ATLAS Event Experiences Research Project – Update March 2018

ATLAS Event Experiences Research Project – Update March 2018 New Data Data has recently been contributed to the ATLAS Event Experience Project by Paweł Piotrowski from the Department of Marketing Management and Tourism at the University of Economics in Katowice, Poland. He conducted research at Industriada (http://industriada.pl/), which is a Festival of the Industrial Monuments Route. The event has been organized annually since 2009. This one day event covers many different industrial heritage locations in whole region of Upper Silesia. This is an exceptional day when "technology attracts people" and industrial spaces are filled with diverse events including spectacles, artistic performances, exhibitions, happenings, shows, competitions and creative workshops. Being related to industrial heritage, this event generated a fairly cognitive emphasis in visitor experiences, but relatively low levels of affective response. Compared with other events surveyed with the EES, the Polish event seems to be regarded at fairly unique by participants. Mexico I thought this was unique I was outside my 'normal life' This event was different from others I was active UK I was excited 6,50 6,00 5,50 5,00 4,50 4,00 3,50 3,00 2,50 2,00 Poland I got emotionally recharged I experienced intimacy I felt a sense of adventure I was aware of my own values I reflected on ideas I got I wanted to relive this later I was interpreting things for myself I acquired new knowledge I learned something I was thinking I used my intellect New Publication A paper on the experience of Carnival in Brazil was presented by Carla Borba and Lénia Marques at the 4th International Conference on Events in Florida. The paper can also be downloaded from: http://stars.library.ucf.edu/ice2017/2017/wednesday/32/ The full conference proceedings can be downloaded from: http://stars.library.ucf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1094&context=ice2017 Paper presented at the 4th International Conference on Events (ICE) 2017: Beyond the Waves, Rosen College of Hospitality Management, Orlando, Florida, USA. December 2017. Parallel Session 7, Cultural Festivals and Education Track: Carnival Event Experience in Brazil Lenia Marques, Universidade Aberta Carla Borba, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco Purpose This paper aims to present the results of the event experience scale (EES) of Carnival in Brazil. This event is the most popular in the country and its a stage where people can express creativity, preparing their own costumes to use each day of the festival, months ahead of the event. Understanding the different dimensions of the Carnival experience can bring insights on cultural and social aspects of events. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a quantitative approach, drawn from the Event Experience Scale (EES) which was developed as a tool that helps understand and measure event experiences (Geus et al. 2015; Richards, 2017). Data was collected with an online questionnaire, using the full scale in 2016, and the reduced scale in 2017. It was therefore a convenience sampling and snowball approach, and mainly use of social media for the research. In total, there were 600 complete responses, 250 for 2016, and 350 for 2017. Findings As the EES focus on four specific dimensions of the event experience (affective, cognitive and physical engagement and experiencing newness), carnival showed higher levels of emotional excitement and local participation as particular characteristics. Overall, the results point out to a highly positive experience. Research limitations/implications Although these initial findings are interesting, future research could also use experimental design to confirm findings by focusing on specific variables in the cause and effect relationship of the exhibitor and attendee relationship. Additionally, this study only focused on the previously discussed variables of touch frequency, crowding, talk frequency, and motivation; since additional environmental and external variables are embedded in an actual expo environment (e.g., product category, additional people in the environment, music, attractiveness of company employees, and day/time of the expo), future studies should be employed to examine how differing external variables impact expo interactions. Although Carnival participants are from all ages, most respondents are between 20 and 59 years. The respondents in both years are mostly from Brazil (over 98%), which is not surprising as it is a strong cultural festival. As compared to four other festivals, Carnival has a strong identity emphasis (Richards, 2017). This would explain also that the frequency of their participation in the celebrations showed that 67% for 2016 and 64% for 2017 said that they had always participated since they could remember. The main motivations to celebrate Carnival were social reasons, such as entertainment, because people like to be in the festival especially with friends and family. As we compare how respondents understood that they would be active in the festival, there was difference between 2016 when only 10,50% felt that they were active and 68,67% in 2017. This might be due to the fact that even though the participants are active (dancing and playing), they felt that they were not part of a specific "bloco" (Carnival group). In 2017, there were many Carnival group leaders who posted the survey in social media. In fact, not only were they more active, when belonging to a "bloco", but this also has an effect on the overall experience, because the fact that belonging to a "bloco" shows that all the items of the experience scale are higher in this group of respondents. Moreover, creative dimensions are systematically higher in the group of people belonging to a Carnival group. The two highest means in both groups relate to the appreciation of Carnival as a creative event (6.46 and 6.79 out of a 7 point Likert scale) and the active playfulness (with 6.50 and 6.16 out of 7). The difference between the groups in having new ideas and feeling creative is significant and it implies that creativity levels and creative outputs are more likely to be produced when people belong to a group. Findings for this cultural event suggest that respondents are intrinsically motivated to participate (44,33% of the answers in 2016 and 64,16 % in 2017), since Carnival is considered part of their life since they can remember. Findings for 2016 also suggest that social media was specially used during Carnival, namely Facebook and Instagram. Research limitations/implications As data was mainly collected through social media, data should be interpreted bearing in mind that the sampling method may allow bias in the type of visitor. The access of survey through social media possibly limits responses from high socio-economic class. Also it might be limited in terms of the lifestyle choices and range of age, as there are many people above 50 who are also involved in specific Carnival groups for over 30 years and who don't necessarily use social media. Practical implications As Finkel (2004) points out, and in line with the results, Carnival in Brazil does not match what the author calls "McFestivalisation", or "excessive sameness" (Leenders, van Telgen, Gemser, & Van der Wurff, 2005) of festivals since the consumer is co-creator of their own experiences. Event visitors, including the Carnival respondents, value their subjective experience, the ambience and feel of an event, more than the program offered (Kooistra, 2011). The creative element is important, mainly the passive appreciation of creativity and playfulness, which can be worked at different levels when organising Carnival, for all audiences. As for the creative element, clearly there is space to develop products and appeal to developing Carnival experiences which have a more participatory activity – in a Carnival group – since this will increase the levels of creativity and creative feel, as well as the overall experience in all its dimensions. There is also potential for development in terms of destination management, with high involvement of people in creative events, being not only a strong driver for attracting people to the location, but as well as an important element for identity. In fact, creativity plays an important role in the involvement of the community as well as in the distinctive character of the event, which makes it specific in the destination. The creative element is particularly important in Carnival, both in the passive appreciation of creativity and in the inherent playfulness for all audiences. In comparison with other events, Carnival in Brazil presents strong emotional dimensions, related for example with strong levels of excitement. (Richards, 2017). This result in itself can be brought to attention in creating and optimising social and emotional capital. For event organisers and policy makers, these results focused on the experience can potentially provide the platform for facilitating improved Carnival experiences as well as using these as assets in placemaking strategies. Based on the results, paths for further development and quality of the Carnival experience will be highlighted, in a way that policy makers and other stakeholders can re-think ways to improve the event experience in a creativity framework. Originality/value Despite the fact that much has been written about Carnival, in particular in the field of Cultural Studies and Sociology, only a few studies have been focusing on the event. This paper bridges the gap in its insights on understanding Carnival as an event experience in its multiple dimensions. References De Geus, S; Richards, G.; Toepoel, V. (2015). Conceptualisation and Operationalisation of Event and Festival Experiences: Creation of an event experience scale. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 16 (3), 274-296. Finkel, R. (2004). McFestivalisation? The Roles of Combined Arts Festival in the UK Cultural Economy. Paper presented at the Journeys of Expression III: Tourism and Festivals as Transnational Practice, Innsbruck. Leenders, M. A. A. M., van Telgen, J., Gemser, G., & Van der Wurff, R. (2005). Success in the Dutch music festival market: The role of format and content. International Journal on Media Management, 7(3–4), 148–157. Richards, G.; Santana, A. (2017). Measuring event experiences: An international view. Experiencias turísticas de festivales y eventos. El Sauzal (Tenerife, Spain), PASOS, RTPC. More information on the ATLAS Event Experiences Project can be found on https://independent.academia.edu/gregrichards