event & festival design

Order Description

Assignment 1: Event Design Words: 1350 words (30%)
Based on the following scenario, design an event that uses all of the Event Design Techniques discussed in class. Use a minimum of 4 academic references and/or sources (i.e. not web pages) to support your discussion.

Event Scenario (Please note: this is not an actual event).

Background:
The New Dawn is a state wide celebration to mark the bicentennial of the founding of the State. The client is the State Government and they have committed a budget of just under $A1million for its staging. The event will be held up to midnight on the day before the actual bicentennial, commencing 1st January. The event brief requires the event designer and event manager to provide one major outdoor event in the centre of the city for an audience of approximately 500,000. Simultaneously, there will be smaller events staged across the State in regional centres and some more remote locations. There is an 18 month lead time from the appointment of the event company until the staging of the event.
The client expects that there will be significant attempts within the design of the event to get “buy-in” from the remoter parts of the State and the regional centres as well as the major population base of the capital city. While the event is a celebration provided free for the various communities that are involved as either participants or spectators, the client has an over-riding expectation that they will receive strong and positive publicity and media coverage for ‘their’ event. Apart from the financial assistance, the client provides no other assistance towards the event.
There are three phases of the project that are quickly identified by the client in conjunction with the event company.

1. Pre-Event
• promoting the idea of The New Dawn to metropolitan and regional communities and getting their buy-in and participation.
• setting up the mechanisms to facilitate a state-wide live event on the night

2. Live
• ? Live net-casting ?
• State-wide simultaneous live events ?
• Countdown to midnight.

3. Post-Event
• Promotion of what happened at the celebrations ?
• Archival footage and documents for posterity

MARKING CRITERIA:
• clear understanding of the field of research
• clear explanation of how it informs the study of event experience design
• target audience for each event
• expected measurable outcomes for each event
• appropriate choice of outdoor event
• appropriate choice of indoor event.
• practical application of research to indoor event explained.
• practical application of research to outdoor event explained
• clear understanding of theoretical concepts
• relevant and critical application of theory to the topic area
• depth and quality of relevant academic sources
• fully and accurately referenced published sources (APA style).

Clarification from the topic coordinator regarding details of the assignment:
For the event design assignment simply provide:

A. Details of the event design in the 3 parts that are described in the design brief:
1. Pre-event activity
2. The main event
3. Post-event activity
and
B. Details of the 10 event design techniques that are used in each of the 3 above:
1. Scale
2. Shape
3. Focus
4. Timing
5. Build
6. Narrative
7. Authenticity
8. Meaning
9. Emotion
10. Surprise

Please note:
•at least 6 of the 10 (in B.) must be used in each of the 3 (in A.)
•you should try for 10 in each, however
•because of the word length of the assignment, a report or essay format is not required

The topic coordinator’s clarification of students’ enquiries:
Question 1:
We’ve been told to discuss how we utilise the event design principles throughout the event, all 10 for pre, main and post event if possible. Is this purely for the outdoor event because I struggle to understand how the event design principles for a large scale outdoor event would be the same for a small regional event.
You are not required to use 10 for each = 30. You are required to use as many as you can for each and, at least, the majority (so let’s say 6 of the 10) must be used somewhere in the overall assignment
The ED principles can apply whether indoor or outdoor, small or giant, of course. I would find it hard to believe that you could not use all 10 on a small regional event or a smaller event indoors.
Question 2:
If so I don’t believe that 1300 words would allow for us to discuss both. Just seeking clarification as to whether we should just be focusing on the outdoor event.
You need to focus on all 3 and ‘focus’ is, by the way, 1 of the 10 that you can easily cover in all 3 parts of the overall event. Remember you are NOT writing an essay for this assignment. Short sentences and dot points are fine (as discussed in class)

The topic coordinator’s clarification of students’ enquiries:
1- is it required to conduct “one smaller event” or several smaller events across the state?

From the assignment “The client expects that there will be significant attempts within the design of the event to get ‘buy-in’ from the remoter parts of the State and the regional centres as well as the major population base of the capital city.” You are expected to do one large event in the capital city and a number of smaller events in the regions

and if it is several smaller events, should those events be the same?

That is up to you as the event designer

if not how many smaller events are required to be conducted?

Again, that is up to you. If you chose to do just one, however, you would need to show how that decision meets the brief of -“ ‘buy-in’ from the remoter parts of the State and the regional centres”

2- it is stated that the event will held in “the New Down State” (based on my understanding this is just imaginary state and event), so should I just assume or choose any place in the world or this should be based on the state of South Australia?

You have misread the assignment. The name of the event is The New Dawn – because it is all about an event that occurs up to midnight the day before the Bicentennial and which celebrates the dawn of a new era. The brief is based in Adelaide and South Australia

3- can I just choose any place in the world and assume that it is ” the New Down State”?

No, the brief is based in Adelaide and South Australia

Recommended Reading:
• Berridge, G. (2007). Event Design and Experience. Oxford, UK: Butterworth Heinemann.

• Brown, S. (2010). Event Design – Creating and Staging the Event Experience.Vol.1. Adelaide, South Australia: Visible Management.

• Getz, D. (2012). Event Studies: Theory, Research and Policy for Planned Events (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK: Routledge.

• Masterman, G., Wood, E. (2006). Innovative Marketing Communications. Elsevier Butterworth- Heinemann.

• Hay, I., Bochner, D., Dungey, C. (2006). Making The Grade (3rd ed.). South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Oxford University Press.