What is an event?

Event – a definition

First of all, let’s dare to define the term. What does the word “event” mean? In short, it is simply a summary of events of all kinds. In the actual, original sense, however, only “special” events, i.e. those that have a unique or spectacular character. More on this later.

At this point, it should be said that the term event refers to an organised, purposeful, time-limited event in which a group of people participate on site or – either exclusively or additionally – via media. This is brought to the participants as a target group via staging, interaction or multisensory addresses.

It is important to distinguish events from happenings that are not organised by people, such as natural spectacles, i.e. “natural events”, and to precisely characterise the properties of events in order to define them.

Let’s move on to the previously mentioned characteristics of events.

The following three properties are characteristic of events – especially in distinguishing them from other communication tools:

1. The staging,
2. interactivity and
3. multisensory.

What does this mean exactly?

Staging

On one hand, events – in contrast to natural events – are artificially created events organised by people for people. The respective target group is consciously activated by the variety offered and wants to stand out from the everyday reality of the participants. This non-everyday character means that even commercial events are usually perceived as non-commercial due to the unusual situations.

Interactivity

On the other hand, events are platforms for personal encounters between organisers and participants or between participants themselves. That is why events usually involve the participants in the events and arise from the interaction of all participants.

The participants are also called “prosumers” – both consumers and (co-)producers. This is why all participants play a significant role in shaping the event experience.

Multisensory

Not to be forgotten, events also transform communication messages into multi-sensory experiences. The aim is to appeal to as many of the participants’ senses as possible through physical stimuli. Seeing through visual stimuli such as pictures, videos or light; hearing through so-called auditory stimuli such as speech or sounds; smelling through olfactory stimuli, i.e. catering and location; tasting through gustatory stimuli, such as catering or tastings, and touching or feeling through haptic stimuli such as different surface structures or thermal stimuli such as room temperature. The attempt is always to create a so-called “total communication”, i.e. to address all senses simultaneously, as this is the only way to achieve a particularly comprehensive perception of the communication messages, brands and products. Therefore, the multisensory approach should never be forgotten – because in comparison to other communication tools, the participants are activated to an above-average extent.

Commercial and non-commercial events

The way in which events can be characterised is exemplified in the different types of events we will now discuss. Basically, events can be divided into commercial and non-commercial types. The latter includes, for example, private parties or even church services.

Events as a product or as a marketing tool

Much more important in this context, however, are the commercial events. These can in turn be divided into events as a saleable product and events as a marketing tool. In the case of the former, admission or fees are usually charged and marketed as a service product, such as cultural events or trade fairs. The second, on the other hand, is not considered a product itself, but merely an instrument used in communication policy that is needed to market other products.

These marketing events include organisations’ own events that take place for the purpose of fulfilling their own marketing or communication goals. These can be, for example, incentive events for employees, information events such as press conferences, promotional events for the purpose of sales promotion, sponsoring events within the framework of sporting or cultural events or trade fair events at the organisation’s own stand at trade fairs organised by third parties.

Events in history

Let’s move on to the historical aspect – where do events actually come from and what did they look like in the past?

Perhaps it’s a bit of a stretch to say that events are as old as mankind itself – but in principle you can think of it this way. After all, shows on certain occasions have been celebrated and organised since time immemorial. Whether sacrificial feasts, festivals in honour of deities, weddings or celebrations of certain customs. They are and have always been characterised by the fact that they break the daily routine and represent a highlight in life. In addition, they sharpen people’s senses for other things.

What differs from back then, however, is the content of the events. For more than 10,000 years ago, such events were celebrated primarily for religious reasons or for life-sustaining occasions, such as a particularly good hunt or harvest. Nowadays, there is a suitable event for every occasion: whether it’s a company celebration, an anniversary, a product launch or an environmental conference – the reasons for organising a party couldn’t be more diverse. Added to this are industrial change and increasing globalization and internationalization. Because now employees have to be motivated by incentives, sales figures have to be achieved and celebrated, products have to be improved and introduced and much more. The commonalities: information and entertainment. These were and still are the focus of every event.

Back then, the worship of a deity was often the origin of an event in ancient times. Fun Fact: This was also the origin of the Olympic Games, for example. From 776 BC to 393 AD, these meetings of the best athletes in Greece were held every four years in Olympia in honour of Zeus. It was not until 1896 that they were held again, but with a different aim. Now the social aspect was in the foreground in conjunction with economic activities.

In ancient Rome and the Middle Ages events were still strongly influenced by (Christian) faith, but the entertaining character increased more and more. Examples include carnival customs or Pentecost. These are so crucial in history because something was established there for the first time that today can be regarded as a fair or sales exhibition: Vendors offered goods.

A small leap in time to modern times – or more precisely to the Industrial Revolution: now, in the 19th century, events focused primarily on technical achievements. But world exhibitions were also very popular – not least because of this, the Eiffel Tower was constructed in 1889 to mark the World’s Fair in Paris.

But the negative effects of events should not be neglected here. Especially in the Third Reich, events were popular for mass manipulation, such as the Nazi Party Rallies in Nuremberg.

The 1960s, on the other hand, stand for positive examples of events with their numerous pop music events, such as the “Art & Music Fair” Woodstock 1969, as a symbol of peaceful human and communicative togetherness.

Nowadays, our everyday life is more diverse than ever and characterized by sensory overload. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly difficult for event concepts to break through this everyday life. Consequently, events have to become more and more unusual and special in order to get people out of their everyday lives.

Characteristics of events

In summary, events can be characterised by the following features:

An event is an organization that becomes a sensation, that is unique in the perception of the participants, that is positively remembered by the participants due to the activation, and that requires thoughtful organization and is a planned staging.

We hope we have been able to clarify the question of what an event is all about with this blog post – if you still have questions, we would be happy to hear from you at any time. We are also happy to receive feedback, requests or suggestions regarding our blog or our range of services. Don’t miss our next post about what a team event is.