the event events producing impacted patterns
experience events
• The legal •Events as •Perception •Laws and •Interpretations •Changing system, real and of legal regulations of justice laws and including implicit implications pertaining •Legal recourse regulations, legislators, contracts as a factor in to event for loss or accountability courts and •Event the decision production injury at
police experiences to travel •Legal events
• Specific laws shaped by or attend considerations
and social/legal events for event
regulations differences management
Figure 4.6 Law.
Events operate within political and legal systems that at once facilitate, constrain, and hold accountable the people and organizations producing them. What events can be held, and what activities allowed, is a legal matter. Every event producer understands the need for obeying laws, satisfying the regulatory agencies, involving the police in security matters, and obtaining the advice of lawyers when it comes to contracts, risk assessment, and many other technical matters. Event-producing organizations need to be legally sanctioned or incorporated. Taxes have to be paid and audits filed. One source is a book written and published by David Becker (2006) entitled the Essential Legal Guide to Events. Bear in mind that the law is different in every country.
Justice
‘Distributive justice’ is a principle that applies to economic development and impact assessment, raising the question of who benefits and who pays? ‘Legal justice’ is another concept altogether, and is tied closely to constitutions and the courts. If some- thing goes wrong, can the aggrieved party find justice?
Legal Considerations Influencing Demand, Experiences and Meanings
Do people assess legal liabilities and risks when making decisions to attend events?
They should, given all the things that can and do go wrong, often followed by police action or lawsuits. Because events exist within a legal environment, does this actually
shape the experience or meanings attached to them? For example, attending a protest certainly carries with it some expectation of confrontation, possibly even civil disobedi- ence. Going to a party and engaging in some form of elicit behaviour (drugs, drinking, sex) absolutely places the participant and others in a potentially dangerous situation.
Even the most ordinary event experiences like attending a concert, convention or exhib- ition entail some form of risk, some degree of legal constraints on one’s behaviour, and moral if not legal obligations in the case of emergencies. How do guests, consumers and participants feel about these issues?
Although advice is readily available on risk management and contracts for event man- agement, little research has been undertaken on the legal side of events. There is a need to examine event organizations and the law, the marketing functions from a legal perspective and the event experience as impacted by all the stakeholders’ perceptions of liability. It has to be asked if the fear of litigation is seriously altering the practice of event management and the range of event experiences available. Certainly it can be observed that many forms of organizational and individual risk taking are declining.
Chapter Summary
Philosophy was the first foundation discipline considered in this chapter. It has rele- vance to any discussion of aesthetics, as in event design, and ethics, which is important in event management. Of great interest is the potential for applying phenomenological methods and hermeneutics to gain a better understanding of the planned event exper- iences. Although it is not possible to advocate one all-embracing philosophy of events, a series of questions was asked that can help us when contemplating event policy and practice, and related societal values.
Religious studies is a social science, unlike theology which is based on faith and religious dogma. Because of the religious nature of many events and rituals, comparative reli- gious studies has an important contribution to make in Event Studies. Religious and spiritual experience is also important as a motivator for attending certain events. The study of pilgrimage and related events is part of this discipline.
Within the events literature a huge reliance on economics is evident, but mostly for economic impact studies. Development theories are relevant here, with the observa- tion that demonstrating general or long-term economic benefits of events is a difficult challenge. Other theories and methods from this discipline have unrealized potential to assist Event Studies, especially in the area of microeconomics – the economics of con- sumers, firms and organizations. Economics is relevant to consumer studies, and espe- cially important is an understanding of supply and demand interactions, including the concepts of utility, price and income elasticity, latent and induced demand, will- ingness to pay and consumer surplus. Lastly, we looked at economic justifications for
government intervention or subsidization in the event sector, including the powerful arguments of market failure, public goods and economic efficiency.
Management itself draws heavily from psychology and sociology, but contains many theories and concepts of utmost importance to Event Studies. First we have to distin- guish between the management of governmental, not-for-profit and for-profit events, as well as the roles of events in destination (tourism) management. A number of the- ories of the firm are applicable, even though research in these areas has been slow to develop: resource and knowledge based, stakeholder, network and collaboration the- ory, and population ecology in particular are useful. Theories on institutionalization are directly related to the concepts of event sustainability, life cycles, competition, pro- fessionalization and bureaucratization.
Political science and law have so far made minor contributions to event studies, but they are important foundations nevertheless. Policy is one of the major themes in event studies, and it occurs with a political environment. Knowledge of ideology, gov- ernment institutions, interest groups and elites, lobbying, power and law is essential to effective event management and policy formulation. Legal considerations can even affect the nature of planned events (risk avoidance) and event decisions and experi- ences (because of liability issues).
Study Questions
● Discuss phenomenology and how it has potential to help us learn more about the planned event experience and its meanings.
● What questions should be asked to develop a philosophy of planned events?
● In what ways do religions impact on planned events?
● What is pilgrimage, both in sacred and secular terms?
● What economic justifications are there for public intervention in the events sector?
● What is meant by economic demand for events?
● Describe several theories of the firm and show their application to private, not-for- profit and public-sector events.
● Use both network and stakeholder theory to develop competitive strategies for events.
● How does ideology shape event policy?
● What is power, and how does it affect decisions made about events?
● What is justice and how is it relevant to Event Studies?
Further Reading
Becker, D. (2006). The Essential Legal Guide to Events: A Practical Handbook for Event Professionals and Their Advisers (self published).
Scott, W. (2001). Institutions and Organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Tribe, J. (2005). The Economics of Recreation, Leisure and Tourism (3rd edn). Oxford: Elsevier.