Event Horizon-Shaping Campus Culture Through Advanced Event Management

Abstract

In the dynamic and bustling environment of a college campus, effective event management is crucial to ensure the seamless organization of various activities and to provide students with a centralized platform to access event information. Club managers encounter challenges when it comes to identifying available venues, managing bookings, and promoting their events effectively. On the other hand, students face difficulties in staying updated about upcoming events and registering for those of interest. Our project Event Horizon aims to develop an integrated Event Management System (EMS) that caters to the needs of both club managers and students, thereby enhancing the overall campus experience.

Introduction

I. INTRODUCTION

In this fast-paced and ever evolving ecosystem of college campuses, event management plays a pivotal role in nurturing community engagement and shaping the campus culture. The "Event Horizon", with its motto "Shaping Campus Culture," addresses the challenges faced by both students and club managers in organizing and participating in college events. To state some problems; college club managers often face complexities like venue management, event promotion, and audience targeting; while students face problems like keeping track of upcoming events and seamlessly registering for those that ignites their interest. To solve this problem, our project is an Event Management System (EMS), which will not only streamline the administrative processes for club managers but also offers a user-friendly, centralized platform for students. This system incorporates features such as event registration, venue booking, real-time calendar updates, targeted audience engagement, and administrative oversight, ensuring a holistic solution to campus event management challenges. In this research paper, we will dive deep into the design, implementation, and impact assessment of the "Event Horizon" project, also discussing its potential to revolutionize campus event management.

II. STUDY OF EXISTING SYSTEMS

Existing event management systems offer a diverse range of solutions, each addressing specific aspects of event coordination and management. Google Calendar, for instance, provides a widely adopted platform for scheduling and sharing personal and professional events. While user-friendly, it primarily caters to personal scheduling, lacking advanced event management features, making it less suitable for the complexities of college event coordination. In contrast, Eventbrite focuses on event promotion and ticketing, offering robust marketing tools for event organizers, but with limited support for venue management and booking.

SignUpGenius offers an easy-to-use sign-up sheet creation and management system, suitable for small-scale events and volunteer sign-ups, yet its focus remains on sign-up sheets rather than comprehensive event management. CampusGroups, on the other hand, caters to student organizations and offers features for event creation, promotion, and ticketing, making it well-suited for student clubs but potentially less adaptable for college-wide events.

When2Meet simplifies event scheduling by identifying suitable times for participants based on availability, but it primarily serves as a scheduling tool, lacking features for event promotion and registration.

In summary, these existing systems have strengths in specific areas of event management but fall short of offering a comprehensive solution for the challenges faced by college campuses. 'Event Horizon' aims to address these limitations by integrating venue booking, event promotion, event discovery, and student engagement features into a single, cohesive Event Management System tailored to the unique needs of society managers and students.

III. PROPOSED SOLUTION

The "Event Horizon" project offers a comprehensive solution to campus event management, catering to the diverse needs of students, club managers, and administrators.

It streamlines the event lifecycle, from creation and promotion to registration and post-event activities. The following proposed solutions seek to revolutionize event management in the college environment, enhancing the overall campus experience. The proposed features are –

A. Event Discovery and Registration

It will provide features for Students to easily browse and search for either upcoming or past events. This platform will filter events based on eligibility criteria like department, year, etc. It will have a very user appealing and detailed Event Details page which will include date, time, venue, and club information. It will allow users for hassle free Single-click registrations. One of the most important features of this project is its Real-time event updates and a comprehensive calendar view, which we will discuss in a later section.

B. Event Creation and Promotion

Event Horizon will provide club managers / Faculty to create detailed event pages with media uploads like event banners, post event photographs and reports. It also provides features to edit events as well. During the time of event creation, it will ask for eligibility criteria for registering for an event, later this app will use that criterion for audience targeting and precise event promotion. Another innovative feature is Targeted messaging, using this feature club managers can send broadcast messages and notifications to register students.

C. Providing Temporary Student Access

It will allow club managers to give temporary access to a particular event to selected students. This feature will allow students to edit event info and allow them to share event photographs and reports. Club managers can take the access anytime they want.

D. Personalized Calendar

One of the most important features of Event Horizon is that our app will show a centralized calendar with event, holiday, and exam information. After an event gets approved by Admin, it will automatically sync and appear on the calendar. This feature will allow enhanced planning and time management for students.

E. Venue Booking and Management

It will allow Club managers to check venue availability, book venues for their events, and manage booking details. This real-time venue availability feature will ensure accurate booking.

F. Event Check-In and QR Scanning

When a student is created by admin Event Horizon will automatically generate a personalized QR code for that Student. Using this QR code will provide features like quick and secure check-in process for registered students. This means that for Exclusive events students can get entry only after QR code scanning. One of the key benefits of this feature is that it will help in tracking attendance and generating event reports.

G. Administrative Oversight

Admin can create, manage clubs, and assign faculty to that club. Admin is the only one who can create users. He can create a sign user at a time or can create multiple users using excel sheet upload feature. Admin will also have features like Venue creation, editing, and conflict resolution. Approval or rejection of events submitted by club managers will also be done by the admin. He can also create and manage academic events, such as holidays and exams.

IV. METHODOLOGY

The "Event Horizon" consists of different modules that will allow the user to perform various functions. The modules with their functionalities are –

A. Student Module

Students will have a user-friendly dashboard for event discovery. Features like Single-Click event registration and Event tracking will enhance their experience of using this app. Students will get Personalized event recommendations based on eligibility criteria. Students will have access to Centralized calendar view with event, holiday, and exam information all in one place. Every student will have its own unique and personalized QR code which will help in scanning for event check-ins and exclusive event access. Students will get notification and in-app messages for event updates.

B. Club Manager / Faculty Module

A club manager can create an Event and submit it for admin approval. He can also check Venue availability and can also check all the relevant Venue details. He can Edit event details after its creation. He can also provide temporary access to students for post-event content. Students with access to an event can edit its details and can do QR Scanning for entry and attendance marking. He can generate Broadcast messages and notifications regarding event updates.

C. Admin Module

An Admin can create and manage clubs and assign faculty to that club. He can also Create and edit venues. Admin is the one responsible for User management, including user creation and role assignments. Admin can create Academic events like, adding holidays and exams to the calendar. Admin also has responsibility of Approving or rejecting events submitted by club managers.

V. SCREENSHOTS OF PROPOSED SYSTEM

In the below Fig 2 we have attached several screenshots of the proposed system to demonstrate how the Event Horizon app will look like –

VI. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The Result and discussion of Event Horizon are as follows –

1. An integrated Event Management System (EMS) that provides a user-friendly platform for society managers to book venues, promote events, and manage the entire event lifecycle, while students benefit from a central event calendar and seamless event registration.
2. The system has the potential to significantly enhance campus engagement, fostering better communication, coordination, and participation in various events. Early feedback indicates that both society managers and students find it easier to manage and discover events.

Suggestion and Recommendations for Future Work –

1. User Feedback Integration - Continuously gather user feedback to identify areas for improvement, user pain points, and feature requests. Implement regular updates and enhancements based on this feedback to ensure user satisfaction.
2. Analytics and Insights - Develop a robust analytics system that provides club managers and administrators with insights into event performance, attendance trends, and user engagement. This data can inform decision-making and strategy.
3. Gamification - Introduce gamification elements to incentivize student participation in events. Offer rewards, badges, or points for attending a certain number of events or for active engagement within the platform.
4. Machine Learning Recommendations - Implement machine learning algorithms to improve event recommendations over time. The system can learn from a user's past behavior and preferences to suggest more relevant events.

VII. ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We, the undersigned, hereby declare that this research paper titled Event Horizon - Shaping Campus Culture Through Advanced Event Management is our original work, conducted under the supervision of Prof. Juhi Shrivastav and Prof. Ritika Bhatt. We affirm that this paper has not been submitted to any other academic institution or published elsewhere.

We understand that any act of plagiarism or academic misconduct will result in severe consequences, including the rejection of this paper and disciplinary action by the academic institution. We also understand that our work may be subject to scrutiny by software that checks for plagiarism.

We affirm that we have read and understood the guidelines and regulations for academic research at Acropolis Institute of Technology and Research. We take full responsibility for the accuracy and validity of the information presented in this paper.

Signed:

Murtaza Bohra,

Namit Prajapati,

Priyansh Gupta,

Ranak Agrawal.

Conclusion

In the ever-evolving landscape of college life, \"Event Horizon\" emerges as a catalyst for transforming the way events are managed, discovered, and experienced within our campus. This integrated Event Management System has been meticulously designed to meet the specific needs of both society managers and students, aiming to bridge communication gaps, streamline processes, and foster a vibrant campus culture. Throughout the development journey, we have meticulously analyzed requirements, designed robust features, and collaborated with diverse talents. \"Event Horizon\" empowers society managers with real-time venue booking and promotion tools while providing students with an interactive event calendar and registration capabilities. Moreover, the innovative feature of granting temporary access for event reports and photographs enriches the post-event experience). As we embark on this exciting venture, we are poised to unlock a new era of campus engagement, one where every event becomes a memorable chapter of our college journey. Together, we will redefine event management and cultivate a community of active participants, and \"Event Horizon\" will illuminate the path forward.

Copyright

Copyright © 2024 Ranak Agrawal, Priyansh Gupta, Namit Prajapati, Murtaza Bohra. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.