The relationship between event and facilities management: A case study of the Melbourne Cricket Ground

Event management and facilities management are generally regarded as two separate disciplines. However, for a number of specialised facilities this separation has become blurred. Using the Melbourne Cricket Ground as a case study, this paper identifies how much of the routine facilities planning, including maintenance, cleaning, security, refurbishment and capital improvement, are treated as events and integrated with sporting fixtures as part of the annual event calendar. It is proposed that a similar situation is occurring with other specialised facilities, such as hotels and resorts, entertainment centres and tourist venues. Given event management and facilities management share a number of core areas of competency, such as those relating to procurement and sourcing, planning and scheduling, customer service delivery and sustainability, there is an opportunity to collaborate on the teaching of each discipline with a view to further optimising the performance of these types of specialised facilities. The paper concludes with some recommendations for educators, including the possible integration of generic business skills with discipline specific content using a practical problem-based approach.