October 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 85

Event management School
A new school teaches the concepts and
intricacies of special event management
By Beth Wickline

ualit Y Fe s tiVal s an D e Vents are among the most successful tools
available to communities to increase tourism, create powerful and memorable
branding and imaging opportunities, bond people together, encourage positive
media coverage, enhance economic impact, and add to the quality of lives for those who
live there. on the other hand, poorly planned, managed, and executed events can have
a reciprocally opposite eﬀect.
over time, events themselves have
changed from often informal affairs to
spectacular productions, requiring new
sets of skills, experience, creativity, financing, planning, and leadership. as a result,
event management has also evolved with
new demands, challenges, and expectations from attendees, participants, sponsors, host communities, and the plethora
of other partners on which the success of
any event depends.
the national Recreation and Park association (nRPa), the international Festi- merchandise and other non-sponsorship
vals and events association (iFea), and the revenue programs, marketing and medioglebay national training Center in West ums, and event operations from every anVirginia have joined forces to create an all- gle. the school will also included a special
new event Management school, which will behind-the-scenes tour of oglebay's Winwelcome its first class January 22 - 26, 2012. ter Festival of lights (america's largest
the event Management school cur- light show) and other annual events.
riculum is based around a " full-combill Koegler, long-time director of the
pass " event creation cycle (as identified national training Center at oglebay and
by leading industry experts), touching on partner in the new event Management
all points necessary to allow students in school, says, " i am excited to be associatthe program to put their new knowledge ed with the professional organizations beto immediate use when they return home. hind the new event Management school.
Year one of the two-year program will i am a member of both the iFea and the
follow an intensive pathway through 24 nRPa and see this as an excellent opporhours of training, from defining your event tunity for parks and recreation managand understanding potential programming ers and staﬀ and many others interested
components, through to the follow-up sur- or employed in this unique field to learn
veys and evaluations. students will learn the concepts and intricacies of special
about the business side of events, how to event management from the professionbuild a successful event team, and how to als. oglebay is the perfect site to meld the
create and manage a successful volunteer best of both organizational focuses. "
program. instructors will cover critical success areas for all events, including sponsor- beth WicKline is NRPA Director of
ship/sponsor service, food and beverage, Education and Accreditation.

Specializing in SilkTek

u
AquaT

waterslides and our highly

popular AquaPlay multi-level
TM

interactive water play structures.
te
Pira

's Bay

rk ,
Waterpa

Baytown, TX

+1 604 273 1068 * www.whitewaterwest.com
see us in atlanta at booth #2217

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& Recreation

October 2011 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2011 - Parks & Recreation