RECN 344: Event Management

1. RECN 344: Event Management Week 3 Lecture 2 The core phenomenon of events: meanings

2. The core phenomenon of events Image from: Getz (2012, p. 8)

3. Week 3 Lecture 2: Meanings & mega events Meanings attached to planned events: • Personal meanings • Economic meanings • Social & cultural meanings Mega events and meanings: • Rugby World Cup (example)

4. Week 3 Lecture 2: Readings • R4: Getz, D. (2012). Ch. 6: The event experience and meanings. In Event Studies: Theory, research and policy for planned events (pp. 189-220), Butterworth-Heinemann: Oxford, UK. • Learn: Bruce, T. (2013). (Not) a stadium of four million: Speaking back to dominant discourses of the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Sport in Society, 16(7), 899-911. • Learn: Jackson, S. J., & Scherer, J. (2013). Rugby World Cup 2011: Sport mega-events and the contested terrain of space, bodies and commodities. Sport in Society,16(7), 883-898. • Learn: Hogan, J. (2003). Staging the nation: Gendered and ethnicized discourses of national identity in Olympic opening ceremonies. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 27, 100-123.

5. What do events mean? Events mean different things to different stakeholders • For the individual: entertaining  transforming • For society/global community  ?? • For communities  purely commercial meaning, or much greater role in place identity (place marketing, place branding role) • Mega-events may have similar roles for nations • Some meanings are anticipated, while others emerge after the event (reflecting back)

6. Personal meanings ‘Personal construct theory’ – we attribute meanings to our experiences, based on how we view the world • Vary from individual to individual Personal meanings closely related to personal needs and motives for attending events • BUT may bear little resemblance to organisers’ intent People may not be able to explain the meanings or events or may not think of meanings at all • Ask what benefits they expected • Present list of options

7. Personal meanings (see Getz,2012, p. 215) • communitas, oneness • esteem • learning, enlightenment • self-discovery, self-actualisation • mastery • transformation • harmony (with others or nature) • justice • redemption or atonement • creativity • fulfilment of responsibility • health & wellbeing • security • duty • truth, honesty, integrity • beauty, aesthetic appreciation • freedom

8. Economic meanings • Shaped by policy and industry • Include roles as attractions, catalyst, animator, image maker, place marketer • Role in foreign exchange, jobs etc • May be contested • e.g. ‘sport as big business’ • Often related to social & cultural meanings….

9. Social and cultural meanings • Given by groups, communities, societies often through negotiation • ‘social constructs’ • Some event meanings are generally accepted, but others are strongly contested • Particularly where an event is meant to say something about ‘us’ to broader national/international community • the identity and heritage of a community, nation • Images, ‘myths’ reinforce our view of ourselves in our own eyes & others

10. ‘Imagined communities’ (Anderson, 1983) • ‘Imagined communities’ – • a shared sense of nation-ness is created and maintained in part through representations of the character, culture and historical trajectory of a people • Not static: shaped by changing social, economic, demographic and political conditions • Events are used to reinforce existing images of a place, or to change the image of a place • In the minds of locals • In the minds of the outside world

11. Mega-events and meanings • Mega-events are important promotional opportunities for cities, regions and nations • Particularly opening ceremonies • Shaped by the perceived meaning/role of the event • e.g. sporting contest, opportunity to attract trade/tourists, build community pride • The event, and media surrounding it, has broad coverage • E.g. between 2000-2004 TV rights accounted for 53% of revenue from Olympics • Sydney Olympics welcomed 16,033 reporters (cf. 10,000 athletes)

12. Mega-events and contested meanings • Mega-events (especially Opening Ceremonies) are key sites for the ‘discursive constructions of nation’ (Hogan, 2003) • Who belongs and who doesn’t • What does this place ‘mean’? • While ostensibly celebrating all member nations, in practice: • ‘both compulsory and interpretative elements mirror the values and experience of the host nation as an affirmation of national identity and as an extended advertisement for the host nation’ (Hogan, 2003, pp. 101-102)

13. RWC 2011 New Zealand • The RWC described as third biggest sporting event in the World (after Olympics and Football World Cup) • Better chance for All Blacks to win  • Increased visitation to New Zealand • Positive economic impact • Increased employment • Enhanced tourism development and acting as a catalyst for development of infrastructure • Animation of static attraction

14. Visitation for the RWC • Before RWC started it was estimated that between 85,000-95,000 extra visitors would come during the tournament • Actual numbers estimated at 133,000 • Most visitors spectators, and from leading rugby nations • More males than females • Visitation peaked for semi-finals, finals • Also important for domestic tourism

15. Did RWC represent all New Zealanders? • Opening ceremony an important opportunity to showcase New Zealand to the world • Generally, these events reinforce existing images of a country • What are some of the key elements of NZ identity are presented in this event? • Who/what is excluded? • Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GkXpQhc51g • Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKOQ07B22_Y

16. Did RWC represent all New Zealanders? • NZ bid for RWC largely successful on the back of the claim that there would be a ‘stadium of 4 million’ in support • “That pitch was extremely effective in the sense that, in the eyes of the international rugby world, including the people voting on where RWC 2011 would be held, New Zealand is and has always been the spiritual home of rugby. The ‘stadium of 4 million’ concept gave those voting a powerful emotional reason to back our bid” • (Martin Snedden, cited in Bruce, 2013, p. 899).

17. Did RWC represent all New Zealanders? • Sport has a significant role in the culture of many nations, including New Zealand • “our sense of identity is intimately related to the culture and history into which we are born” (Harris, 2008, p. 301) • Rugby is arguably the central sport to NZ identity • Rugby is an important symbol of New Zealand • In many parts of the world, ‘New Zealand’ is synonymous with ‘All Blacks’

18. Did RWC represent all New Zealanders?

19. But did RWC 2011 represent all New Zealanders? In your groupsof 4-5: • Critically discuss the following statement: “Rugby World Cup 2011 represented all New Zealanders” • In your answer, you should consider the Opening Ceremony, but also look at the wider assessment of the appeal of the event for NZers as a whole as outlined in the academic articles and industry reports linked on Learn. • Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GkXpQhc51g • Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKOQ07B22_Y • Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GQAYGzi_TQ

20. Did the RWC 2011 represent all New Zealanders? • Bruce, T. (2013). (Not) a stadium of four million: Speaking back to dominant discourses of the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Sport in Society, 16(7), 899-911. • Jackson, S. J., & Scherer, J. (2013). Rugby World Cup 2011: Sport mega-events and the contested terrain of space, bodies and commodities. Sport in Society, 16(7), 883-898. • Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) (2012). Host nation report: The stadium of four million. MBIE: Wellington. • Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (2013). Rugby World Cup: A Tourism Perspective