Your Event Market Place
Monday, February 22, 2016
Awka Literary Society Holds Valentine Eve Open Mic Session
Awka Literary Society has concluded plans to mark this year’s St Valentine Season with an Open Microphone session that will fling the doors of artistic and musical expression open in the South East of Nigeria.
The event which holds on February 13 in Havila Suites, Awka, Anambra State capital is the first Open Mic session in the smithy city and promises to draw an eclectic crowd of singers, poets, painters, storytellers, minstrels, griots, flutists, dramatists and comedians under one roof.
The event essentially signals an auspicious start to the year by the literary group whose debut outing last year represents a rupture in the nation’s artistic landscape, leading to Nigeria’s first poetry festival (The Return to Idoto) held in honour of the brilliant modernist poet, Christopher Okigbo who died in the Biafran War.
Speaking on the coming Valentine Eve Open Mic session, one of the co-founders of the group, novelist OdiliUjubuonu described it as a “creative explosion to mark the feast of love and renew our humanity.”
According to him, Awka Literary Society wants to tap onto the symbolism of the St Valentine Day to reawaken the age-old themes of love and the pursuit of happiness which have remained eternal in spite of the ceaseless onslaught of bitterness, hate and bigotry that plague our world.
“In addition to spreading love, we also want to fan the embers of artistic enterprise in South East Nigeria. We started last August with The Return to Idoto. It was a hugely successful outing for the Society. Now, we are opening the year with an Open Mic session to celebrate our humanity and open doors for a flowing of talents. In fact, if you are not at the Havila Suites in Awka on Saturday evening, then you are on the wrong side of history” Ujubonu declared.
Speaking further, the Ujubuonu revealed that the Society had also made arrangements to ensure that established writers who are expected at the event would look into the works of young storytellers, poets and dramatists with a view to making critical interventions that would nudge them to the path of growth.
The Open Microphone session which is expected to kick off in the late afternoon promises to usher in a new phase of cultural awakening in the South East as prominent novelists, poets and singers in the region have already indicated their readiness to grace the event.
The event is a product of creative collaborations between the Awka Literary Society and Anambra Broadcasting Service, Havila Suites, National Light, Ifeadinmesi Blog, Little Drops Media and BrandeAristotle.
Article By James Eze (https://www.thenigerianvoice.com/news/205625/awka-literary-society-holds-valentine-eve-open-mic-session.html)
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Colours and Fragrances of Events
Greetings for the week to you all. Moving on from
Valentines to other issues.
There are Five (5) natural senses in every human
being. (Sixth sense is not obvious). These are Sight (Eye), Sound (Ear), Taste
(Tongue), Feel (Skin) and Smell (Nose). Unconsciously many event managers and
owners tend to organise events to appeal to these Five (5) senses of the
guests. I am taking on two of the sense today – Sight (Colour) and Smell
(Fragrance).
Many events today are colour conscious. It is common
practice to see event planners and owners designate a particular colour for an occasion.
Guest on their own accord, add more pep to the mix by innovatively creating
different designs and fashion around the chosen colour. If you are the event
owner or planner and you have chosen a colour(s) for your occasion, let the
colour dominate and show prominence. Here are a few places you can apply the
colour to make it stand out.
a.
Hall
Decorations
b.
Table
Cloths
c.
Chair
Covers
d.
Flowers
e.
Guest
Attire (Aso ebi)
f.
Celebrants
attire
g.
Lighting
h.
Gift
items.
It creates a memorable impression to identify any
event with a colour. There are lots of guides about choosing colours however
here is a summary
ü Pink: Feminine, Love, Tranquil
ü Red: Power, Passion
ü Orange: Health, Energy, Warmth, Excitement
ü Green: Nature, Soothing, Money
ü Blue: Peace, Loyal, Clean, Trust
ü Purple: Magic, Creativity, Royalty
ü White: Purity, Cleanliness, Simplicity
ü Black: Power, Sophistication
ü Brown: Rural, Outdoors, Masculine
In weddings too, colours of the day have different meanings. Here are
some interesting websites that provides you with a quick guide.
The sense of smell is one of the most marginalised senses in business because
it is the least exploited for sales and marketing purposes. According to http://www.nosewhoknows.com/scentsorial-events
“Too many people fail to understand their fifth sense and ignore it entirely,
missing the opportunity to engage holistically with their lives. Did you know
your sense of smell has the power to captivate emotions and capture your most
treasured memories?”
So what are we waiting for as event planners and managers? Go ahead and
add more pep to that event by associating a fragrance to it. Corporate
organisations can borrow a leaf too from this. We have corporate values,
mission statements, vision statement, etc. Why not corporate Fragrance? With
the right fragrance in the air, guests in an event venue will definitely be
more relaxed and suck in the ambience of the moment. Here are a few ways that you
can use fragrance to sign your events
1.
Perfumed
Invitations
2.
Perfumed
Flowers and Decorations
3.
Perfumed
Chair covers
4.
Scented
atmosphere
5.
Aromatised
Gift items
6.
Tailor-made
“scented” presentations: Create a multi-sensorial experience for your customers
and highlight your products
You can bring your creativity to the fore as an event manager through
your innovative style and panache.
Monday, February 15, 2016
Valentine’s Day Events
Valentine’s Day Events
Top of the week to all my readers. Yesterday was Valentine’s
Day. A global Day for the celebration of Love.
According to Wikipedia “Valentine's Day, also called
Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is an annual holiday
celebrated on February 14. It originated as a Western Christian liturgical
feast day honouring one or more early saints named Valentinus, and is
recognized as a significant cultural and commercial celebration in many regions
around the world, although it is not a public holiday in any country”
There are many myths and Martyrdom stories associated
with Valentine’s Day however “The day first became associated with romantic
love within the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century, when the
tradition of courtly love flourished. In 18th-century England, it evolved into
an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting
flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as
"valentines").” Says Wikipedia.
In this present times, Valentine’s Day has grown to
become a huge commercially successful attractive event all over the world. If there
is a way to measure, it will not be out of place to find that over $2b Dollars
exchange hands on this day.
Since this is a yearly event, it does not comes as a
surprise to anyone. The questions here is how are event managers positioned to
tap into the massive financial activities that takes place on the 14th
of February every year? Our last week post on this blog was titled “Using Event
as BD Strategy”, Valentine’s Day is one of those events that can be
successfully developed into a BD strategy.
In this regard, let us look at some of the activities
that took place this Valentine’s day and hope that it will serve as a guide to
the coming year.
Couples Night: This was a dinner event organised by
Catholic Men Organisation of St Agnes Catholic Church in Maryland, Lagos.
Beautiful occasion for their members and invited guests to bond with their
spouses. It was a paid event and the organisers provided a lot to eat, plenty
of music, dancing and a lottery to end the show.
Boat Cruise: Here is good example of an event that
suites the Valentine’s day celebration. Couples will have a splendid time in
the serenity of a boat cruise providing ample gateway opportunity for couples
that want to rediscover their relationship. It happened last year but I
listened for one this year without luck.
Sports Time Out: Fitness houses, Aerobic clubs, etc. are
the target group for this kind of event. Creatively weaving the Valentine day
celebration around their activities could create an attractive buy-in for
members.
Movie: Good Old movie. Yes it still sparkles on
a valentine day. It can be spiced up with a group movie event and an after
movie networking and discussion around good music, food and side attractions.
Moving guests around to and fro movie location in a bus will go a long way to
create warmth and inter personal relationships.
Art and Culture: This has never ceased to be an
attraction. Creating an event that includes visits to places of interest likes
Museums, Natural Parks, Gardens or even some kind of theatre performance, will
always be a sell-out. The OpenMic event was quite apt in this season of
valentine.
Party: When every other thing fails, a party
comes in handy. Arrange good music, appetising dishes, Suave MC, Comedian and
set the ball rolling. Combine the day with side attractions such as Couple
Dance, Couple Fashion parade, Couple Games, etc. and you will have a fantastic
night. Here is what took place in some locations.
Family Funfair: Creating an occasion for the families to
share love is a great selling point too. If well packaged with activities for
kids such as games, rides, bouncing castles, Best dressed Mummy and Best dressed
Daddy, etc. You are sure to have a hit show.
The die is cast. The preparation towards the next Valentine’s
Day starts now. Get your team together to brainstorm over strategy sessions for
concepts, ideas, activities, that will capture the audiences and make you grab
a slice of the $2b dollars or more that will be shared worldwide during the
next Valentine’s celebration.
I am out here.
Have a good week.
(NB: These pictures used here are not mine and copyright belongs to the rightful owners)
Monday, February 8, 2016
Using Event As BD Strategy
Top of the week to all my readers. Pray you had an
excellent weekend.
This week, I will look at some as aspects of using
event as a business development strategy. I like to keep my definitions simple
hence I refer mostly to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary – International Students
Edition (New 8th Edition). I laboured to find a definition for
Business Development in it but could not. Either I missed it or I did not find
it where I expected it to be. So off to Wikipedia I went and here is what I got
“Business development (BD) comprises a number of tasks
and processes generally aiming at developing and implementing growth opportunities
within and between organizations……………Business development is the creation of
long-term value for an organization from customers, markets, and relationships.”
Many BD
activities are expected to lead to a sale eventually. Here are a few events you
can organize to develop and grow your business
1.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): This is a give back strategy embraced by
many businesses as a way to pay back to the society in which they operate in.
There are so many things you can do in this regard. In one of the companies I
worked for, the CSR is driven by staff contribution. Many times we
visited orphanages, old peoples home, Centre for the blind, etc., to clean the
environment, paint the buildings, Wash the toilets, care for the inmates and so
many other things. Based on our activities usually measured in the number of
man hours we put in, the HR team will apply to the company foundation for
grants/donation to a particular centre of our choice. On approval the money
will be sent to the selected home. There has been many argument from both sides
if a company should derive business benefit from its CSR activities. My opinion is that a company ultimately drives
business benefit from its CSR program whether it publicises it or not. CSR gives
a company visibility while allowing it to touch lives. The company can actually
organise an experiential or participatory event and invite many customers. A
good example is the MTN Half marathon which used to hold some years back in
Lagos.
2.
Celebrations: There is always something to celebrate. Company
Anniversaries, CEO’s Birthday, Partnerships, Milestones, etc. Identifying
something to celebrate and weaving an event around it is great way to bring
customers, would be customers and employees together. Be creative and think of something
unique to celebrate and use the opportunity to bring people together. There is this
particular company that celebrates its customers in a unique way. On the night
you have awards like “The Oldest Customer”, “The Highest Revenue Customer”, “The
Newest Customer” and so on. It is a night of merriment which creates many
upselling opportunities.
3.
Entertainment: Companies can also create entertainment events or
even look out for one to sponsor. This type of event can easily combine with a product
promotion. There is this Musical Concert called the Star mega Jamz by Nigerian
Breweries, the popular Reality show “Big Brother Africa” sponsored by many
companies. These a good examples of events that can help an organisation to
drive its BD Strategy.
4.
Sponsorships: Many corporate organisations do not have the time to
begin to create events of their own. They seek out for complimenting events
that they can sponsor. Event managers can create events and propose it to
organisations to sponsor or sell it outright to the organisation. Whichever way
it happens, it is a win-win for the event manager and the corporate
organization because the ultimate aim is execute an event which will help them
grow their business revenue. A good example here is Etisalat that supports
Nigeria Idol.
5.
Education: Educational events are fantastic. Moving away from
the regular trainings, seminars, workshops, an organisation, can institute an
award, scholarship or recognition event.
6.
Entrepreneurial: This is an exciting kind of event which has been
increasingly gaining attention. Here participants are invited to submit entrepreneurial
ideas for review and consideration. The winner of the best idea selected may be
supported to implement it or the idea could be sold off to a willing venture
capitalist. There is this kind of event run by the Tony Elumelu Foundation.
These are just a few ideas of events that can help you
drive your company business development goals. There are a lot more options to
try out. The core objective is to identify the goal of any event and define the
way to measure the Return on Event (Investment).
Thanks for your attention. Have a Good Week.
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