is violated.

Shell Exhibition Space – It is an exhibition space with a white enclosure called a shell. The shell gives
booths a uniform look and somehow makes the ambiance common in all trade shows. The signboard on
top of the most visible side/s of the booth is called the fascia board. The fascia board indicates the name
of the exhibitor or the purpose of the service desk.

Exhibitor Manual – It is a book of instructions and information for exhibitors regarding the exhibit venue
and services offered by the official booth contractor. Examples of information found in the exhibitor
manual are limits in electrical load, schedules of the move in or the ingress and move out or egress,
freight forwarding, venue house rules, and the like.

Criteria for Evaluating a MICE Venue

Three words that start with C can be used to encapsulate the general criteria for selecting a venue for an
event: Cost, Convenience, and Charm

Cost – It is a common factor in decision making, not only for event venues. The venue to be selected
must be within the organizer’s budget, and its payment terms must also match the schedule and cash
flow of the event.

Convenience encompasses the availability on the target date, accessibility, proximity to other support
services, suitability of space to the type of event, and safety features. It is an essential factor to consider
when selecting the event venue.
Charm – The appeal of a venue or the commonly called the X factor. It is the thing that the attendees
will keep talking about after the event is over. It can be manifested in the cultural value of the venue,
such as the UNESCO World Heritage site, like the San Augustine Church in Intramuros, Manila. It can also
include the brand of the venue, such as an international resort or hotel chain. It can likewise be the
charm that appeals aesthetically to the attendees.