Event Design and Management MA

The Research Consultancy Project [Project] enables you to embark on an extended period of detailed and individual study on a tourism [Tourism Management] or events [Event Design and Management] topic with the guidance of a supervisor. The Project provides an opportunity for you to either [a] research a subject of particular interest, which you will investigate rigorously and in-depth, or [b] address a defined business problem that requires a creative solution. The module is designed to help you review the literature, develop the necessary research, analyse data and present recommendations.

This module provides you with the skills and knowledge needed to create memorable experiences that captivate audiences and achieve sustainable organisational goals. You will analyse the elements of experiential design and learn to create immersive environments that engage participants on emotional, sensory, and intellectual levels. Through case studies, practical exercises, and industry insights, this module equips you with the tools to craft compelling events and gain an in-depth understanding of their experiential characteristics.

This module aims to equip you with a deep understanding of the roles, responsibilities, and skills required to be a successful event leader. It explores the key competencies of project, financial and risk management with an emphasis on ethical practices, inclusivity and accessibility to promote responsible event design and management. Leadership development is a core focus, with strategies for team management, conflict resolution, and innovation in sustainable practices. You are encouraged to develop a personal leadership vision, drawing on case studies and practical insights to guide your professional growth. By integrating theoretical knowledge with your personal and professional experiences, the module prepares you to navigate and excel in the dynamic field of event management.
 

This module introduces you to the latest ideas about the 'power' of events, and the ways events can be used to achieve wider personal, community and societal objectives. It critiques conventional approaches to event management and encourages you to think more creatively and ambitiously about how events can be used to address key problems and issues. The module draws on literature and concepts from inside and outside the field of events, and you are asked to apply ideas to real cases and current challenges.

The module Live Event Project Management builds on the conceptual and strategic topics introduced within core modules to focus on the practical delivery of an event. The module considers how the staging of an event can achieve a range of business objectives, develops the problem solving, critical thinking and practical skills you need to work within a team, explores how to evaluate the event outcomes and encourages you to reflect on your personal role played within the process.

This module aims to give you the opportunity to gain in-depth real-world and theoretical knowledge of global event management. It focuses on sports events and cultural festivals that have a global status. You are expected to learn the complexities of the bid process and the concepts and principles relevant to planning, managing and implementing a global event. The module also analyses the different ways that events are produced and consumed internationally and the various ways that globalisation has affected this sector.

This module offers you a comprehensive understanding of crisis management principles and resilience strategies. It covers how to identify potential crises, develop crisis response plans, and build resilience in tourism destinations and events. The module emphasises real-world applications, including analysis of case studies and engagement with industry experts. Themes will include environmental and climate crisis, natural disasters, financial crises, crisis in labour and migration, human rights, health-related and terrorist crisis. You will be prepared to lead change through crisis, create the right environments for creativity and innovation as a response to crisis, and manage business continuity and communications.
 

This module draws on the analysis of events using place-based and urban design perspectives. The overall aim of the module is to help you understand the way that events affect spaces/places and, in turn, how spaces/places affect events. The module covers different geographical scales: the first part analyses how specific sites are used for the staging of events and how programmes can be designed to maximise the contribution of the space to the events, as well as the contributions of the events to the spaces. The second part is more broadly focused at the citywide, regional and national scales. The module supports you in understanding how event portfolios and related strategies can help places achieve sustainable development goals.
 

This module explores how events can build community networks, relationships and opportunities. It seeks to understand the social value of events and how they can contribute to the places and people that are engaged in their production and consumption. This module considers how events provide an environment for the community to come together, build interactions as well as develop their quality of life. We consider a diverse set of concepts that look beyond the immediate events management literature to fully situate events within the context of lived experience, learning about different cultures and how events and leisure can result in bettering our understanding of society. The content of the syllabus draws on the critical turn in event studies; it is dynamic and partly reflects timely issues affecting and shaping the events sector.

This module introduces the contemporary digital marketing environment. A range of innovative and disruptive approaches to digital marketing communications are considered in the contemporary business environment in a sustainable business context. You will engage with material actively as a community of practice through classroom and online engagement, considering strategic, tactical and ethical perspectives and applying these to a range of contexts.

This module introduces you to the concepts of entrepreneurship and the role of the entrepreneurial mind-set. It explores important entrepreneurial characteristics associated with successful entrepreneurial behaviour and process. You will also explore the concept of opportunity identification and exploitation through live work with a chosen charity where you will fund raise for it using your mindset and business acumen.
 

This module considers public relations’ (PR) role in marketing and corporate communications for both short and long-term brand reputation building. It examines PR’s origins, scope, character and applications in creating and defending corporate and brand reputation in today’s business environment. You will investigate the use of PR tools and strategies to build and maintain stakeholder relationships, create trust, manage online reputation and its risks, and measure and evaluate PR outcomes and value.

This module focuses on the creation of optimised content for social media and content marketing. This includes engaging audiences and incentivising conversion, taking into account paid or organic search strategies. You will be expected to demonstrate awareness of contemporary trends in social media marketing.