Case Study 2:  Event Online Booking Systems: Europian Conference on Optical          Communication (ECOC)   FACTBOX ECOC 2003, Rimini International conference dealing with optical communications Around 1000 delegates fromup to 40 countries Four day programme including worshops, seminars, technical sessions, a welcome reception, a banquet and local tours

Case Study 2:

 Event Online Booking Systems: Europian Conference on Optical          Communication (ECOC)

FACTBOX

• ECOC 2003, Rimini
• International conference dealing with optical communications
• Around 1000 delegates fromup to 40 countries
• Four day programme including worshops, seminars, technical sessions, a welcome reception, a banquet and local tours

The process of booking  for events varies considerably depending on the type of event and the target market. Online booking systems are a feature of certain types of events, especially in the organizational category , where large numbers of people in the target market have access to the Internet. The annual Europian Conference on Optical communication (ECOC) is an international event taking place in a different Europian country every year. The conference deals with optical communications and one of the organizing bodies is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

The conference has an international reputation and includes an intensive programme of sessions over the four-day period. Delegates include not only industrialists and professionals in the industry, but also academics and students. The event is organized in such a way that delegates can attend the whole four days and as many sessions as they are interested in, or select particular activities. Delegates wishing to participate have to register (book) prior to the event. This is normal for this kind of event, and registration can be made in a number of ways:

• Booking by phone, post or email to the organizers themselves
• Booking by phone, post or email to an organizing agency or professional conference organizer (PCO)
• Booking via a website

In the case of this particular event, potential delegates are informed that the preferred method of booking is online and they are encouraged do this in preference to any other method. Clearly,  as this is a conference, not a public event, there is no booking on the day at the entrance, as final numbers are needed for room lay-outs. Meal ordering, etc. beforehand. This approach to booking has the advantage of administrative efficiency, since all bookings go to one central location where they can be o-ordinated and confirmed online, allowing organizers to check the status of bookings in real time, on a common system, without having to check through and count individual correspondence. The system has the further advantage of saving staff time, as the potential delegate fills in requirements on a standard online form.

Nevertheless, whilst useful for some types of events, this approach is not suitable for all. It could not be used on its own for sporting events, as many people will make a decision about attending shortly before the event and will buy a ticket on the gate. So, too, with many voluntary and charitable events, public open events and so on, where the equipment and systems do not exist to deal with this kind of online activity, nor might the potential target market have access to online systems or even be computer literate. For these reasons, event organizers must think carefully about the ticketing and booking systems they wish to set up in relation to their target markets and the usual way in which those target markets might buy a ticket or pay the entrance fee for an event.

Questions:

1. Why is online booking very suitable for organizational events of this type?
2. Why might such systems not be suitable for, perhaps, a public garden show?
3. What systems must be set up to support the booking process, by way of recording, dealing with enquiries, controlling total numbers, monitoring demand and gathering market research data about attendees?