Why Event Research?

The human mind is inquisitive and ever questioning. It wants to know why things are as they are what can be changed? How things could be improved? Can we get something bigger, better, something new all these has given rise to research and research has given basis to new findings, improvement and inventions. It is this spirit of research that has made a lot of fields progress and become dynamic.

A lot of fields like IT, Marketing, Advertising, Media, System, HR, etc. has seen a lot of research, students have been told to make projects, people are studying new methods, constantly developing, improving and innovating.

Events as a study have come into India very late, when National Institute of Event Management started Asia’s first course, and research on events is minuscule. Events have never been a topic of research, or a study in India and hence the average Indian event manager appears to be an organized supplier rather than a conceptualizer or consultant. There is absolutely no event evaluation, and yet this field is growing so fast, it is high time we did a good research in this field. A good scientific, well structured research in events would go a long way in providing this field with a respectability and status which is long overdue. Research will also bring better techniques, new findings, solutions to longstanding problems and even new innovations.

The pioneers of event study NIEM wants to initiate this new revolution and requests your absolutely essential and worthy inputs to the new concept of ‘Constructive Event Research’. NIEM has started a new research cell called ‘Hilla Bhiwandiwalla Centre for Event Research (NIEM)’. NIEM’s research centre does not want to start with PhD or a very detailed long, drawn and laborious research process like what MPhil & PhD have to go through. It has initiated a short and simple research programmes.

The cell works like this:

• Any one who is student of event management or works in an event company, or is just plain interested in events, and has a passion for events research, need to register with the centre.
• He/she will be guided. He/she will have to think of a topic in events which he/she would like to research on.
• The student will have to submit a short synopsis of the thesis to us. The synopsis should contain the concept, why the research and the methodology to be used in details and how it will contribute to the event field. (It should be five to seven pages). The synopsis will have to be submitted to NIEM latest by 31st July.
• Five copies of the short dissertation (about 25 to 30 pages) will be submitted latest by 31st October, which will be placed before an eminent jury.
• The jury will have Dr. Hoshi Bhiwandiwalla of NIEM with few prominent and respected event personalities.
• The jury will go through the dissertation and will choose the best of the papers for the awards.
• The winners will be honoured with trophies and cash prizes at a glittering function. The awards will be distributed by the honourable member of jury who will first be felicitated. The function will also have a good entertainment programe.
• Every research participant will be invited to the function and the winners name will be announced in the function. All participants will be given a certificate of participation in research.
• The awards will be widely covered in media and inputs shared with all in the industry.