Event Management simulation- We4Athens
As part of the “Εvent Μanagement” workshop, a crucial sub-workshop of Ad&PR Lab led by Ms. Betty Tsakarestou and associate Mrs. Athena Fradelou, Communication and Marketing Advisor, here as our guide through event planning, we were invited to create an event from scratch. More specifically, an e-conference with the ultimate goal of promoting the city of Athens. According to a survey by Euromonitor International in 2019, Athens was ranked 43rd in the category of the most popular tourist destinations around the world, while it was understood that the average length of stay of incoming tourism in the summer months is only 0.8 nights. So we were invited to promote Athens as a top travel destination not only during the summer months, but for all seasons. The research we did and which we later incorporated in the promotional part of our work was based on 6 pillars that highlight Athens as a city worth visiting. These pillars are:
Modern Culture
- History & Tradition
- Wine & Gastronomy
- Sustainability
- Shopping
- Natural environment
Our big idea was created while we were thinking that Athens is a rather “misunderstood” city. Tourists who visit know very specific things about it, such as the fact that it is home to the Acropolis and the Parthenon and from the 0.8 nights of stay that the research showed, it seems that their activities while staying here are limited to visiting the citadel and possibly the museum. That’s why we wanted to show them “what they are missing”. This is how the theme of our event “Athens Beyond” arose. That is, Athens is beyond what all people think, beyond its summer and the Acropolis. Athens is the nightlife, the entertainment, the arts, the food, its center.
Our goal is to highlight Athens and to show those who want to visit it that it is not for some, but is addressed to all and for this reason, the purpose of the event that we created is mainly to promote Athens in a 360 way as a travel destination for every season of the year.
It is worth noting that for the creation of the event, we came up with 4 different target groups, who played a decisive role in the selection of the topics discussed. The first group is about young people who want to relax and live like locals, while the second is aimed at more premium tourists who are looking for the best options for them to enjoy. On the other hand, we have investors who see Athens as a fertile ground for investment, and finally we have the various brands that believe that they can expand or create partnerships in our country. We Put ourselves in their shoes and thought about what everyone would like to see at an event for Athens to consider it a city worth visiting, and so we created a speech program that fits each of our four groups of audiences, which everyone would be able to watch according to their interests.
We decided to hold our event, which we decided to name “We 4 Athens” in September as it marks the beginning of a new season. It will be attended by 5,000 people at prices we set depending on the specific sections they decide to attend. The event will last 3 days and will be divided into 2 sections, the general and the personalized. When booking their ticket, each participant will have the opportunity to choose between a variety of specific talks and workshops to attend, in addition to the general ones. In this way a personalized experience is created for each person. The most general speeches will refer to the beauties of Athens, thematic videos will be shown, Q&As will be held and entertainment will be offered, while the personalized speeches, workshops and happenings will be based on the interests of each person inspired by the 6 pillars of promotion. Of course, to support the whole event we had to choose the appropriate platform through which it will be held online, and that is why we chose the “Hopin’” platform, while the place where the sessions will be held will be the Stavros Foundation Cultural Center Niarchos. In addition, to promote our sponsors, we decided to send delegate bags one day before the event that will contain various kits regarding the topic of each day. All of this will be shipped worldwide to the public by the Aegean airlines.
Concerning the marketing strategy we would follow, we decided to have a presence in all the media. Firstly, on mass media, we will be shown on both the TV and the radio with interviews as well as in the press with newspapers and magazines in which we made entries. Our ads also played on the channels and stations and of course they will be advertised in both Greek and international media for tourists and professionals from all around the world to learn about us.
We will create accounts on social media in which we are going to upload all our material so that our educational program is announced and of course our sponsors are advertised. Through them we will build a communication with the world and a 360 community experience will be created. We will also work with influencers from different countries to promote us through their profile.
And of course our content and communication does not stop there. Newsletters, collaborations on youtube videos, podcasts, blog posts, online banners on various international sites of respective topics, youth and business forums.
We prepared an official press release, did market research and set up strategic communication to all our partners via email.
Also, in addition to the social media in which all the posts with announcements, teasers, videos and competitions were published, we created a site so that all the information about our event will be gathered for anyone who wants to be informed and to book their ticket.
It is also worth noting that we organized a press conference which was combined with the dinner of our speakers, taking place in “Dinner In The Sky” at Technopolis. The official sponsors of the event will be present in addition to the speakers, the presenter and the organizing team.
Finding sponsors is also a key step for the organization and preparation of the event.
In addition to the communication sponsors, in order to be able to secure all the expenses but also the products or services, we needed to obtain sponsors to finance the event.
For this reason there was a separation in media, in kind and financial sponsors apart from, of course the host partner and our auspices. Depending on the benefits of each financial and in kind sponsor, different financial packages were created (Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze) in which there were the corresponding compensations in order to “win” a company in the temple to provide for the event.
Then, in accordance with the fund, the in kind sponsors who provided us with their products and services were also separated. In fact, we wanted to create partnerships with companies from all sectors were the topics of our educational program. Therefore we approached many companies depending on the direction they differ and either we cooperated with them for the delegate bags that would go to the donors with gifts, local products and Greek creations or provided discounts of these companies to our clients. And depending on the amount they offer as the budget goes up, our rewards to them increase in order to promote them in the best possible way.
For the needs of the event we chose a variety of speakers, some of them being our main sponsors, most of whom had a place in personalized speeches, while 3 will speak in the 3 major general speeches of the event. We are referring to the municipality of Athens with K. Bakogiannis, “Marketing Greece with Mrs. Dretta” and “Felix BNI” with mr. Economides.
Modern Culture
Let’s start with our first pillar, which happened to be Modern Culture. At the time of the brainstorming phase, we had too many ideas about the content that would be added to the project. This happened, mostly, because we really wanted to cover every aspect and every single field that belongs to modern culture, which obviously, would be quite impossible, considering the duration of the event. After some research, we decided that most of our ideas would work successfully only if we would choose the correct communication strategy. And that’s what -we think- we did.
When it comes to the young tourists that would visit Athens, we chose to invite the famous street artist ‘’b.’’ and tattoo artist Pemmynism from Uncle Chronis, Greece’s oldest tattoo shop located in Athens, as speakers to talk about topics such as the modern world and female entrepreneurship.For the second target group, our premium tourists, we added both a workshop and a speech. During the workshop, members of ImproVIBE, which is the first Greek improv comedy theater that was made, would teach our guests the basics of improvisation. As for the speech that would take place afterwards, we decided we’d love to have a talented, successful actor to talk about the modern theatre scene in Greece. And what better way to do so than to have Pigmalion Dadakaridis as the main speaker to describe the changes that have been made to the theater world after the #MeToo movement took place. As for new investors and businesses, we thought it would be very convenient to create a video that would show the progress of Greek movies, from vintage black and white movies, such as Zorba the Greek, to modern films (ex. One Day In August). The main goal would be to promote the quality of Greek productions and to show that they have come to a point where they could compete with other European productions.
But when it comes to modern culture, there’s no way we would leave music out; life without it would be a mistake anyways (Nietzsche). We approached all of our guests with the same strategy as before, choosing 3 artists with different musical backgrounds: Negros tou Moria, Vasilis Papakonstantinou & Marios Frangoulis. Everyone would listen to the artist that represents them.
Shopping
The second pillar of our project, Athens Beyond, is shopping. Like every other big city, Athens has its unique style and shopping habits, which We4Athens is here to guide the visitors through. For more street and fresh style we suggested an “One to One” speech with Karavan’s Marilou Katsoni and HVNT’s Konstantinos Tasiopoulos; their discussion is about running a small and innovative business in Athens using local craftsmanship to bring in life out of the box ideas (Karavan is a daring bohemian, exquisite easy-going, spirited intellectual clothing line and HVNT emphasizes in timeless, minimalistic design, with references in street culture), as well as their upcoming collab. Next, Athenian style is at its finest on the “One to One” discussion of Celia Kritharioti and Angelos Bratis, where the designers will talk about creating art through fashion, and their high end, high fashion lines. Of course we could not forget the creative artists of the contrUSt collective, who will walk us through art deco and their unique creations, which ornament Athenian houses. Last but certainly not least, the event welcomes, as special guest, Dior with an ode to Athens as muse, the city that inspires the brand to always come back, to speak about their fashion show at Kallimarmaro on the 17th of June.
We4Athens would not stop there; people need to live the experience, so, we are talking about interaction. From a fun video about all the “in” stores at the moment, regarding “what’s in an Athenian’s shopping bag: from thrift stores to concept stores” to interactive games with some of our in kind sponsors. The first game is a DIY workshop titled “alternate your clothes: bring them back to life” with V for Vintage, who will guide us through their process and motivate us to try it ourselves. The second one is a tribute to We4Athens, where small business (and in kind sponsors) will bring in life the idea “You name it, We make it”; an activity where the audience will share their ideas and thoughts about products (from names to designs) and brands, such as “little miss grumpy”, “think pig”, “odetosocks”, “κουμπάκι shop”, “anamnesia”, “steehos”, will include them in their upcoming lines. The reason behind all this is to make an Athenian out of every visitor, to introduce them in our habits and to get acquainted with Greek “meraki”.
Sustainability
As for the next pillar of our event agenda, sustainability, our team suggested speakers from a wide range of professionals, who either operate in this specific field or they are currently trying to extend their actions to affiliate with a more sustainable corporate culture. Firstly, we suggest EcoFest to be represented by ambassadors, such as Dora Makrigianni, Magda Zigouri and Giorgos Tsoulis. EcoFest 2021 was a 3-day event, which was organized for the second time in a row with the aim to support and promote sustainable development, green/smart cities and sustainable transportation. We will, also, have a panel with the founder of Coffee-Eco, Alexis Pantziaros and a representative of Plan(e)t Foods. These two representatives are the most appropriate to talk about food sustainability, since Plan(e)t Foods is the first plant-based ice cream company in Greece and Coffee-Eco is a startup that takes advantage of coffee waste to generate a product that is full of antioxidants. What is worth mentioning about this startup is the fact that they are planning to generate energy from this waste, as well, in the upcoming future. Furthermore, we will invite George Korres, the founder of Korres company, to talk about the 6 Korres Labs that express the vision of a full circle of value choices that the company represents (Soil Lab, Extraction Lab, Molecular Lab, Formulation Lab, Design Lab, Recycle Lab). This philosophy aligns with the spirit of corporate social responsibility, which will also be analyzed in this speech. What is interesting is the fact that the company is about to have the launch amplification of its last addition, the Recycle Lab, in September, the month when our event will take place. The next speech suggested will be delivered by representatives of GEK Terna. To be more specific, they will discuss their projects, which aim at producing clean energy and preserving the environment (thermal energy, waste management, concessions, etc.). Our audience will also have the chance to meet Greek sustainable culture by getting acquainted with Coco — Mat, a company with a strong appearance in the growing field of sustainability. Paul Eumorfidis, its founder, will talk about his sustainable brand as about the international affiliation brand, Coco-Mat Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, that started in collaboration with HotelBrain. Finally, a workshop with the association of Peggy Kliafa and Schedia will take place, too, in our event. Peggy Kliafa is an artist who creates beautiful pieces of art from used packaging. Schedia is a multi-purpose NGO that — among many other activities — has an ongoing project in which volunteers take advantage of the remaining Schedia magazines to transform them into new, mainly useful, products of high quality and aesthetics. Thus, in the workshop “Let’s make something out of nothing” we will encourage the audience to create something aesthetic with new practicality from the remaining packaging of the kit we delivered worldwide in the beginning of the event.
When it comes to the audience of the above mentioned speeches, we believe that the workshop is more possible to interest everyone, as well as the speech of Korres, which will have an explanatory character about sustainability and about the 6 Labs project, in which people can contribute up to a point, whether they are Korres customers or not. The eco-fest speech and the panel will appeal mainly to investors and possible cooperators, whereas GEK Terna and Coco-mat will appeal mostly to investors and premium tourists.
Wine-Gastronomy
Regarding the pillar of wine and gastronomy, we gathered some suggestions with shops and categorized them based on our target group. Some stores are Romantso, Barbounaki, Oinoscent, Natu, Ergon House, Artisanal, Funky Gourmet, Momix and others. The speakers of our event are Mr. Papaginanakos, owner of the distinguished Papagiannakos winery, who is also our sponsor. Also, the well-known chef Leonidas Koutsopoulos, owner of 3 restaurants and Madame ginger or Marilou Pantaki, who is a specialist in the vegan choices of Athens in both products and restaurants. Finally, Mr. George Kyriakopoulos, owner of Provence deli, a delicatessen with fine Greek products, so as to present the store and its products as well as the possibilities of cooperation for possible exports of Greek products to respective stores abroad.
History and tradition
On the pillar of history and tradition, we have included museums of the utmost importance to our culture. Among them are the National Gallery, the National Archaeological Museum, the Museum of the City of Athens, the Foundation of the Hellenic World, etc. In this section it is worth noting the possibility of a short tour of them through Digital Walkthroughs. Our speakers come from the field of archeology and museology and are great people for the country and the promotion of our history. Specifically, they include Marina Lambraki, Director of the National Gallery that was recently renovated, the Historian Leonidas Kallivrentakis, Despina Koutsoumba, President of the Association of Greek Archaeologists, the folklorist Theodoros Belitsos and Kassandra Marinopoulou, Chairman of the Board of the Museum of Cycladic Art.
Environment
Regarding the pillar of the environment, we chose as speakers Bogdanos Antonis and Iliopoulos Giannis, co-founders of We4all, an NGO founded in 2018. We chose them because they had to face a massive crisis from the beginning of their company and because they are also young entrepreneurs. Their topic of discussion will be “nature and entrepreneurship”
Our next speaker will be Siomou Anastasia, CEO of ProudDoDo, which is also our sponsor. She will give a talk about how we can create a company with eco-friendly products in Greece from the beginning. Our additional workshop will be about a brainstorming with ecological solutions for the city of Athens. If our visitors attend these speeches, they will have the opportunity to select a tree of their choice to plant in the “pocket parks” of Athens.
Some products of our delegate bag:
To conclude, the real challenge in this project was to take advantage of our event in two different ways: On the one hand, by making people love Athens and on the other hand, by building a financially profitable strategy for the future of our city.
In other words,the perfect end to our perfect four years of University. Ad&Pr Lab played a vital role in our academic years, consuming most of our time, in order to push our creativity from student to expert. Event Management, as the last piece in this great puzzle of experiences, combined every aspect of it; from organization skills, to working under pressure, to deep knowledge of “what people like”, or how to find it, to taking risks, in order to be unique, to “faking it till making it”. Believing in your ideas is the first step; the next is to make everyone else believe in it too. And our event challenged every piece of us, before we challenged the audience with our proposal for the event.
So, here you have it.
Athens Beyond…question
From We4Athens with love
Associate professor: Betty Tsakarestou
Team:
