How to Conduct Event Research: Know Yourself and Your Client

To execute an event, research is the first crucial step. As the saying goes, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated." Only through meticulous and comprehensive research can we avoid disconnects between the planning and execution phases.

Generally, research involves collecting and organizing information, starting with discovering and analyzing local resources. Take the Guangdong Tourism Festival as an example: since it is a tourism festival, it is essential to first understand Guangdong's tourist attractions and its historical and cultural characteristics. Lingnan culture is representative of Guangdong, and communication and exchange have always been the lifeblood of Lingnan culture. From the ancient Maritime Silk Road to modern special economic zones, Lingnan culture has never ceased its dialogue and exchange with other cultures. Cantonese heritage, Hakka traditions, Chaoshan charm, and the South Sea breeze—these are Guangdong's historical and cultural features. In terms of natural landscapes, it boasts Danxia landforms, marine resources, the UNESCO World Heritage Kaiping Diaolou, and the Yongding Hakka earthen buildings. These elements are rich and complex, making them difficult to showcase in a single evening gala. Even a patchwork presentation would lack impact.

Just when the planning hit a deadlock, an opportunity emerged: the salvage of the Nanhai No. 1 shipwreck became a national focus. We seized this event and quickly developed the program theme "Tale of the Blue Sea," pioneering a musical epic narrative structure for a gala in China.

The second issue in planning is to collect and review past events and similar activities to ensure our plans are not only unique but also superior to others. Next, we must research the tourism market, as consumer orientation is key; even the best event will fail if the target audience is wrong. Finally, we need to analyze and summarize client needs, then filter the information—deciding which elements can become highlights and which have been done before and should be excluded. Only after synthesizing these elements can we better control the event's theme and program format. Remember, merely catering to client demands is insufficient and even dangerous, as it may lead them to think you lack substance and expertise. Your plan must make their eyes light up.

Preliminary research is crucial, but even more important is how you communicate with the client. Communication with clients requires skill, as they are our financial backers.

To create a successful event, communication between both parties must be direct and clear, not evasive, and we must not assume the other party thinks the same way. Information symmetry and mutual understanding between the client and the planner are always essential for event success. As the event planning party, we must communicate not only with leadership and decision-makers but also thoroughly with the execution liaison. Conversely, the event host has the obligation to articulate their needs as clearly and precisely as possible.

Simply put, you need to tell me what you want, and I will tell you what I can do. Through continuous alignment, we can achieve a common goal.

For example, in the bidding document for the opening ceremony of the 26th Summer Universiade in Shenzhen, the host's requirements were very explicit. First, the style of the opening ceremony: it must not be identical to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, nor use the same elements, because Shenzhen is a modern, open city without deep cultural history, so it should not be burdened with five thousand years of culture. Second, the theme slogan of the Universiade was "Start Here," symbolizing that Shenzhen is future-oriented, and the university student demographic differs from the Olympics. Third, clear requirements for the venue were stated: the stadium's load-bearing capacity was insufficient, limiting the use of wire-flying techniques, and the ceiling had a low melting point, so fireworks were absolutely prohibited. These requirements gave bidders a clear picture.

However, many clients may not think this thoroughly. As a good event host, communication with the planning party is essential. The host should not simply hire a planning company and then step back, leaving the planners to guess their needs, which leads to detours and insufficient time and solutions. Since the host is familiar with the local culture, history, and venue, they must clearly communicate their needs to the planners.

The worst case is when the host has not clarified their own needs; they only know they want an event but have no idea what it should be. What to do in such a situation?

The planning party should, based on collecting the host's local resources and without altering the host's basic needs, engage in equal communication to jointly distill the core value and demands of the event. For instance, during the 2007 Guangdong Tourism Festival, to enhance Guangdong's tourism brand, we suggested the client avoid a patchwork cultural gala and instead use an epic performance narrative to tie the entire show together, making it more distinctive and beneficial for brand and visibility. As it turned out, "Tale of the Blue Sea" achieved great success.

Of course, we offer different suggestions to match different client needs. For example, for the Hainan Joy Festival, the client had no specific requirements on attendance or format but emphasized that the event should be a collective carnival of joy. In response, we focused on scaling up the event's size.

In summary, research is a process of multi-source verification. As event planners, we should not be confined to surface-level opinions or easily give up when someone says an event cannot be done. Instead, we should maintain a positive attitude and seek multiple validations, just as Xu Sanduo said in "Soldiers' Sortie": "Never abandon, never give up." Because you must know that even clients have different perspectives and visions.