Seminar - Bill O'Toole- Special Event Risk from a Project Management Perspective

Wednesday, April 4, 2001, 1.10 - 1.40 pm
Civil Engineering Lecture Room 3

Abstract

The presentation will attempt to find a solution to the current problem of special events risk management. The current situation is an ad-hoc collection, based on experience with heuristics as the foundation rather than a system's approach. Legal and business considerations, such as the recent Coroner's Report on the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race 1998, require event management industry to develop an applicable risk management practice. The two approaches are business risk as presented by internal rate of return and operational risk as presented by the qualitative risk management model. I intend to outline these first and then compare these models to a number of events. I would like to show that event risk is unique and cannot be covered by insurance. In particular the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, the Centenary of Federation events, and if I get their risk management plan in time, the Millennium Celebrations in London. The presentation will explore the various risk management models offered by project management and by comparing this with current special event practices, suggest a way forward for the events industry.