Nicolas Mintzer

Period 6
November 20th, 2015
Frederic White
College Preparatory English

Nicolas Mintzer
November 20th, 2015
Mr. White
Mintzer 1
Large Event Planning Research Paper
Introduction:
Birthday parties? Sure. Group hangouts? No problem. A three-hundred individual student
leadership conference? A little more difficult. For my senior project, I will be assisting in the
planning, organizing, and running of the Simi Valley Youth Summit, an annual leadership
conference in which students learn how important it is to be involved with your community, take
part in leadership and team building exercises, and enjoy a provided lunch while discussing
community problems, concerns, and ideas with local dignitaries. Such a large-scale event takes
over seven to eight months of planning to put together. This is why a twenty-one member Youth
Council takes on the responsibility of putting on this event, lead by the Youth Summit
Committee Chairman, which so happens to be me this year. In order to be a successful chairman,
I have compiled a plethora of research in numerous fields. I believed my main focus should be
on these distinct categories: Planning and Implementing, Strategic Thinking, Team Functioning
and Leadership, Promotion and Advertisement, Communication, and Financial Planning. Lets
begin to look at these indispensible pieces of building the large event planning puzzle.
Research:
A crucial part, if not the most important part, of preparing a large event is creating and

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implementing a thoroughly thought-out plan. To begin, a team will create a plan that will
maximize the resources we have available to them, and a budget that they can stay within the
limits of (Fairholm 3). This can eliminate future problems regarding money and resources
running short. In order to sustainably manage an event such as this, decision making, awareness,
and design must be fully integrated into its operations, production, and logistics (Stettler 19). No
true foundation can be laid for an event without proper planning first. Many have had
experiences with quick and at the eleventh hour planning, and it is proven to never turn out
successful (The Institute of Cultural Affairs 1). Now, planning does not just involve the event
itself; it also involves the staff. Induction and training are procedurally and conceptually distinct,
as this usually happens upon entry to the event, with context performance as the main focus
(Cairncross, Leigh, Lemont 3). A steady training program is vital to the prosperity of the event,
and gives every staff member a sense of individuality, and will not be as confused and in need of
assistance, like they would if they were thrown into a position (Fairholm 3).
The best way to conceptualize an event is in three outcome goals: image and branding,
community, and attraction (Getz, Gunnerval, Peterssen, Svensson 18). Part of the planning
process is to find a way to present it to the public in a way that it will attract attendees. When one
wants an event to appeal to an audience, qualitative and quantitative work is mandatory. The
organizer will want to spread out as far as possible so the most can be provided as conceivable,
but at the same time, maintain a high quality experience for everyone to enjoy. Always have an
equal balance of qualitative and quantitative work (Fairholm 13). To summarize, one must
complete four crucial steps for the planning process: investigate, design, implement, and evaluate

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(Cairncross, Leigh, Lemont 2).
Strategic and critical thinking are vital to the fluency and professionalism of an event. It
has been scientifically proven that a person will hold a more favorable attitude towards an event
if they gain from it or can see how this event will benefit their community (Getz, Gunnerval,
Peterssen, Svensson 6). The definition of strategic thinking (in terms of planning) is to formulate
effective strategies that take into account influences for and from the outside world and
organizations (Fairholm 3). A leader can be defined by the problem-solving activities they direct
with their team to prepare for future issues (Derue, Karam, Morgeson 19). Mission goals and
objectives are to be made explicit by the organizer so plans can be made accordingly to account
for the end result (Fairholm 4).The final stage of the critical thinking process is to design an
event to where the residents perceive the most positive impacts and leave holding favorable
demeanor towards the event (Getz, Gunnerval, Peterssen, Svensson 12).
As a leader in an enormous undertaking, the manager has many more responsibilities than
just planning everything. Their ability to work in a team and for everyone to function properly
with each other is a seemingly daunting task, but one that must be undertaken in order to be an
effective leader (Fairholm 1). Many unexpected twists and turns can happen on the day of the
event, and as an effective leader, the director must be prepared for them. One must prepare for
verifiable and predictable issues to occur, and can deal with them in an efficient and effective
manner by monitoring tasks actively to make sure everything runs smoothly (Derue, Karam,
Morgeson 10, 16). A true leaders main job should not be to tell people what to do, but to
encourage others and maintain mutual trust so that people will cooperate with them easier and

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work independently and wisely to achieve mutual goals (Fairholm 7). The staff for many events
is pre-chosen, so there is no saying to be made in that regard. For this instance, a leader must
assess the attributes and capabilities of each member and assign them positions accordingly
(Derue, Karam, Morgeson 8). Finally, the final task in the chairman role is to delegate
responsibilities appropriately. One does not want to be stuck with loads of work, and in order to
achieve better results, delegating tasks is a very important skill (The Institute of Cultural Affairs
2). All in all, functioning as part of a team and being an effective leader are at the heart of the
body of operations.
Without promotion and advertisement, no one would ever know an event is happening!
Attendance is one of the biggest concerns, and should be looked at in such light. As was
mentioned earlier, a positively well-known venue is very helpful when attracting viewers. An
event will give the location a good reputation and bring in more customers, and at the same time
make the event look even better (Getz, Gunnerval, Peterssen, Svensson 10). If possible and
applicable, always look for sponsors! Money can be used for a variety of things, and should be
collected if the window of opportunity presents itself (Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration). A business could use the advertising, while money is always
advantageous (Getz, Gunnerval, Peterssen, Svenssin 15). Have either the organizer or assigned
staffs create a flyer of some sort and have this mass produced so the word may be spread as far
and dense as possible (Students at Emory University 2). Community outreach is the key to the
success of an event. Posting on social media, e-mails, newspapers, posters, flyers, and even word
of mouth are extremely sufficient ways to promote and advertise an event (Gourley 17).

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Many mistakes are made through communication errors, and they must address these as
soon, if not before, they occur. There are four stages of Human Resource Development to look at
when creating lines of communication: examination, layout, application, and interpretation
(Cairncross, Leigh, Lemont 2). If citizens of high stature are wanted to attend an event, it would
be wise to prepare a list of emails and phone numbers of those who need to be contacted (The
Institute of Culture Affairs 3). At this point, the leader may contact these people themselves or
they can delegate the task again. A line of communication must be established, and creating good
connections with those around is very important to having a higher quality showing (Loux).
After the event, feedback from the attendees can be beneficial to future events and should be
recorded via survey or questionnaire. Nothing is more important than how an audience perceived
a presentation (Derue, Karam, Morgeson 14). This response can act as a guide to making further
improvements in future endeavors. Forming a committee of people who are interested in helping
to develop the event might also help in this process (Students at Emory University 1).
Having money is important, but what is done with that money is even more important.
Money should not be spent frivolously, so planning must be done, but this time, financially
(Fairholm 8). To begin, one should create estimates of costs for set up, clean up, food, location
fees, equipment costs, etc. Evaluate the budget from time to time to see what money can be spent
on, and maintain good communication with whoever is in charge of handling the money
(Students at Emory University 1). Once an accurate idea of the expenses is established, begin to
plan fundraisers and speak with potential sponsors to increase spending potential (Stettler 5). If a
list is created of what money will be needed for and fundraise if necessary to achieve that
number, future expenses will not be a worry (The Institute of Cultural Affairs 2). This list may

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include basic necessities such as tables, chairs, security, catering, decorations, and any
audio/visual aids (Gourley 15).
Application:
All of this research will go towards my action plan for the Youth Summit. I will be
working with my team for numerous months creating a written list of what needs to be done for
this event to work. To begin, my team will create a plan that will maximize the resources we
have available to us at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, and a budget that we can stay
within the limits of. I will also put training in effect for my staff to bond with each other over a
common goal and for them to learn about their job at the event. Next, I will brainstorm ahead of
some potential problems I may run into and prevent them from happening to the best of my
ability. Along with this, I will assume my role as a member and leader of the team, working with
them to appropriately delegate responsibilities and encourage others to do their best. With the
Youth Council, I will contact our citys graphics department to create a flyer for us, and then
distribute them to our members to post and hand out all over their respective schools and
community events. I will be personally contacting dozens of potential dignitaries to attend our
luncheon and speak with students, using my communication skills to hopefully attract new and
exciting guests. Finally, I will create a budget to determine the estimated gross cost of our event,
and create fundraisers if necessary. My research has provided me with a magnificent guideline
and plan to follow as I go through the process of being a large event coordinator.

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Bibliography
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Model of Induction and Training For Young Event Volunteers.
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Journal of Event Management Research Volume 8 (2013): 1-20. 15

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<http://www.ijemr.org/wp-

content/uploads/2014/10/LeighLamontCairncross.pdf>
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<https://www.msu.edu/~morgeson/morgeson_derue_karam_2010.pdf>
Fairholm, Matthew R. Leadership and Organizational Strategy. The Innovation
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Management Research Volume 7 (2012): 1-21. 13 Sep. 2015.

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Gourley, Kristin. Event Planning 101: If you lead, they will come Maryville
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Loux, Matt. The Stage of Planning and Securing Large-Scale Events. American
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<http://amusecurityinfo.com/the-stages-of-planning-and-securing-large-scaleevents/>
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