a. What is the objective of this event? Give a brief background to this event.

"More than just a simple party, the Marina Bay Singapore Countdown has become a tradition in modern Singapore. It’s an opportunity for Singaporeans to get together and unite with their common aspirations, hopes and dreams for the year ahead. Visitors to the Marina Bay area can even write their wishes down on special “Wishing Spheres” which will float on the waters of Marina Bay as an art installation."

The objective of this event is to bring Singaporeans and their families together and welcome the new year 2011.

b. Who is the target audience?

Mostly families, Singaporeans

c. How is the event publicized? (In other words, how does the target audience get to know about the event?)

Website, television and screens in public.

*However, I feel that it is not enough. (ie. as compared to the Siloso Beach Party countdown.)

d. Is the event reported in the media? If yes, how widely is it reported? (Do a quick analysis of the reports, in terms of the angles that the media take, the importance of the coverage, and your opinion of the impact of the coverage). If no, why do you think the media did not cover the event? What do you think could be done to attract media coverage?

Yes, the event is broadcasted LIVE on Channel 5 island wide where people can watch from home. It is a media-related event, thus it is reported.

To attract media coverage, the event must be big and the event's manager must have connections with the media/ the company must have good reputation so that the media is willing to cover.

e. Assume you are the manager overseeing this project. Evaluate the success/failure of this event. How would you do it differently for greater success?

In my opinion, I think that this event is not that of a big success because the crowd is not as overwhelming as foreseen, which was also reported at Channel News Asia.

Also, being part of the crowd, I feel that the event line-ups are not exciting enough, in other words, it is rather boring. At many times I feel like walking out of the event as there is nothing that interest me to make me want to stay. The atmosphere was rather stale and many people at the mosh pit could not be bothered to cheer. I would definitely be unwilling to pay money to watch the performances.

However, the fireworks is the one that made me stayed until the end of the event.

Also, the after party was not as crowded as expected. There was a lot of space which made it feel that it's not a party. Most of the people there just stood around and many left half way.

For greater success, I would probably bring in more popular performers. Instead of bands after bands, crews after crews, playing and dancing, maybe I would put in some magic shows to awe the audiences. Many of the bands and crews are not as popular among the young people as well. Maybe I would also give out some freebies that can bring enthusiasm in the crowd, for example, cans of red bull drink instead of just distributing light sticks.

There were pole dancing performances during this event but as quoted from one of my friend, she said, "I thought this is more like a family event." which may make it seem slightly more inappropriate to have such performances. Instead of this, I would suggest to invite celebrities to perform short comedies to entertain the audiences. This would be more suitable for families.

The Manager

Name: Adrian Chan

Age: 31

Post: Director

Company: BFF Concepts Pte Ltd

a. Briefly describe your job responsibilitiesas a manager.

- I am responsible for the overall management of the Best Fries Forever food outlets to ensure that operations run smoothly and that the business hits sales and profitability targets.

The responsibilities range from hiring and training of staff, to inventory management and finance and marketing.

b. What is your management style?

- My management style is managing everything in the simplest yet most efficient and profitable way.

(After I briefly describe to him about the various style of management, I concluded that he has taken the modern approaches to management. This is because he definitely has leadership, and although he is flexible with most rules, he still ensures quality in their products.)

c. What are some of the difficulties you face as a manager?

1. Ensuring that service and food quality are consistently up to standard

2. Hiring, retention, and motivation of good staff

d. How do you overcome these difficulties?

1.

i. By relentless instilling in staff the need to maintain a high quality throughout.

ii. Investing more time in staff training and to have the best employees conduct training for new staff.

iii. Vigilant monitoring of food and service quality and not tolerating sub par standards.

iv. Seeking to make continuous improvements in operations.

v. Learning from other businesses that are consistently able to uphold a high standard.

2.

i. Reward and recognize good performance and behavior

ii. Allowing employees that demonstrate managerial potential to undertake greater responsibilities over time.

iii. Creating non-monetary reasons for employees to stay. Eg flexible working hours, fun working environment, challenging job-scope.

e. In your opinion, what makes a good manager?

- A good manager is someone that is able to bring out the full potential of his subordinates and who is able to create a team that is able to function effectively even in the absence of the manager.

This takes a lot of people skills, patience, and optimism. A good manager must be able to motivate his employees and to get them to buy into his/her vision of the business.

Interview done on: Wednesday 6:13PM at Best Fries Forever, Raffles City.

Testing.