ENVIRONMENT & VENUE
The event venue is an important factor in event concept development. It should be able to meet the operational needs of the event in terms of access and facilities, catering for the number of attendees and contributing to the desired style and atmosphere as it plays a part in the attendee’s event experience and customer satisfaction.
Strengths
Convenient Access to Event Venues
The venue of the event, the Ixora Room of the Perankan Museum is easily accessible using various forms of transportation. The Peranakan Museum is a 10-minutes’ walk from City Hall MRT and Bras Basah MRT and is also accessible by 22 bus services. Paid parking services are also available next to the museum.
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| Photo: The Ixora Room, Peranakan Museum |
Ambience & Atmosphere
The Ixora Room is a Peranakan-Inspired room that is painted in baby hues to create a cosy and comfortable atmosphere that makes the young visitors feel welcomed. Traditional Peranakan music with an upbeat tune can also be heard playing in the background, supplementing the decorations of the room. I felt that the museum had made appropriate use of the decorations, colours as well as audio tools in creating an environment that has successfully met the needs of the children, thus enhancing their event experience.
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| Photo: Interior of Ixora Room 1 |
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| Photo: Interior of Ixora Room 2 |
Weaknesses
Size of Venue
There were signs of overcrowding within the Ixora Room during peak periods, although efforts had been made to disperse the crowds to various locations internally for different activities. Visitors had to squeeze through the crowd in order to get to interactives in the room. This shows that the museum may have underestimated the size of the patronising crowd, resulting in the mismatch between the size of the venue and the crowd size.
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| Photo: Signs of Overcrowding |
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The programme, another experiential component under events marketing creates the core event experience for the attendees. It involves the flow of performers, speakers and other elements of the event over the event duration.
Besides the main programme: Peranakan Adventures for the Little Phoenixes and Dragons (Appendix E) that is available daily during the period of event in the Ixora Room, there are also special programmes on Drop-In Wednesdays, Weekend Festival and Workshops.
Strengths
Interactive Activities
The interactive activities highlighted in Appendix A are part of the daily programme. Based on the interviews with participants, it is evident that both young and old had enjoyed the activities, showing that the activities had successfully engaged them, creating a positive event experience and meeting participant’s expectations of it.
Besides the main programme: Peranakan Adventures for the Little Phoenixes and Dragons (Appendix E) that is available daily during the period of event in the Ixora Room, there are also special programmes on Drop-In Wednesdays, Weekend Festival and Workshops.
Strengths
Interactive Activities
The interactive activities highlighted in Appendix A are part of the daily programme. Based on the interviews with participants, it is evident that both young and old had enjoyed the activities, showing that the activities had successfully engaged them, creating a positive event experience and meeting participant’s expectations of it.
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| Photo: Children engaging in interactive activities |
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| Photo: Helping a girl with at the Dress Up Corner |
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| Photo: Children engaging in various activities |
Programme Flow for Weekend Festival
On the Weekend Festival, there were performances at the lobby of the museum (Appendix F). These performances were in 30 minutes to 1 hour intervals and last for about 15 to 30 minutes each, it includes dance and musical performances as well as a re-enactment of a Peranakan Wedding. By scheduling the performances at appropriate intervals, it allowed the visitors to go for the other activities such as crafts and caricature sessions at the other parts of the museum or just take a break. Thus, it shows the organiser’s efforts in balancing the levels of intensity and times of rest of the audience.
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| Photo: Performers from the Peranakan Association Re-enactment of Peranakan Wedding |
Meeting the needs of the young audience
The choice of performances during the Weekend Festival was appropriate as it made use of the song and dance to engage the children. Besides, the performance artists recruited such as the artists from Urban Harmony specialised in children performance, thus they were able to engage the young crowd effectively, maximising their event experience, contributing to the success of the programme.
The choice of performances during the Weekend Festival was appropriate as it made use of the song and dance to engage the children. Besides, the performance artists recruited such as the artists from Urban Harmony specialised in children performance, thus they were able to engage the young crowd effectively, maximising their event experience, contributing to the success of the programme.
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| Photo: Urban Harmony engaging the crowd with their performance |
Weaknesses
Limited Places for certain activities
Due to logistics and space constraints, the museum only allocated limited places for activities such as the silkscreen printing which is catered for only 84 children over 14 time slots. This caused some children and parents to have to be turned away disappointed that they were unable to join in the activity, as such negatively impacting their event experience.
Limited Places for certain activities
Due to logistics and space constraints, the museum only allocated limited places for activities such as the silkscreen printing which is catered for only 84 children over 14 time slots. This caused some children and parents to have to be turned away disappointed that they were unable to join in the activity, as such negatively impacting their event experience.
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| Photo: Staff and volunteer explaining to visitors that the silkscreen printing activity had been fully booked |
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MANPOWER ALLOCATION
Effective planning and management of manpower contributes to successful events. Event organisers need to ensure that the event is adequately staffed with the right people. Due to the large volume of manpower required for the 24 days event, the programmes department started recruiting volunteers about 1 month before the event commencement. The volunteer’s schedule is as follows:
Shift 1 (Except Mondays) | Shift 2 |
10am to 2pm | 2pm to 6pm |
3 and 7 volunteers were allocated for each shift on weekdays and weekends respectively. More volunteers were allocated for weekends to cope with larger crowds. Besides the unpaid volunteers, about 5 permanent staff members were also around to supervise the
operations of the event. |
| Photo: The volunteers, Erika and I |
Strengths
Clear Job Descriptions for VolunteersThe general list of duties and responsibilities (Appendix G) was emailed to volunteers a week before the commencement of the event. The job description helps us, the volunteers to familiarise ourselves with the job scope before going for duty, thus increasing our abilities to serve the visitors, enhancing their event experience.
Flexibility in allocation
The volunteers’ job allocation was based on the number of visitors at each activity. More volunteers were situated at popular activities in order to cope with larger crowd size. This arrangement would thus allow the event to be adequately staffed at all times, according to each activity’s demand.
Weaknesses
Insufficient Manpower Allocated for Weekends and Special Programmes
Despite the flexible allocation of manpower, the event still faced staffing shortage during the peak hours of the event which is usually between 2pm – 3pm. This causes frustration of some visitors as they had to wait for a while before a staff/volunteer could attend to the requests. This problem was prevailing during the Drop-In Wednesdays whereby only 3 volunteers and 5 permanent staff members were on duty across the 2 venues, the Ixora Room and the Lecture Room. This lack of manpower will adversely impact the visitor’s events experience as they might feel that the service rendered is not up to their expectations.
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LOGISTICS
According to Logistics World, the term ‘logistics’ meant to have the right thing, at the right place, at the right time. Event logistics includes the efficient supply of the customer to the product, and the supply of facilities to and from the event site.
Strengths
Availability of materials & communication tools
The organiser had prepared sufficient materials such as colour pencils, coloured paper, electronic sharpeners as well as hand sanitizers for the visitor’s use. The materials are restocked immediately by the volunteers once they run low, thus showing the efficient coordination of logistics at the event. Signages were also present to direct the visitors to the event venue.
According to Logistics World, the term ‘logistics’ meant to have the right thing, at the right place, at the right time. Event logistics includes the efficient supply of the customer to the product, and the supply of facilities to and from the event site.
Strengths
Availability of materials & communication tools
The organiser had prepared sufficient materials such as colour pencils, coloured paper, electronic sharpeners as well as hand sanitizers for the visitor’s use. The materials are restocked immediately by the volunteers once they run low, thus showing the efficient coordination of logistics at the event. Signages were also present to direct the visitors to the event venue.
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| Photo: Signages to direct visitors to the Babazaar during Weekend Festival |
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| Photo: Signage to Caricature and Photo Taking Activity |
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| Photo: Goodies Bags for the 1st 200 children on Weekend Festival |
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| Photo: Coloured paper, colour pencils, glue, scissors, electronic sharpers for visitor's use and music player to play Peranakan Tradtional Music |
Flow of performers
As mentioned above, there were performances organised for the Weekend Festival. The performers were held in a green room next to Lecture Room before their performances. They were then ushered to the performance area, the lobby, by the staff when it is time for their performance. This again showed the efficient coordination of logistics.
Contractors
The contractors conducted checks on the lightings in the room at regular intervals to ensure that light bulbs which had blown were replaced as soon as possible. Cleaners were also deployed in the room to do a thorough clean up once the programme end for the day.
As mentioned above, there were performances organised for the Weekend Festival. The performers were held in a green room next to Lecture Room before their performances. They were then ushered to the performance area, the lobby, by the staff when it is time for their performance. This again showed the efficient coordination of logistics.
Contractors
The contractors conducted checks on the lightings in the room at regular intervals to ensure that light bulbs which had blown were replaced as soon as possible. Cleaners were also deployed in the room to do a thorough clean up once the programme end for the day.
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| Photo: Cleaners cleaning off the paint spills on the tables from the previous activity |
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| Photo: Cleaning and preparing for activities on the next day |
Weaknesses
Lack of first-aid personnel & facilities
The organiser did not employ any first aid personnel or prepared any first aid kits for cases of emergencies. During my duty, there was an incident whereby one boy knocked against the sharp edge of the drawer at one of the interactives, resulting in bleeding at the left cheek. However, there was no first aid kit for volunteers to render help to the boy, and the parents had to handle it instead.
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PRODUCT AND SERVICES
The event offers more of an experience rather than a product or service. Visitors have to experience the event in order to consume it. Production, delivery and consumption of an event are inseparable, happening simultaneously most of the time. The event experience is also intangible and perishable, people delivering in the event may also have variations in quality.
The event offers more of an experience rather than a product or service. Visitors have to experience the event in order to consume it. Production, delivery and consumption of an event are inseparable, happening simultaneously most of the time. The event experience is also intangible and perishable, people delivering in the event may also have variations in quality.
Strengths
Souvenirs from event's programmes
The event experience is intangible and unlike a product, it cannot be owned. The programme includes activities such as painting of mugs and creating clay art pieces which they could bring home, as such adding on some tangibility to the event, helping to remind visitors of their event experience.
Souvenirs from event's programmes
The event experience is intangible and unlike a product, it cannot be owned. The programme includes activities such as painting of mugs and creating clay art pieces which they could bring home, as such adding on some tangibility to the event, helping to remind visitors of their event experience.
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| Photo: My souvenir from the Mug Painting Activity |
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| Photo: Clay art pieces which can be created and brought home |
Experience from all 5 senses
The activities engaged all 5 senses of visitors which could positively influence their event experience:
The activities engaged all 5 senses of visitors which could positively influence their event experience:
Sight | Looking at the household items used in Peranakan homes, decorations at the venue |
Hearing | Peranakan music playing in the background |
Touch | Trying out Peranakan costumes, doing crafts and activities |
Smell | Smelling the spices used in Peranakan cuisine |
Taste | Tasting the Pineapple tarts created at one of the activities during Drop-In Wednesdays |
Weaknesses
Lack of Engagement of the Sense of Taste
As mentioned above, the sense of taste of the visitors are engaged during the Drop-In Wednesdays whereby they get to taste one of the Peranakan snacks, the pineapple tarts. However this activity is not available daily during the event, which reduces the number of visitors who have a more complete experience from all 5 senses.
As mentioned above, the sense of taste of the visitors are engaged during the Drop-In Wednesdays whereby they get to taste one of the Peranakan snacks, the pineapple tarts. However this activity is not available daily during the event, which reduces the number of visitors who have a more complete experience from all 5 senses.
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MARKETING
Marketing events is the process of employing the marketing mix to attain organisational goals through creating value for customers and other stakeholders. The marketing mix includes experiential components such as Product, Place, Programming and People as well as facilitating components such as Partnerships, Promotion, Packaging & Distribution and Price.
Strengths
Wide range of communication mix used
In order to generate awareness in CS2011, the organisers had used various tools (Appendix H) to promote this event to the public. The websites had proved to be the most effective tool as 4 out of 5 parents interviewed during the CS2011 programme at the Peranakan Museum indicated that they found out about the activity through the websites.
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| Photo: One of the communication tools used - Brochures |
Pricing of Workshops
As compared to the complimentary activities such as those during Drop-In Wednesdays and the Weekend Festival, the attendance for the chargeable workshops at CS2011 at the Peranakan Museum pales in comparison, some workshops had to be cancelled due to lack of interest. The high cost could be the cause for the lack of participants joining the workshops. For example, Shophouse Secrets: Digital Photography Workshop costs $40 per child, which may be too costly or not worth the money to some parents.
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