Chapter 14 Facilities and Events

Event Planning Sport events don’t just happen. Events that are problem free involve a whole team of event planners who have been at work behind the scenes scrambling, smoothing, and problem solving for months, if not years.

Examples Sport facilities management includes managing private health clubs, hotel fitness centers, YMCA or JCC athletic facilities, indoor sporting centers, and entire stadiums.

Event Planners Coordinate games Provide food for teams Arrange team transportation Hire officials Manage ticket sales Plan and monitor concession sales Schedule the various leagues Organize tournaments

Attracting Top Athletes Many colleges and universities have built new athletic facilities to attract top athletes, and many municipalities have built new stadiums and arenas to house pro sport teams.

Managing Facilities Sport management professionals often find careers in managing various types of facilities.

Facility Planning A committee and the facility planner will hire an architect and decide on facility criteria. After the building plans are approved and financing is secured, a competitive bidding process helps ensure that building costs are contained. The building process itself requires the planner’s constant attention.

Mike Crum Mike Crum is the director of Charlotte’s Auditorium- Coliseum-Convention Center Authority. Crum presides over a $25 million budget, 200 employees (and another 1,800 part-time workers), and all maintenance and operations for the Charlotte Convention Center, Charlotte Coliseum, Ovens Auditorium, and Cricket Arena. Crum characterizes his job as constantly putting out fires. "You're never really off," Camp notes. "That takes awhile to get used to. It's a big job.”

Hiring Professional Facility Management Firms In 1976, the Louisiana Superdome became the first major sporting facility to use outside professionals to manage its operations. Today, the New Orleans Superdome is managed by SMG. Philadelphia-based SMG is the world’s leading company in the management of public facilities, including stadiums, arenas, theaters, and exhibition and convention centers.

SMG SMG operates 156 facilities and works closely with Hyatt Hotels and Aramark food services. SMG Europe manages 8 facilities in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe.

Table 14.2

Standing Plans Standing plans are the policies, procedures, and rules for handling situations that arise repeatedly. Policies are general guidelines for decision making. Procedures (also called standard operating procedures [SOPs] and methods) are sequences of actions to be followed in order to achieve an objective. Rules state exactly what should or should not be done.

Single-Use Plans A program describes a set of activities designed to accomplish an objective over a specified period. Budgets are the funds allocated for operating a department or program for a fixed period.

Contingency Plans Contingency plans are alternative plans that can be implemented if uncontrollable events occur. Wise coaches and managers take great pains to develop backup players or employees who will be ready to step in should a first-string player or employee get injured or call in sick.

Three Steps to Contingency Planning 1.What might go wrong? 2.How can I prevent it from happening? 3.If it does occur, what can I do to minimize its effect?

Tempted to Skip the Planning Stage? Remember the adage “When you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

Flags That Indicate Poor Planning Objectives that are not met Continual crises Idle resources Lack of resources Duplication

Sales Forecasting Techniques A sales forecast predicts the monetary amount of product that will be sold during a specified period. Market share is the organization’s percentage of total industry sales.

Qualitative Sales Forecasting Techniques Subjective judgment Intuition Experience Opinion

Quantitative Forecasting Techniques Objective Mathematical techniques Past sales data to predict sales

Scheduling Tools Scheduling is the process of listing essential activities in sequence with the time needed to complete each activity. The details of the schedule answer the what, when, where, how, and who questions.

Planning Sheets Planning sheets state an objective and list the sequence of activities, when each activity will begin and end, and who will complete each activity to meet the objective.

Gantt Charts Gantt charts use bar graphs to illustrate progress on a project. Activities are shown vertically, and time is shown horizontally.

PERT PERT (performance evaluation and review technique) diagrams highlight the interdependence of activities by diagramming their “network.”

Time Management Time management enables people to get more done in less time with better results. Although time is probably a manager’s most valuable resource, many managers don’t use this resource effectively.

A Time Management System Prioritize. Set objectives. Plan how you will get your objectives done. Don’t skip this step. Make a schedule.