Event Management Project: Aeneas Intelligence Congress
Short Introduction
Our project for this semester at ADandPRLAB was to organize a technological event, comparable to the Mobile World Congress in Spain.
Our event will take place in Greece and it will contain all the essential elements for an international, world-class event.
The conference was organized through the assignments that guided us week by week to the final destination, which was learning what it takes to bring to life such an event and in our case the Aeneas Intelligence Congress.
With all that being said, it is time to take a look at our company and the 5 W's of our Event Management!
Our Company
Green Tech Hellas is an organization created to promote Innovation and Technology in Greece, bringing together technology and the green economy. Green Tech Hellas is organizing the first Aeneas Intelligence Congress.
✔ Why?
✔ What?
✔ When?
✔ Where?
✔ Who?
After some thorough research we found the answer to all of the above. Let’s take a look at them one at a time.
Why?
Our aim is to create an innovative technological event with a Greek scent, inspired by ‘Αenias Τacticus’ who was one of the earliest Greek writers on the art of war and provided a complete guide to securing military communications. He invented the hydraulic semaphore system, known today as the first sms machine.
Vision
Our vision is to create an event in which all the innovations around the Mobile
World Congress that mainly concern the countries bordering Greece and beyond will be presented. We are interested in inspiring and motivating young people and scientists to present their achievements and start-ups, which should be environmentally friendly and inform the International Technological World about their creations.
International Eurovision Of Technology
We need to give shelter and space to an international Eurovision of technology, where the contestants will present the latest technology and the winners will win partnerships and money prizes, so their ideas will take place in the International Market.
Our plan is to cooperate with all the Mediterranean countries. This event will be held in Greece, but by the auspices of the Ministries and other countries
bordering Greece, not just european ones, such as Egypt. In addition to the event in our country there will be other smaller events in the countries we work with and will complete the main one in our country.
So, WHY in Greece?
● Thanks to our geopolitical position, we believe that we will attract more
people and give them a lot of opportunities.
● We want Greek scientists to be inspired and feel that their country gives
them opportunities for development and success, as well as scientists from
our neighboring countries.
● Greece is the Mecca of civilization and we want to take advantage of the
heritage left to us by Αenias and make his work known worldwide.
● It is time for Greece to to go one step further and start
becoming known for its concerns about technology.
What?
Event name: Aenean Intelligence Congress
Entry fees: PASSES:
-Visitor pass: 200€
-Bronze pass: 500€
-Silver pass: 1000€
-Golden pass: 1500€
Programme:
● Speakers from related fields such as: Technology, Innovation, Artificial
Intelligence, Telecommunications, Internet
● Exhibitions around the congress of current trends, technological demonstrations, robotics for younger audiences.
● Different auditoriums where Congress members will coordinate discussions
about the future of international technological evolution (What’s next?) and how will it help progress in Communication, Health and Climate change.
● Contemporary art exhibition by Greek artists
● Musical parts by the National Opera of Greece
● Contemporary dancing parts
Food and Beverages Menu
● Collaboration with an experienced catering company e.g.
Δειπνοσοφιστήριον (collaboration with museums etc.)
● Greek cuisine and greek products
● Beverages from greek companies exclusively
Media presence
● Website
● FB page
●Instagram page
● Outdoor campaign
● Tv spot
Budget (Expenses)
● Venue
● Speakers’ fees
● Sound
● Lights
● Catering
● Transportation from/to the airport
● Promotion
● Security
● Working fees
● Marketing materials
● Cleaning
● Doctors/ Paramedics
● Photographers/ Cameras
● Legal help
● Insurance
Budget (Income)
● Sponsors
● Tickets
● Featured products’ companies
● Media covering the event
● Ministry of Culture
When?
The conference will start at 30th September 2021 and it will end at 3th October 2021 from 10 a.m until 7 p.m, considering the following facts:
● Considering the given criteria we will not schedule the conference at
2020. Our main competitors have already planned an event at the
high seasons. Moreover, the conference’s locations have been
already booked at those periods. Therefore, in that perspective, the
conference will take place at 2021.
● There is enough time to prepare for it.
● The weather and the landscapes are some of the strategic
advantages of Greece. Therefore, we should consider the weather
conditions, in order to utilize successfully these advantages. Also,
from a practical perspective, participants can use transport easily,
which is an important factor for visitors coming from abroad. The
selected day meest the above criteria.
● There are not any national or religious celebrations, during this
period that would reduce the number of visitors from Greece or
aboard.
● The main reason that led us to choose this date is that it is
convenient for a specific target audience. The conference will take
place during the Chinese ‘national day’ holiday, which is also called
“golden week” and for 2021 it will occur from 1th October until 7th
October. It is one of the few major government-mandated holidays
in China where personal vacation days are rare. In this period
Chinese citizens, tend to travel abroad. So, it is a great opportunity to
attract them to our conference and increase the participant’s
percentage.
● We also take into consideration, other religious holidays and public
holidays: As major market players (Indians, Asians, Arabs, Israelis)
embrace the following religions, this has been an important factor in
planning our event.
● Christianity (Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant) No celebration coincides
with dates based on their festive Calendar.
● Judaism: No celebrations coincide with dates based on their festive
Calendar. Saturday is always a day off for Judaism.
● Hinduism: 2/10 is one of their three National Holidays where it is
MahatmaGandhi’s birthday. It’s called GandhiJayanti.
● There are not any other big conferences or events involving
technology and innovation, during this period. So, the level of
competition is not very high.
Where? (Event’s location)
We compared all the available congress and exhibition centers in Greece in order to select our main venue. We have decided to hold the congress at Athens Metropolitan Expo.
Since the most important competitive advantage of this venue is the number of attendees it can accommodate (largest guest capacity in Greece — up to 50.000 seated attendees). The venue also stands out in terms of accessibility and available services.
Accessibility
Athens Metropolitan Expo is located at Athens International Airport, 3 minutes away from the Metro Station and only 35 minutes from the center of Athens.
The location is easily accessible by:
● Athens Metro.
● Express Buses.
● Attiki Odos Expressway.
● Suburban Railway.
In general, venue’s loccation is convenient for both international and local
visitors. It has been constructed according to modern European standards
160000 m² accommodated surface of 50000 m²
Capacity
Athens Metropolitan Expo covers a surface of 160.000 m ² (50.000 m² are roofed). It includes two conference halls, four meeting rooms and four conference facilities. The size, capacity and layout of the conference facilities can be configured to suit the specific needs for our event. According to the set up the capacity shapes up as follows:
Theater — 50.500 attendees.
Classroom — 27.800
Banquet — 31.000
The facilities can accommodate approximately 71.000 standing people.
Additionally, the exhibition center has 100.000 m² of parking spaces which
accommodate up to 5.000 cars.
Services
Athens Metropolitan Expo is designed to provide a full set of services to visitors, organizers and exhibitors.
Services to visitors include wired and wi-fi internet, sound and microphone
system, storage area, café, restaurant, air-conditioning system, reception, rest
areas, info kiosks etc.
Services to organizers and exhibitors include decoration, audiovisual equipment,storage and logistics, parking management, electrical installations, furniture rental, construction of stands, advertising, printing, catering and staff.
Venue No 2
We were considering the incorporation of an additional venue, where the closing event (awards ceremony) could be held. The final ‘contestants’ were:
a) Megaron, The Athens Concert Hall.
b) Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center.
On the one hand, Megaron can host up to 8.000 guests and is directly connected to our basic venue through public transportation. On the other hand, SNFCC is a spectacular location that promotes our country’s image. We finally chose SNFCC as our second venue.
Who?
Event Sponsors, Partners and Supporters
A wide range of associations, organizations and companies will give efficient
support to our event by offering their services and products. Through sponsorship and partnership programs, all participants have a lot of benefits and opportunities, such as promoting their field of work, increasing brand awareness, building strong business relationships, sharing their values and many others.
Indicative Sponsors
● Huawei
● Samsung
● Intracom Telecom
● Ericsson
● Nokia
Indicative Partners
● Microsoft
● Cisco
● Cosmote
● Space Hellas
● Cosmote
● Piraeus Bank
● Aegean Airlines
(Media)
● Linkedin
● 24 Media Group
● CNN Greece
Indicative Supporters
● Municipality of Athens
● Ministry of Digital Governance
● The Region of Attica
● Athens International Airport
● Stavros Niarchos Foundation
Exhibitors
Our conference will bring together technology companies from across the world.
Exhibitors have an exclusive chance to present and promote their products and services to interested audience. Moreover, the conference gives the opportunity to startuppers to propel their ideas and express their passion.
Τarget Audience
● Tech Professionals
Event Topics
● AI & VR
● Connectivity and 5G
● Internet of Things
● Planet & Society
● Security & Privacy
● Big Data
● Specialized Tech Sectors
● World tech markets overview
● Digital Transformation
Agenda’s facilities
Aeneas Hall (Hall No 3): Main Hall of the Congress. Theater layout, capacity of 15.000 guests.
Archestratus Hall (Hall No 4): Dinners for V.I.P. guests. Banquet layout, capacity of 4.000 guests
Experiential Hall (Hall No 1): All-day Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence Events.
Lab (Hall No 2): Workshops. Classroom layout, capacity of 8.000 guests.
Reception: Registration and Orientation
Café: Coffee breaks
Restaurant: Launch Breaks
Considerations
-Visitors should not be limited to one option. If they are not interested in a particular topic, they should be
able to attend a concurrent workshop/activity etc.
-Sessions are interjected by regular breaks, so that guests don’t get tired.
-Each topic is completed within 2 days maximum. Most visitors won’t attend the entire congress. If they are interested in A.I. for example, they will know in advance that A.I. talks are included in the first two days of the event.
-Visitors should be given an 1-hour window to register.
-The congress should not begin very early in the morning.
-We will invite a significant number of Greek speakers.
-Some sessions will be focused in “neglected” parts of the tech world.
-We will establish a balance between specialized and popular topics.
- On the last day of the event, Sunday, the activities of the schedule should not be as many as the other days. The awards take place this on this day and the participants should not be tired from the activities in order to watch the awards ceremony.
-All speakers should have a proven track record of specialization in their fields.
-Since our congress is totally new, some speakers should be very well-known to a broad audience, in order to create “buzz”.
-Speeches will be 30-minutes long. Exceptions will be made for debates, panels etc.
- The duration of the awards ceremony should be as short as possible. So, the introduction and close up part of the ceremony should not be more than 15 minutes each. Also the winners’ speech duration will not be longer than 5 minutes.
-Some of the workshops are connected strategically with the main speeches. The other workshops target a specific audience such as creators who interested in technological trends (for example the mobile photography workshop).
Speakers
Partnerships (auspices, co-organizers)
The Aeneas Intelligence Congress will be proposed to be under the
auspices of :
● The Ministry of Culture and Sports
● The Ministry of Digital Governance
● The Ministry of Development and Investments
● The Ministry of Tourism
● The Region of Attica
Τhe following businesses — organizations will be chosen as co-organizers:
● Ministry of Development and Investment
● Ministry of Public Order and Citizen Protection
● The Municipality of Athens
● Federation of Industries of Greece
● Enterprise Greece
● European Patent Office
● Confederation of Indian Industry
● Hellenic Telecommunications and Post Commission
● Museums (Acropolis Museum, National Archaeological Museum,
Museum of the Ancient Greek Technology, Museum of Natural
Sciences and Technology, Telecommunications Museum, Goulandris
Natural History Museum, Benaki Museum, National Gallery)
● National Technical University of Athens
● National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (School of Science,
School of Economics and Political Sciences)
● Technical University or Crete
● University of Patras School of Engineering
● Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
● Panteion University (School of International Studies Communication &
Culture)
● Aegean Airlines
● Athens International Airport
● Stavros Niarchos Foundation
● Attiko Metro S.A.
● Athens Attica Hotel Association
● Fame Exclusive Transfer
● Public Gas Corporation (DEPA)
● Public Power Corporation S.A. Hellas
● Mediterraneo Hospital
● Athens Medical Center
● HLS Security
● Groupama Insurance
● STASY S.A.
● OSY S.A.
Potential Sponsors
Greek businesses:
Cosmote, Vodafone, Wind, Intracom Telecom, Space Hellas, SingularLogic,
Epsilon Net, Intrasoft, Softone, Entersoft, Salescode, SYNTAX IT Inc., Beat,
Viva Payments, Atcom, MLS, Upstream Systems, Warply, Vidavo, Cardlink,
Uni Systems, Dialog Semiconductor Hellas, Generation Y, Info Quest
Technologies, Pobuca, Odyssey, National Bank of Greece, Piraeus Bank
Foreign businesses:
Microsoft, Google, Hawaii, Samsung, Microsoft, Cisco, Lenovo, NOKIA,
SONY, Ericsson, Devolo, Intel, IBM, SalesForce, Group, Tencent Holdings,
Oracle, SAP, Alphabet, Hon Hai Precision, Accenture, NVIDIA, TeamViewer,
Adobe, Kaspersky, Android, Bank of China
Communication Sponsors
Greek Media:
Skai TV, Αntenna, CNN Greece, techgear.gr, techblog.gr, techmaniacs,
news247.gr, secnews.gr, insider.gr, epixeiro.gr, Naftemporiki, Athens
Macedonian News Agency, Η Καθημερινή, Έθνος, Πρώτο Θέμα, Το Βήμα
Foreign Media:
BBC, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, The Times, People’s Daily, China
Daily, Sohu.com, Sina.com, CCTV, MIG (MEDIA INDIA GROUP), Essel
Group, Linkedin, RTL Group, Al-Ahram, CNN, Suddeutsche Zeitung,
techcrunch.com, mashable.com, wired.com, BusinessInsider.com
businesstoday.in, Thenextweb.com, UK Tech blog, Affiliate Valley,
Techradar.com, Gigaom.com, Eurogamer.net
AENEAS INTELLIGENCE CONGRESS NEWSLETTERS
The 9 Ps of organizing the Aeneas Intelligence Congress
PURCHASE OPTIONS
● Online & offline purchase of passes/tickets
● Online sponsorship purchase
● Offline sponsorship purchase
● Early bird incentives
● Group passes’ discount: 20% off when purchasing 5 passes
● Online registration
● Audience check- in at the reception on the 1st day of the Event for an hour
PROCESS (EVENT LOGISTICS)
● Google Hangout 6 months prior
● Seeking partners a year prior to the event
● Volunteers’ 2- month training
● Reservation of air and railway tickets in all directions
● Organisation of 3 types of transfers
● Accelerated placement and departure of delegations in hotels
● Seating plan in the venue
● Registration of participants, provision of conference kit
● Accompanying groups during the event or concurrent activities
● Round-the-clock informational support for participants
● Fast check-in and data processing
● Support service and consulting
● Dispatching coordination & Distributing work to colleagues
● Forming a strong SM team & Express Mail
● Flights, organization of charter flights if needed
● Hotel booking, through global systems and local partners
● Excursion programs
● Visa support
Publicity Plan
SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS
● Expanded customer base: Our target group is very wide
and consists of a lot of sub target groups.
● Wide range of services. The event includes various
services in order to satisfy the different needs of our
potential audiences.
● The program includes content of general interest in order
to attract a wide range of audiences.
● At the same time, the program consists of specialized
topics in order to satisfy more particular target groups (like
creators).
● Expect of the speeches, the event consists of a variety of
services (like workshops or other activities). The potential
audience has a wide experience during the event.
● The speakers’ list consists of various professionals who
have a strong brand name in the technology and business
market.
● The quality of the services is very high
● Reduce business risk and improve relationships with
suppliers through cooperation with strong brands
● The brand and the conference’s purpose are based on a strong
storytelling.
● Our financial revenue is based on a sustainable model: A part of
the income derives from the tickets, but the main resource is
from our sponsors
● Our prices is based at the special needs of the audience. So we
have a basic package and a premium package in order to satisfy
the more demanding audiences.
● Sufficient capital
● The location of the event is convenient for our target groups.
Greece is the location where the East and the West meet.
● The location (Athens, Greece) of the event is a competitive
advantage that will attract more audience. Greece is the location
where the East and the West meet. Due to its geopolitical
position, an event that takes part in Greece will attract more
audiences from all over the world.
WEAKNESSES
● The event is new in the market. So the brand awareness is very
low.
● The level of credibility is low due to the lack of brand’s
awareness
● We have not a loyal customer base yet.
● The event has not competitive prices compared to the main
competitors’ packages. The prices are more or less the same.
OPPORTUNITIES
● The market is huge and constantly growing, giving the
opportunity to a lot of ‘interested members’ to join this
field.
● Greece is the location where the East and the West world
meet. Due to its geopolitical position, an event that takes
part in Greece will attract more audience.
● Greece is a highly attractive destination for visitors all
over the world because of its good climate conditions and
its well-known hospitality.
● Greece is one of the safest locations for such an event to take
place( e.g. there are not any big terrorist attacks at the recent
years etc)
● There are not any other big conferences or events
involving technology and innovation, during this period.
So, the level of competition during this particular period is
not very high.
● The date is a perfect opportunity in order to attract our main
target groups. The conference will take place during the Chinese
‘national day’ holiday/ “golden week”. It is one of the few major
government-mandated holidays in China where personal
vacation days are rare. In this period Chinese citizens, tend to
travel abroad. So, it is a great opportunity to attract them to our
conference and increase the participant’s percentage.
● During the past few years, Greece has been focusing on
establishing relations with neighbor countries, especially around
sectors like energy and technology.
● During the ten years crisis of the country, a series of events and
decisions created upheavals in the International Geopolitical
Chess Board (indicative war in Syria, Brexit, Turkey-Libya
Agreement, etc.), creating new synergies between states.
Especially for Greece, this is a time when crucial decisions on
multiple issues will redefine its position in the geopolitical
sphere, redefining Greece’s identity. The Organization of a
Major Technology Conference is an opportunity in this
direction.
● Greece invests on culture and tourism.
● Anachronistic practices at the technology (bureaucracy, for
example) but also impacts of climate change worldwide,
demand the businesses to turn their attention into other fields
such as technology, telecommunications and energy. In the last
field, Greece has competitive alternative sources of energy in
order to attract investments in this sector.
● In recent years, Greece has done agreements with countries
that have a strong role in the technology sector and in the global
economic system. Such agreements are: The recent
Memorandum of cooperation between Greece and China,
business partnerships with Israel (e.g. East Med), United Arab
Emirates, India (Honored Mention in TIF 2019), Japan, USA
(CISCO and Pfizer, Deloitte, Ventio are going to set up centers
innovation in the country). Through the Event Greece is seeking
a symbolic and a strategic presence in technology field, as a
part of our strategy to redefine our identity
● Greece is the first country to enter products of
technology in Europe for the countries of the East such as
Israel, China. Geographically it is the link between East
and West.
● Greece attracts investors from countries such as Israel
and the United Arab Emirates, as it is close to them. This
advantage facilitates investment and business synergies.
● The conference will be held in 2021, a symbolic year for
the country as 200 years since Greek Revolution. This
event comes together with a conference that wants to
highlight which will be the country’s presence in the future
and redefine the country’s identity. Also, due to this event
more visitors might be attracted to our country. As a result,
we might approach more potential audiences to our
conference.
● Athens is a modern European capital and has all the
necessary infrastructure and experience in organizing
successful international events like the 2004 Olympic
Games and the music Eurovision contest in 2006.
THREATS
● Global Economic crisis
● The political, economical and social environment is
unpredicted due to Coronavirus worldwide expansion.
● The consequences of this situation will be visible long after its
disappearance. All the markets, included our field, and the
potential consumers will be devastated due to this crisis.
● Despite the fact that we have planned for our event to take
place in a time, when our main competitor many, the
competition in this field is very high.
● Many of the competitors have a strong brand name and have a
long experience in this market. They have also ‘build’ strong
relations with their audience and suppliers.
● Εmergence of new competitors: New competitors are
constantly entering this market.
● Many of the competitors have transferred their activities to the
digital environment. So, a part of our target group that is
interested in a basic learning of the technology trends, might
prefer to participate to a technology conference through web and
not travel to another country for that purpose.
● Despite the fact that our event is planned to take place after the
virus termination, potential audiences might be still afraid to
travel abroad. In this occur, we will lose a serious part of our
target group.
● The technology trends are constantly changing . Something that
is considered as innovative topic during the planning of the
event might be obsolete when the event is taking place.
● It is known globally that Greece and especially Greece’s public
sector is not technologically evolved as other main
technologically innovative countries. This fact may concern our
potential audience and reduce the level of our conference’s
reliability, especially when the conference has a technological
subject.
Marketing Channels
● Designing our logo
● Designing the official Website
Social Media:
https://www.facebook.com/aeneasintelligencecongress
https://twitter.com/aeneascongress
https://www.instagram.com/aeneas_intelligence_congress
● Low cost Youtube video promoting the event.
● Google Hangout regarding the Conference.
● Newsletters.
● Local bloggers promoting the event.
● Renowned event’s speakers publicly informing about the event.
● Forming communication partnerships with Greek and foreign
media for advertising and covering the event.
● Getting sponsored by media as well as Telecommunication
organizations.
● Outdoor campaign.
Press Release
Φοιτητές
vlahou eleni Ελένη Βλάχου
Maria Kakoliri Μαρία Κακολύρη Βλατζού
Rebecca Bacharnikou Μαρία Ρεβέκκα Μπαχαρνίκου
Raphaela Panayiotou Ραφαηλία Φωτεινή Παναγιώτου
Sofia Pavlidou Σοφία Παυλίδου
Ελένη Πούλιου Ελένη Πούλιου
Dimitris Troupos Δημήτρης Τρούπος
