ABSTRACT
Since the 1960s, our understanding of events has developed as different social science disciplines have expanded their interest in new phenomena such as events. One of the drivers of its growth and development is the considerable increase in disposable income in many households in the developed and developing worlds. However, gains in affluence have to be weighed up against greater time pressures for much of the working population, which has led to a demand for structured, high-quality experiences, such as events. In this respect, the experiences that events can offer to modern money-rich time-poor leisure consumers are a reflection of wider post-modern leisure and tourism production and consumption. One of the consequences of this demand, alongside the recognition of positive impacts that
events can yield for the economy and other aspects of social and political interest, has been the development of government strategies and funding, as many of the chapters in this book have shown. As the discussion of the introduction indicated, this has also been accompanied by the rise of a growing corporate recognition of the commercial power of events and the expansion of event management companies. One indication of the scale and significance of this growth is reflected in the UK exhibition/events industry which is worth £9.3 billion per annum. Alongside this has been a growth in the voluntary/community events sector with a corresponding public sector involvement reflected in the creation of national event strategies, as well as more destination-specific strategies that have identified and developed event portfolios and a requirement for an increase in public sector funding. One of the key functions that the public sector has taken up is the coordination of event services. However, as some of the chapters in this book have demonstrated, there has sometimes been an overstatement of economic arguments but seemingly less recognition of the importance of social and environmental outcomes. As this book has shown, the categorisation of events and attempts to delineate the scope and
extent of what is an event (and, likewise, what is not) remains an area of considerable debate. One element of this discussion derives from the sociological dimension where holidays and trips are deemed to be ‘events’ in social and psychological terms, even though an event in this context does not fit within the conventional terminology of a staged activity with an infrastructure and of temporary occurrence. This is one example of how the terminology we currently use may be expanding and developing across the social sciences to the point where there is a need for greater integration of these disparate and yet interconnected perspectives in the future. What
is apparent from this book is that the chapters have encouraged a greater multidisciplinary debate among scholars in the field of Event Studies to review many of the past, present and future research agendas and discourse on specific themes. As the introduction indicated, the intention of this book was never to provide a checklist textbook format to review every topic which a student might possibly cover in a degree. To the contrary, the book has dispensed with such an approach and commissioned essays that review specific themes in detail to extend our knowledge of the subject, as opposed to simply synthesising much of the conventional wisdom. In this respect, the book achieves its stated aim to review many of the fast-changing themes in Event Studies and to provide a greater degree of intellectual leadership for an emerging subject area that is still in the classic growth stages of the product lifecycle and enjoying major success as more and more people sample the delights of the product. This rapid growth has posed many important questions for the subject in relation to a
number of key themes and questions, including:
What is the subject’s identity after many years of profound growth? What are the main drivers of the research activity and how can the status of its research
efforts be better elevated to the standing of many of its parent subjects? How can significant practitioner impact and influence be better translated into academic
recognition and development? What are the major research topics and questions for the future?
