Event Management - Creativity is the essence of a successful event

By Debpriya De

Seeking a career in the field of event management? Know the importance of creativity in event management for a successful career.

In the current global exposure, every individual wants to have all his or her memories turn into experience so that they can relish it when the event has already gone by. Every individual wants to celebrate the events that one has in his or her life starting from personal events to corporate events. Hence, it is very important for today’s event managers to focus on making each event unique as the same clientele can be a part of two events and if they do not find any uniqueness then the business might suffer as there would be no value addition for the client.

Any event requires immense amount of planning which could lead to defining different concepts as per the client’s requirement. It is very important therefore to understand ‘creativity’ as a core of event success.

It is very rightly said that when an individual or a group converts new and imaginative ideas into reality is creativity. It involves a lot of thinking and then converting it into production. Innovation leads to implementation of an idea. Many of the event planners have got great and bright ideas but they do not act on them, hence they are imaginative but not creative.

Creativity is a process and not an event

We do wonder sometimes that why creativity holds an important aspect in event planning and we can connect it with the history. You must remember the evolvement of the “Theory of Gravity’ by Sir Issac Newton. Did this happen by itself or there was a series of thought processes which led to this great invention. The answer is ‘yes’ as the falling apple was the symbol of an example of a creative moment.

Creativity is that moment in an individual’s life, when an inspired genius fills the brain with those ‘light bulb moments’ when the conditions are just right. The falling apple thus ignited a series of thought processes which carried on for years. Hence, we can say that creative thinking is a process and not an event.

Importance of creativity in events

Any individual can do an event, irrespective of whether the event turned out to be good or bad. The only factor that will make a difference is the element of ‘creativity’. When we use it in a correct manner then it can lead to a memorable experience for the clients and also helps in making the right connections that can potentially have a positive impact on the brands and the company.

The gatherings that happen during an event they are accustomed to experience something very unique which sets the tone for the event. Every event that is organised hasa 360° experience on the guest from what s/he sees, hears, touches and smells. Each aspect that we have talked about can be given a new definition as far as creativity is concerned. From the point of invitation to the departure of the guest from the venue, creativity is like an injection that will help the guest to get the right value or ROI (Return on Investment) from the event. Each moment acts as an experience for the client which can create memories for the individuals as in today’s era, social media plays a very important part in each one’s life. These moments can bring an engagement element for the guests that can potentially extend the life of the event as well as its audience as it would be a talking point for the guests.

Creativity blues

In a recent published article it was found that less than 40% of the available and qualified event professionals are creative and right thinkers. The industry needs a lot more event professionals to be creative thinkers.

Study has also shown that more than half (approx. 53%) feel the pressure to deliver something new and innovative. The biggest constraint for the event managers in today’s competitive business is budget and time bound limitations which restrict them to think something big and new which would bring satisfaction or memorable experience to the clients. The study also reveals through a survey conducted on more than 400 event planners that only 34% were allowed free time to think and only 32% agreed that the organisations reward them for creative excellence. The data also provided some interesting facts that less than one-third of them told that their organisation encouraged risk-taking.

The gap needs to be bridged between the logical and rational skill and the emotional skill quotient in event planning.

Creativity in event management

It is not essential to have a specialised person for creativity though they are important but as human beings each individual working can be creative as every human has the power of imagination, what needs to be done is to put the imagination into creativity and then put the same thought into production. It does not mean that creativity is linked only to the visual or audio effects in an event but can work across all domains from building partnerships to extend the budgets and also using it to create awareness in the market. As a professional an event manager should have the ability to be creative in problem-solving and how he/she can use this in all aspects of event management.

The current industry is experiencing a creativity flow from each team member of the event management crew. Creativity has found its tentacles across different areas of event management from complex issues to designs, concepts, and marketing strategies, innovative ideas for content designing, and client presentations to execution of the event.

Creativity the essence of success

It is absolutely important for an event manager to push himself/ herself to new boundaries and also open up possibilities, add colour to the conversations and also add a new dimension to a client’s request. It is impossible for a professional event manager to say that he/she is not creative as everybody is surrounded by creative inspirations if one makes a little extra effort and time to think or imagine. Brain storming of ideas is an important exercise that every event manager must practice as this will help to bring the best imaginative power of the team and will add vigour to the creativity aspects of the event. It is rightly said that creativity is contagious and it spreads easily.

At this moment I am reminded of a very famous advertisement of a mobile network company, “What an IDEA sir ji”…if you notice then any idea which seems to be wild or illogical can bring new life into the events and will add to an individual’s growth as one will learn something new and this new and innovative idea will give assurance to the clients that they would experience something new for the event which is the ultimate goal of the event managers to provide to their clients.

If the event manager wants his work to get recognised which will eventually lead to the growth of the brand. The event will be labelled as a ‘success’ once the client remembers you, your brand and the event.

Opportunities in event management

The above areas that have defined the importance of ‘creativity’ in the vast field of event management shows that people who have the element of creativity in their skills can have a fantastic career ahead in this rewarding industry. As said earlier, this aspect holds a special category in the success of event management. A candidate who has an educational background of event management can look for careers in many domains as every event is unique in itself. The students after pursuing his/her education in the field of event management can be hired as PR (Public Relation) experts, planner, venue managers, sponsorship coordinator, catering managers, social media managers, volunteer coordinator, etc. Moreover, the best aspect of pursuing this particular programme is that the candidate can be an entrepreneur which requires minimum capital investment and promises huge returns.

Conclusion

It can be truly said that that in today’s ever growing competitive world, though event management has found its new home but it is very essential for all event corporates/ event managers/ freelancers to understand one fact that creativity and innovation are the two main growing demands of the clients. This aspect is of utmost importance as it will set them apart from their competitors and also will ensure that their clients would take back sweet memories with themselves.

It is essential for event managers to understand that we can get same result by adding to equal numbers or two different numbers for example 3+3=6 or 4+2=6, in both the cases the result is the same but the digits are different, hence there can be alternate methods of doing the same thing which would only be possible by creative thinking.

Today’s clients look out for good memories and are ready to shell out extra money for making their event more memorable, hence it is essential that the event companies/ managers understand that it can only be achieved through combination of pioneering ideas with concrete remedies which can add an extra bit of surprise and delight for the clients.

About the Author:

Debpriya De is Associate Professor at Vedatya Institute. He has total 18 years of work experience – 10 years in the industry at various operational positions and 8 years in academics. He has completed his Diploma in Hotel & Catering Management from IIHM Kolkata. He has also completed his Masters in Hospitality Management from Sai Nath University, Ranchi.