Matching Items (9)
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- All Subjects: Event Planning
- Creators: School of Community Resources and Development
Description
While I was brainstorming topics for my thesis project I came across the idea to look at weddings and specifically the wedding planning industry. It is an industry where very little research exists. It is important for the future of the industry to have some academic studies done on the wedding planning industry. When I started this project I was looking to find out about the characteristics of wedding satisfaction from a client perspective versus the planner's perspective and what deems a successful wedding planner. This could provide valuable insight while possibly shedding light on why some couples use a wedding planner and others do not. The research questions I will try to answer through the survey are: what are the characteristics of wedding satisfaction from a client perspective versus the planner's perspective and what deems a successful wedding planner from the client perspective versus the planner's perspective. I researched the industry and created a survey that was sent to a group of 15 planners. I hoped to get permission to send my survey to four to six previous clients from each planner. The list of wedding planners came from a board member of the International Special Events Society. If all surveys had been completed it would have given me a client pool of 60 to 80 couples. The problem was that none of the planners were willing to share the client survey with their clients. Therefore, I could not obtain a sufficient number of couples that had previously used wedding planners. I attempted to contact organizations that would have access to brides. I also attempted to reach out on Facebook and through email lists to married people who used wedding planners. None of these methods proved successful in amassing a sufficient number of individuals who used planners for their wedding. The project evolved into an analysis of the assistance options couples have to make big purchases like a wedding and a house. The amount spent on these big purchases varies as well as the time couples have to pay for them. There is also great variation in the kinds of resource's couples have to advise them before making these larger purchases. For example, when a couple is planning their wedding they can hire a wedding planner to assist them or do research on blogs and rely on parents and friends for help and assistance. When a couple prepares to buy a house (or another type of real estate) they will often hire a realtor. There are some resources online for the few couples that choose not to use a realtor, however, at some point they may need to seek a professional to assist with the legal documents. The inspiration behind this thesis was to begin academic research on a young industry where there was none. The profession of "wedding planning" is very new. There is no traditional academic research on the wedding planner as a profession. When the initial surveys and planners did not receive the kind of participation and cooperation needed it was disappointing that this project could not shed light on this young industry. The evolution of this project into a comparison between realtors and wedding planners suggested the potential of where the wedding planning as a profession could be was brought to light. If wedding planners and wedding planning as a profession could evolve to a place of necessity similar to purchasing a house the profession could gain validation and grow. At some point in that evolution, hopefully the profession would be in a better place for academic research and the individuals in the profession may be in a place to be more open to assist in that research. Ultimately getting to the place where a wedding planner is seen as necessary should be the goal for this profession. The amount of money spent, the emotional importance of the commitment and the legal promises involved in having a wedding creates that need but many people do not know this. Couples know very little about the individual costs that make up a wedding. A key problem with this is that it creates disconnect between couples expectations and budgets. If wedding planners could, through their marketing and other efforts, communicate with potential clients that a wedding planner is not a luxury, but a necessity, it would help insure emotional satisfaction and protect the financial investment of the couple and their family.
ContributorsMayberry, Sophia Elizabeth (Author) / Hultsman, Wendy (Thesis director) / Dempsey, Matt (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The following business plan is for Classically Designed, an event design and coordination company in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina. All portions (business philosophy, marketing plan, operational plan, financials, etc.) are clearly lined out for immediate use and implementation. Classically Designed will be a business that will have the reputation of honesty, responsibility, and unbelievable imagination. Previous events will shine out of the past to practically sell the business on their own. Clients should get to enjoy their own events as much as their guests and we will strive to make this happen even for the most hands-on event hosts. Customer service should always be of utmost importance so that clients know they are being taken care of and respected by every employee, whether they are with Classically Designed or were simply referred by us. We will be a well-known event company that people use when they want a memorable experience from start to finish for their event.
ContributorsKlaum, Patrice Katherine (Author) / Hoffman, David (Thesis director) / Heywood, William (Committee member) / Coon, Cynthia (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (Contributor) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Social enterprises strive to tackle social problems, improve the lives of the people around them and help create a sustainable environment. Three specific enterprises will be analyzed to illustrate the differences between management styles, mission, financials and overall successes. There are numerous social enterprises in the southwest of the United States of America, some show more success than others, but what separates them? What commonalities do some of these enterprises share that allow them to be more successful than the rest? Is there a common denominator for enterprises to follow that will allow them to have success financially as well as accomplish their goals to better the community around them? Free Arts for Abused Children or Arizona, Seed Spot and Goodmans, we are able to better distinguish what factors allow enterprises to succeed. Due to the nature of social enterprises being able to be qualified as different types of organizations, i.e., company with shareholders, nonprofit organizations, etc. it is difficult to pin point a concrete model social enterprises should follow today. However, a finding that made all three of these social enterprises successful were their governance and ownership structures. Each enterprise consisted of a board that helped the enterprise stay on track with their given mission. Boards are also responsible for making major decisions that can impact the organization as well as being responsible for fundraising and making various financial decisions. After analyzing their structures, it was evident that all three enterprises consisted of strong governance structures. Although enterprises may not be able to follow a distinct model in order to be successful, they are able to place a board in control that aligns with the social enterprises mission and has a variety of knowledge that allows the board to make sound decisions. Keywords: social enterprise, management, governance, success, mission, financials
ContributorsButzbach, Jennifer Lauren (Author) / Shockley, Gordon (Thesis director) / Foroughi-Mobarakeh, Behrang (Committee member) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
ContributorsLamb, Angel (Author) / Oldfield, Michelle (Thesis director) / Brand, Ashley (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2023-05
ContributorsLamb, Angel (Author) / Oldfield, Michelle (Thesis director) / Brand, Ashley (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2023-05
Description
The following paper will explore The Analysis of Sorority Interactions & Engagement During an Event for the purpose of Barrett, The Honors College Thesis Creative Project. My topic will be explored as a Creative Project with this document being written documentation supporting and explaining the creative project along with research, reason & findings from the event. The event itself stands for the majority of this creative project as that is where this written report gained & sourced its survey results from. An analysis of the event taking place and the attendees themselves created data into the ever-changing event industry. Specifically, a creative project like this shows the importance of events in everyday life especially the need for events post-COVID-19 restrictions.
ContributorsLamb, Angel (Author) / Oldfield, Michelle (Thesis director) / Brand, Ashley (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2023-05
Description
The goal of this project is to improve the efficiency of operations for Quincea Social Enterprise. I aim to achieve this goal by interviewing market participants to make recommendations for how Quincea Social Enterprise can best utilize resources to deliver vegetables, fruits and herbs to their key institutional customers (schools, churches, hospitals, group homes and corporate cafeterias). This thesis views Quincea through the lens of the Social Enterprise Business Model and compares its organization to serve underemployed groups including veterans and adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD Adults) 1. Throughout my research, I use supply chain theory and network structure to inform supply chain strategy, optimize logistics, and integrate the supply chain organization, processes and technology. My insights are grounded in the supply chain literature, and a comparison with other non-profit operations. This thesis identifies the resources, capabilities, and partnerships needed for a successful social enterprise. The key findings include: a) Quincea’s unique business model exhibits promising potential for cost-effectively creations of jobs for adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities; b) an important strength is the depth of its public and private sector strategic partnerships; c) another important organizational advantage is its emphasis on operational efficiencies and being price competitive, rather than having its social mission drive sales d) its efforts to document its strategies and operating plans, along with securing many partnerships with national corporations, should facilitate program geographic expansion; e) the emphasis on social impact metrics should make it easier to measure program effectiveness and to attract additional strategic partners; and f) the economic self-sustaining business model exhibits promising potential to expand operations, while having reduced dependency on government, foundation and individual donor subsidies to scale operations.
ContributorsStephens, Natalie (Author) / Richards, Timothy (Thesis director) / Hall, Jonathan (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The purpose of this creative project was to spread awareness about the work of various non-profit organizations in the Phoenix community while allowing the public to immediately get involved in their missions. This project was manifested through Give Back Phoenix, which was held on February 2nd, 2019. Give Back Phoenix had three goals: to serve non-profit organizations in the community, to allow community members to experience giving back in a fun and hands-on way, and to help community members connect with organizations for future volunteer opportunities and long-term volunteering commitments.
ContributorsMartin, Mary Caitlin Alice (Author) / Hultsman, Wendy (Thesis director) / Holland Malcom, Jan (Committee member) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The events industry provides an integral service to society but fails to understand and incorporate the three pillars of sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to identify the cause of the lack of awareness and motivation from event managers to make their events more sustainable. Utilizing both dated and recent research papers to understand the gap of awareness, the data demonstrated that there is not a clear understanding of sustainability from a holistic perspective. The most notable issue was the focus on environmental sustainability and the lack of awareness of social and economic sustainability. This paper analyzes one specific event, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale, Celebrate Youth Gala, and dives deeper into how the event can be made more sustainable. The findings demonstrated that event managers often are unaware of the sustainable options available to them and the costs associated with them. This paper offered recommendations for event managers and started the necessary conversation to create change within the industry.
ContributorsMertz, Carly (Author) / Goodman, Rebekka (Thesis director) / Schneiderman, Erin (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor)
Created2024-05