Local Community Event: North Sydney Market - Case Study Example

North Sydney Market Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Abstract In the North Sydney there are numerous local community events and among them is the North Sydney Market which takes place in every second Saturday of every month. Despite this community event able to provide a number of services and products to its different market segments which include students, teachers, farmers and artists more especially from the North Sydney Council, it has emerged that the numbers of people who do attend the event are not all that good. To find out what can be done to improve the performance of this community event, the author has extensively looked at various aspects of the event including technical, sites and logistical requirements and risks associated with the event as well as the promotion mix in order to try and create the picture of what the event is all about and what can be done to improve on its attendance. After a detailed analysis of the event, sporting, talents showing, creative activities and car racing have been proposed as some of the activities that can be incorporated to increase the attendance. Table of Contents Abstract 2 Table of Contents 3 1.0 Introduction 4 2.0 Technical, site and logistical requirements 5 2.1 Technical requirements 5 2.2 Site requirements 7 2.3 Logistical requirements 7 3.0 Risks associated with the event 8 3.1 Health hazards 8 3.2 Land and housing scarcity 8 3.3 Fire related risks 9 4.0 Staffing requirements 9 5.0 Budgetary requirements for the event 10 6.0 Promotion mix and market segmentation 11 7.0 Recommendations 12 8.0 Conclusion 13 References 14 1.0 Introduction North Sydney Market is one of the local community events in the Northern parts of Sydney city. This community event is particularly for its kind of operations and the way it is being run and managed and above all the kind of products and services it offers to the market. The common feature with the North Sydney Market is that it’s being held once in every month. Every second Saturday of every month starting 9am through to 3pm is the market time. However, important to note is that during the wet weather, the event can still be held and that is moved to the next door at Ridge Street Car Park where there is a cover. In every month, the North Sydney Market local community event is known to offer a different kind of art with some kind of entertainment which runs from 11am to 1pm. Different services as browsing, having fun and coffee and lunch which is of different cultural recipes made is what cannot be missed in the stalls here. The North Sydney Market event has got over 120 stall all which open during the market day and that offer diverse products and services which include arts and crafts, prints and frames, plants, herbs and freshly cut flowers, different clothing, hats and jewellery, books and different CDs, kitchenware, furniture items, massage care and reflexology as well as bric-a-brac and antiques (Event management, 2012). With this in mind therefore, the mission of this report is to give detailed account of all the technical, site and logistical requirements for the event, possible risks associated with the event, the staffing requirements, budgetary requirements and the promotion mix for the event and thereafter recommend activities that could be taken by the event organizers in order to help increase the number of people who come to the event. 2.0 Technical, site and logistical requirements 2.1 Technical requirements The technical requirements for this event entail all those aspects of doing business and which include compliance with the law and accessibility of reliable information which can be used to enhance the performance of the business. The case of the North Sydney Market is faced with such requirements as information access, burying and disposing of different businesses, footpath trading, and noise pollution, parking and trade waste (North Sydney Council, 2012). Since the event is based and run under the North Sydney Council, all businesses are required to make sure that they are well informed that North Sydney should always be made an attractive and very comfortable place to work, stay or visit. To adhere to this, the event is expected to ensure that all state government regulations are well administered. The existing regulations are about such issues as pollution, waste management and buying and selling already existing business. To access information on how to manage such issues, constant reference with the North Sydney Council has helped many dealers in the event to prosper (Allen et al 2011). Buying or changing an existing business, is also a technical requirement for this event and that all dealers have to meet the expected standards when doing so. First and foremost land in North Sydney is reserved for certain uses. What this means therefore is that not all businesses can be allowed to operate. To comply with this regulation, the event is in constant check with the North Sydney Council to found out where they can establish which business (North Sydney Council 2012). Footpath trading as a technical requirement is applied by the council to ensure that businesses are operating within certain limits. The purpose of having this requirement is to ensure that available resources are fairly and equitably shared. Adhering to NSDCP Section 21 which talks about the use of footpaths and display of goods has offered solution for this requirement (North Sydney Council 2012). Pollution and waste management is an important technical requirement. This requirement demands that the event is doing whatever it can, to ensure that all activities that cause negative impact to the environment are avoided. This has been done by use of different ways which including recycling and building sewerage systems has been given key priority (North Sydney Council 2012). Parking requirement is an important technical requirement that must be fulfilled by the event. This is after it had emerged that this resource is very scarce and if not well managed could impact negatively on the performance of the commercial activities. The parking space is required both the customers and the suppliers. With this regard therefore, the even is trying to make use of parking officers who patrol the market to ensure that all parking places are metered and well managed in terms of time (Allen et al 2011). 2.2 Site requirements Site requirements are also very serious concerns at this event. This is because urban pressure has continued to impact on the available bushlands. Weeds, pollution and dumping as well as encroachment are a big challenge for the event. To effectively deal with this problem, the event dealers working with other volunteers, have been in the forefront to dealing with environmental conservation and improving on natural environmental requirement. Further, site requirement has been addressed extensively under the sustainability of the event which requires that the resources available be used for the wellbeing of the society and the planet as a whole. To address this requirement, the North Sydney Community is trying to live in harmony with the environment by living within acceptable limits (North Sydney Council 2012). 2.3 Logistical requirements The logistical requirements for this community event are that the retailers assure the customers of variety of services and products. However, the logistics involved in this case include buying different products from various parts of the country and bringing them to the event. The biggest requirement however in this event, is to have a well established supply chain that could be used to create the link between the supplier and the market. However, with increase logistic costs associated with storing, preserving and transporting different products, use of technology is becoming a big requirement. With this regard therefore the event is paying attention to the use of Materials Requirements Planning Logistics and Supply Chain Software available in North Sydney to help transact businesses (Flyvbjerg 2006). 3.0 Risks associated with the event 3.1 Health hazards Environmental health is associated with the exploitation of the environmental because of personal interests without any due consideration. Since the event serves a variety of services including foods to people who attend, food safety and hygiene is of great importance. This is especially important in ensuring that food to be consumed is protected from contamination especially chemicals used for conserving different cultural products and even flowers (Allen et al 2011). The need to manage the environment for handling food and other beverages is informed by the fact that diseases can easily break which can impact negatively on the performance of the event. In order to help deal with this risk in the near future, the event is ensuring that all businesses are complying with Food Safety Standard 3.2.2 (Clauses 13-15), which informs the staff and health workers of their responsibilities to managing health standards of the place. 3.2 Land and housing scarcity Because of the increasing population in the area, the event is set to face a very serious challenge in future in regard to land and house acquisition because of the inflationary rates in the area. With this in place therefore it is expected that the cost of doing business in the market will be escalated as different businesses will have to deal with high rents and land rates. However, to effectively deal with this kind of risk in the near future, the enactment of the Affordable Rental Housing SEPP of 2009, will guide the diversification and accessibility of affordable houses by encouraging the investors to provide housing that will meet the needs of growing population (Bowdin 2003). 3.3 Fire related risks Given the nature and design of the event, fire risk is very high. Putting in place appropriate contingency plan to deal with fire related hazards is considered very vital. More importantly, protecting life and people from injuries in the event of fire is considered paramount at the event. With this in mind therefore, the event management is demanding that all investors and land and house owners adhere strictly to the Fire Safety and Matters Concerning the Building Code Australia 2000. Implementing this regulation is therefore believed to bear a solution to ensuring that property and life is protected from fire in case there is one (Borodzicz 2005). 4.0 Staffing requirements North Sydney Market is a very competitive event and all businesses are looking for ways to attract and retain as many customers as a possible. This therefore begs the question as to what is the best staff to employ. Since the business is structured in such away that entails different businesses, which run from culture, food, clothing and entertainment, recruitment of professionals is therefore very important. The staff to be recruited at the event needs to have great understanding of the event and more important be those people who can talk to the customers and close a sale (Bowdin 2003). It is therefore emerging first and most important requirement about any staff to be recruited to the event is the knowledge and experience that one has about the event. This entails the business activities in the event and the dealers in the event. Second, hospitality and kindness, is also expected to be top of priority with regard to staffing at the event. This is because many customers may wish to make several inquiries which at some point may look a little bit boring even though they have be attended to. Finally, recruitment to the event may also be addressed from the point of policy understanding. At this point the staff, must be able demonstrate high level of understanding of different policies that apply to the event especially in health and safety and what are there responsibilities towards the same. On the same line, meeting certain health criteria for the staff and more especially the ones to serve food is big requirement in ensuring high level of hygiene is maintained. Volunteers are also required in this event. This is especially in environmental and health management programs. The required volunteers include various non-governmental organizations that are responsible in educating the public on the best environmental practices (Friday & Friday 2003). 5.0 Budgetary requirements for the event The budgetary requirements for the North Sydney Market event entail all those expenses that have to be incurred for the event to be successful in delivering its services to the community. In the budget of this local community event, the following costs and expenses must be taken into account rent, transportation, preservation, storage, staff recruitment, council fee and promotion fee. To start with, the rent falls in the budgetary requirement in this case as space is required to put up different businesses. For example, currently there are over 120 stalls all of which have to be paid for in terms of rent. Transportation is also required in order to facilitate the movement of goods and services to and from the event place. Storage and preservation are two major budgetary requirements that should always be dealt with at the same time (Bento and White 2006). Preservations budget relates to hiring of those facilities as freezers that are used to preserve foods and other highly perishable commodities as flowers that are likely to expire within a very short time. Staff recruitment is also included in the budget as the event must have professionals to run different activities. On the other hand, council fee is the amount paid as of the government taxes for using public services. This fee is paid through registration of the event. Finally, in the budget, there is also element of promotion which is the amount spent by the event organization to enhance its publicity and perhaps attract more customers. All the resources that have to be budget for are acquired from dealers, suppliers and government through leasing, hiring or buying (Arya and Glover 2006). 6.0 Promotion mix and market segmentation The purpose of doing promotion mix is to help make sure that a particular product or service is well exposed to the potential market. In other words, promotion mix entails use of different methods to deliver message about a particular product or service. In this case the product to be communicated about is North Sydney Market. The elements of promotion mix include print and electronic media advertising, direct marketing, and point of sale displays, merchandizing and personal selling. Different promotional activities are being used by the event organizers to reach the potential market which students in local institutions, teachers, farmers, artists and people who work around North Sydney Market. These also form important market segments for this local community event. With this in mind, using an appropriate promotion mix is preferred because each market has got its own unique characteristics which make it different from others (Ware & Laura 2010). The commonly used promotional mix elements at North Sydney Market include direct marketing, personal selling and point of sale displays. With direct marketing, the event organizers and their staff approach the target market with the products with the intention of convincing them to buy. Direct marketing exists in many different forms which include phone calls, emailing, catalogues, leaflets and coupons as well as brochures which are all used by the event organizers (Ramsborg and Miller 2008). On the other hand, personal selling as of the promotion mix element, entails communicating potential buyers one on one, with the aim of closing a sale. This element is commonly used at North Sydney Market where the retailers use a communication as a tool to establish personal relationships with the clients. Finally, point of sale displays involves an organized way of displaying different products in the shelves and counters for the potential customers to see. The advantage with this promotion is that it is not time consuming and at the same time it gives the potential customers the opportunity to learn of what kind of service or product is available at very minimal cost (Ware & Laura 2010). 7.0 Recommendations The aim of the North Sydney Market event organizers is to grow this community event by making it known to whole country and manage to attract as many customers as possible. However, it is emerging that it’s not going to be possible with the current event activities, products and services. It is therefore recommended that it is not going to be easy if the organizers cannot the number of the activities during the event. The following are among those activities that can be incorporated into the event to make it more lively and attractive to many people: 1. Incorporate the event with sporting activities such as swimming, diving, athletics, boxing and soccer. These activities will attract more customers to the events. 2. Talent shows can also be used to attract people to the event. For example, having a competition for miss and Mr. North Sydney Market will attract more customers and more especially the you are fond of these activities. 3. Creative activities such as dancing competitions for young children. On the same line, special gifts could be used by the organizers for children who attend the event most regularly. 4. Car racing 8.0 Conclusion The purpose of this report was to give a detailed analysis of the North Sydney Market as a local community event and then give account of what is happening there in terms With this in mind therefore, the mission of this report is to give detailed account of all the technical, site and logistical requirements for the event, possible risks associated with the event, the staffing requirements, budgetary requirements and the promotion mix for the event. After, a detailed study of these aspects with regard to North Sydney Market, it has been established that more growth may not be achieved with existing number of activities which may only be attractive to a small market. The following extra activities have therefore been recommended: sporting, talent showing, creative activities and car racing. References Allen, J., Otley, W., Horsch, R.. & Magner, I. (2011). perspectives on events. 5th edn, Sydney: Festival & Special Event Management. Arya, A. and Glover, J. (2006). The role of budgeting in eliminating tacit collusion. Review of Accounting Studies vol. 1, no. 3, p. 191-205. Bento, A. and White, L. (2006). Budgeting, performance evaluation, and compensation: A performance management model. Advances in Management Accounting, vol. 15, p. 51-79. Borodzicz, E. (2005). Risk, Crisis and Security Management. New York: Wiley. Bowdin, G. (2003). Resource Guide in Events Management. August (Internet) Oxford: LTSN Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism. Viewed by 10th Sept. 2012, http://www.hlst.ltsn.ac.uk/resources/events.html. Event management. (2012). Structure of an event management team, viewed by 10th Sept. 2012, http://www.leoisaac.com/evt/top549.htm Flyvbjerg, B. (2006). "From Nobel Prize to Project Management: Getting Risks Right" Project Management Journal, vol. 37, no. 3, p. 5–15. Friday, E. & Friday, S. (2003). “Managing diversity using a strategic planned change Approach”. Journal of Management Development, vol. 22, p. 863-880. Local market guide (2012). Changeable art exhibition- North Sydney Market, viewed by 10th Sept. 2012, http://www.localmarketguide.com.au/blog/item/45-changeable-art- exhibition-north-sydney-market North Sydney Council (NSC). (2012). Events in North Sydney: Markets-North Sydney Markets. Retrieved on 10th September 2012, available at: http://www.northsydney.nsw.gov.au/www/html/2161-events-in-north- sydney.asp?intSiteID=1&intEventID=1109 Ramsborg, G. and Miller, D. (2008). Professional meeting management:Comprehensive strategies for meetings, conventions and events. Kendall/Hunt Publishing, Dubuque, Iowa. Ware, D. & Laura L. (2010). Tourist market segmentation, 4th edn. Tourism Management, Australia. Read More