1. Introduction
To have a head start, the event chosen is the Nike Goddess 5K Marathon. This event was held on 7 May in the evening at 5PM at the Marina Barrage and it is an event only for females to participate. There were many volunteers who were local and mainly teenagers; and participants from Singapore as well as from overseas involved in this event. This event, Nike Goddess 5K Marathon is the first female running event held in Singapore. And, it was a success as the response was good.
Looking at the scale of the Nike Goddess 5K Marathon, it is not a very wide scale as this running event targets only females from the age range of perhaps 13 to 60. However, this running event had the capability of attracting a significant number of participants and volunteers to participate in the event as there were over 5000 runners who took part in this running event and over a hundred volunteers who helped out in this running event. In addition, there were entertainment line ups for the post race and activities for the pre race such as the training run that was organised. Three different bands namely; ‘Forgetting To Shower’, ‘Twoface’ and ‘53A’ were invited to perform. Utt and Holly from MTV was also invited to host this running event. In addition, music was played in the background. This showed that the Nike Goddess 5K Marathon made use of news media in running the event.
Impacts the Event Brings
The Nike Goddess 5K Marathon brought economic impact to Singapore. Having a buddy system for participants aged 25 and below where both participants in the buddy system pays $10 less each in order to participate in the event. With this buddy system, more people will be attracted to participate in this running event and signing up in teams as they can save more. With more people signing up in teams, this can help to generate and increase the tourism revenue in Singapore. Also, for tourists who come to Singapore to take in this running event, they might stay in Singapore for a longer period of time, and hence, this increases the tourism revenue too.
This running event also brought about political impacts to Singapore. Organising this race, it is able to attract visitors; especially those interested in running to visit Singapore and participate in this Nike Goddess 5K Marathon. Also, this running event creates economic benefits as it helped Singapore to generate its revenue and hence, increasing the net income of Singapore. In addition, this event can also boost the image and reputation of Singapore, increasing the international prestige. Furthermore, this running event provides social cohesion among the people as participants of different races and countries gather and run this race together.
Therefore, considering the scale of the event and the impacts it brings, the Nike Goddess 5K Marathon is a major event.
Purpose and Objective
The purpose of the Nike Goddess 5K Marathon is to encourage more females to enjoy running as well as to own the sport of running. In addition, to keep fit. Also, to allow females to showcase their triumphs and skills through the sport of running.
The objective is to bring forth to females about running. Also, to let females know that running is not just a thing for guys, running is for girls too. In addition, to let the females know and appreciate the art of running. Another objective is to let the females show their passion for running.
Target Market
The Nike Goddess 5K Marathon targets on females between the age range of around 13 to 60 years of age, be it whether you are a local Singaporean or a visitor to Singapore.
3. Strengths and Weaknesses
Environment and Venue
For the environment and venue, the strengths are people can enjoy the nice sceneries surrounding Marina Barrage. For example, people can watch sunset at the Marina Barrage, enjoying the nice sky view and also the view of the Integrated Resorts and the Singapore Flyer. Also, another strength will be the 3-in-1 benefits of Marina Barrage as being the fifteenth reservoir in Singapore. The three benefits are namely; water supply, flood control and lifestyle destination for everyone to enjoy.
Talking about water supply, the Marina Barrage is a dam built across the 350-metre wide Marina Channel to keep out seawater, forming Singapore's first reservoir in the city and 15th reservoir. Marina Reservoir combines with the future Punggol and Serangoon reservoirs will increase Singapore's water catchment areas from half to two-thirds of Singapore's land areas.
On 20 November 2010, the Marina Reservoir was commissioned by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew as a freshwater reservoir, augmenting Singapore’s water supply for generations to come. Desalting had begun in April 2009 through natural replacement by rainwater.
Local catchment water is one of the Four National Taps, with the other three being imported water, NEWater and desalinated water.
As one of the pillars of local water supply, Marina Reservoir will meet more than 10% of Singapore's current water demand. (http://www.pub.gov.sg/Marina/Pages/3-in-1-benefits.aspx#wc)
Moving on to flood control, the Marina Barrage is part of a comprehensive flood control scheme to alleviate flooding in the low-lying areas in the city such as Chinatown, Boat Quay, Jalan Besar and Geylang.
During heavy rain, the series of nine crest gates at the dam will be activated to release excess storm water into the sea when the tide is low. In the case of high tide, giant pumps which are capable of pumping an Olympics-size swimming pool per minute will drain excess storm water into the sea. In the case of high tide, giant pumps which are capable of pumping an Olympics-size swimming pool per minute will drain excess storm water into the sea.(http://www.pub.gov.sg/Marina/Pages/3-in-1-benefits.aspx#wc)
Lastly, for lifestyle destinations, as the water in the Marina Basin is unaffected by the tides, its water level will be kept constant all year round. This is ideal for all kinds of recreational activities such as boating, windsurfing, kayaking and dragon boating, running and more.(http://www.pub.gov.sg/Marina/Pages/3-in-1-benefits.aspx#wc)
One other strength of the venue will be the large amount of space that Marina Barrage has. With this big space, many activities such as flying a kite, having a picnic, or even having a flea market can be held at the green grass patch.
Another strength of the environment and the venue will be the environmental sustainability.
For the green roof, the iconic Green Roof uses 100% recycled plastics and eco-friendly drainage cells. This large rooftop garden also provides natural heat insulation for the building. The grass and the soil shield the building from the sun and reduces maximum surface temperature by 19˚C. (http://www.pub.gov.sg/Marina/Pages/Environmental-Sustainability.aspx)
For double-glazed panels, it reduces heat penetration, minimizing the electricity that the air-conditioning system needs to use. (http://www.pub.gov.sg/Marina/Pages/Environmental-Sustainability.aspx)
As for solar park, it is one of the largest collections of solar panels in Singapore. The 405 panels generate about 50% of the daytime electricity needed for indoor lighting and power points at the barrage. (http://www.pub.gov.sg/Marina/Pages/Environmental-Sustainability.aspx)
For natural lighting and ventilation, the Pump House at Marina Barrage uses glass and louvers for its external walls so that the interior is lit by natural lighting. This also eliminates the need for air-conditioning and reduces electricity consumption and operation costs.(http://www.pub.gov.sg/Marina/Pages/Environmental-Sustainability.aspx)
For rainwater collection, rainwater is collected to meet irrigation requirements.(http://www.pub.gov.sg/Marina/Pages/Environmental-Sustainability.aspx)
For water efficient fixtures, Marina Barrage uses waterless urinals and water-efficient taps in its restrooms. The non-flushing urinals do not need a water connection and flush valve.(http://www.pub.gov.sg/Marina/Pages/Environmental-Sustainability.aspx)
And for sustainable Singapore Gallery, the facility houses a gallery highlighting Singapore’s efforts and achievements in maintaining a sustainable environment. Through interactive multi-media displays, exhibits and games, it educates the public about important environmental and water issues. (http://www.pub.gov.sg/Marina/Pages/Environmental-Sustainability.aspx)
Now moving on, the weakness is there will be land and water pollution at Marina Barrage as people will tend to throw their litters anywhere convenient for them. For land pollution, people might just litter on the floor and on the big patch of grass field as there are not many rubbish bins around that area. Furthermore, people are lazy to walk to the nearest rubbish bin to dispose their litter. Hence, they will just throw their litter anywhere on the ground where it is the most convenient for them. As for water pollution, people might just dump their rubbish into the reservoir as they will think that by doing so, they will not be caught easily. Also, it saves them the trouble of walking the distance to the nearest rubbish bin.
Programming
The strengths of programming are this running event provides post race entertainments and post race stalls for the participants and volunteers to enjoy. After the end of the whole race, participants will be gathered at the grass field to enjoy the food that is provided, have their photos taken by the volunteers for them, enjoy sports massage by the masseurs and watch the live performance of the bands that were invited to perform. And at the end, for the volunteers, they will get to enjoy the food that is provided for them and to enjoy the live performance by the bands. In addition, there was also pre race activities organised for the participants like the training runs. Having the training run is to let the participants have a ‘sneak preview’ of the feel of how the race is going to be like.
One other strength is the planning of the event was successful as the whole running event was very smoothly carried out. There were no cock ups and everything went according to plan.
As for the weakness, there is no weakness in the programming as everything was just so smoothly carried out and there were no faults.
Comparing with Sundown Marathon, there was also a pre race activity organised such as the training runs for the participants. Also, there were masseurs to massage the participants after the race. In addition, this event also made use of media as music was also played in the background.
Therefore, making a comparison of these two events, there is not much of a difference as both have pre and post race activities.
Manpower Allocation
As for the strengths for manpower allocation, it is that the number of volunteers allocated to each of the stations; like registration, information counter, store baggage area are just nice. In each of the various stations, there was no shortage of volunteers helping out. Manpower strength was enough for each of the stations.
And as for the weakness, it will be that there was not a very even spread of male and female volunteers allocated to the various stations. Some of the stations that require more male volunteers to be around had more female volunteers at those stations instead. Therefore, this caused some minor problems as the speed of doing the work was slower. For example, at the baggage area station, there were more female volunteers than male volunteers to help to carry and store the bags of the participants. Thus, this resulted in a slower speed of storing the bags as some of the bags are really heavy and females have lesser strength to carry those bags. Thus, it took a longer time and this resulted in the queue being long and other participants had to wait for some time before their turn.
Logistics
The strengths of the logistics are that all the things were properly packed and prepared for the participants. One example is the race pack. Everything that was supposed to be in the race pack was packed nicely before the participants went to collect the race packs. Another strength is all the bottles of 100 plus, the gifts for the participants were all readily prepared and arranged before the race. Also, the various stations that provided the gifts and the drinks were set up before the start of the race so as to be able to cater to all the runners after the race.
There are no weaknesses faced for the part on logistics as everything was well prepared beforehand.
4. Ways to maximize the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of the event
Some of the ways to maximize the strengths are to continue to develop the strengths that Nike Goddess 5K Marathon is currently having. Another way is to continue to work on the strengths and make use of the strengths. For example, have the post race entertainments and pre race activities.
Moving on, some of the ways to overcome the weaknesses is to think of ideas to deal with the weaknesses so as to improve. Another way is to look into the problem of the weakness and solve it. For example, the land and water pollution problem.
5. Future Trends of the Event
The future trends of Nike Goddess 5K Marathon will be Singapore might continue to host this running event once a year so as to attract more visitors to Singapore to participate in this race; especially those who are interested and into running. By using this running event as a channel to attract more visitors to Singapore, this can make the visitors have a longer length of stay in Singapore, and hence, increasing the tourism revenue in Singapore. Another future trend is Nike Goddess 5K Marathon might be continued to be held once every year. One other future trend is this running event might have longer distances such as 10km, half marathon. This is to make the event even more competitive.
6. Future Challenges of the Event
Some of the future challenges of Nike Goddess 5K Marathon will be the organizers of this running event will have to continue to think of ideas to better improve this running event so as to make it a better one each year. Also, the organizers will have to establish good relationship with the sponsors so that the sponsors will sponsor this event each year it is held. This can save the trouble of sourcing for new sponsors. Furthermore, the organizers also have to build a strong relationship with the volunteers so that these volunteers will continue to stay loyal. Another future challenge is that the organizers of this running event will have to maintain the good standard and reputation that it has already established, otherwise the successfulness of the event will drop and the reputation of Singapore will also be affected as Singapore is the host for this running event. Another future challenge is the organisers will have to source for the routes for longer distances such as 10km, half marathon. Also, they will have to source for other routes for the 5km distance, otherwise it will not be competitive for the participants who participate continuously in this running event. One other future challenge is that the organisers will have to think of ways to make this running event more appealing to more females; locally and overseas, so as to attract them to participate in this running event. Thus, being able to portray the objectives and purpose of the Nike Goddess 5K Marathon more clearly and to increase the tourism revenue and the net income of Singapore.
7. Marketing Tool
The online tools were effectively used as a marketing tool to market this running event as it made use of social networking channels such as Facebook and Twitter. Through Facebook, many people found out about the race, including myself. Nike Goddess 5K Marathon had an event page on Facebook. Therefore, when it appears at the side bar of the profile, people will click it and hence, know about this running event. In addition, some people also tweeted about this running event on Twitter. By tweeting, it is able to reach a greater pool of people across the world. Thus, the online tools were effectively used as a marketing tool to market this running event.
8. Conclusion
To conclude, in a nutshell, the Nike Goddess 5K Marathon is a major event and it was successful in being the first race for only females to participate. Also, there were more strengths than weaknesses and everything went well according to plan. This contributed to the success of this running event too. Furthermore, by maximizing the strengths and minimizing the weaknesses of this running event can bring about a greater and better Nike Goddess 5K Marathon. In addition, some of the future challenges that might be faced are based on the future trends that might occur. Also, the online tools such as Facebook and Twitter were used effectively as a marketing tool to market this running event.
Therefore, Nike Goddess 5K Marathon is a great success despite having some weaknesses as this running event was held for the first time
References
Motoring.asiaone.com. Available:
http://motoring.asiaone.com/print/News/Latest%2BNews/New%2BMarket/Story/A1Story20110401-271314.html
Last accessed 27 June 2011
Eco-asia.info. Available:
http://www.eco-asia.info/content/sp-marina-barrage
Last accessed 29 June 2011
Pub.gov.sg. Available:
http://www.pub.gov.sg/Marina/Pages/3-in-1-benefits.aspx#wc
Last accessed 29 June 2011
Pub.gov.sg. Available:
http://www.pub.gov.sg/Marina/Pages/Environmental-Sustainability.aspx
Last accessed 29 June 2011
P3planningengineer.com. Available:
http://www.p3planningengineer.com/mb_open/mb%20brief.htm
Last accessed 29 June 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment