Engineering events : a comparison of the standard project management methodology with the management of events and festivals

Item does not contain fulltext17 september 201

An evaluation of the sub-regional legacy/ impacts of the London 2012 Olympic Games in a non-hosting sub-region: a case study of Leicestershire

This thesis evaluates the legacy/impact of the London 2012 Games for a non-hosting sub-region Leicestershire, principally through evaluations of four legacy-programmes (i.e. the Workplace Challenge, Get Set, Sport Makers, and Games Makers programmes), drawing conclusions about lessons learned from the Leicestershire 2012 legacy experience. The selection of Leicestershire as a non-hosting sub-region reflects the fact that little is known about the legacy/ impact of the Games in such contexts. The nature of Olympic legacy evaluation is considered as a complex, wide-ranging, and multi-staged process. This thesis thus focuses on two main areas: i) conducting a systematic review of the literature (covering the period 1996-2011) to explore and establish an understanding of the concepts of Olympic legacy , and evidenced legacy/impact of hosting the Olympics in previous Games; ii) assessing the extent to which the London 2012 Games had impacted on the changed legacy outcomes for Leicestershire through realist evaluations. Together with realist evaluations, analytic logic models and the assessment of additionality approaches are adopted in this study, focusing on the four legacy-programmes evaluations, wherein quantitative and/or qualitative methodology are utilised in order to identify the causal mechanisms that produced the anticipated/unanticipated effects in their specific contexts. This study is an empirical example of the application of the realist evaluation and assessment of additionality. It also produces an evidence base for policy analysis in order to inform stakeholders thinking regarding sustaining the legacy of the Games and any future major sporting events by identifying lessons learned for non-hosting contexts

Examining rationales for government involvement in sport events

It is recognised that government involvement in sport events is based on various rationales, and these rationales influence the potential outcomes a city may experience from hosting such an event (Gleeson & Low, 2000; Searle & Bounds, 1999; Veal, 2002). Over the last few decades, the economic potential that sport events offer a city has seen increased government interest and governments have been criticised for neglecting the social outcomes (Carrière & Demazière, 2002; Misener & Mason, 2006; Searle, 2002). Yet there is limited research that has empirically investigated government involvement in sport events. This paper aims to address two main objectives: to develop an understanding of rationales for government involvement in sport events and to understand how these rationales influence subsequent event outcomes

An impact evaluation framework: Local government community festivals

This article brings together the author's previous research and consultancy along with a review of literature from several disciplines to develop a framework that summarizes the concepts, methods, and processes required to successfully evaluate the impacts of local government community festivals. Events and festivals are a relatively underresearched area but have experienced a growing amount of public sector expenditure. The framework developed and presented here is in response to the need to encourage greater evaluation of this activity and in doing so recognize the complexity of the process. The impacts of many such festivals are diverse (economic, social, environmental), far reaching (local, national, international), and long term. The evaluation of these impacts, therefore, requires an understanding of the concepts involved and the development of a range of tools and methods. The proposed framework is informed by the empirical research, theory, and practice in the areas of information systems, marketing communications, event studies, and public sector evaluation. Bringing together these distinct but related fields of study has enabled the development of a comprehensive and novel approach to event impact evaluation. Copyright © 2009 Cognizant Comm. Corp

Increasing Demands On Information Systems And Infrastructures For Complex Decision-Making

To extend the development of cumulative theory on the enduring themes of Information Systems (IS), we take an historical perspective of a core topic within the field, namely Decision Support Systems (DSS). Motivated by the complexity of strategic decision-making within the Climate Change Working Group of the State Government of New South Wales, we conducted a content analysis of IT strategy documentation from 1989 to the present. In our analysis of the resulting concept maps we observe the increasing dynamism and complexity of DSS over this period and suggest that we are now entering a critical era for IS in dealing with such dynamism and complexity. Crucial issues such as climate change now require planning over much longer time frames (up to 100 years) than are currently considered by either government or business. The decision-making of the Working Group calls for the integration of very large data sets and the sharing of information from many different government agencies and external sources. In a pattern of distributed leadership there is an increase in participation from citizens in decision-making for local climate change initiatives often through social media. We re-evaluate DSS not as IS but as a broad „information infrastructure‟ which can flexibly and rapidly adapt to the needs of specific projects

Let There Be Light: Daylight Saving Time and Road Traffic Collisions

This paper examines the impact of daylight saving time (DST) on fatal road crashes in Australia. I exploit within year transitions to and from DST in a regression discontinuity in time framework. To examine the long run effect of the policy, I use trials of DST implemented in various states, and a DST extension due to the Sydney Olympics. Neither the transition to or out of DST, nor the long run effects of DST have an impact on fatalities on the road. However, there is evidence of reallocation of accidents over the day due to ambient light.</p

A Study of Psychological Support from Local Residents for Hosting Mega-Sporting Events: A Case of the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl XLVI

The purpose of the current study was to assess local residents' psychological support prior to hosting a mega-sporting event and to report preliminary results as to which factors of support affect local residents' attitudes toward hosting future mega-sporting events, using the case of the 2012 Super Bowl in Indianapolis. This study provides a theoretical model to examine local residents' psychological support factors using structural equation modeling, which helps the understanding of local residents in the process of supporting the hosting of mega-sporting events in the future. The results of this study indicate that the perceptions of positive outcomes from the event have the strongest relationship to feelings toward hosting future events. Therefore, governing bodies of the host community and the event should rely most heavily on the positive outcomes. While the negative factors were not as strongly related, they were still significant indicators of feelings toward future events. The part of the plans pertaining to growing community support should include ways that the negative impacts might be mitigated

Let There Be Light: Daylight Saving Time and Road Traffic Collisions

This paper examines the impact of daylight saving time (DST) on fatal road crashes in Australia. I exploit within year transitions to and from DST in a regression discontinuity in time framework. To examine the long run effect of the policy, I use trials of DST implemented in various states, and a DST extension due to the Sydney Olympics. Neither the transition to or out of DST, nor the long run effects of DST have an impact on fatalities on the road. However, there is evidence of reallocation of accidents over the day due to ambient light.</p