Purpose: This assignment requires students to work in an event planning team and put into practice their event design and event planning knowledge. Teams of four students will collaborate on the design of the 2024 Lord Mayor's Student Welcome and document their design ideas in the form of an event pitch. Your aim is to design an event that attracts a large and diverse audience to the Lord Mayor's Student Welcome.

This task provides you with opportunities to develop the knowledge (ULO1) and skills (ULO3 and ULO4) required to design and plan an event. By completing this task you will develop your skills in the design, conceptualisation and initiation of an event. Context/Scenario

The purpose of the pitch is to get support and approval from the City of Melbourne and the Lord Mayor's Office to implement the event designed by your team.

Pitching is an incredibly important aspect of event management. As Berridge (2010) notes: Winning an event pitch is a crucial part of the events industry and is undertaken by most event management companies or agencies. It is highly competitive...Design and creativity are essential components that help make events memorable experiences, but...they also have a significant role in securing the event contract in the first place" (2010, pg. 208) Source: Berridge, G. (2010). Event pitching: The role of design and creativity. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 29(2), 208-215.

1 About the team Introduce your team and explain why you're the right team to design and deliver an incredible event experience for the Lord Mayor's office in one of their annual flagship events.

3 Audience Profile & Needs Your pitch should demonstrate to the client that you understand the event audience! Your pitch should explain how your event design connects specifically with your audience profile, and advances the client's overarching goals for the event. This part of the pitch is about research. Show your client (the reader/ City of Melbourne) you've done your homework on the student population in Melbourne. There are lots of sources online that will provide you with data.

Pro tip: a quick google search using the correct keywords will lead you to plenty of sources on the socio- demographic profile of the student population in Melbourne.

Keyword Ideas: students Melbourne data

You might also consider why a student welcome is important, in relation to some of the key challenges that students (both domestic and international) face during their time at university. Examples include: racism, mental health, student debt, long commutes, isolation

The ideas about event design you explored in the case study blog assignment should be applied to the design of your event.

This part of your event pitch should include some specific details on key programming activities you are proposing as part of your pitch. What will the audience "do" at your event?