Introduction
The 81st Geneva International Motors Show 2011 was conducted on 13th March at Geneva, Swiss. This event was one of the most significant motor shows across the world, as it was attended by more than 735,000 people. As an implication that this event was highly valued globally, the attendance was about 6% higher, above the expected capacity.
As noted by Geneva International Motor Show (2011: 1), this international event has been conducted in Geneva since the year 1905 and has been involving both traditional and modern motor vehicles. One of the main significant reasons why this large event has always been conducted in Geneva is that, Geneva Palexpo has always maintained high quality in the logistics in its preparation. This paper presents the factors which attributed to the ultimate remarkable performance of Geneva Motor Show 2011.
The Plan of the Event
For a big event like Geneva International Motors Show, Gantt chart was mainly used to present the outlay of the entire event. According to Bowdin et al (2006: 133), Gantt charts are very simple and effective visuals used to present a plan of an event from one sequence to another in terms of time allocation. More so, the plan for this event using Gantt charts made it easier to schedule each particular activity with regard to the available data.
Particularly, Gantt charts are useful in cases of finding sponsors and other marketing issues involved in large events like the Geneva International Motors show 211. By having a properly scheduled Gantt chart, facilitators like staff members find it easier to implement each scheduled activity with respect to the time allocated.
Stakeholders for Geneva International Motors Show 2011
One of the most significant stakeholders for the Geneva International Motors Show 2011 was the participants. As reported by Palexpo (2011: 1), this is one of the most unique international events in terms of attendance, as the initially anticipated target number was about 700,000 visitors.
It was amazing to register about 6% higher attendance than the anticipated capacity. In this case, the implication of this increased number of visitors in the event was higher number of participants than expected. Meanwhile, the motor show can be described as having been outstanding in its performance to attract such large number of participants. As a result, the host organizer tried very much to facilitate the availability of the appropriate requirements like the cars and other products, which needed to be in the right conditions.
On the other hand, the host community, the people living in Palexpo, did their best to host such large number of visitors from various parts of the world. Considering the large number of clients expected in such an outstanding event, the team associated with the maintenance of logistics was entrusted with the role of sending invitations in order to settle the communities.
Particularly, all the preparations for the entire event had to be facilitated by the people living around Palexpo, since they were ultimately the host group. According to Geneva Palexpo (2011: 1), the community participated a lot in enhancing the maintenance and balancing of all logistics necessary for successful accomplishment of the anticipated goals and objectives of the entire event (Bowdin et al 2006: 137).
According to Palexpo (2011: 1), the host organization for the Geneva International Motors Show was the Geneva Palexpo. Since this organization has been previously hosting this event for the previous years this event has been conducted in Swiss, it has for long remained to be the host up to date. More so, this event involved about 250 exhibitors who joined this year’s event. Since these inhibitors are from global context in their search for business partnerships, this event has really been of much significance in the global economy.
In addition, more than 10 thousand Medias were present in the Geneva International Motor Show. The entire telecommunications network was properly fixed and managed to facilitate the coverage of the event by the media including TVs, Radios and web-based media. Certainly, all the stakeholders participated well, contributing to the overall success achieved in the event.
Risk Assessment
Hosting such a big event like the Geneva International Motors Show requires a high degree of risk assessment. Since the particular event involved high costs like that the cars, accommodation and hiring of officials to facilitate the vent required a lot of money.
Considering that some marketing was still expected in this event, marketers had to prepare themselves to create the most effective channels to present their commodities or services. Anticipating only 700,000 visitors in the event, there were some risks involved in planning for various resources usage in this event.
Meanwhile, logistic team had given allowances of 2.5% of the entire budget for all the activities planned, basing on the previous trend of attendance to such an important big event (Palexpo 2011: 1). Particularly, much of risks were forecasted and planned in advance, which culminated to the overall success achieved in the event.
The Supplies in the Geneva International Motor Show 2011
As it was planned, the main clients for this big event were the business people and lovers of cars. From the previous trends, the fans of cars have been attending this event in large number, and this facilitated in marketing of these cars involved.
Being the largest Geneva Motors Show so far, the 81st event involved the most complex combination of cars ranging from the most modern to the oldest. In facilitating effective marketing of the cars involved, the media was found to be quite significant in promotion of the products involved (Geneva Palexpo 2011: 1).
For instance, the internet and television were found to be the most effective media in marketing this event since it involve use of images which are the most accurate marketing strategies. Particularly, official websites were developed to enhance pleasant impression to the target customers before the actual event, as shown below.
Other social networks like the internet and the iphone were of great reliability due to their popularity among the people in marketing the event. In order to attract and retain the customers, some discounts were offered to individuals who arrived in the event early (Geneva International Motor Show 2011: 1).
In order to avoid delays and inconveniences in registering visitors in the event, online strategy to buy tickets was used. It should also be considered that, some tickets were physically available in major places like Cornavin Railway Station and other transport terminals within the town of Geneva.
However, those who had the opportunity to buy the tickets online were issued with special codes which authenticated their payment for the tickets. As a result, limited queuing was made since the numbers involved could not have been manually served satisfactorily. According to Geneva International Motor Show (2011: 1) the accommodation facilities within the Geneva city and surrounding community were prepared early in advance with an aim of meeting the needs of the customers.
Quite significantly, the security within the area was reinforced with an aim of maintaining peace throughout the event. Considering the diversity of the visitors involved in this event, the government of Swiss and other security organizations facilitated surveillance for all misconducts among the attendants in the entire event.
Quite significantly, the positioning of the annual show venue, Palexpo, is quite strategic in the sense that, several means of transport link the place to the rest of the country and the world. For instance, various highways, railways and airport are available in the city, which facilitate quick and fast movement in or out of the city (Palexpo 2011: 1).
More than eight busses, two trains and airplanes in the Geneva International airport facilitated easy access into the point of the Geneva International Motors Show 2011 event. There are various parking grounds for different kinds of people including the disabled and the normal people, special groups and exhibitors among others within the Palexpo environs. As a result, all appropriate logistics necessary to facilitate successful accomplishment of the goals and objectives of the entire event (Matthews 2008: 51).
More so, the supply of the products, mainly cars in the event was highly sustained. The restaurants within the city also offered food and boarding facilities for all the people who attended the entire event. In this show, very attractive cars were presented for sale. Though some of such cars were very expensive for middle income earners, their extra-ordinary sophisticated-nature enhanced their being sold in large numbers.
In order to avoid various misinterpretations, the logistics team provided a variety of services and products in the venue. For instance, broadcasting services were readily offered in all corners of the venue to inform the people of the overall progress of the entire event (Geneva International Motor Show 2011:1).
Evaluation of the Logistics Required in the Event
It is important to note that, the overall presentation of all the logistics in the event was largely successful. Considering the innovations employed in the event like the use of internet and other technological applications, high efficiency is achieved in this event.
More so, the accommodation facilities provided in this event including the 4 and 5 star hotels sufficiently sustained all the visitors who attended the event. By having public address system in all corners of the event, effective updating of all the people in the event was facilitated. Since the show was very large, the large numbers which attended it could not be sustained by single broadcasting system for the proceedings. By establishing information centers in all floors of the show, high efficiency was highly realized (Shone and Parry 2004: 107).
Nevertheless, the computers provided in the event for public use were not properly regulated. This resulted into many people waiting for long to surf as other took long in the browsers.
On this basis, the logistics team should have provided the clients with guidelines and regulations involved in the usage of wireless services so as to enhance their access to all customers. As revealed by Geneva Palexpo (2011: 1), the overall event was a success despite the above inconveniences which resulted due to lack of accurate information about the expected number of customers in the event.
Evaluation of the shut down process
For overall shutting down of such enormous event like the one experienced in the Geneva International Motors Show 2011, a lot time is usually utilized. During the time of the closedown of Geneva International Motors Show, it was previously announced that about five thousand trucks were to move around the venue. The people were also involved in running sessions round the place in summing up the events.
The truck drivers were previously guided on how to get out of the place before getting into the main venues leading out of the city. It should be remembered that, the truck drivers were being given CHF 100 at their entry in the main door, where during time of exit they were to give it back to the door man. As a result, the shutdown process of the event was very sequential and highly planned to entice all the visitors in that particular event (Geneva International Motor Show 2011: 2).
Conclusion
The 81st Geneva International Motors Show was effectively organized by competitive logistic team, as it remained remarkable among the world most celebrated events. More so, the anticipated number of participants in the event exceeded by 6%, implying its popularity among the customers and the marketers. Generally, all the facilities required like transport, accommodation and information services were sufficiently facilitated by the logistics team.
Despite some inconveniences caused by lack of proper regulation of the wireless services within the event, it was an overall success for all the stakeholders involved. During the shutdown of the event, all the processes were sequentially organized which made the entire event to be quite enticing among all the participants. Perhaps, this can be described as one of the world events of highest standards due to its cordial organization and planning.
List of References
Bowdin, G., et al. (2006). Events Management, 2nd Edition. New York: Butterworth Heinemann. 123-154.
Geneva International Motor Show. (2011). Info. Web.
Geneva Palexpo. (2011). Access. Web.
Matthews, D. (2008). Special Event Production: The Process. San Francisco: Wiley Publishers. 34-57.
Palexpo. (2011). The 81st Geneva International Motor Show ended on Sunday. Web.
Shone A. and Parry, B. (2004). Successful Event Management – A Practical Handbook, 3rd Edition. London: Thomson Publishing Co. 89-134.