Moving towards responsible events management

Purpose – This article attempts to provide a concise overview of the approaches towards managing events in a changing market environment and summarises issues of responsibility, sustainability and quality management within events organisations. Design/methodology/approach – In doing so, the paper will reconcile elements of corporate social responsibility and sustainable development within organisations. Whilst within a context of the events industry, the article will synthesise total responsible management and concepts of sustainable events management and provide an introduction towards a premise of responsible events management. Findings – A mapping of management models found parallels that can be drawn upon to create a responsible event management approach, embedded by an amalgamation of quality management and sustainable principles. Practical implications – In essence, the combination of approaches enables a business value and ethical led development towards responsible management and one which represents a holistic understanding and strategic intent to reduce event organisation impacts. Originality/value – This article represents a theoretical introduction to concepts that underpin the development of knowledge towards sustainable management within the events industry and will allow students, academics and practitioners to develop an introductory awareness.