This paper provides an introduction to Special Issue on ‘Event Experiences: Measurement and Meaning’. It reviews the research conducted by the ATLAS Event Group over the past decade, and highlights the interplay between qualititative and quantitative research on events during this period. Major research themes related to the event experience are analysed, including the social dimension of events, event design, visitor engagement, eventful cities and event networks and platforms. The different quantative and qualitative contributions to the issue are introduced and compared.
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Abstract: Experiences are becoming increasingly important in events and festivals, which are prime manifestations of the experience economy. However, research on event experiences has generally been concerned with economic impacts and visitor motivations [Gursoy, D., Kim, K., & Uysal, M. (2004). Perceived impacts of festivals and special events by organizers: An extension and validation. Tourism Management, 25(2), 171–181. doi:10.1016/s0261-5177(03)00092-x]. Few studies have attempted to operationalise and quantitatively analyse experiences, and there is no consensual definition regarding the essence of experiences [Walls, A. R., Okumus, F., Wang, Y., & Kwun, D. J.-W. (2011). An epistemological view of consumer experiences. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 30(1), 10–21. doi:10.1016/j.ijhm.2010.03.008]. This article develops an Event Experience Scale (EES) for event experiences. In this exploratory study the item generation and selection for this scale are presented in three phases: specifying the domain of construct and generation of items, item selection, and scale purification. An 18-item scale, comprising four dimensions – affective engagement, cognitive engagement, physical engagement, and experiencing newness – with satisfactory values for Cronbach's alphas (.83,.86,.86, and.87), emerged. Implications for theoretical and practical research are discussed.
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The pervasive use of media at current-day festivals thoroughly impacts how these live events are experienced, anticipated, and remembered. This empirical study examined event-goers’ live media practices – taking photos, making videos, and in-the-moment sharing of content on social media platforms – at three large cultural events in the Netherlands. Taking a practice approach (Ahva 2017; Couldry 2004), the author studied online and offline event environments through extensive ethnographic fieldwork: online and offline observations, and interviews with 379 eventgoers. Analysis of this research material shows that through their live media practices eventgoers are continuously involved in mediated memory work (Lohmeier and Pentzold 2014; Van Dijck 2007), a form of live storytelling thatrevolves around how they want to remember the event. The article focuses on the impact of mediated memory work on the live experience in the present. It distinguishes two types of mediatised experience of live events: live as future memory and the experiential live. The author argues that memory is increasingly incorporated into the live experience in the present, so much so that, for many eventgoers, mediated memory-making is crucial to having a full live event experience. The article shows how empirical research in media studies can shed new light on key questions within memory studies.
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ALE organised an event with Parktheater Eindhoven and LSA-citizens (the Dutch umbrella organisation for active citizens). Five ALE students from the minor Imagineering and business/social innovation took responsibility for concept and actual organisation. On Jan 18th, they were supported by six other group members of the minor as volunteers. An IMEM-team of 5 students gathered materials for a video that can support the follow-up actions of the organisers. The students planned to deliver their final product on February 9th. The theatre will critically assess the result and compare it to the products often realised by students from different schools or even professional ones, like Veldkamp productions. Time will tell whether future opportunities will come up for IMEM. The collaboration of ALE and IMEM students is possible and adding value to the project.More than 180 visitors showed interest in the efforts of 30 national and local citizen initiatives presenting themselves on the market square in the theatre and the diverse speakers during the plenary session. The students created a great atmosphere using the qualities of the physical space and the hospitality of the theatre. Chair of the day, Roland Kleve, kicked off and invited a diverse group of people to the stage: Giel Pastoor, director of the theatre, used the opportunity to share his thoughts on the shifting role of theatre in our dynamic society. Petra Ligtenberg, senior project manager SDG NL https://www.sdgnederland.nl/sdgs/ gave insights to the objectives and progress of the Netherlands. Elly Rijnierse, city maker and entrepreneur from Den Haag, presented her intriguing efforts in her own neighbourhood in the city to create at once both practical and social impacts on SDG 11 (sustainable city; subgoal 3.2). Then the alderman Marcel Oosterveer informed the visitors about Eindhoven’s efforts on SDGs. The plenary ended with very personal interviews of representatives of two impressive citizen initiatives (Parkinson to beat; Stichting Ik Wil). In the two workshop rounds, ALE took responsibility for two workshops. Firstly the workshop: Beyond SDG cherrypicking: using the Economy for the common good’, in cooperation with citizen initiative Ware winst Brabant en Parktheater (including Social innovation-intern Jasper Box), secondly a panel dialogue on local partnerships (SDG 17) for the sustainable city (SDG 11) addressing inclusion (SDG 10) and the livability (SDG 3) with 11 representatives from local/provincial government, companies, third sector and, of course: citizen initiatives.
Events play an increasingly big role in our society. Whereas events were mainly considered entertainment in the past, the social function of events is becoming more and more apparent, in particular, in the field of social bonding and in creating a feeling of solidarity.During an event, visitors identify with a theme or topic, and interact with each other about it. Thanks to social media, they can continue these interactions online, which leads to a hybrid network of individuals sharing the same interests. Eventually, this may lead to forming new communities, who communicate with each other both online and offline. However, it is not clear yet how exactly these new communities are being created.This PhD research studies the online and offline interaction rituals of various events and online communities. Through interviews and participating observations at events such as Redhead Days and the Elfia fantasy event, processes are mapped out that result in forming communities at and around events.Partner: Tilburg University
Sinds de corona reset wordt in de culturele en creatieve sector volop geïnnoveerd om tijdelijke sluitingen en financiële verliezen te compenseren. Aanbieders van hoogwaardige culturele programma’s, zoals presentatie-instellingen en zelforganiserende collectieven, coördineren in hoog tempo digitale expositieruimtes, livestreams en online debatten, waarmee ze hun bestaande (offline en lokale) en nieuwe (online en mondiale) publiek bedienen. Soms ook tegelijkertijd, in een hybride evenement; met een beperkt live publiek én een onbeperkt aantal online bezoekers. Hoe zorgen zij dat beide groepen bij deze livecastings een gelijkwaardige ervaring hebben? En hoe benutten ze de potentie van dit opgenomen materiaal voor publicatie en blijvende publieksinteractie in hun digitaal (web)archief? Ad hoc coronaoplossingen behoeven nu toekomstbestendige doorontwikkeling. Met MKB’ers ontwikkelen we een langetermijnvisie op off/online kennisdeling van hun culturele aanbod, op voorwaarden van duurzaamheid en technologische onafhankelijkheid in het beheer en de data-opslag van hun gepubliceerde materiaal. Verregaande digitalisering en klimaatoverwegingen geven namelijk naast corona urgentie aan een visie op hybride programmering. In het onderzoek worden werkende principes ontwikkeld voor een langetermijnvisie op een hybride en kwalitatief hoogwaardig programma-aanbod, met het oog op het bedienen van nieuw en bestaand publiek na de corona reset, via participatieve livecasts van evenementen, de samenhangende verslaglegging daarvan middels publicaties die uiteindelijk in levende archieven te komen: Om het knelpunt van ‘schermmoeheid’ bij eindgebruikers van programma-aanbod te voorkomen, ontwikkelen we werkende principes in het oplossingsgebied ‘participatieve livecasting’, om de succespijler ‘gezamenlijke publiekservaring bij online evenementen’ te bewerkstelligen. Om het knelpunt van ‘gefragmenteerde informatievoorziening’ bij programma-aanbieders te voorkomen, ontwikkelen we werkende principes in het oplossingsgebied ‘hybride publicaties’, om de succespijler ‘samenhang in off/online programma-aanbod’ te bewerkstelligen. Om het knelpunt van een ‘reactieve houding’ bij programma-aanbieders te voorkomen, ontwikkelen we werkende principes in het oplossingsgebied ‘levende archieven’, om de succespijler van een ‘anticiperende houding in de werkwijze van programma-aanbieders’ te bewerkstelligen.
