Agility in the Events Sector A Case Study of a Business Event in Finland (Valentina Gorchakova and Ekaterina Berdysheva)

The events industry was estimated at $1,100 billion in 2018 and was expected to grow to reach $2,330 billion by 2026 (Allied Market Research, n.d.). Year 2020, however, turned out to be perhaps the most transformative year in the industry in the last decades. Numerous events, from smaller family occasions, like weddings, to major events of the likes of the Wimbledon tennis tournament, the UEFA EURO 2020, Glastonbury Festival and the Cannes Film festival, had to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The combined economic impact is not yet known but will be a loss in the hundreds of billions of US dollars (Gössling, Scott, & Hall, 2021). This shows the vulnerability of the events industry to major crises. Despite the negative impacts of crises on events, there is a paucity of research that explores organizational responses under unusual, unprecedented or critical circumstances in the events sector. This chapter applies the concept of agility in event organization within volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous, so-called VUCA, environment (Bennett & Lemoine, 2014) that dominated year 2020 due to the unfolding pandemic. The agile approach is often seen as a stream of new ideas leading to elegantly simple solutions. It requires a high energy level of the team involved due to the tight constraints and deadlines. The authors introduce a case study of a business festival organized in Turku (Finland) and discuss the decision-making process, stakeholder involvement, introduction of a new modus operandi, and the new event format that was chosen.

Swedish Sports Clubs and Events during the Covid 19 Pandemic Impacts and Responses (John Armbrecht, Erik Lundberg, Robert Pettersson and Malin Zillinger)

Sweden has 10 million inhabitants of which more than 30% are members of at least one sports club. Typically, sports clubs are organized under the Swedish Sports Confederation (Riksidrottsförbundet). On a national level, approximately 19,000 sports clubs exist, distributed over 72 specialist sports federations. Each club usually stages one or several sport events every year. For example, specialist sports federations organize all championships at national and international levels. From a sports club perspective, these events constitute important sources of income. From a societal perspective, clubs and events create considerable economic impacts, foster public health, and facilitate integration contributing with substantial social values (Brown et al., 2015; Pettersson & Wallstam, 2017; Wallstam, Ioannides, & Pettersson, 2020). During the Covid-19 pandemic, most governments restricted individuals’ possibilities for gatherings and movements. On March 12th the Swedish government responded to the pandemic by limiting the number of participants to events to no more than 500 people. Starting March 29th gatherings were limited to 50 people. During the end of year 2020 and the second virus wave, further actions were taken. The government limited the number of visitors and participants to eight people. These restrictions had considerable negative effects on many sport-related activities, events, and thus clubs.

A Chronicle of Event Postponement and Reorganization Coming Back Stronger (Danai Varveri and Vassilios Ziakas)

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global event industry has been deeply affected. In Greece, the scale of the coronavirus crisis brings back memories of the 2008 financial crisis; both are crises that reshaped society in lasting ways. The 2008 financial crisis showed that the event industry in Greece can survive adverse conditions. In the following years, although Greece has been under strict austerity measures and economic hardship, the Greek calendar continued to feature a range of cultural festivals and events, especially during the summer months of the peak tourism season. Music and dance festivals are a mainstay of the creative event industry in Greece, because they not only enhance local development and tourism but also contribute to artistic expression and the utilization of cultural capital. The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has put at risk most events around the globe. According to chaos theory, the principle of ‘butterfly effect’ explains how small incidents may cause large effects to broader systems; in this manner alike the COVID-19 outbreak has plunged the global into a serious pandemic crisis. In the event industry, strict social distancing and restrictions to minimize the spread of coronavirus have set new norms in socializing and celebrating. Concerns about safety in gatherings have led to cancelling or reshaping events. The Greek government imposed consecutive lockdowns that paralyzed the already dismal social and business environment from a 10-year economic depression. Local or national lockdowns limit the range of managerial responses in event planning and make it more difficult for any level of crisis preparedness to be achieved. Thus, major uncertainties have arisen about the future and survival of events in Greece. How are event organizers responding to the crisis and adapting to the new conditions? What decision-making processes do they employ to deal with the consequences of the crisis? The purpose of this chapter is to throw light on the empirical decision-making of event managers to re-organize the National Ballet Competition of Greece as a virtual event. This experience is discussed alongside pertinent literature to highlight major issues and responses.

Events Employment Crises’ Impacts and Resolutions (Richard N S Robinson and Yawei Jiang)

The aim of this chapter is to consider employment in relation to the broader events industry and crisis. In doing so this contribution homes in on two substantial research gaps in the literature. The first, related to the intrinsic interdependency between the events industry and the tourism and hospitality industries (Getz & Page, 2016), is that there is a well-documented academic and policy-maker ambivalence towards workforce issues in the broader tourism, hospitality, and event industries relative to other topics in these domains (Baum et al., 2016; Liu, 2018; Muskat & Mair, 2020). The second gap is that although there is a rich literature related to tourism and events recovery from, and resilience to, crisis and disasters, their impacts on workforce, and the role they play in recovery is ill-understood (Ritchie & Jiang, 2019). There is, however, also an interdependency between many of the entertainment, cultural and sporting industries and events (Getz, 1997). Almost without exception the global tourism (hospitality and events) and entertainment (cultural and arts) have been the hardest hit economically by the COVID-19 pandemic (Sigala, 2020). A focal point of this chapter, therefore, will be the consideration of not only direct event employment effects vis-a-vis crises but also the ripple effects on other workforces dependent on the ‘soft infrastructure’ that the event industry generates.

Redesigning Events in the Post COVID 19 Crisis A Design Thinking Approach (Kom Campiranon)

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on 12 March 2020. Since then, COVID-19 has significantly influenced the global economic, political, and socio-cultural systems (Sigala, 2020). This pandemic is arguably one of the most substantial challenges facing businesses in the past 100 years (Hall et al., 2020). Although the tourism industry has been generally resilient in recovery from a variety of crises (e.g. terrorism, earthquakes, and outbreaks such as SARS), tourism is one of many industries in which COVID-19 has caused severe adverse effects (UNWTO, 2020b) and has given rise to profound and long-term changes (Sigala, 2020). Moreover, it is not yet clear if, or when, businesses will return to normal (Cankurtaran & Beverland, 2020). As COVID-19 has continued to spread across the world, travel restrictions and border shutdowns have been enforced in many countries to curb its spread (Qiu et al., 2020). Flights have been canceled (Haywood, 2020), forcing millions of travelers to postpone their travel plans (Rwigema, 2020). People all over the world have experienced quarantine or isolation, whilst businesses have been closed in response to the outbreak of COVID-19 (Kabadayi et al., 2020) which has caused supply chain disruptions. Whilst the events sector is considered as a vital part of the tourism industry (Mohanty et al., 2020; Rwigema, 2020), it has been disrupted the most (Gajjar & Parmar, 2020; Gössling et al., 2020) due to the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 (Congrex Switzerland, 2020; Margolis et al., 2020; Min Ho & Ming Sia, 2020; Mohanty et al., 2020; Ranasinghe et al., 2020) which lead to social distancing (Rwigema, 2020; Sigala, 2020), the avoidance of crowd gatherings (Hao et al., 2020), travel restrictions, border controls, and involuntary quarantine (Disimulacion, 2020).

Stakeholder Management (Donald Getz)

This chapter presents concepts and principles for stakeholder manage- ment in a time of crisis, and how stakeholder management is an essential part of recovery and resilience. Definitions, stakeholder theory, case studies and practical advice for event stakeholder management has been provided in the book Event Stakeholders by Mathilda van Niekerk and Donald Getz (2019). However, it was written before the 2020 pandemic and did not specifically address crisis management. A number of interviews and case studies have been incorporated in this book, reflecting the views of experts in a wide range of event settings and types. The interviewees were asked to comment on the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the events sector, from their perspectives, on actions taken and plans for recovery, and on the key stakeholders for recovery and building resilience. A summary of the interviews and case studies is contained in the final chapter. While not all crises are as serious as the pandemic, 2020 generally being seen as a worst-case scenario, this material is valuable in shedding light on any form of crisis facing events, and in particular on the vital roles played by internal and external stakeholders. Who or what is a stakeholder? For a privately owned event, owners and direct investors are the shareholders, while stakeholders can broadly be defined as persons or organizations that have something to gain or lose by the actions of the event. They might have an investment in an event, or a perceived interest. An investment can be tangible or intangible. For example, tangible investments can be in the form of being a marketing or logistical partner, supplier, volunteer, paid employee, sponsor or other type of participant. Communities, cities and destinations invest in events and consider themselves to be important stakeholders, their investments being both tangible (e.g., money, venues, marketing, other services) or intangible (e.g., moral and political support, attendance, or – at a minimum – tolerance).

Response and Recovery through Event Portfolio Management A Case Study from Des Moines, Iowa (Smita Singh and Eric D Olson)

Des Moines, Iowa, hosts a variety of diverse events and festivals, reaping quite an event portfolio. A balanced portfolio of events is shaped by long term strategy: “a full portfolio will consist of various types of events, for different target markets, held in different places, and at different times of the year, in pursuit of multiple goals” (Getz, 2013, p. 23). Diversified and multiple events can bring more profits to the event organizers and the stakeholders by identifying overall risk-reward characteristics and minimizing the risk of not attracting the target audiences (Ziakas, 2014). Portfolio management of events also involves multiple stakeholders with distinct needs, priorities, and expectations (Reid, 2011). Thus, stakeholder theory is also considered a strategic tool within the events sector (Niekerk & Getz, 2019) which emphasizes the engagements between the events or the event portfolio and its stakeholders, hence putting the event at the core of the evaluation. This chapter utilizes the festival and event sector in Des Moines, Iowa as a case study to highlight the challenges of recovery and response to the COVID-19 pandemic and examines how Des Moines’s portfolio management of festivals and events will position the city for a strong recovery in the festival and event sector. This chapter is organized as follows. First, we highlight key festivals and events in Des Moines. Next, we discuss how festivals and events in Des Moines have been responding to the impact of COVD-19. We then present four propositions, based on stakeholder interviews, how Des Moines can mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on its event portfolio.

From Risk to Resilience Contemporary Issues in Event Risk Management (Peter Ashwin)

In today’s volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous global risk society, national boundaries are blurred, inter-connected markets are exposed to delocalized risks with consequences that may stretch over extended or indefinite periods of time. Under these uncertain conditions, event organizers find themselves planning and delivering events in an environment characterized by disruptive effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and extant risks from home-grown violent extremism, cyber-criminal threats, supply chain disruptions and event cancellations (Beck, 2006; Hall, et al., 2019; Piekarz et al., 2015; Reid & Ritchie,2011; Rutherford Silvers, 2008; Tarlow, 2002). It is widely acknowledged that risk management should be viewed by event organizers and event professionals as a fundamental responsibility for planning and delivering a world class guest experience in a safe and secure environment (Berlonghi, 1990; Piekarz et al., 2015; Rutherford Silvers, 2008; Tarlow 2002;). However, in stark contrast, many event organizers concede that they do not have an event risk management plan (Ashwin & Wilson, 2020; Sturken, 2005 cited in Robson, 2009; Robson, 2009). In light of the recent proliferation of violent attacks on festivals and events, from the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing to the recent 2019 Gilroy Garlic Festival (California) shooting, there has been an increasing public discourse and emerging legislative requirements for event organizers to demonstrate an evidence-based approach to risk management decisions with the ability to explain the rationale behind those decisions in clear, objective and transparent terms (US Department of Homeland Security, 2020; UK Center for the Protection of National Infrastructure, 2020). Drawing upon the existing body of literature for event risk management, from Berlonghi (1990) to the recent 2019 event industry survey investigating event organizers approaches to risk management and resilience (Ashwin & Wilson, 2020), this chapter will explore contemporary risk issues in today’s volatile, ambiguous, complex and uncertain world. First, it will discuss the inter-related risk constructs pertaining to socio-cultural theoretical perspectives of risk and how an event organizer’s perception of risk influences their approach to risk management and decision-making. Then the chapter will address two contemporary risks, both of which present the potential for catastrophic consequences: cyber-criminals who are increasingly focusing their cyber-attacks on vulnerable, event digital eco-systems; and domestic terrorism and the threat from homegrown violent extremists, domestic violent extremists and unaffiliated lone offenders (‘lone wolves’). Finally, pragmatic, risk-based approaches to mitigating these risks will be discussed, specifically, preventative risk control measures and opportunities for enhancing organizational resilience to cyber-crime and terrorism.

Crisis Management and Recovery for Events Issues and Directions (Vassilios Ziakas, Vladimir Antchak and Donald Getz)

The landscape of the event sector is dramatically changing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The crisis has accelerated structural change and aggravated the instability of what has traditionally been a highly volatile, disruptive and erratic sector. Crises are becoming the new normal. The probability of the advent of further crises should be considered and carefully evaluated by the event industry and the entire visitor economy sector. It is critical for event organizers and host communities to learn how to cooperate and manage their events under conditions of constant or episodic crises and turbulence. A holistic mindset in crisis management needs to be developed to create tools and strategies for enabling the effective adaptability, recovery, and resilience of events. In this concluding chapter, we outline the pillars of a holistic crisis management perspective that makes use of complex adaptive systems, event portfolio and resilience theories. We encapsulate major issues in the crisis management of events and put forward an integrative framework that brings together crucial elements and processes. Finally, we discuss key trends and transformations of the sector, and in this context, suggest directions for future research.

Crisis The Juncture of Stability and Development (William O’Toole)

The development of the events sector over the last 40 years has shown a remarkable consistency. Not necessarily on the ground with specific events, but certainly looking at the management processes at a meta-level, there is a longitudinal pattern that has emerged. It seems the startling diversity of events, their independent development, the variety of personalities and work practices in every country and city of the world has produced a model of development. I have been fortunate to observe and, to a small degree, influence this development. I have experienced and worked in its various phases. From working in events in over 40 countries ranging from the Liberia to the USA, the pattern is unmistakable. This pattern is dynamic and self organizing. The development pattern creates five phases I have described here. The maturity levels become phases when we introduce the dimension of time. But what has this to do with ‘crisis’. In an innovative and disruptive industry such as events, crisis is one of the factors that powers the pattern in development. From the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), to terrorism, to the COVID crisis, these are stimuli that have help create a development model.