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The importance of event planning in strategic public relations

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The importance of event planning in strategic public relations

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THE IMPORTANCE OF EVENT PLANNING IN STRATEGIC PUBLIC RELATIONS

By: Amanda McCraven

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(STRATEGIC PUBLIC RELATIONS)

May 2018

Table of Contents

Introduction…………………………………………………………. 1
Secondary Research… Or Lack There Of………………………….. 10
Don’t Believe Me...Ask the Experts…….…………………..……... 17
Looking at the Olympics…………………………………………… 23
When Events go Wrong……………………………………………. 37
Anatomy of an Event………………………………………………. 46
Party Poopers………………………………………………………. 49
Conclusion…………………………………………………………. 56
Bibliography……………………………………………………….. 61
Appendix…………………………………………………………... 70

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Introduction
As a society, we ask children what they want to be when they grow up. The
answers usually yield jobs such as a firefighter, an astronaut, an actor or the president. High
schoolers are asked the same inquiry but the answers have usually changed. At this age,
responses are usually more career focused: a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, a public relations
executive. Once college is reached, a student must choose a major that will define their career. If
students are making such a large decision, shouldn’t all of their options in a career field be
disclosed to them? If a student chooses to study public relations they are rarely told about
working in events. You wouldn’t inform a pre-medical student about most of the career paths
they can choose; rather they are given information on all areas. In public relations, event
planning is an important career path within the field that is rarely discussed or respected in the
classroom and in the professional world.
Working as an event coordinator is considered one of the most stressful jobs in the
United States. In fact, a 2017 study by Business News Daily
1
states, event coordinators are in the
top five most stressful jobs with a stress score of 51.15. Number one is enlisted military
personnel with a stress score of 72.74, number two is Firefighters with a stress score of 72.68,
number 3 is airline pilots with a stress score of 60.54 and number four is police officer with a
stress score of 51.68. That means there is only a .53 difference between a police officer, whose
job involves being shot at and apprehending suspected criminals, and an event coordinator. In
comparison, a PR executive was ranked at number eight with a stress score of 48.5. Another

1
Brooks, Chad. "The 10 Most (and Least) Stressful Jobs." Business News Daily. January 13, 2017. Accessed
November 22, 2017. https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/1875-stressful-careers.html.
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study, done by CNBC
2
, lists an event coordinator at number five in an article of the most
stressful jobs with the same stress score as Business News Daily (51.15). CNBC states that an
event coordinator’s median annual salary is $46,840. This study also places public relations
executives at number eight, but states the annual salary is $104,140. How is it possible that the
more stressful job with a lower median pay is not seen as an important career path in the field of
public relations?
In academia, there is a lack of research into the effects event planning and events have in
the public relations sphere. Throughout the author’s time in higher education, as a public
relations major, in her undergraduate study and as a candidate for a M.A. in strategic public
relations, event planning was rarely discussed. When it was, it was usually given very little
importance. Public relations textbooks the author has used in her courses also do not properly
discuss events. If events are mentioned in a textbook they are given no more than two
paragraphs, or so, to discuss a very elaborate and detail oriented tactic.
In the journey to find academic research about the role of event planning in the public
relations industry, the author began her research via the University of Southern California (USC)
library and their online databases. The author found that there is no scholarly research about
event planning and its impact in businesses. The author then reached out to Chiméne E. Tucker,
USC’s communication & journalism librarian, who directed her to additional databases to search,
but they too produced minimal results. The few articles that did populate from these databases
were blog posts or trade magazine articles that were around two pages in length and did not
describe the impacts that proper event planning can have for a business. The general lack of

2
Elkins, Kathleen. "The 10 most stressful jobs in America." CNBC. January 12, 2017. Accessed November 22, 2017.
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/11/most-stressful-jobs-in-america.html.
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research found, elaborates the point that an effective and widely used tactic in public relations is
not being valued by academia, and in turn, is not seen as an important career to have in the
public relations field.
Before elaborating on the argument that event planning is important, context on what
makes an event strategic for businesses and what the components of a strategic event are must be
given. Since there is no scholarly research to point to, the author conducted interviews with
experts that either worked in event planning and management themselves or have worked closely
with large scale events, such as the Olympics.
When event planning is discussed as a career option, people think of organizing weddings
and birthday parties. Strategic event planning and management for companies is rarely thought
of, and most people do not know what constitutes a strategic event. A strategic event can help a
business or non-profit organization reach their goals. Wanda Ahmadi, a seasoned event planner,
defines a strategic event as “[An Event] that has a very well-defined purpose such as producing
an event to generate revenue, or to produce an event to cultivate relationships, or to produce an
event to broaden awareness.”
3
Strategic events can have multiple purposes and fulfill numerous
business needs and goals, in one event alone. As Ahmadi said, generating revenue is a very big
part of a strategic event and can broaden awareness of a company. A brand new company
looking to launch could use a strategic event as a way to create awareness of a brand, cultivate
relationships with media and consumers and gain revenue. A pop-up shop is an example of a
brand creating a strategic event that can bring awareness to their product or service and gain new
consumers while generating revenue. Pop-ups are also strategic events because companies use in
depth research on their core demographic to strategically choose a location for their pop-up. It’s

3
Ahmadi, Wanda. Interview by Amanda McCraven "Wanda Ahmadi on the Importance of Event Planning." E-mail
interview by author. August 16, 2017.
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important to dispel a myth here: events are not just about finding a venue and engaging in a
meal. According to Professor Jennifer Floto, a veteran event planner, “people often forget that
events serve to force interaction between people, to perhaps raise money or simply to remind
attendees what your organization is all about. From company milestones to fundraisers and
product launches, events are an overlooked mainstay of our industry.”
4

Alan Abrahamson, who has worked with the IOC and attended many Olympic events,
says in the sports world, “not all [events] are strategic events. Some are championships. The
Beijing 2008 Games were a strategic event. You knew from the opening ceremony it was a
strategic event. When the 2008 drums went off at 8:08[20:08 in military time] that was a signal
[of] China saying hey world this is our century. Compare that to the opening ceremony 2006
winter Olympics in Italy which nobody remembers.”
5
This example perfectly illustrates the
importance that needs to be placed on making your event strategic and paying attention to the
small details of each event. If the small details of an event are not taken into serious
consideration, the event will have no lasting memory on the intended audience, which means the
business will not reach its set goals. If an event is not made to be strategic, it will also waste a
significant amount of money and time.
Strategic events in public relations need to be taken seriously because they can do a lot of
good for an organization or a country. The Nielsen Company created a study about planned
tourism to China before the beginning of the 2008 Olympics and after the closing ceremonies.
The study conducted a 16-country online survey and found that before the opening ceremonies
“over eight in 10 consumers surveyed had never visited Mainland China before, while 45 percent

4
Floto, Jennifer Dayle. E-mail interview by author. "Jennifer Floto Interview on the Importance of Event Planning."
Personal Interview. September 1, 2017. Los Angeles, CA
5
Abrahamson, Alan. Interview by Amanda McCraven "Alan Abrahamson Interview on the Importance of Event
Planning." Personal Interview. September 6, 2017. Los Angeles, CA
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said they intended to travel there one day. The level of interest has increased to just over half
(51%) when the same question was asked following the Closing Ceremony”
6
. The 2008
Olympics were crafted strategically without sparing any details, and because of that, they will go
down in history as a great year for the Summer Olympics, as well as solidified China as a rising
tourist destination.
Now that a strategic event has been defined, it is important to look even deeper into what
components make up a strategic event. Not every event is strategic. Event planners must work to
make their event tactical. Ahmadi
7
and Abrahamson
8
both agree on what an event must be
comprised of to be strategic. The first thing they state a strategic event needs is a goal. The goal
must be specified from the beginning of planning phase so the event can be tailored around it.
This means that extensive research and a lot of thought must be done to determine the exact goal
of your event beforehand. An array of goals, such are fund-raising, friend-raising, customer
support, brand awareness and company recognition, can be used for your event if they match
what the company is trying to achieve.
The second aspect that makes an event strategic is thoughtful and careful planning. In
the creation of a strategic event, the little details matter. From the time your guests drive up to
the event, until they have left the parking lot, every detail matters. Small details, like ensuring
parking is easy and accessible, making sure your vendors are ready, that there is enough room for
seating and ample room for a proper flow, and even the amount of restrooms are important to

6
The Nielsen Company . "CHINA BECOMES A MORE COMPELLING INTERNATIONAL TOURIST DESTINATION,
THANKS TO OLYMPIC GAMES ." News release.
http://www.nielsen.com/content/dam/corporate/us/en/newswire/uploads/2008/09/olympic-china-visit-
intention.pdf.
7
Ahmadi, Wanda." E-mail interview by author. August 16, 2017.
8
Abrahamson, Alan. Interview by Amanda McCraven. September 6, 2017.
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know. An event that is thoughtfully planned out will make the greatest impact on guests, thereby
helping a company or brand meet their goal.
The third component to a strategic event is having a contingency plan. In every event
there will be at least one issue or snafu, if not more, the important thing is to have a backup plan
for anything. A carefully thought-out strategic event with a goal can be derailed if an issue arises
during and there is no contingency plan to fix the issue. To combat any foreseeable issues an
event planner must figure out what their backup plans are and create a pre-crisis plan for the
event.
The fourth component to a strategic event is having enough staff and support. Strategic
events involve a lot of moving pieces. To properly plan and implement an event there must be
enough staff to execute the host organization’s vision. The hiring and training of this staff is
highly important. These staff members become the face of the company to all guests in
attendance. If they are rude or do not have the correct knowledge about your company, it will
give guest the impression that your company or brand is rude, not prepared or unreliable.
Training staff should be seen as important as media training for the CEO of a company. A
strategic event must leave your guest with good feelings towards you company. The staff is who
your guests will interact with most, so they must be trained to be the face of your company for
your event. In other words, they must be fully trained in customer service/relations.
Lastly, a strategic event must not be affected if things do not go according to plan. As
stated in number three, issues will arise at any event and there are times when you cannot plan
for them. Strategic event planners must remain flexible and alert to any changes that occur
during an event that may have an adverse effect on the event’s goals. If one of the appointed
speakers at the event becomes ill, the event planner should be alert and realize the change,
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making the necessary arrangements to switch speakers around or to allow quick changes to the
program. It is important that strategic event planners are always thinking on their feet.
The five components of a strategic event require extensive researching, planning, training
and flexibility. A strategic event cannot be thrown together, or be an afterthought, in a large
public relations campaign for a company. Still, with all of the hard work put into planning a
strategic event, event planning is not taken seriously in the public relations industry.
There are many public relations implications in event planning that, if studied, will show
the significant positive impact events can have on companies. Non-profit companies, like the
Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association (GLAZA), use strategic fundraising events to raise money,
maintain strong relationships with past donors and to attract new donors. GLAZA’s Beastly Ball
is a donor event that happens yearly. This event invites donors and their families to visit the park
after hours where they can see and interact with animals. The Beastly Ball also has a live show,
which was headlined by Slash in 2017, and celebrities in attendance. This event raises money
through ticket prices, which are $1,500 per person
9
. A flawless strategic event is very important
to GLAZA because they are hosting current and potential donors at this event.
Another public relations implication of event planning is showcasing or launching a
product or brand. As discussed before, pop-up shops can be strategic events to showcase or
launch a new product or brand. Or, trade show booths at major industry conferences also fall into
the event planning realm. When strategic events are used correctly to launch or showcase a brand
or product they can create a large buzz on social media garner awareness for the company.

9
"Facebook." GREATER LOS ANGELES ZOO ASSOCIATION'S 2017 BEASTLY BALL, CELEBRATING L.A. ZOO'S 50TH
ANNIVERSARY, FEATURES ROCK LEGEND SLASH. April 8, 2017. Accessed November 22, 2017.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/slash-france/greater-los-angeles-zoo-associations-2017-beastly-ball-
celebrating-la-zoos-50th-/10154642013494075/.
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Friend-raising is “building sustainable relationships with persons, foundations and
corporations, in order to get to know them better, and to (co)create a wide variety of ways to
support your organization. Of course, a result of friend-raising can be that you receive money.”
10

Friend-raising can also lend itself to the creation of strategic events directed towards certain
donors that will assist in cultivating the relationship. These events have to be very tailored and
tactful to fulfill the goals, but also cultivate the relationship between the company and a current
or potential donor.
Employee recognition is also a public relations implication of event planning. Internal
communications is very important to a business and it assists with business goals and keeping
employees happy and fulfilled in their work. Planning employee recognition events must be very
tactful. Employee events should receive the same amount of strategic planning as external events
do. These events also bring up company morale and can lead to more engaged and productive
employees.
Experts interviewed also gave their take on the public relations implications of event
planning. Abrahamson says “A really well-run event that is consistent, runs well and is seamless
is great PR for [the company] the event is for. [If] an event is not run well it looks bad for the
company.”
11
All events are a public relations tool for companies and the better the event, the
more donors, publicity and awareness a company can get. Public relations professionals need to
look at the facts; a well-run event is a successful public relations tactic and a bad event can be a
PR nightmare. Ahmadi believes the same concept stating, “the success or failure of an event can

10
Peerdeman, Vera. 6 Things you get with friendraising | 101 Fundraising. Accessed November 22, 2017.
http://101fundraising.org/2012/04/6-things-you-get-with-friendraising/.
11
Abrahamson, Alan. Interview by Amanda McCraven. September 6, 2017.
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lead to either good publicity or bad publicity. Further, an event can have an impact on a guest's
perception of a brand and/or service.”
12

A well done strategic event can be utilized as a strong public relations tactic, but it is still
looked down upon in the PR world. Event planning is an important function and should be
viewed as such. Professor Floto
13
has stated that her colleagues at USC have said that event
planning is simply picking napkin colors. This way of thinking in the communications, and
especially the public relations industry, needs to stop. When event planning isn’t taken seriously
companies can suffer major blows in brand perception. An event becomes the embodiment of the
company, in the mind of a consumer, and if that event is poorly researched or planned out the
company will take a blow.

12
Ahmadi, Wanda." E-mail interview by author. August 16, 2017.
13
Floto, Jennifer Dayle. Interview by Amanda McCraven "Jennifer Dayle Floto on the Importance of Event
Planning." E-mail interview by author. October 29, 2017.
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Secondary Research… Or Lack Thereof
As mentioned before, the lack of secondary research on the impacts of event
planning is astounding. Extensive research yielded little to no results of scholarly or professional
research on event planning and its impact in the public relations industry. Through USC’s library
online databases the author was able to find four articles that, somewhat, spoke to event planning
in a professional setting.
The first article, Lessons in Reinvention for the Event Professional
14
, is a one-page article
published by the International Special Events Society. This article focuses on Dale Harmon, an
event planning veteran, and it is a very vague overview that is aimed at promoting the
International Special Events Society rather than giving actual lessons or tips in reinventing your
events or yourself as an event planner.
The second article, The 3 Legs of Event Planning: Essentials for Event Business
Success
15
, is a two-page article published in Think ISES, a bimonthly publication of the
International Special Events Society. This article includes interviews with three event planning
experts; David Merrell, CEO and Creative Director of AOO Events Inc., Carol McKibben,
Owner of McKibben Consulting, and Craig Tolliver, Owner and Founder of Craig’s Crew Inc. It
details their three legs of event planning; How to Build Your Business Savvy, How to Create
Your Creativity and How to Grow Your Network. This piece gives good advice on the three
topics, citing great examples from the three experts. It concludes with stating these three aspects
must be “combined and stirred” to create a successful event.

14
2014. "Lessons in Reinvention for the Event Professional." Special Events 33, no. 4: D. Business Abstracts with
Full Text (H.W. Wilson), EBSCOhost (accessed November 22, 2017).
15
2015. "The 3 Legs of Event Planning: Essentials for Event Business Success." Special Events 34, no. 3: A-B.
Business Abstracts with Full Text (H.W. Wilson), EBSCOhost (accessed November 22, 2017).
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The third article seemed the most promising, but unfortunately did not fully live up to the
title. How Corporate Event Planning Drives Business Success
16
is a roughly one- page article in
Crain’s New York Business Corporate and Events Holiday Guide 2013. It discusses how events
build rapport; it is all about communication and effective corporate events. This article gives
outstanding advice and looks at events as strategic and tactical. The reason it does not live up to
what it could be, is because it is only one page long. There is so much more that could have been
said and the author, Michael Vennerstrom, had strong points and should have elaborated further
on them.
The last article, Nonprofit Versus Corporate Event Planning
17
, is one and a quarter pages
published by the International Special Events Society. This article discusses the difference
between creating events for nonprofits and creating corporate events. The biggest difference the
article discusses is the budget and how it affects what is determined as important for the event.
The four articles above have one major thing in common that illustrates the author’s
frustration; they are all published in trade journals and guides specific to event planning. People
not in the event planning industry are not likely to search for these types of articles. Another
issue is the length of each article. They were all less than two pages and did not dive into the
topics and discuss them fully and properly. Additionally, these are the articles that populate when
searching a prestigious university’s library databases, elaborating the point that there is no proper
research on event planning and its impact in the public relations world.

16
Vennerstrom, Michael1. 2013. "HOW CORPORATE EVENT PLANNING DRIVES BUSINESS SUCCESS." Crain's New
York Business 29, no. 36: S4-S6. Business Abstracts with Full Text (H.W. Wilson), EBSCOhost (accessed November
22, 2017).
17
"Nonprofit Versus Corporate Event Planning." Special Events 33, no. 4: B-C. Business Abstracts with Full Text
(H.W. Wilson), EBSCOhost (accessed November 22, 2017).
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This lack of proper research on event planning is very important to examine.
Professionals and people in academia, in all fields of study, put emphasis on research and
understanding the value of tactics and how they can positively or negatively affect business
goals. By allowing event planning to slip through the cracks, it is creating a larger rift in people’s
knowledge of the positive impact events can have, and also showing the lack of importance
placed onto events and event planning.
The lack of research also does not give event planning credit for all of the business and
public relations goals it can help a company achieve such as generate revenue, cultivate
relationships and broaden awareness.
Furthermore, without events most nonprofits and charities would not be able to raise
money to assist in their chosen cause or even keep their company alive.
There are countless examples of organizations whose livelihood depends on successful
events. The author will outline three such organizations and expound on the significance of each
event. One example of a nonprofit that could not exist without charity events is GLAZA (Greater
Los Angeles Zoo Association). Their goals include funding exhibits, plant and animal species
conservation, capital projects, and education and community outreach programs at the Los
Angeles Zoo. Without events, like their annual Beastly Ball, GLAZA would not be able to meet
the above goals. According to a press release created by GLAZA
18
, the 2017 GLAZA Beastly
Ball attracted nearly 1,000 guests and raised a record-breaking $2.85 million for the Los Angeles
Zoo. The part of the proceeds from the 2017 Beastly Ball will support the Zoo’s new Species
Conservation Action Network (SCAN). This includes creating a position for a dedicated Curator

18
Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association. GLAZA Press. "Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association’s 2017 Beastly Ball
Celebrated L.A. Zoo’s 50th Anniversary." News release, May 25, 2017. http://www.lazoo.org/2017/05/beastly-ball-
celebrated-l-a-zoos-50/.
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of Conservation whose sole focus will be to identify and respond to urgent animal conservation
issues around the world. Without the proceeds from the Beastly Ball, GLAZA would not be able
to create and support SCAN or create a position for the Curator of Conservation. This successful
event’s impact on business and public relations goals can be seen right away, through the
implementation of SCAN.
Another example can be seen in the California Bay Area’s Red Cross 2017 “Heroes
Among Us” Gala. The mission of the Red Cross is to prevent and alleviate human suffering
during emergencies, and the 2017 gala also aimed to raise money for the Armed Forces and
celebrate military service members. The red-tie affair featured a cocktail reception, live auction,
three-course dinner, an inspiring program and dancing. According to an American Red Cross
press release written by Cynthia Shaw
19
, the sold out event raised over $500,000, with over
$100,000 of the proceeds designated specifically to support Red Cross Services to the Armed
Forces. The event also recognized four honorees for their dedication, service and contributions
on behalf of service members, veterans and military families , Dr. Russell Lemle, Founder of
Pets for Vets; Jake Harriman, CEO of Nuru International; Major General James M. “Mike”
Myatt, President and CEO of Marines Memorial Association; and Mary Louise Chapman, Red
Cross Volunteer. The gala also had many large companies as corporate sponsors, such as Audi,
PG&E Corporation, Julia Morgan Ballroom, Wells Fargo, 49er’s Foundation, The Clorox
Company, Deloitte, Dignity Health, Franklin Templeton Investments, Golden State Warriors,
Kaiser Permanente, Oportun, Raiders, SalesForce, and Union Square Advisors. The gala was a

19
Red Cross. "Annual gala raises over $500,000 to support Red Cross programs, services; event celebrates military
service members, honors local heroes." News release, March 22, 2017. Accessed November 27, 2017.
http://www.redcross.org/news/press-release/local/california/northern-california-coastal/bay-area-home-
link/Annual-gala-raises-over-500000-to-support-Red-Cross-programs-services-event-celebrates-military-service-
members-honors-local-heroes.
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huge success for the Red Cross. They raised half a million dollars to support their public
relations and business goals. They also recognized honorees which helps create goodwill and
broaden awareness for their work with the Armed Forces, and works towards their public
relations goals. Another way this event was a success was in terms of partnerships. These
corporate sponsors spent anywhere from $12,500 (Bronze Sponsorship) to $100,000 (Presenting
Sponsorship) to secure a partnership, which enabled the Red Cross to fund the event using these
sponsorship dollars. It also creates a brand partner in these top level companies that the Red
Cross can further cultivate after the event.
Milwaukee's Habitat for Humanity 2017 “Framing the Future” Gala also shows the
success of events. Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit housing organization working in
nearly 1,400 communities across the United States and in approximately 70 countries around the
world. The Milwaukee chapter held their annual “Framing the Future” event and it was the most
successful fundraising event in the history of Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity. According to
their website
20
, the event raised $342,025 for Habitat for Humanity. This event also had
corporate sponsors. The companies included Associated Bank, UPS, 88Nine Radio Milwaukee,
Wells Fargo and many more. Just like the Red Cross, the use of partnerships can help reach
business and public relations goals. The event also met and exceeded financial goals for the
Milwaukee chapter.
GLAZA, the Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity all depend on donations and proceeds
from these events. These examples show the success events can have for a company and why
there should be more research done to on the impact of events and how they can assist in all
business goals.

20
"Framing the Future Gala." Go to Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity. Accessed November 27, 2017.
http://milwaukeehabitat.org/donate/framing-the-future/.
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Event planning is a hard tactic to successfully pull off, but when it is done well it can
bring huge benefits for a company: dollars, visibility, customers, donors, volunteers, satisfied
employees, etc. From planning to execution, event planners work tirelessly to make sure each
event goes off without a hitch. On the day of an event, planners can work upwards of 12 hours.
Event planning deserves the respect of public relations executives and professionals. The lack of
research shows that professionals do not respect event planning or find it important enough to
create solid research on how it can improve a business.
Event planners are currently not taken seriously in the professional world. More research
will show the impact these professionals make in a company and bring light to the high value
provided. Once other professionals understand the time, effort, creativity and hard work these
individuals put into creating one event, they will be taken more seriously. Once event planners
are taken more seriously, there will be opportunities for them to receive more assistance in the
creation and implementation of an event, bringing down the high stress levels of the career.
When their true value in a company is proven through research of their positive impacts in the
business, event coordinators may also receive higher compensation for their work. Research can
assist in creating change in the level of stress an event coordinator has to deal with at work, as
well as raise the average pay to reflect the important role they play in a company.
The current lack of research on this subject has led to a negative and unfair connotation
towards event planning professionals. They are looked down upon as people who pick napkin
colors for a living. The public relations industry does not give the career choice enough credit,
and this needs change. Once more research has been done on this subject, the perception of event
planners and the hard work they do will be recognized by the public relations industry. New
research will lead the way for executives to see the benefits of events and put more resources in
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creating strategic events for the company, which will assist in reaching multiple goals; including
public relations, business and financial goals.

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Don’t Believe Me...Ask the Experts
Those who do not see the importance of strategic event planning may not believe the
previous arguments presented, so the author decided to ask the experts. It is important to look at
events that have gone wrong and examine the mistakes that were made. The issues can be found
in the small details that are not usually thought of by individuals outside of the event
coordinating industry. When event planning is not allocated the correct resources or given the
right effort, it can be damaging.
Abrahamson
21
was in attendance at the 2013 World Track and Field Championship in
Moscow, Russia. As a member of the media, Abrahamson was placed into accommodations
designated as such. The media accommodations were an hour away from Luzhniki Stadium,
where the event was taking place. The transportation provided for the media was the size of a
small school bus. Media from all around the world were “crammed in like sardines” and the
busses did not have air conditioning, with the temperature outside in the high 80s to low 90s. In a
strategic event, taking care of your media is vital. If the media is not well taken care of they will
not be able to get the proper information they need or images to write their pieces. Also, the
media will write about their experiences throughout the entire event. Companies cannot expect a
journalist to write a wonderful article on your event if they were treated badly.
Abrahamson has also seen issues with poorly trained volunteers and poorly planned
delegation by chains of authority. Volunteers become the face of your event, if they are not
properly trained they can harm your brand. Poorly planned delegation by chain of authority can
result in volunteers and staff unaware of what they need do during the event or what to do if an
issue arises. Another issue for events, like the 2013 Track and Field World Championships, or

21
Abrahamson, Alan. Interview by Amanda McCraven. September 6, 2017.
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any international event, is a language barrier. If media and guest are unable to communicate with
staff and volunteers this can lead to issues during your event. The proper training of volunteers,
delegation of tasks and having volunteers that are bilingual are integral to making sure your
event is executed without any issues.
Ahmadi believes that keeping a proper flow to the event is an important detail that is
often overlooked.. “The worst thing that I've seen due to poor logistics is people creating
bottlenecks and/or blocking egress. Doors/aisles and narrow spaces that require entry and exit
points should always be kept clear to prevent blockage in the event of an emergencies and for
general event flow.”
22
This is not a detail non-event planners will look for when selecting a
venue. Understanding how a room flows and the needs of your event before you book a venue, is
very important. Once a venue has been chosen an event planner must strategically place tables,
bars, displays and all other event needs strategically.
Floto’s example of a failed event was saved due to the hiring of an excellent
photographer. “The biggest fail I ever had was early in my event planning career. We staged an
ice-carving competition – which was very big in the 1980s – and not one journalist, reporter,
news crew showed up. Luckily, I had hired a professional photographer who captured amazing
shots, which I quickly sent out over PR Newswire and we got some decent coverage.”
23
She was
able to take a situation that cannot be controlled, media not showing up, and make the best out of
it. Hiring quality vendors is a very important detail in event planning. By hiring a professional
photographer, that captured stellar photographs, the event was still able to get decent press
coverage, fulfilling the public relations goals of the event.
To plan an amazing strategic event that WOWs guests and advances your business cannot

22
Ahmadi, Wanda." E-mail interview by author. August 16, 2017.
23
Floto, Jennifer Dayle. E-mail interview by author.
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19

be done by anyone. All the experts agree to be able to think on your feet, stay aware of situations
and make sure the event runs smoothly is not a feat that can be done by every public relations
professional. Due to a lack of research, there is not a study on the characteristics of the best event
planners in the industry and what makes them strategic event planners.
Abrahamson
24
believes some important traits of a successful event planner include strong
listening skills, being a Zen Master, proper delegation and empowering others to do their job.
Listening skills are important to stay aware of your audience and find out what their needs are in
the creation of the event. When an event flips from going well to a disaster in a matter of
minutes, it is very important to remain calm and cool headed so a solution can be determined and
executed, that is when being a Zen Master is vital. One reason an event is not properly executed
is due to improper delegation. The assumption that one person can plan and execute an event by
themselves is naïve, at best. Proper delegation is key to the success of an event and the sanity of
the event planner. It is not possible to be a Zen Master when there are five issues that all need
someone’s attention immediately but there is only one person to handle all of the tasks. Once
delegation has properly occurred, motivation must follow. Having the qualities to empower your
staff and volunteers can determine the enthusiasm for your event and successfulness of your
volunteers and staff.
Ahmadi
25
says that the perfect event planner is flexible, a great communicator and has the
ability to multi task. Being flexible is imperative when issues arise at an event. A planner must
be able to strategically fix any issues that may arise without letting guests know that something
has gone wrong. A great communicator is able to properly delegate tasks as well as communicate
what needs to take place so the event may reach the intended goals. Multi-tasking is imperative

24
Abrahamson, Alan. Interview by Amanda McCraven. September 6, 2017.
25
Ahmadi, Wanda." E-mail interview by author. August 16, 2017.
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with all of the hats an event planner must wear. There will be many times where a planner or
coordinator must multi-task from the inception of the event to the post event clean up.
Even with all of the above skills there are some common challenges that can occur at an
event that a planner must be ready for. Abrahamson
26
and Ahmadi
27
agree some common things
that occur involve lack of communication and staff not anticipating issues or problems. Both of
these issues can side track an event and bring down its quality tremendously. To combat this,
event planners must be strong communicators and anticipate any foreseeable problems, while
remaining flexible to combat any unforeseeable issues that may arise.
Ahmadi also sees a common challenge with vendors not showing up. This challenge can
be foreseeable but unexpected and can ruin an event if the issue is not resolved properly. This is
an instance when being a Zen Master is critical. This common issue should be looked at
strategically and planners must be able to move around the event’s program to be able to figure
out a solution.
These common challenges are just a few out of a long list. It is imperative that a strategic
event planner is able to handle any challenge thrown their way.
Another issue many event planners face is multiple sponsors for an event. Keeping all of
the sponsors happy can be a crazy juggling act. Each sponsor wants what is best for their
company and may vie for the same placements at an event. Abrahamson
28
believes that keeping
all sponsors happy can be done by making them feel important. Accommodating as many of the
sponsor's needs that you possibly can is vital. If there are requests that are not feasible, it is
important to work with the sponsors and try to come up with a solution that still makes them feel
important.

26
Abrahamson, Alan. Interview by Amanda McCraven. September 6, 2017.
27
Ahmadi, Wanda." E-mail interview by author. August 16, 2017.
28
Abrahamson, Alan. Interview by Amanda McCraven. September 6, 2017.
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21

Ahmadi states that “every sponsor has their own agenda, so it's important to vet
noncompetes and make sure that the sponsors are in line with the brand/event that they are being
asked to sponsor.”
29
Strategically choosing sponsors for an event is a very important part of
planning the event. The sponsors need to be in line with the company and the event that is being
held. If your sponsors do not fall in line with your brand and event, it will give conflicting
messages to your guests and will be reported upon by media. If the media sees a sponsor for your
event that doesn't match the brand, that will become the news story and your event will be
overshadowed, possibly causing a crisis for your company.
Strategically vetting noncompetes is also important. A strategic event can be derailed if
the planner is working to fix an issue of two brands similar to one another that breaks a
noncompete agreement. This will then tarnish your relationship with both brands in this issue.
Sponsors can greatly assist a company and create lasting beneficial partnerships for the brand,
but if chosen wrongly can cause a lot of negative press and issues.
Working with multiple sponsors also adds a level of strategy to the planning of an event.
When there are multiple sponsors the event planner must decide the correct order that no only
makes the sponsors happy, but also works best with the event and timeline. According to Floto,
“I once worked on an event with three major sponsors: a well-known cosmetics brand that hired
a popular spokesperson; a domestic car brand; and, the charity. Who goes up to the microphone
first? Whose name appears first on the program? Whose VIP guests get the best seating. A PR
person with event planning background is facile about these challenges.”
30

These decisions may seem minor to those not planning the event, but making a sponsor
mad can ruin a relationship that a company has worked hard to cultivate. This can also cause

29
Ahmadi, Wanda." E-mail interview by author. August 16, 2017.
30
Floto, Jennifer Dayle. E-mail interview by author.
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22

sponsors to pull out from other events or planned partnerships. If the company is a non-profit this
can cause them to lose out on large amounts of money and funding they need to survive. Once a
relationship is tarnished, it is very hard to get it back.

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Looking at the Olympics
The Olympics are held in high regard by most nations and people around the globe. From
the opening to the closing ceremony millions of people, throughout the world, watch at least one
minute of the games. The Hollywood Reporter states, “The IOC estimates some 342 million
people watched the start of the Rio Games, about the same number that saw the opening
ceremony of the London Olympics four years ago. Those figures are down significantly from the
2008 Beijing Olympics, which broke all ratings records with more than 1 billion viewers
worldwide.”
31
The Olympics brings athletes, media and spectators from all over the globe to one
location. The 2016 Rio Olympics saw around 10,500 athletes and 500,000 spectators flock to
Rio, according to an article by the Daily Beast
32
. The whole world stops and stares at a country
when they host the Olympics. This honor becomes a major public relations campaign for the
country and city hosting, and most importantly it is one of the largest strategic events in the
world.
One thing the author noticed was the amount of respect people have for the International
Olympic Committee (IOC) and the host countries planning and Olympic event. While the IOC
and the host country put a tremendous amount of work into each Olympic Games, the same can
be said for individuals planning corporate events. The same problems can come up during a
corporate event, it is just executed on a smaller scale. Creating an Olympic event takes the same
skills and planning that a corporate event takes. The same considerations and attention to detail
need to be utilized. The Olympic Games can be a strategic branding experience for the country

31
Roxborough, Scott. "Rio Olympics Worldwide Audience to Top 3.5 Billion, IOC Estimates."
The Hollywood Reporter. August 18, 2016. Accessed December 01, 2017.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/rio-olympics-worldwide-audience-top-920526.
32
Warshaw, Amelia. "The 2016 Rio Olympics By the Numbers." The Daily Beast. August 07,
2016. Accessed December 01, 2017. https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-2016-rio-olympics-by-the-numbers.
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hosting, which can drive more tourists to visit the country or plan to visit the country. Olympics
can be well planned and executed events or they can fall apart, just like a corporate event.
The success and failures of Olympic events all boil down to proper planning prior of the
event. The London and Beijing Olympic planning committees received the proper resources and
support needed to create a successful event, while Rio and Sochi failed at planning, which
greatly affected their Olympics and how the world saw the event. Abrahamson has worked with
the IOC and has attended many Olympic Games as a member of the media. Abrahamson said, “It
takes seven years to put on an Olympics games. A fair part of that run up is planning for the
event. There are so many moving parts that are in play and have to come together at the moment
to set the stage that the world athletes need to go out. Event planning is a huge part of every
addition of the Olympics games, summer and winter. L.A. is an exception. The venues are
essentially built. Everywhere else you have to start from scratch. When you talk about event
planning you can’t have an event with no place to hold it. Recruit volunteers, raise funds, hire
people, and recruit internationally [shows] event planning is such a big part.”
33
Abrahamson
knows that proper planning of an Olympic event is crucial to its success.
The planning of the event begins even before the IOC selects a host city. As
Abrahamson said, besides the 2028 games in Los Angeles, most countries do not have the
facilities to host all of the Olympic events. With so many different sports competing in the
Olympics, there is not a one size fits all approach to planning these facilities. Plans must be
created to efficiently build stadiums, pools and all other types of fields/courses/courts/ etc.
needed to accommodate every Olympic event. This planning must consider the distance each
facility is from one another, if people will be displaced by new construction of an event space

33
Abrahamson, Alan. Interview by Amanda McCraven. September 6, 2017.
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25

and the amount of time and money that it takes to create each venue. Once the construction of
the venues has been planned out, the logistics for the athletes must be planned. The Olympic
village must be planned out, which can involve more construction and the same considerations
for planning out the sporting venues. Other considerations include meals for the athletes and
coaches as well as security for the venues, village and for the delegates. The 2016 Rio Olympics
constructed 31 buildings for their Olympic Village, planned to organize 60,000 meals over the
course of the Olympic events and deployed 85,000 soldiers and police officers during the
Games
34
.These are just a few of the logistical needs for athletes that must be planned years
before they arrive in the host city.
The opening and closing ceremonies are also large parts of the Olympic events that must
be planned carefully, with a high attention to detail. The opening ceremony is the world’s first
glimpse into your country and the event you have created. This sets the tone for the events to
come and the perception of the host country will be determined by this. This is also one of the
few times all the athletes, besides the ones who choose to skip the opening ceremonies, from all
countries represented will be in one place. The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia had a
spectacular opening ceremony that ended with a technical difficulty. Five snowflakes suspended
in the air were supposed to open to create the five Olympic rings. One of the snowflakes did not
properly open, and it became the top story about the opening ceremony, eclipsing the amazing
show that proceeded. The closing ceremony is the final farewell and leaves the world with one
last chance to see what the host country has to offer. This is the host country’s last chance to
create a positive memory in the eyes of the world.

34
Warshaw, Amelia. "The 2016 Rio Olympics By the Numbers." The Daily Beast. August 07,
2016. Accessed December 01, 2017. https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-2016-rio-olympics-by-the-numbers.
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The opening and closing ceremonies as well as the logistics mentioned above are only a
fraction of what the planning committee must create and execute to be perceived by the world as
a successful Olympic game.
The success of the Olympics boils down to the culture of planning and the resources
allocated to the Games. Abrahamson notes, “When you have the resources and energy that you
had in London, Sydney and Beijing those are all category A [events]. Where the event as a whole
was planned well and those plans were executed well. Then you have events like Rio in 2016
when resources were insufficient, attention to detail was insufficient. The culture of planning
was insufficient. In comparison to Beijing or Sydney or London. What you have is a classic case
of apples or oranges.”
35
The culture of planning is what determines the success of the event.
When the culture nurtures the value and importance of planning an event is more likely to
succeed and have a lasting impact on audiences. London, Beijing and Sydney all took the
planning of their Olympics very seriously. They worked tirelessly to create memorable opening
and closing ceremonies, took care of the media and overall executed spectacular events as a
whole.
The Olympics are a strategic event done on a global scale, but the same principles must
be utilized to create any kind of strategic event with a specific goal. The same amount of
importance must be put on planning, and the proper allocation of resources is important in any
event, not just the Olympics. By analyzing some of the past Olympics it is apparent that when
these principles are implemented successfully the world will remember, and when they are not,
the world will never let you forget.

35
Abrahamson, Alan. Interview by Amanda McCraven. September 6, 2017.
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Success of 2012 London Olympics and 2008 Beijing Olympics
London
The 2012 London Olympic Games have gone down in history as one of the most
successful summer Olympics in the 2000s. Before July 6, 2005, the day London was announced
by the IOC has the host city for the 2012 summer Olympics, until August 12, 2012, when the
London closing ceremony occurred, the planning committee worked tirelessly and painstakingly,
going over every detail to ensure the success of the event, and it payed off. Michael Pirrie,
Executive Advisor to Seb Coe, Chairman of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Organizing Committee, wrote an article discussing why London was a success. “The successful
delivery of Games events centered on effective Games-wide operations. This was result of
intensive planning and preparations by teams that were well prepared enabled and empowered by
a leadership team whose confidence in the delivery of the Games came from strategies and plans
that were carefully developed, tested and reviewed.”
36
The London games had a strong culture of
planning that believed in its importance to make the event strategic and successful. The
preparation allowed for a strong leadership team that was able to successfully rally volunteers
and empower them to help create a memorable strategic event.
The London Olympics also stayed focused on the goals they set out to achieve in their bid
promises. Having a goal to work towards, and using that as a basis to your event, is a principle
that must be utilized by all strategic event planners. The London planning committee stayed
focused on their vision and it helped make the 2012 games a success. “This vision was our

36
Pirrie, Michael."Why London 2012 Worked – the Critical Success Factors." The Sport Digest. October 18,
2016. Accessed November 30, 2017. http://thesportdigest.com/2013/08/why-london-2012-worked-the-critical-
success-factors/.
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Game’s compass, and we used it to bring together all our stakeholders and partners and to help
the organization and wider stakeholders make the tough decisions. Importantly, aligning
everyone behind a clear, concise vision enabled us to create a Games proposition that connected
with the public.”
37
The planning committee also realized the risks of being a host city. Pirrie
said, “The enormous reputational risk to Brand Great Britain meant that failure was simply not
an option. We could not leave this to the ‘It Will Be All Right on The Night’ school of project
management... We could not allow our planning inadequacies impact on the Olympic experience
of the athletes or the global community in any way.”
38
The importance on the overall planning
and execution of the games was displayed in the spectacular events, such as the 2012 opening
ceremony.
The 2012 opening ceremony was a four hour long masterpiece, intertwining British
references and beautiful imagery to create a narrative that told a story about the great island
nation. With guest appearances by the Queen of England, James Bond, Mr. Bean and many more
iconic British celebrities, the ceremony used stunning visual elements to start the games off with
a bang. Richard Williams, writer for the Guardian wrote, “Danny Boyle [the director of the
opening ceremony] made it happen. He made the stadium seem bigger than it is, as big as the
world. He gave a party, full of jokes and warmth and noise and drama, and he got the Olympics
started.”
39
Boyle made the opening ceremony a party, celebrating all that is fantastic about
Britain and inviting the world to join in. The amount of planning that went behind coordinating a
four hour show with hundreds of volunteers, set changes, celebrities, all of the delegates

37
Pirrie, Michael. October 18, 2016.
38
ibid
39
Williams, Richard. "London 2012: This closing ceremony was a raucous pageant of popular culture." The
Guardian. August 13, 2012. Accessed December 01, 2017.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2012/aug/13/olympic-games-closing-ceremony-culture.
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competing and a plethora of other technical and practical effects was exquisitely planned and
executed.
The planning and execution of the closing ceremonies was also done flawlessly. During
one portion of the show ten plain black taxis drove around the stadium drawing viewer’s eyes all
over the stadium, until five different taxis all with unique designs, shown through exquisite
lighting, stopped in the middle, each one holding a member of the Spice Girls, who then went on
to perform a melody of their greatest hits. This is a moment that was talked about long after the
closing ceremonies had ended, but it was just one of the many moments that led to the success of
the ceremonies and the games as a whole. London created a successful event that lead to a
positive public perception. This positive perception could not have been made by the public
without the extensive planning of the 2012 games.
The perception of the games throughout the world was overwhelmingly positive. From
the United States to Brazil to Pakistan to Australia news reports on the event were all in favor of
the London games. “USA Today said London had been transformed into an enclave of ‘smiling
Olympic volunteers, efficient transit systems and joyful crowds.’ And in Rio, which will host in
2016, O Globo newspaper spoke of ‘British excellence in planning, punctuality and keeping
within budget.’"
40
Public Perception is important because it really determines if the event was
seen as a success. London had the public on their side and that, in the end, is why the 2012
London Olympics are seen as successful. In Pakistan, one article, by the Dawn, about the
Olympics said, “to the credit of the organisers [sic], the Games were kept incident-free and, for
once, politics and terrorism took a backseat as the world focused on the triumphs and tears of

40
Welle, Deutsche. "London 2012 hailed as a success | Europe | DW | 12.08.2012." DW.COM.
Accessed November 30, 2017. http://www.dw.com/en/london-2012-hailed-as-a-success/a-16158390.
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sport.”
41
In Australia, who hosted the summer Olympics in 2000, an article by the Australian
said, “As awful as it is to admit, London 2012 was bigger, slicker, almost as friendly and more
thoughtfully planned than Sydney in terms of the legacy it will leave the host city.”
42
The world
was with London, and public perception was high due to the amount of hard work that went into
the planning.
The culture of planning and the appropriate allocation of resources in London is what
allowed for astounding attention to detail and a flawless execution. London was a success
because they started planning years in advance. This process took them over seven years. The
plan began with the committee creating a detailed and strategic plan to receive the bid in 2005.
Once they received that bid they spent the next seven years going full steam ahead.
Beijing
The 2008 summer Olympic Games took place in Beijing, China. From the time Beijing
found out they received the bid for the 2008 Olympics they began a long and detailed planning
phase to make sure they would be remembered as a result of these games. As stated earlier, the
Nielsen Company created a study about planned tourism to China before the beginning of the
2008 Olympics and after the closing ceremonies. The study conducted a 16-country online
survey and found that before the opening ceremonies “over eight in 10 consumers surveyed had
never visited Mainland China before, while 45 percent said they intended to travel there one day.
The level of interest has increased to just over half (51%) when the same question was asked
following the Closing Ceremony”
43
. The successful planning of this Olympic Games proved to

41
"London 2012: How the world saw the Olympic Games." BBC News. August 13, 2012.
Accessed November 30, 2017. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-19238284.
42
"London 2012: How the world saw the Olympic Games." August 13, 2012.
43
The Nielsen Company. News release.
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be the catalyst to bring in tourists to the country. When the planning committee found out they
were picked, they quickly started a renovation project of Beijing. The Beijing Olympics Action
Plan was created to assist in the renovations. China planned and built the Olympic Park which
was comprised of 37 buildings, 19 new and 13 refurbished. They also constructed 59 training
centers and infrastructure projects for the Paralympic Games. Beijing spent $1.1 billion on
improving transportation, which included improving Beijing’s subway system, completing the
city’s light rail system, and constructing and refurbishing more than 200 miles of city streets.
44

The strategic plan for to improve Beijing before the Olympic Games added to a positive
public perception. Beijing also had a strong culture of planning and were very tactful.
Abrahamson said, “The Beijing 2008 games [were] a strategic event. You knew from the
opening ceremony it was a strategic events. When the 2008 drums went off at 8:08 [20:08] that
was a signal China saying ‘hey world’ this is our century.”
45
Beijing’s execution of this portion
of the opening ceremony had to be perfect to make a lasting impression, and it was. The
dedication to create such a large statement took a lot of planning and skills.
Corporate and small scale event planners must create the same type of strategic,
impactful moments in their events to make them memorable and lasting. Doing something as
impactful as the having 2008 drums sound at 20:08 can be achieved by any small or corporate
event planner. It can be as large, or on a smaller scale, but as long as it is executed flawlessly and
given the right amount of preparation, it is can be utilized by any organization.
The Beijing Olympics was praised for their flawless execution throughout the time of the
games, not just the opening ceremony. “[The IOC] praised the Beijing organizers’ nearly

44
Sands, Lee. "The 2008 Olympics’ Impact on China." China Business Review. Accessed
November 30, 2017. https://www.chinabusinessreview.com/the-2008-olympics-impact-on-china/.
45
Abrahamson, Alan. Interview by Amanda McCraven " September 6, 2017
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32

flawless execution of the Games, detailing the successful coordination of half a million
volunteers and maintenance of a complex transportation and security system.”
46
The renovations
done throughout Beijing’s planning phases created a positive perception on the minds of the
media.
Beijing also successfully used volunteers during the games. According to a fact sheet on
the Beijing Olympics created by the IOC
47
, over 1,125,799 people applied to be volunteers for
the 2008 Games, which is an Olympic record. With 100,000 volunteers providing direct services
for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and 400,000 municipal volunteers who offered
information, language interpretation and other services. The coordination of all of these
volunteers was done flawlessly. Abrahamson notes, that one of the worst things that can
negatively affect an event is bad volunteers due to poor training.
48
Beijing was able to plan
training for half a million volunteers successfully and they, in turn, became ambassadors to the
city for all who visited as an athlete, coach, media or spectator.
Corporate and small scale events also need to work with volunteers and staff to
coordinate a smooth event. Event planners use the same tactics as the planning committee in
Beijing, but are rarely given credit for the amount of training and work they do to get volunteers
ready. While event coordinators may not be working with half a million volunteers they can be
working unaided to coordinate upwards of 100 volunteers, depending on the event, and they are
doing it alone, without the help and support of an Olympic planning committee.

46
Thomas, Katie. "I.O.C. Issues Glowing Review of Beijing Games." The New York Times.
November 26, 2008. Accessed November 30, 2017.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/27/sports/olympics/27olympics.html.
47
International Olympic Committee. Fact Sheet Beijing Facts and Figures. PDF. Lausanne,
Switzerland : International Olympic Committee, 2009.
48
Abrahamson, Alan. Interview by Amanda McCraven " September 6, 2017
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In the end, Beijing was a success because they created a solid plan from the time of their
bid and executed it with tact and skill.
Failure of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics
The Sochi winter Olympics had the budget and resources to be one of the best winter
Olympics in history, but lack of planning ran that dream straight in to the icy ground. “At an eye-
watering cost of some £31 billion [pounds] – three times the price of the much bigger 2012
Summer Olympics in London – the two-week long Sochi Games are set to be the most expensive
Olympics in history. In fact, Kremlin critics have calculated that the Games are more costly than
all the previous 21 Winter Olympics combined.”
49
The Sochi games had the money to create a
widely successful event, but did not focus on proper planning, which led to the Sochi games
being perceived as one of the worst winter Olympics. The lack of planning for the 2014 winter
Olympics meant that buildings, such as hotel rooms, were not completed by the time spectators
and, specifically, media arrived in Sochi.
The Sochi games had problems from the second the media stepped into their
accommodations. According to Abrahamson
50
, one of the worst things he has seen due to poor
planning is when media accommodations are awful, especially at a worldwide event like the
Olympics. The media is there to unbiasedly cover the events of the games, which in the case of
Sochi, included the state of their hotel rooms when they arrived.

49
Bennetts, Marc. "Winter Olympics 2014: Sochi Games 'nothing but a monstrous scam,' says
Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov." The Telegraph. January 19, 2014. Accessed November 30, 2017.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/vladimir-putin/10581829/Sochi-Olympics-Nothing-but-a-
monstrous-scam-says-Kremlin-critic.html.
50
Abrahamson, Alan. Interview by Amanda McCraven " September 6, 2017
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Before the opening ceremonies occurred Sochi already had a trending hashtag on social
media, #SochiProblems. This hashtag went viral. Journalists were posting pictures of the
unfinished hotel rooms they were given, lack of lightbulbs, no doorknobs, hotels without
electricity, hotels without lobbies, hotels without hot water and a flurry of other situations.
Yahoo's Dan Wetzel tweeted, “To anyone in Sochi: I am now in possession of three light bulbs.
Will trade for a door handle. This offer is real”
51
with an accompanying image of the lightbulbs.
Another tweet came from Stacy St. Clair of the Chicago Tribune, “Water restored, sorta. On the
bright side, I now know what very dangerous face water looks like. #Sochi #unfiltered”
52
with an
accompanying picture of two glasses filled with bright yellow water. Abrahamson believes that
the media, unfortunately, is usually the last thing that is thought of, and it is shown in the
example of the Sochi media hotels. This perception of the 2014 games made it hard for the world
to expect the winter games to go well. News outlets around the globe were reporting on the
media accommodations and the world had already labeled Sochi as a failed winter Olympics
before the opening ceremonies.
Another issue Sochi faced was with dangerous jumps that delayed the women’s downhill
skiing. “The race was stopped after Italy’s Daniela Merighetti injured both of her knees in the
landing after the jump…. The news came just days after American snowboarder Shaun White
pulled out of the slopestyle event over safety concerns. He’s not the only one with concerns
about the course, which has been described as ‘sketchy,’ but at this point all they can do is hope

51
Manfred, Tony. "The 17 Most Ridiculous Photos From The Nightmare Sochi Olympic Hotels."
Business Insider. February 05, 2014. Accessed November 30, 2017. http://www.businessinsider.com/sochi-hotel-
photos-2014-2.
52
ibid
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for the best.”
53
The courses should have been planned and double checked for safety before the
athletes arrived, but unfortunately the lack of planning lead to an athlete being injured and
another refusing to participate.
The nation that hosts the Olympic Games also hosts the Paralympic Games. For Sochi,
the Paralympic Games were held one month after the winter Olympics, but there was concern
over the nation’s ability to properly host the Paralympic athletes and the games. “For $51 billion
you’d think Russia could put a few ramps in their facilities, but the games have come under some
fire for their failure to accommodate people with disabilities. A few of the notable nuggets:
Many Russian bus drivers don't know how to use wheelchair lifts. The Bolshoy Ice Dome's
wheelchair seating is accessed from a doorway raised from the floor. Wheelchair lift instructions
are in English only. And a disability bathroom is being used as a storage closet.”
54
After the
winter games were labeled as a failure, public perception for the 2014 Paralympics were low and
the Sochi planning committee was not perceived to be working towards fixing the issues. With
less than one month until the Paralympics issues were rampant. Proper planning would have
fixed these problems months before any media stepped foot in Russia. While there is no news
stories about these issues during the Sochi Paralympic games, having all the bad press around the
Olympic Games did not distill confidence that the second event would go well. Public perception
of the past will always set a precedent in people’s mind of what you can or cannot achieve in the
future.

53
The race was stopped after Italy’s Daniela Merighetti injured both of her knees in the landing after the jump. The
three racers will get to start again when competition resumes.
54
Evans, Gavin. "The Biggest Fails of the Sochi Winter Olympics Despite impending Paralympics,
Sochi procrastinates on handicap access." Complex. October 20, 2016. Accessed November 30, 2017.
http://www.complex.com/sports/2014/02/biggest-fails-sochi-winter-olympics/sochi-handicap-access.

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Due to Sochi’s lack of planning, the 2014 winter Olympics is now known for its mistakes
and as a failure. Those who do not believe in the importance of event planning can look towards
this example to illustrate why it is, in fact, important. Events on small and corporate scales can
face the same issues as the 2014 Sochi Olympics did. The media can be a company’s greatest
asset or its greatest foe, but that all depends on the planning of the company. Without proper
planning and foresight, the media will be able to pick up on any issues and will report on them. If
the media creates a hashtag, like #SochiProblems, or writes negative stories that go viral, the
company could have a crisis on their hands. Public relations executives need to be aware of the
impact strategic planning has and how it is necessary when creating an event.
Each winter and summer Olympics shows how important proper, detail-oriented event
planning can be. The Olympic Games that are remembered as the best, like London and Beijing,
put a high importance on proper planning and it payed off. If more research is done on the
impact of strategic events using the examples of the Olympics in relation to organizations, event
planners may get more respect and all other public relations professionals will understand the
amount of work that is done to make an event successful.

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When Events Go Wrong
In 2017 alone, there have been many notable events that ended in disaster because of a
lack of planning. These failures created significant public relations catastrophes for the people
organizing them. In all of these examples, the prevalence of social media in today’s society
helped fuel the rumors or spread the stories of these fails even further. Failed events are coming
more to the forefront in people’s minds because they are showing up more often in their social
media feeds. This is a good thing in the long run, because it will make professionals and
executives see what can happen to a company if they do not properly execute an event, and
hopefully help them understand the importance of planning. In 2017 three of the biggest events
that went wrong included Fyre Fest, The Oscars Best Picture Fail and the New York City Pizza
Festival.
Fyre Fest
Fyre Fest was planned as a two-weekend music festival for elite Millennials. It was
marketed as an ultra-chic “Coachella of the Caribbean”, but the event turned out to be anything
but. Festival goers paid anywhere between $5,000 and $250,000
55
for passes to this elite
extravaganza. They were promised lavish amenities such as, “elegant villa-style housing,
gourmet catering, beach yoga, bikini-clad models aboard rented jet skis and yachts. Perhaps
wildest of all was the promised real-life treasure hunt, which was said to offer up to $1 million in

55
Wanshel, Elyse. “Fyre Festival, Which Cost Thousands Per Ticket, Devolves Into Giant Mess”.
HuffingtonPost. April 29, 2017. Accessed December 6, 2017. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/luxury-fyre-
festival-madness-chaos-twitter-reddit_us_590100ece4b0af6d718b15a2

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‘luxury jewelry and watches [and] cash,’ plus a piece of oceanfront property for the winner.”
56

When concert-goers arrived they were greeted with a harsh realization that their trip was going to
be a disaster.
The “elegant villa style housing” was actually a cluster of disaster relief tents with very
little furniture. Pictures of the promised “gourmet catering” circulated the internet showing two
slices of bread with two slices of cheese dropped on top and some lettuce with a couple tomato
slices in a Styrofoam container. When attendees arrived at the airport, they were met by two or
three Fyre staffers who did not have accurate information about transportation to the venue, and
this was just the start of the issues. When the festival goers arrived at the event site there was no
organization there either. The Fyre staffers were not able to properly check people in or assign
them tents. One concert goer said, “Suddenly, there was this mass rush of people running to the
tents. It was just chaos. What should we do? We ended up grabbing two tents. The beds were
damp. The carpet was completely soaked. It was like Survivor or The Amazing Race, gone really
bad. People were stealing bedding. People were getting more and more drunk. We couldn’t leave
our things, so we just stayed in the tents. It was just epic chaos. Their plan was to get everyone
really drunk and they’ll forget how shitty this really is.”
57
As these reports were being spread
over the Internet, statements from the acts set to perform at Fyre Fest, including Blink 182, were
being posted. In reality, these acts were pulling out of the festival, citing safety concerns, among
other things.

56
Gaca, Anna. “A Comprehensive Timeline of Fyre Festival’s Ongoing Disaster [UPDATE].”
Spin.com. May 3, 2017. Accessed December 6, 2017. https://www.spin.com/2017/05/fyre-festival-disaster-
timeline/
57
Burrough, Bryan. "Fyre Festival: Anatomy of a Millennial Marketing Fiasco Waiting to
Happen." The Hive. June 28, 2017. Accessed November 30, 2017. https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/06/fyre-
festival-billy-mcfarland-millennial-marketing-fiasco.

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At the end of the day on April 28, Bahamian officials stopped any inbound flights to the
festival. The airports in the Bahamas were inundated with would be concert-goers that were
trying to get home, and airports in Miami were filled with people who were on the cancelled
flights. Fyre fest put out a statement, on their social media, the next morning saying that the
festival would be indefinitely postponed. People that had made it to the “festival” were stuck
trying to find ways to get home, there were videos circulating, on social media, of people being
locked in an airport in the Bahamas. More horror stories began to go viral on social media,
showing the unsafe and terrible conditions people were put in.
Fyre Fest will go down as one of the biggest event fails of 2017, but how could an event
with so much buzz end so badly? Easy; lack of proper planning or even any plans. Billy
McFarland, the festival’s main organizer, knew nothing about staging a concert. He knew a lot
about fundraising and marketing via social media and that is how he was able to get investors to
place money into the festival. An Article by Vanity Fair said, “Fyre’s Instagram-fueled kickoff,
in December, was one of the more eye popping social-media campaigns in recent memory.”
58

The videos of models and influencers on beautiful beaches created iconic images that drew
would be festival goers in and fueled the desire to attend. In reality, the event didn’t begin any
planning until early March, less than 2 months before its opening weekend.
Chloe Gordon was contacted in early March to join the Fyre planning staff. From the
beginning she could tell it was going to be a disaster. “When we arrived, my initial reaction was
‘huh.’ This was not a model-filled private cay that was owned by Pablo Escobar. This was a
development lot covered in gravel with a few tractors scattered around. There was not enough
space to build all the tents and green rooms they would need. There was not a long, beautiful

58
Burrough, Bryan. The Hive. June 28, 2017.
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beach populated by swimming pigs. There were, however, a lot of sand flies that left me looking
like I had smallpox.”
59
The situation only got worse for Gordon. When Gordon arrived, festival
vendors had not been booked, a stage had not been rented, and zero transportation had been
arranged. Gordon began working tirelessly to plan the event, but kept running into issues. The
talent managers were contacting her about not getting paid on time. After a week of trying to
contact the business managers, it became clear to Gordon that the talent would not be properly
paid. At a planning meeting Gordon attended, the official verdict was that it would take $50
million to pull of Fyre fest, and even with that money it would not be up to the standard
advertised. When the planning team had a meeting, with the Fyre marketing executives, one
person said “Let’s just do it and be legends, man.”
60
At this point Gordon went to her
supervisors, but they assured her everything was going to work out. Gordon inevitably left the
team after less than a month, knowing that the event would not come together. “I cannot explain
how or why the bros running this festival ignored every warning sign they were given along the
way. The writing was on the wall. I saw it firsthand six weeks ago. They overlooked so many
very basic things.”
61

Fyre Fest shows that a lack of planning will always leave your event in shambles and
your company in crisis. It is not possible for an event, small or large, to be properly planned in
less than two months. This event shows that without proper planning there is no way to make a
good impression or create something successful. It is important for the event planning to be as
focused on as the marketing.

59
Gordon, Chloe. “I Worked at Fyre Festival. It Was Always Going to Be a Disaster.” The Cut.
April 28, 2017. Accessed December 6, 2017. https://www.thecut.com/2017/04/fyre-festival-exumas-bahamas-
disaster.html?mid=twitter_cut
60
ibid
61
ibid
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The 2017 Oscars Best Picture Fail
The Oscars is one of the most highly anticipated awards show each year. In 2017, La La
Land was anticipated to win most of the awards at the show, including Best Picture. Warren
Beatty and Faye Dunaway went out to read the winner for Best Picture. After some hesitation
Dunaway announced La La Land as the winner. The cast and crew went on stage and began
giving their speeches. As the speeches were in full flow, a member of PwC, the accountancy firm
that tabulates the ballots and crafts the secret envelopes at the Oscars, came on stage and began
telling the cast and crew about the mistake. Emma Stone’s reaction when she realized the news
went viral after the event. Finally, Jordan Horowitz, the producer of La La Land, said, “What?
You guys, I’m sorry, no. There’s a mistake. Moonlight, you guys won best picture.”
62
After
much confusion and a confirmation by Jimmy Kimmel, the host for the 2017 Oscars, the cast and
crew of Moonlight began to slowly head onstage while the cast and crew of La La Land walked
off. That moment will go down in history as one of the most embarrassing for the Oscars.
For a major awards show, a mistake like this is broadcasted to millions of people and
then the clip went viral in a matter of minutes. For the next few days, all anyone could talk about
was the La La Land versus Moonlight awkward situation. All of the hard work and planning
people had put into making the Oscars successful went down the drain. Nothing else mattered to
the media and the world; it was all about the Best Picture mix-up.
This mistake was due to a lack of attention to what was happening at the event. BBC
explained how the accident occurred. “Two people count the votes and know the winners in
advance. Each has a full set of envelopes containing cards with the winners' names - just in case

62
Donnelly, Jim. "MOONLIGHT WINS BEST PICTURE AFTER 2017 OSCARS ENVELOPE
MISHAP." Oscar.go.com. Accessed November 30, 2017. http://oscar.go.com/news/winners/after-oscars-2017-
mishap-moonlight-wins-best-picture.
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something happens to the other set. Those people - from accountancy firm PwC - stand on either
side of the Oscars stage and hand the envelopes to the award presenters just before they stepped
on stage. So after Emma Stone won best actress, the other best actress envelope was handed to
Warren Beatty - who was presenting the best picture prize - by mistake.”
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This simple mistake
caused a huge fiasco for the Oscars, creating a crisis for the organization, as well as for PwC, the
accountancy firm.
This is a great example of the importance in paying attention to every detail going on
during an event. The execution of the actual event is just as important as the planning of it. The
PwC employee that handed the wrong envelope to Warren Beatty was not paying proper
attention and did not make sure they handed the correct envelope. A split second of distraction is
all it takes to derail an event. This mishap not only cost the Oscars a flawless event, but also
caused people to blame the presenters, Beatty and Dunaway, for the situation.
Before the true story of what happened aired, people thought that Beatty and Dunaway
had read the card wrong or messed up because they were “too old”. People also assumed Beatty
had hesitated to announce the winner on purpose to create suspense; in reality he was, rightfully,
confused that the card read “Emma Stone, La La Land.” One little mistake can cause an event go
into crisis mode and bring bad publicity to innocent people in the situation. For a company trying
to gain donors or a company trying to impress the public, a mistake like this could cause a large
negative setback that can cause a crisis.

63
Youngs, Ian. "Oscars 2017: How did the La La Land/Moonlight mix-up happen?" BBC News.
February 27, 2017. Accessed November 30, 2017. http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-39097183.
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The New York City Pizza Festival
Marketed as a daylong celebration of New York’s finest slices, the New York Pizza
Festival definitely did not deliver. When pizza lovers showed up to the event, they were met by
an empty parking lot with only a few tents set up. Many people waited hours after paying
between $39- $74 dollars to sample beer, wine and pizza from 3-10 p.m. Festival goers were
given one measly slice of pizza. A festival goer, Ronnie Smith, said in an interview about the
festival pizza, “They just chopped up the pizza. Ordered it from wherever, chopped it up, served
that with warm wine and warm beer, it was just ridiculous.”
64
Angry ticket buyers went to
Facebook and created a group called “Pizza Festival Scam Victims” to talk about their
experience. The group came together and demanded their money back. The organizer of the
event posted that night that the event would be canceled and scheduled for a new date, but it
never was.
To make matters worse, there was another food festival scheduled at the same time and
same location as the New York Pizza Festival. The New York City Burger Festival promised
“burgers of all shapes and sizes” and was promoted as happening on the same day, at the same
time, at the same location, but there were no burgers in sight.
65
People began calling this event
the Foodie Fyre Festival. One festival goer, Connell Burker, said, “It was like the people from
Fyre Festival decided to throw a pizza party.”
66
The New York Pizza Festival also garnered a lot
of negative social media attention as people were labeling the event as a scam.

64
"Failed Pizza Festival Has Hungry Ticket-Holders Demanding Their Dough Back." CBS New
York. September 12, 2017. Accessed November 30, 2017. http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2017/09/12/new-york-
pizza-festival/.
65
Dai, Serena. "People Are Pissed About Paying For This Pizza Festival." Eater NY. September
11, 2017. Accessed November 30, 2017. https://ny.eater.com/2017/9/11/16290420/nyc-pizza-festival-scam.
66
Casey, Nell. “Furious Foodies Call Brooklyn Pizza Festival The 'Fyre Festival' Of NYC Food
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The creator of the New York Pizza Festival and the New York City Burger Festival,
Ishmael Osreke, also created the failed 2016 African Food Festival. The 2016 African Food
Festival was held in a greenhouse with no air conditioning in the middle of August in 90+ degree
weather in New York. Prices for tickets to this festival ran from $30-$150.
67
Festival goers also
did not get what they paid for. “They promised a meal and two drinks, depending on how much
you paid for your tickets, and did not deliver. There were supposed to be over 25+ vendors and
there were probably less than 10. There were NO rising star African chefs, NO cookbook
publishers, and NO sample dishes. Folks were literally on line for an hour because there were
practically NO vendors.”
68
This feeling became all too familiar for the attendees of the New
York Pizza Festival and the New York Burger Festival.
It is obvious that Osreke is creating these events as scams to take people’s money and
never deliver. He follows the same trends. All three events were created via Facebook and
marketed via social media, all the events had a location booked and only a couple of vendors
actually were contacted and showed up. Since events are not believed to be important in the eyes
of the professional world, scammers, such as Osreke, are able to continually create scam events
and con people out of their money. Without proper monitoring of events, there is no one stopping
these scams from happening.

Events.” Gothamist. September 11, 2017. Accessed 6, 2017.
http://gothamist.com/2017/09/11/pizza_festival_bushwick.php#photo-2
67
Leon, Alexandra. "African Food Fest Attendees Demand Refund After First-Time Event Flops."
DNAinfo New York. August 16, 2016. Accessed November 30, 2017. https://www.dnainfo.com/new-
york/20160815/navy-yard/african-food-fest-attendees-demand-refund-after-first-time-event-flops.
68
Whitford, Emma. "NYC African Food Fest Apparently An 'EPIC DISASTER'." Gothamist.
Accessed November 30, 2017. http://gothamist.com/2016/08/15/nyc_african_food_fest_fubar.php.
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Osreke is able to take advantage of the absence of event regulations, due to the lack of
research and importance placed on events by society. Once more importance is put onto this
field, people will be held more accountable for scam events such as these.
Fyre Festival and the New York City Pizza Festival both show what can happen when
events go wrong due to a lack of importance put on planning. These events were not properly
planned, if at all, and became scandals that went viral of social media. Since the Fyre Festival
was looked with more scrutiny, due to putting people in danger, the creator, Billy McFarland,
was tried, and pleaded not guilty, to wire fraud and making false statements to a bank.
69
While
McFarland’s trail is a step in the right direction, he is not being charged for creating a failed
event that people in danger and could be considered a scam, rather he is being charged for wire
fraud and making false statements to banks.
The Oscars Best Picture mishap was not due to improper planning, as the Oscars puts a
lot of effort into planning, but due to improper execution. These three events are only a snapshot
of what has occurred in 2017 alone, and these events, for the most part, only affected the United
States. Events will continue to go wrong, and scam events will continue to pop up, as long as
people do not take event planning seriously.

69
Parasi, Paula. “Fyre Festival’s Billy McFarland Pleads Not Guilty to Fraud.” Variety. October 2,
2017. Accessed December 6, 2017. http://variety.com/2017/music/news/fyre-festival-billy-mcfarland-
1202578187/
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Anatomy of an Event
Events are complex, like the human body. What you see is only the surface, or the skin,
of the event. What you don’t see are the inner workings; the muscle and the bones of the affair.
Think of a strategic event as an iceberg and public relations executives as the captain of the
Titanic. Over 87%
70
of an iceberg is underwater and unseen by a captain of a boat. If public
relations executives only look at the surface and don’t realize they are only seeing the 13% that
is above the water, they will drive their company straight into a disastrous event; leaving donors,
investors and consumers jumping ship.
The bones of an event are the permanent facts; who, when, where and why. These facts
are well known but not always properly acted upon. The “who” is the company that is throwing
the event as well as the invitees. The “when” isn’t just the date of the event. Companies should
pay attention to when holidays or important cultural or industry events occur. In the
entertainment industry, awards season (Grammys, the SAG Awards, the Oscars, etc.) is at the
beginning of each year. It is important to analyze if hosting your company's event around this
time would be beneficial or not for your company. If the company is located in Los Angeles then
organizers may be more likely get a celebrity to appear because they are in town for an award
show, making hosting an event around this time a benefit. If you are located in New York and
the celebrity that is being negotiated to appear at your event gets nominated for an award, they
may choose to skip the company’s event to be at the award show.
A venue can make or break your event; that is why “where” is so important. Picking the
proper venue can enhance your event, but choosing an improper one can lead to issues, such as

70
How Much Of An Iceberg Is Below The Water. Accessed November 29, 2017.
https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=iipHowMuchOfAnIcebergIsBelowTheWater.
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crowding, not enough restrooms and insufficient parking, these issues can cause your guests to
leave your event unhappy. “Why” is the goals of your event. Without defined, strategic goals the
event does not have a purpose that will help the company succeed, meaning the event was a
waste of time, effort and money.
The muscle of the event body is comprised of the budget, vendors, public relations,
advertising, marketing, staff, and sponsorships of the event. These components are what keep the
body of the event moving. Without a proper budget, hiring of quality vendors may not be an
option. This can lead to lackluster food, unreliable vendors and inadequate advertising and
marketing of the event. Vendors are very important to keep your event moving. The right
entertainment and DJ can keep attendees engaged and pleased. The public relations, advertising
and marketing are what get the body moving at the beginning. These efforts are how media
knows to show up, companies decide to sponsor and how potential attendees know about the
event and how to purchase tickets. The staff, makes sure the event is running smoothly and
attendees are taken care of. The sponsors are what help fund the event. For nonprofits, they can
be the largest driving force of the muscle, when there is not a large event budget. Each part of the
muscle is needed to support a successful event from inception to execution.
The skin of the event is the decorations, theme and all other cosmetic touches that work
towards making the event a lasting memory for all in attendance. These are the aspects that
attendees see. The skin of an event must be blemish free. The themes and decorations must
match the company's brand and goals of the event. For a gala, that means elegant decor and
theme. For a fundraising concert in the summer that could mean a luau theme and a festive and
bright design. It is important that attendees feel the cosmetic touches match the type of event
they are attending. This portion of the event cannot be the sole focus of the planning phase
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though. It is extremely important, but it only a part of creating a successful event. When public
relations professionals think of creating an event the skin is the only part they usually think of.
This is what leads to event planners being told that they only choose napkin colors for a living
71
.
More academic and professional research about event planning will illustrate that the skin of the
event is not the only part.
Once you have the anatomy of your event created, it is a full functioning, living,
work of art. Focusing on only one part of the anatomy will result in poor attendance, lackluster
results and bad or no media coverage on the event. An event that puts a lot of research and effort
into at all aspects of the anatomy will be able to successfully reach the goals set for the event and
the company.

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Floto, Jennifer Dayle. E-mail interview by author.
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Party Poopers
Even with all of the compelling evidence proven in this thesis, there are probably some
executives and professionals in the public relations industry that will still not see the immense
benefits strategic events can have on an organization. The author has given said group of
nonbelievers an adequate name that matches their disbelief, “Party Poopers”. To understand the
members of this group, the author took a step back and did some research as to why these Party
Poopers refuse to jump into the “Conga Line” of believers in the positive effects that strategic
events have.
At USC, Professor Floto
72
, realized there was a gap missing in the courses taught at the
Annenberg School of Communication. Having worked in lifestyle and events during her career,
she understood the intrinsic value they can have for an organization. She created a course entitled
“Food, Fashion and Fun”, which enabled undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to
understand how lifestyle public relations and events are vital to the public relations world. When
discussing the new course with fellow colleagues, she was met with comment such as “Isn’t it
just picking napkin colors” and “are you going to sit around and share recipes.” USC is ranked in
the top 25 schools nationally by the U.S. News World Report
73
, but even at a prestigious
university, public relations instructors and professionals still look down on this segment of the
career.
As mentioned previously, academia puts weight on topics that are heavily researched.
The lack of research and information about the benefits, and the difficulty, of planning strategic
events is, for the most part, unknown. Academia also puts heavy weight on topics that are

72
Floto, Jennifer Dayle. E-mail interview by author.
73
"Best Colleges Rankings: National University Rankings." U.S. News & World Report. Accessed November 30,
2017. https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities.
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usually taught in universities. Since Professor Floto’s class is the first of its kind, professors do
not know or understand the full benefits of strategic events.
This information leads the author to believe the reason some public relations
professionals see events as frivolous, easy to produce and not beneficial in working towards
meeting business goals, is a lack of education. Being in academia, teaches people to question
everything presented to them and look to research to signify if the argument presented is valid or
invalid. With no proper academic or professional evidence and research done to prove this point
it makes sense that these Party Poopers do not see the benefits. Without the proper education,
creating an event can be seen as a fun activity that takes little amount of effort. The event
planners spends their days picking napkins, trying foods, looking at flowers, shopping for decor
and watching DJs and other entertainment audition. These tasks alone do present the job as fun
and frivolous, with only a little public relations value in the end. Events also take a long time to
produce, while many other public relations tactics must be created and implemented quickly.
Without the proper education on the benefits this job can then be looked at as leisurely planning
a party, which is what leads executives, professionals and those in academia to look down on
event planning.
Events can be seen by public relations professionals as ways to get donations for
nonprofits. Public relations professionals who do not work in nonprofits, and do not need
donations to exist, may not see an event as a valid public relations tactics. While most public
relations professionals will see brand awareness as a possible goal of certain events, like trade
shows or pop ups, that alone does not convince them of all the benefits.
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The expenses for an event, as well as hiring an outside event planner or event planning
service, can be costly for a company. “Planners that charge a percentage of expenses tend to bill
at 15 percent to 20 percent. The planning fee for a $10,000 event would run $1,500 to $2,000,
while the fee for a $30,000 event would be $4,500 to $7,500.”
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Companies that do not see the
value of events would not want to pay the 15 to 20 percent mark-up for their event. This would
lead companies to either stay away from doing events all together or to use someone internally,
that may not have experience in planning and management. If the person does not know what
they are doing it could cost the company a lot of money and could possibly come out disastrous
(think the Titanic reference made earlier). A failed event would then lead a company to stray
away from events for the fear or having a repeated catastrophe. The high mark-up can be a strong
deterrent if a company is small or does not have room in their budget to allow for an outside
event planner, when they do not have anyone internally with the skillset needed.
Another issue with expenses that can deter a company is the rise in mark-ups throughout
the years. When Carl Sack, a Senior Consultant Managing Director for Certified Catering
Consultants, started his career in the mid 1980’s the mark-ups on food and labor were typically
very small. “Back in the early part of my own career in catering, pricing off-premise catering
was easy—the cost of the raw food was treated as the baseline cost and a multiplier (typically 3
to 5) was used to arrive at a retail price. If there were other components of the catered event,
such as labor or rentals in full-service, or disposables and delivery in corporate catering, they
were often charged as pass-through items, sometimes with no markup whatsoever.”
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These
mark-ups would not scare someone with a tight budget away. Unfortunately, mark-ups currently

74
"How Much Does Hiring a Corporate Event Planning Service Cost?" CostOwl. Accessed
November 30, 2017. http://www.costowl.com/b2b/office-corporate-event-planning-service-cost.html.
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Sacks, Carl. "Pricing Strategies for the Catering Industry." Catersource. June 14, 2011. Accessed
November 30, 2017. https://www.catersource.com/business-operations/pricing-strategies-catering-industry-0.
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are unregulated and can fluctuate over a large scale. Sacks said that in 2011, “The markups… of
the other main components of full service catering tend to vary drastically. For example, we have
seen labor marked up 100 percent and we have also seen labor marked up 10 percent. Outside
rental markups are also all over the map. Most full-service caterers get a minimum 10 percent
discount or rebate from their rental company, but we know of caterers that are getting as much as
30 percent back—and at the same time putting on an additional markup.”
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The extreme
differences in pricing and mark-ups in today’s event industry can be a large deterrent to
companies. When a company is planning out its budget for a campaign, or for the year, the high
cost of events and the mark-ups are not what companies will want to put their money towards if
they cannot calculate the ROI the event will yield.
Sacks only discusses caterers, but mark-ups in the event industry are very common. This
includes all vendors and event venues. Some venues will draw potential clients in with low
venue fees, but will add on a large food and beverage minimum that must be met. This minimum
does not include tax or gratuity. For an event at the Bel Air Bay Club in Pacific Palisades,
California, which the author worked on in 2015, the food and beverage minimum was $100+ per
person or $20,000+, whichever was greater. The event had 132 guests making the food and
beverage minimum for this event $20,000+. The final food and beverage total was $20,032.25. A
service charge of 22% added an additional $4,407.10 and a 9% sales tax added $2,199.54. The
total for food and beverage alone costed $26,638.89, that price did not include the $1,500 site
fee. The total for the venue, food and beverage, was $28,138.39.

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Sacks, Carl. June 14, 2011.

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This price does not include décor, photographer, videographer, a deejay, entertainment
and any other additional vendors that a company can add to their event. Some companies may
not have the budget for an event of this price and other companies may not see the benefits of
spending $30,000 or more for one event with less than 150 people in attendance.
The mark-ups and high costs may force some companies to become Party Poopers. The
benefits they perceive they will obtain from a strategic event may be too small for the amount
they have to pay. Budgets for these companies might be better spent on advertising, marketing
and branding of their company through means outside of the event world. For these Party
Poopers strategic events are just not feasible.
Public relations professionals can also fall into the Party Pooper category because they do
not want to put their trust in vendors that may not cooperate with their needs and requests. When
vendors do not cooperate they become a liability for your event and your company rather than an
asset.
Photographers and videographers who refuse to capture the shots you request can lead to
a lack of photographs and footage you can use for promotion or other public relations activities
after the event. If donors, sponsors or media were promised specific photographs or footage that
your vendor refuses to capture, the company may have to deal with angry representatives who
also promised that footage or pictures to their superiors. This can hurt relationships that a
company has spent a long time cultivating. More than ever, organizations must ensure that their
events are being suitably captured on film and video because of the high likelihood of social
media coverage.
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A caterer who fails to keep pace with demand, especially at the bar can be a nightmare.
When an event has spectacular food and beverage service guests do not tend to notice, which is
the goal. Guests expect to receive prompt service, especially at the bar, and when that occurs
they focus on the other aspects of the event; speakers, auctions, etc. When the caterer cannot
keep up with the demand at the bar and lines start getting long or food service is slow and
sporadic, guest will remember this and it will taint the memory of the event on their mind. If
your event involves any sort of auction, bidding or donation process, slow lines at the bar can
take your bidders away, potentially losing your company or organization money.
Technical crews can also cause your event to have issues. If the crew is not paying
attention and misses the cues for slides, video, microphones, etc. it leaves the company at fault in
the minds of the guests. It also can mess up the flow of the speaker or cause big announcements
to be foreshadowed by technical issues. When Apple has their launch events, the technical crew
must be aware of every change occurring and pay attention to all cues. If Tim Cook, CEO of
Apple, walked on stage with no lights it would distract media and guest. If his presentation
skipped ahead, the big reveal of the next Apple product could be ruined. These are just a couple
of things that can happen at any event when the technical crew is distracted.
There are also different types of vendors that may cause companies to stay away from
dealing with events. Debbie Orwat, Founder & Chief Inspiration Officer at Planner’s Lounge,
details some of the types of difficult vendors a company may encounter. These include the
newbie vendor, the egomaniac and the hater.
77
If proper research and vetting hasn’t been done
with vendors, there is a possibility to end up with one of the above types of vendors. Each type

77
Orwat, Debbie. "How to Deal with a Difficult Vendor." The Planner's Lounge | Resources for Wedding & Event
Planners. December 06, 2016. Accessed November 30, 2017. http://plannerslounge.com/how-to-deal-with-a-
difficult-vendor/.
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comes with their own challenges and can make companies jaded towards hosting events. The
stresses a bad vendor can put on a company through the planning and execution phase can lead
to an organization refusing to execute more events.
Vendors are vital to your event and they have the potential to make or break the
company’s image in your guest’s eyes. They, like the event staff, become the face of the
company. When they do not meet the needs or requests of the affair it can be a deterrent and
work against the organization in regards to meeting goals. Party Poopers can be jaded by these
kinds of vendors. While they may see the benefits of a strategic event, dealing with
uncooperative vendors can stop an organization from pursuing doing more events.
While Party Poopers have their arguments for not putting importance on strategic events,
the author does not believe they are strong enough to overshadow the benefits a strategic event
can have for a company. The Party Poopers should closely analyze the risks and benefits on
strategic events and they will see that the benefits eclipse the risks, as long as the event is
planned by a professional with experience and an understanding on how to create strategic
events.

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Conclusion
Strategic special events can be a tremendous asset for companies that needs to meet
several business goals. If planned and executed correctly, they can increase brand awareness,
garner revenue, gain new donors, cultivate relationships and reach a plethora of other goals.
Public relations professionals must realize the amount of good an effective event can be for
them. This cannot happen, though, until event planners are given proper respect for what they do.
As one of the most stressful jobs in the United States, with a salary that does not match these
demands, event planners deserve proper recognition. Academic and professional research needs
to be done to educate the public about the validity of strategic events as a public relations tactic.
Universities need to create courses that also teach the importance of this type of public relations
work in the field.
Professional societies should be at the forefront of this research. The field of public
relations has one main professional society, the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA).
PRSA each year gives out awards to the best public relations campaigns. The Silver Anvil
awards
78
are one of the highest honors a public relations professional can receive. Awarded by
PRSA, it would be assumed that the premiere professional society would understand the
importance of events and its impact in public relations and have a category to honor outstanding
events. To the author’s surprise, they do have a category that is for “events and observances”,
BUT these awards do not properly cover the category of events. One issue includes the broad
umbrella created for “events.” Tactics, such as, social media stunts are considered events in this
category. The Clorox Ick Awards, winner of a 2015 Silver Anvil award, was a social media stunt

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2017 Silver Anvil Results. PDF. PRSA.
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that created an “event”, that had very little planning and was completely improvised by the hosts.
For winners of the Silver Anvil Awards that were actual events, there are a lot of flaws in the
case studies provided. These case studies do not explain the event planning aspect of campaign.
They focused on the goals and objectives but not how the event was planned. This shows that
even the leading public relations society does not give events the proper treatment in their
analysis and case studies. The case studies should be looking at the planning of the event; how it
was planned, what resources the planners were given, what considerations were made dependent
on the goals of the business. The PRSA should begin to look at the strategic planning behind
these events. This research will assist in getting event coordinators and planners a seat at the
table when it comes to making public relations decisions in a company.
Once the research has been done and people begin to understand the value of strategic
events, legislatures will also be able to see that proper laws need to be put into place to stop
scammers, like Osreke, creator of the New York Pizza Festival, the New York City Burger
Festival and the African Food Festival. Innocent people are being put into the way of harm from
scammers. There are no laws protecting them if they are victims of an event scam. Today’s
society allows for fake events to pop-up on a person’s social media and entice them to buy
tickets, but there is no way to prove whether the event is real or a scam. Since most events are
posted through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter there is no way for an average person to be able
to properly see that the New York Pizza Festival was a scam but Brunchcon, which was
marketed the similarly through social media and successfully occurred in Los Angeles in August
of 2017, is not. Once more importance is put onto events, more monitoring will occur, leading to
a decrease in scam events.
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For public relations professionals, or event planners, that want a solid takeaway they can
use as evidence to support how to effectively create a strategic special event, the listicle below
can be used to show executives, or party poopers, what needs to be done.
5 Ways to Effectively Utilize a Strategic Special Event
1. Set a Goal
All of the experts interviewed in the author’s research agree that without a solid
goal, an event cannot be strategic. Ahmadi said, “PR professionals can utilize events
more effectively by having a specific goal in mind when planning an event and not
planning one simply for the sake of planning an event. Events must be purposeful in
order to move the dial when it comes to sales and or brand awareness.”
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2. Have a Strong Culture of Planning
This means the organization that is creating the event must give the proper respect
and resources to the planners involved. Without a culture that respects the amount of
work it takes to create a strategic event, it will never successfully come to fruition.
A culture of planning includes (but is not limited to):
1. Giving proper resources to the planners
a. The resources can include both monetary and extra staff
2. Giving the planner enough time to create the event
3. Knowing what type of event is best for the intended audience (guests)
4. Having a clear goal from the beginning

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Ahmadi, Wanda." E-mail interview by author. August 16, 2017.
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5. Respecting the process of creating a strategic event
6. Carefully executing the event
3. Begin Planning Early
Creating a strategic event takes a long time when done correctly. Vendors need to
be vetted, the right venue needs to be chosen and the timeline of the event needs to be
planned down to the minute.
Without the proper amount of time to plan an event, a company can end up
creating a Fyre Fest situation, which will ruin their reputation and any relationships with
guests.
4. Create a Back Up Plan
For anything AND everything. Your timeline and planning may be rock solid but
you have to be ready to also be flexible. Having a back-up plan for every situation can
save you.
5. Expect Problems and be able to anticipate them
There will be at least one problem! You can make the best plan, confirm
everything with your vendors and still something will happen.
The important speech an executive was supposed to give? They forgot their copy.
10 guests sent their regrets on the RSVP or didn’t RSVP at all and now you are
one table too short.
A staff member was not paying attention and handed the wrong envelope to the
presenter (In this case the company would have a 2017 Oscars mishap, on their hands)
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These are problems that can happen to anyone. Some snafus are out of your
control, but create a back-up plan for everything you can control.
All in all, this thesis was written to illustrate the fact that event planners need to be
recognized for their skills and be given a seat at the table when it comes to public relations
decisions. Strategic events can be utilized to meet a vast array of PR and business goals. Once
event planners are given a seat at the table, and the proper resources, the events they create will
vastly improve any type of company and help them meet and exceed business and public
relations goals.

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Appendix
Alan Abrahamson Interview
Conducted In Person on: September 6, 2017

Question: What constitutes a strategic special event to you?
Answer: Over the last 20 years of high level sports reporting Olympics, super bowls, world
champs in swimming, track, skiing, judo and more. Not all are strategic events. Some are
championships. Beijing 2008 games was a strategic event. You knew from the opening
ceremony it was a strategic events. When the 2008 drums went off at 8:08 that was a signal china
saying hey world this is our century. Compare that to the opening ceremony 2006 winter
Olympics in Italy which nobody remembers.
What are five things that make an event strategic?
Answer: Read a book called win forever by pete carol. Pete’s philosophy is ask yourself to
define yourself in 25 words or less. Same simple objectives for
1. What are you trying to achieve in this event
a. Navy theory called moto (mater of the obvious) be obvious and direct
2. Should be asking how do we meet objectives to event
What are we trying to do?
Question: What’s the worst thing you’ve seen due to poor logistics?
Answer: I’ve seen so many poorly planned event that it’s hard to say what is the works
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1. Language
2. Poorly planned training for volunteers
3. Poorly planned delegation by chains of authority
The 2013 world track and field champs in Moscow
 Tickets sales were awful
 Transportation bad
 Media accommodations and logistics awful
 Only saving grace was on fantastic race- when Usain bolt crossed the finished line a bolt
of lightning struck
 Everyone knew going in to it was a cluster
 Luzhniki stadium- one hour bus ride for media
 Media bus was the size of a small school bus
 Crammed in like sardines, no air, temps in high 80s low 90s
 Language barrier
Question: What are some common challenges you’ve seen in planning an event?
Answer: Number one challenge is failure to anticipate the unanticipated. Obvi we can’t know
what we can’t know. So many times it is so plain that people don’t ask the question what could
go wrong. Which is the first question that should be asked. If not what is likely to go wrong then
what is possible on the radar.
Classic example, in the press room do you choose wifi or cable internet. Almost every event
number one without fail accommodation for the press which should be if not number 1, should
care about how the event is reported. Constantly if not always the last item om the agenda.
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Planning for the media is almost last or very last item. Squeezed into the far away corner or after
thought. Corporate event person or brand manager have a story to tell and you are treating
reporters like crap, can’t see can’t hear, treated like dogs and expecting media to write a positive
story.
Common sense would say treat like human beings, provide working conditions, have some
coffee, cold water. Most journalists are cheap, throw in some doughnuts. Small touches go a long
way.
If had the budget meet every journalist at the airport with a sign and an uber. Pay for it yourself
but it has just been arranged to not have conflict of interest. If you treat people with civility and
dignity you are more likely to be treated like that in return.
Question: What are special skills needed to be an effective event planner?
Answer:
1. Listen to people
2. Anger makes us stupid, slow to anger if at all, zen master
3. Be able to delegate- tell people clearly what you want, articulate your expections, when,
how why- one person cannot control the world
a. Empower others to do their job

Question: What are the issues with multiple sponsors?
Answer: Keeping them all happy. Making them all feel important.
Question: How do you top yourself when you repeat the same events?
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Answer: I don’t know if you have to top yourself. Consistency is the hallmark of
professionalism. Rather see an event be consistent with small touches different every year. Get
into a spiral of every year having to be better than the last. In every area of life people want
consistency.
Question: What are the public relations implications in event planning?
Answer: A really well run event that is consistent, runs well and is seamless is great PR for
whoever the event is for. An event that is not well run the organizer looks bad for the company.
Question: How can public relations professionals utilize special events more effectively?
Answer: All events need a define purpose. What is it you want to accomplish with this event?
Networking, promotion of product. What is it that you and the brand are trying to achieve. All
should be focused. On that anything else is a bonus.
Question: In relations to the Olympics, how important is event planning to making the
Olympics a success?
Answer: It takes seven years to put on an Olympics games. A fair part of that run up is planning
for the event. There are so many moving parts that are in play and have to come together at the
moment to set the stage that the world athletes need to go out. Event planning is a huge part of
every addition of the Olympics games, Summer and winter.
Just think LA is an exception. The venues are essentially built. Everywhere else you have to start
from scratch. When you talk about event planning you can’t have an event with no place to hold
it. Recruit volunteers, raise funds, hire people, recruit internationally. Event planning is such a
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big part. TOC transfer on knowledge – formalized process by Olympics community. Saw it was
dumb to reinvent the wheel game after games.
Question: Other thoughts?
Answer: When you have the resources and energy that you had in London, Sydney and Beijing
those are all category A. Where the event as a whole was planned well and those plans were
executed well.
Then you have events like Rio in 2016 when resources were insufficient, attention to detail was
insufficient. The culture of planning was insufficient. In comparison to Beijing or Sydney or
London. What you have is a classic case of apples or oranges.

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Wanda Ahmadi Interview
Conducted Via Email

Question: What constitutes a strategic special event to you?
Answer: I define a strategic special event as one that has a very defined purpose such as
producing an event to generate revenue, or to produce an event to cultivate relationships, or to
produce an event to broaden awareness.
Question: What are five things that make an event strategic?
Answer: Specifying a goal, thoughtful and careful planning, a contingency plan to deal with
unknowns (weather, emergencies), having enough support and staff and being able to style flex
and not be affected if things don't go according to plan.
Question: What is the largest special event you have planned? Attended?
Answer: The largest special event that I have planned was Generation Beauty by Ipsy - a 2-day
beauty tech conference with 3000-3500 in guests in attendance each day. The largest event that
I've attended is the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic.
Question: What’s the worst thing you’ve seen due to poor logistics?
Answer: The worst thing that I've seen due to poor logistics is people creating bottleneck and/or
blocking egress. Doors/aisles and narrow spaces that require entry and exit points should always
be kept clear to prevent blockage in the event of an emergencies and for general event flow.
Question: What are some common challenges you’ve encountered when planning an event?
Answer: The common challenges that I've encountered when planning an event are lack of
communication, miscommunication, vendors not showing and staff not anticipating
issues/problems.
McCraven
76

Question: What events have you done that you are you most proud of?
Answer: The events that I've done that I'm the most proud of are an Aerin Lauder PA at
Nordstrom South Coast Plaza and Fashion's Night Out at Westfield Century City.
Question: What are special skills needed to be an effective event planner?
Answer: The special skills needed to be an effective event planner are flexibility, great
communication, the ability to multitask and the understanding that a good event planner will do
both the administrative duties, as well as the glamorous ones.
Question: What are the issues with multiple sponsors?
Answer: Every sponsor has their own agenda, so it's important to vet non-competes and make
sure that the sponsors are in line with the brand/event that they are being asked to sponsor.
Question: How do you top yourself when you repeat the same events?
Answer:You top yourself when you repeat the same events by pushing yourself to be even more
creative or innovative than the last time.
Question: What are the public relations implications in event planning?
Answer: The public relations implications in event planning can be many. The success or failure
of an event can lead to either good publicity or bad publicity. Further, an event can have an
impact on a guest's perception of a brand and/or service.
Question: How can public relations professionals utilize special events more effectively?
Answer: PR professionals can utilize events more effectively by having a specific goal in mind
when planning an event and not planning one simply for the sake of planning an event. Events
must be purposeful in order to move the dial when it comes to sales and or brand awareness.

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Asset Metadata

Creator McCraven, Amanda (author)

Core Title The importance of event planning in strategic public relations

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Strategic Public Relations

Publication Date 04/06/2018

Defense Date 04/05/2018

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag events,OAI-PMH Harvest,Public Relations,strategic

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Floto, Jennifer (committee chair), Brabham, Daren (committee member), Cook, Fred (committee member)

Creator Email acmccraven@gmail.com,amccrave@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c40-490446

Unique identifier UC11267187

Identifier etd-McCravenAm-6153.pdf (filename),usctheses-c40-490446 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-McCravenAm-6153.pdf

Dmrecord 490446

Document Type Thesis

Rights McCraven, Amanda

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA