Identify an entrepreneur that you admire. Outline what it is that you admire about them and why (500 words)

A person who sets up a business or businesses, taking a greater than normal financial risk in order to do so. (Oxford Dictionary, 2000)

I have chosen to look the Innocent smoothie founders Richard Reed, Adam Balon and Jon Wright, they went to university at Cambridge together then set up innocent after quitting their jobs to build Innocent Drinks. I think it is an amazing company because it has simple products and outlooks but they operate in a very innovative way. Innocent Drinks was founded in 1999, it has 77.5% of shares in the UK smoothie market² and sells two million bottles per week.³

I think the founders are entrepreneurs because they came up with a new idea and found a gap in the market for a product, they spent £500 on fruit and made lots of smoothies then went to a music festival in London and asked the attendees whether they should quit their current jobs and make smoothies instead, and to answer the smoothie testers had to put their empty bottles in ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ bins, by the end of the festival the ‘Yes’ bin was completely full and the ‘No’ bin had three smoothies in it.

I admire the fact that they set up the business with a core idea and strong values about the company and have kept in throughout the journey of the business, whereas many entrepreneurs tend to loose there initial values and ideas as there business grows. I also admire the fact that the three men who founded it all share the same ideas and they all know exactly what they are trying to achieve so they are working towards the same goal.

Since the beginning innocent had always tried to be a sustainable company,  they review everything about the company and recognise where they could improve it to make positive impacts environmentally and socially.

The entrepreneurs took a very big risk by quitting their jobs for a project that they were not sure that would take off and they faced many times where they were not sure that it was a good idea, but they overcame all of the obstacles and are now what they are because of them.

 The company has a very positive attitude in all areas of it business I think this reflects the successes, they have 250 employees and have been voted one of the best companies to work for in the UK, the company

The success of Innocent was achieved because of many different factors, but I think the founders not just had a good product but they were innovative and had a good plan for setting up the company.

­­Bibliography

1.                           Concise (2000). Oxford dictionary . New York: BCA. p476-p477

2.                           Cheatsheet (2006). Available: http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/press/cheatsheet/. Last accessed 9 Dec 2010.

3.                           ‘Coke buys into Innocent smoothies’. Available: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7986901.stm. Last accessed 10 Dec 2010.

Dance Company - Current Social Issue (500 words)

Sway Dance Company is a production dance company based in Sway, Hampshire. They work with teenagers and adults living in and around Sway, putting on dance shows and theatre performances for the local community.

This dance company has many different options for developing a new activity to engage with a current social issue, presently they only work with teenagers and adults which is limiting there reach into the community. They could do workshops or classes for people with learning difficulties or people with mental health problems; they could also work with people less-privileged from the local area.

One social issue the do address is getting young people involved in projects so they are off the streets and don’t have time to be bored so won’t cause trouble.

Obesity in children is a current social issue that has been in the media a lot over the past few years, my suggestion for Sway Dance Company would be to do afterschool dance and drama sessions for the local school St. Luke primary, so the children can learn how to be healthy and exercise. Dance is a good way to get children exercising without forcing them to do sport where some over weigh or unconfident children may feel very intimidated.

The school may already have some afterschool clubs and activities but they don’t have dance or drama club because they do not have the facilities on site.

 I feel this new activity would be suitable for the company because the community centre where they are based is very close to the school which makes it very accessible and they haven’t previously involved children in any shows or production. The company will become well-known then have more audience at the shows and will also develop a good reputation as they are working with children to get them healthier.

This new activity will affect the organization because they will have a busier schedule therefore the workings of the company will change and they might have to hire a new staff member who has had previous experience working with children. They will also be generating more money as there will probably be a small charge for going to the classes each term. In the longer term this activity will still be beneficial because new children come to the school every year so there will always be interest and the school and the company may join together in a partnership relationship.

In conclusion the company has many different options for expansion which puts them in a good position and I think my idea to work with the local school would be very beneficial to the company. 

Apply the summary event planning process to an event you know, using a specific event example, consider and write a summary of the operational elements used. (500 words)

To create a successful event, a lot of planning needs to be carried out, the process of planning an event starts months before the event takes place. The planning starts with collecting ideas together and getting them onto paper, you can then start to divide your ideas into categories and work out the order of the actions which will then lead to making timescales. You can then start to assemble all the paperwork. All the plans you make have operations for the event to be accomplished.

Santa Dash is an annual fundraising event held by Oakhaven Hospice Trust in December, it is a 3k run along the sea front in Barton-on-Sea, Dorset. You have to run dressed as Santa Claus and is open to anyone, admission is £12.50 for adults and £6.50 for children.

The event is sported by Hobourne Holiday parks and Beachcomber café, Beachcomber café is in Barton-on-Sea so there is a high chance that a lot of people that take part in the run will spend money in the café. The Fundraising Standards Board is overseeing the Santa Dash so the events team will have to send them information about the planning for the event, because the board will want to know that the events team are spending the money on.

The majority of people will drive to the event in their cars and a small number of people will use public transport. There is a car park for the attendees to use but if the majority of people are driving then the car park is going to be full, so the council needs to be contacted so they can open the overflow car park.

The event needs to be advertised among the local community so they will need to print flyers and posters, this is often quite expensive so they will need to figure out how to keep these costs down, they will also need to print some signage for the course so the people taking part won’t get lost. Children often get lost of events because of the volume of people so the organizers will need to set up a meeting point at the end of the race.

The maximum capacity for this year’s Santa Dash is 750 because it is along the sea front and would be dangerous with a lot of people running near the cliffs, the operations for this would be that the organizers would put barriers or tape up. The event co-ordinator would have to do a risk assessment and highlight all these hazards and explain what they are going to do/ they’ve done about them.

The participants get a Santa suit with their ticket so they organizers have to source cheap Santa outfits from somewhere that doesn’t take too much out the budget because it is a fundraising event and they want all the money they can get, they will need volunteers to go around with charity collection boxes and will also need volunteers to steward and give the runners their numbers and costumes, most of the volunteers will be people who work in the charity shops or the hospice but they will need more people so they would have to hire more before the event.

A lot of operations take place even for a small community event like this charity Santa dash, and each operation has to be planned and carried out by an individual.

Referencing

Oakhavenhospice.co.uk

Write a short description (500 words) of how global economics are relevant for the Falmouth Oyster Festival

Macroeconomics is a field of economics studying the workings of a national economy, it mainly focuses on the forecasting of national income and analysis of major economic factors including; level of employment/unemployment, gross national product (GNP/GDP), balance of payment position and prices. Macroeconomics shows the relationships between these factors to understand how an economy is operating.

Falmouth Oyster Festival (FOF) is small seafood festival that celebrates the start of the oyster dredging season. It is a four day event which takes place every October in Falmouth, this year over 30,000 people attended the wide range of different activities in the festival including; cookery demonstrations, shell painting, sea shanties, town parade, a boat race, and live music and performances.

At FOF it doesn’t seem like it would be affected by the economy compared to a festival in London because Cornwall is such a remote part of the UK, but each year the festival gets affected by the current economic climate, and has to deal with new problems. Economic factors like unemployment, inflation, tax and funding influence how the festival is run. Since 2007 when many large banks fell into bankruptcy there has been an on-going global financial crisis, this caused the recession in the UK which made unemployment rise and prices to increase; this makes the public watch what they’re buying and spends less on unnecessary purchases.

Cornwall gets a lot of income in its economy from tourism especially in the summer months, so having FOF in October could mean that there are a low number of tourists visiting the festival, but because vistitcornwall.com helped organize and fund the festival, tourists would have heard about it from the website, this event is a good way of bringing people down to Cornwall in the low seasons when businesses that rely on tourism trade are struggling the most. The sponsors for the festivals are local businesses and organizations, people attending the events will see them advertised for example St. Michaels Hotel and Spa are the major sponsors and will get a lot of promotion so people might eat at the restaurant and use the spa or even stay in the hotel and they may get future clients as well.

The festival needs a wide range of suppliers for it to take place, they need to arrange; marques and equipment, staff, stalls, performers, drinks and food. Using local suppliers is good for the economy of the area and looks good for the festival that’s its bringing together Cornish produce. The FOF is funded by Falmouth Festival Ltd, Vistitcornwal.com and St Micheal’s Hotel & Spa, because it is a free community event it has to get its revenue from individual stalls, opening ceremony box office, raffle tickets, and sponsors.

With the current financial difficulties i.e. the recession and budget cuts, many businesses have to let staff go, so the unemployment rates are going up. This affects the FOF because staffing is an essential part of running the festival, in Cornwall 2.4% of the population are unemployed this is actually lower than the nation average which is 3.6%. These figures were published in July 2010 this is during the summer when there are not as many people unemployed as tourism opens up a large number of jobs.

In summery FOF relates to the global economy because it gets affected by the financial state of the UK and oversees economy.

References

- falmouthoysterfestival.co.uk

- visitcornwall.co.uk

- BBC News article: Unemployment figures for Cornwall show fourth fall http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-10633274

- CEM102 – Lecture 4 Economics Notes
- cornwall.gov.uk

Visual Arts

The Fal River Festival

What: ‘Celebrating Life on the river Fal in Cornwall – A not-for-profit community Festival’

When: 27 May – 5 June 2011

Where: Several Locations and venues upon the river Fal

Why: The festival brings the community together to learn about the history of the river and celebrate music, drama, the arts, places, and people.

Content: There will be over 150 events spread across 10 days, including swimming and walking, music and performance, arts and heritage. The festival attracts 100,000 people and has been hugely successful in the past 6 years.

How: The event gets funding from many different sponsors including local organizations and businesses and following the success from previous years it shouldn’t find much trouble getting interest this year.

Reference -  www.kingharryscornwall.co.uk

Entertainment

Cornwall Film Festival

What: ‘An annual celebration of Cornish and international filmmaking’

When: 5-7 November 2010

Where: Phoenix Cinema Falmouth

Why: To showcase feature films, documentaries, Cornish language film and short films made by students and local filmmakers, as well as offer workshops and talks to film enthusiasts.

Content: A large mix of shorts, Cornish films, workshops, talks and feature films across four different venues in Falmouth; The Poly, Dracaena Centre, Art Gallery and The Phoenix.

How: Funded by Sponsors including Cornwall Council, Cormac, Feast, The co-operative membership, UCF, Truro college, Falmouth BID, Falmouth Town Council, Skinners, Event Cornwall, Merlin Cinema, First Great Western and many more.

Reference – Information sourced from www.cornwallfilmfestival.com and Cornwall Film Festival Schedule.

Heritage

Pendennis Castle - Haunted Tours

What: Halloween Ghost Tour

When:  28-31 October 2010

Where: Pendennis Castle, Falmouth

Why: Pendennis Castle is over 400 years old and it’s said that many ghost haunt the castle, so it’s a perfect setting for English Heritage to hold ghost tours.

Content: There are day time tours for all ages, where the guides tell spooky tales about the castle and daytime activities like face painting and Halloween games.

Then there are Haunted tours for 16+ which start at 7:30pm and last 2 hours, these tours are not for the faint-hearted but participants get given hot soup.

How: The Haunted Tours are funded by the ticket sales and by English Heritage which are funded by a Government grant and memberships.

The ticket prices are; Day time Adults £6.00, Children £3.00, the evening tours are Adults £15.00, Members £12.00

Driver: English Heritage host these tours at Pendennis Castle to generate more visitors and recognition for the castle.

Reference-

www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/pendennis-castle/

www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Cornwall-s-haunted-castle/article-399204-detail/article.html

Assignment

"Identify one event from each of the sectors (heritage, entertainment 
and visual arts) taking place regionally during next 6 months – produce 

500 words including key details on all 3 events for learning log"

Cornwall is being recognised as a booming cultural region and the creative industries in the south west are growing rapidly, which makes being involved in cultural organizations in Cornwall at this moment, very exiting.

CEM - Week 0

I moved into halls on Sunday 26^th September, in the evening we had a ‘meet your mentor’ session in the Stannary, where I met most people from my course. The next morning we had a Lecture with the whole of the writing department to meet the lectures and learn about the department.

They gave us a task to do in groups of 5-8, I went into a group with people who were sitting closest to me and it turned out we were a pretty good group. Our task was to map a certain part of the Falmouth/Penryn area in an unconventional way. So my team met up the next day and we through a lot of ideas around, by the end of our meeting we had so many ideas that we hadn’t actually chosen one idea. We met up later and drove to our location we had been given, we had decided to map the puddles in our area but we all thought that wasn’t a crazy enough concept for our group so someone suggested we put really random objects in the puddles. We got back to the library after taking the photographs and started photoshoping random objects and characters into our photos, and our plan started to come together.

When the presentation of our mapping task came about everybody showed us their projects and some of them were very creative but others you could tell that there group had not got along. When it came to our presentation we all divided the photos up so we would talk about each photo individually. I talked about a photo where Mario is drifting round and puddle, when we had finished we asked if there were any questions and many people put there hands up, most questions were along the lines of ‘what drugs are you taking?’ and ‘why?’ but we were very pleased because our project was very different from others and that’s what we thought the task was about not just mapping the area we were given.

So my first week was a lot of fun, and I went to all the freshers events including the Pirate Party and explore de Fal, I met of lot of new people and I really enjoyed the mapping task because my group really bonded and I made some good friends.

So...I haven't used my blog in a while, but I’m now going to use it as a learning log and an outlet to show my work for Creative Event Management BA(Hons).