BEM - The organization manager and the team: during the event (B) Lim Sei Kee @ cK

Case Study Volunteers @ Mainz Central Questions: 1. What role do the various voluntary organizations play in making the carnival a success? 2. What is the function of the carnival secretariat? 3. How does the existence of carnival clubs improve the standard of the carnival and the range of activities being put on?

Q1 Voluntary organization provide marchers in the procession, floats, displays and tableaux, and ensure that the carnival is loud and colourful.

Q2 The carnival secretariat co-ordinates the efforts of official bodies, professional organizations and the many volunteer carnival clubs.

Q3 The carnival and the range of activities can be done more efficiently as the carnival clubs have a vast of experiences.

Introduction How to identify how many staff you need? What type? Based on experience, either of previous events or of members of the committee. Various factors will affect the number of staff each department needs to run the event.

Factors influencing the number and type of staff (A) The size of the event, numbers attending, likely demand (B) The balance between types of staff: paid, full time, part time, casual, volunteer (C) The layout and components of the event (D) The demand patterns and scheduling of staff, number of staff per activity (E) The expertise required for the event

(A) The size of the event How big is the event going to be? Can you put it on with a few friends and relatives, or will it need thousands? Is your event limited by the capacity of your venue?

(B) The balance between staffing types There are variations between what the staff can achieve: given their expertise, ability, knowledge and experience. You will normally have a range of choices Full time Part time Volunteer Agency / casual staff.

For example, to cover the Information Office: 1) 1 full-time staff 2) 1 full-time staff as supervisor and trainer, and employ 6 volunteers 3) 6 half-time staff 4) A range of part-time, agency, casual or volunteer staff in various roles

It might be possible to concentrate all the services and activities on one central location. These ‘service cores’ tend to be centralized, so that fewer staff can operate and supervize a larger number of activities.

(C) The location of activities and concentration of staff at key points The wider the area that has to be covered, the more the staff who may be needed. In general, the more going on, and the wider the range of services, facilities or components of an event, the larger the number of staff needed.

(D) The demand for, and scheduling of, staff Demand is a baseline determinant of staffing At any event, there will be a fixed level of staff below which it is not possible to fall. As demand increases, so too will staffing. For this, it is essential to be aware of when the event is going to be busy and when it is not.

The control of the cost of staffing is also a major concern. Cost control is as much dependent on effective forecasts of demand and careful rostering as it is on the sheer number of staff.

(E) The expertise required What kind of expertise is available for the planned event? The labour pool must considered carefully: what staff are available, what are they capable of, what is their expertise, what things might need to be done for which either training is needed? .

Food is one example of the problem of expertise. Staffing is an issue of identifying what expertise exists as having large numbers of people to do things

FINDING STAFF Recruiting paid staff Recruiting volunteers Recruiting permanent staff

Recruiting paid staff Recruitment: Advertising in newspapers, events trade magazines, hospitality magazines, employment and staffing agencies, Internet Quality: Experienced and flexible.

Recruiting volunteers Recruitment: Done informally, asking around friends, colleagues, acquaintances and relatives Sources: Job / hobby group, Voluntary bodies, by networking (word of mouth), or by organizing recruitment drives.

Recruiting permanent staff Two methods: Employment of staff with a good basic education to be trained by the organization Employment of staff with an appropriate vocational and educational background

Running the event on the day Events management has to be effective, and event managers must be good communicators and good delegators in situations that may be constantly changing. Important NOTE: Drink enough so you don’t dehydrate Eat enough to keep your blood sugar levels up Wear the most comfortable pair of shoes

In running an event on the day, you cannot handle everything yourself, and will have a number of helpers. Your event needs to have a structure of organization, in effect a chain of command. Briefing session would normally need to cover a number of key issues

Important issues to be briefed! Responsibilities for health and safety of visitors and participants A tour of the layout of the site Issues in crowd management How to direct and help the public, audience or participants The mechanism for communication between stewards and managers

Problem-solving It is vital to be aware of the factors that have led to the problem and to be able to take the correct action. A good decision is dependent on the recognition of the right problem.

Last but not least, during the event: Work steadily through the event, take breaks when you can, sit down when you can and take drinks when you can. It is important to pace yourself!!