Statistics Problems Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Statistics Problems - Speech or Presentation Example The mean of the distribution was 60,000 miles and the standard deviation 2,000 miles. 38. The mean amount purchased by a typical customer at Churchill’s Grocery Store is $23.50 with a standard deviation of $5.00. Assume the distribution of amounts purchased follows the normal distribution. For a sample of 50 customers, answer the following questions. 54. Families USA, a monthly magazine that discusses issues related to health and health costs, surveyed 20 of its subscribers. It found that the annual health insurance premiums for a family with coverage through an employer averaged $10,979. The standard deviation of the sample was $1,000. 42. During recent seasons, Major League Baseball has been criticized for the length of the games. A report indicated that the average game lasts 3 hours and 30 minutes. A sample of 17 games revealed the following times to completion. (Note that the minutes have been changed to fractions of hours, so that a game that lasted 2 hours and 24 minutes is reported at 2.40 hours.) 58. The amount of income spent on housing is an important component of the cost of living. The total costs of housing for homeowners might include mortgage payments, property taxes, and utility costs (water, heat, electricity). An economist selected a sample of 20 homeowners in New England and then calculated these total housing costs as a percent of monthly income, five years ago and now. The information is reported below. Is it reasonable to conclude the percent is less now than five years ago? 42. Martin Motors has in stock three cars of the same make and model. The president would like to compare the gas consumption of the three cars (labeled car A, car B, and car C) using four different types of gasoline. For each trial, a gallon of gasoline was added to an empty tank, and the car was driven until it ran out of

History music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

History music - Essay Example None of the audience expressed concern or disgust over this sudden technical catastrophe as within that deemed darkness â€Å"Brother† and â€Å"Albannach† two of the much celebrated bands started blazing their acoustic guitars to keep the crowed entertained and that worked at its optimum level. Soon the light came back and the Seven Nations by that time started to set the stage on fire. In its earlier days when Kirk McLeod and Neil Anderson initiated the band, Seven Nations gained substantial popularity and interest among its audience. However it seemed that they have lost their way afterwards, though in this concert the band seemed rejuvenated with the inclusion of Victor Gagnon who gave an inspired performance with his fiddle. The performance that came out of the Seven Nations was a mix of old and new scores. When Seven Nations was refreshing my memories, I was missing Neil Anderson who was the co founder of the band, yet no longer associated with it. However he was not far away, his new band Rathkeltair was performing on the immediate second stage. Neil as all know is an immensely talented music performer who steals all the attention when he is on the stage. However, his performance in his new band Rathkeltair marked the re birth of a new Neil who knows how to blend with his associate musicians. Again the maestro gave his master stroke when he used his pipes to insert his whistles at the right places that only he is capable of. Those whistles gave a strange essence to the entire musical ambience and rescued the band from being reckoned as any other band of our genre. Through out the performance Neil was like a musician who believes in team work yet who knows when to lead. Again the visual impact that Neil left on the audience by playing two instruments simultaneously was a joy for ears as well as eyes. After a brief pause Albannach occupied the main stage and that for good reason and outcome. This is a pure rock band and comprised of pipe and drums. Jamesie and Jacquie at bass drums, Colin at snare and drum kit, Aya at bodhran and tambourine and Donnie with his bagpiper gave us a musical treat. The wild and erratic energy that the band filled the room with goes well with their tattoos. Sometimes it seemed that some of them might fall of the stage as they were shaking vigorously while playing their drums. The occasional long and lone snares that Colin was leaving through his hands mesmerized the audience and make them question themselves that whether his drum sticks are really attached with his fingers. Albannach all over kept the hall rocking and dancing and the entrapped energy of the audience occasionally came out with gigantic roars that might risk ones ear drums or even might led to cardiac arrest for the faint hearted. The two stages side by side and challenging each other in every step almost turned the audience into a tennis ball. After finishing with Albannach, the crowed headed to the second stage to witness the performance of Annalivia. The four performers of the group with the absence of Stuart Kenney who plays bass and banjo were bit quite comparing the previous performances yet even they reflected substantial talent through their music. Vocalist and Guitarist Liz Simmons, Brendan Carey and Emerald Rae on fiddle and the later one also on vocal and vocalist and guitarist Flynn Cohen presented a polished performance with folk flavour. Before the audience can finish with the band they have to rush back to the main stage to witness Paul McKenna band

Elasticity Of Demand In A Air Travel Context Tourism Essay

Elasticity Of Demand In A Air Travel Context Tourism Essay Price elasticity of demand and income elasticity of demand. (Ryan air British Airways Data) How are low-cost carriers such as Ryan air able to achieve cost savings? Fixed costs and variable costs. Critical analysis of the issues involved in the following article: BAA Airports: Notice of release of interim undertaking Conclusion Bibliography Introduction Ryanair isà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. British Airways isà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. This document reports the findings of a review of the economics and business literature on empirically-estimated own-price elasticity of demand for air travel for Ryan air and British Airways. It refers to the data on page two of the assignment handout to both above airlines to illustrate and explain the concepts of price elasticity of demand and income elasticity of demand. The purpose of this study is to report on all or most of the economics and business literature dealing with empirically approximate demand functions for air travel and to collect a range of fare elasticity measures for air travel provide in the data on the second page of the assignment topic and provide some judgment as to which elasticity values would be more representative of the true values to be found in different airline such as Ryan air and British airways, furthermore will evaluate the accomplishment of cost savings of Ryan air through fixed costs and variable costs as well as writing a critical analysis the article on BAA Airports: Notice of release of interim undertaking'(mmc.gov.uk, 2010). Price Elasticity of Demand and Income elasticity of demand in the context of air travel demand: (Ryan air British Airways) We identified two distinct prices for air travel which are price elasticity of demand and income elasticity of demand from the case study for air travel demand which should distinguish among prices for: Low cost carrier (LCC) example of Ryanair and Full Service Carrier (FSCs) example of British Airways; business and leisure travel. Accordingly, to examine the sensitivity of the demand for air travel to its price, separate analysing of the price elasticity of demand is gathered for each of these two distinct markets. Price Elasticity of Demand Dunnett, A. (1988: 260) define Price Elasticity of Demand as a numerical value which describes the degree of responsiveness of demand to changes in prices. In addition Sloman (2005) believed that the demand for a particular good or service depends on a variety of factors. Key influences include, the levels of consumer income, the price and quality of the services in question and especially services that are close substitutes. As a general rule, once other influences on demand stay unchanged, a higher price for a product leads in a lower quantity demanded. However, the price responsiveness of demand varies from one good to another and from one market to another (FitzRoy et al, 1998). Since the availability of alternative modes of transportation that are reasonably close substitutes for air transport such as low cost airlines like Ryanair diminishes with distance travelled, it is expected that the demand for air transport will be less elastic for longer flights typical example of British airways with is a FSCs than for shorter flights typical example of Ryan air. Just considering an example where Ryanair (a low cost airline) flights to Milan from  £49.99 return and British Airways from  £628 return. The problem though with Ryanair is that you can find this cheap ticket if you book it about it well in advance. But if we try to book it on the same day before your journey the price has gone up at  £179.99 return when British Airways price will be still remaining the same until a week before your journey. Further, international travel tends to be widening over more time than domestic travel, so that the airfare is a smaller proportion of overall trip costs, which makes international travel less sensitive to changes in ticket prices. In addition, leisure travellers are more likely to postpone trips to specific locations in response to higher fares, or to shop around for those locations offering more affordable fares. Consequently, it is expected that the demand for air transport for leisure reasons will be more elastic than business travel who usually travel with FSCs. According to Anthony et al (2000) Ryan air prices management is systematically offering different prices to different customer segments in response to demand whereas (Kimes, 1989) suggests that the team in charge of yield management need to identify how changes in pr ice will affect their customers. Within the airline industries customer demand may be higher on week ends, during summer months, or at particular times of a day, (Belobaba, 1987). Managers must be able to forecast time-related demand so that they can make effective pricing and allocation decision to manage the shoulder periods around high demand period. However the corporate business traveller during the week becomes a leisure traveller when on holiday or at week-ends. Different occasion find the same consumer having different expectation and needs, (Buttle, 1986). Such a concept is termed elasticity of demand. According to the Data from the case study downloaded from Ryan air website, the price of the flight is far more higher than the price of the flight on other following days of the week day. However, when approaching the end of the week-end or school holiday, there is a huge demand and the increased demand drives the price up again as customer are returning from their vacation or family are going on holiday. Closer to the date and time of the scheduled service, the price rises, on the simple justification that consumers demand for a flight becomes more inelastic the nearer to the time of the service. The low cost airlines such as Ryan air follow the pricing strategy outlined above. Customers booking early with carriers such as Ryan air will normally come across lower prices if they are ready to commit themselves to a flight by booking early. This gives the airline the plus of important how full their flights are likely to be and a source of cash-flow in the weeks and months prior to th e service being provided. People who book late often regard travel to their planned destination as a need and they are therefore likely to be prepared and able to pay a much higher price very close to departure. Airlines call this price discrimination yield management but despite the consider name, at the heart of this pricing strategy is the straightforward but important concept price elasticity of demand. Ryanair has a seat pricing policy that causes fares to rise as a flight fills up (Ryanair.com, 2010). Following theory of supply and demand, if customer wants a seat so badly, they will pay more for it than otherwise. Income Elasticity of Demand It is defined as numerical values which describe the responsiveness of demand to a change in consumer incomes. (Sloman, 2005) Because of the recession, demand for low cost flights grew rapidly as family with higher income who were travelling with FSCs before would prefer low cost than traditional airlines and some current low cost customer with low income may prefer domestic flight or would just prefer not to travel by air. In air travel, FSCs are essentially joint products consisting of differentiated service bundles that are identified by fare classes. However the yield management systems employed by FSCs also create a multifaceted form of inter-temporal price discrimination, in which some fares (typically economy class) decline and some increase (typically full-fare business class) as the departure date draws closer. This implies that ideally, empirical studies of air travel demand should separate business and leisure travellers or at least be able to include some information on booking times in order to account for this price discrimination, and that price data should be calibrated for inter-temporal price discrimination: for example, the use of full-fare economy class ticket prices as data will overestimate the absolute value of the price elasticity coefficient. Within the set of differentiated service bundles that comprise each (joint product) flight, the relative prices are important in explainin g the relative ease of substitution between service classes. Given the nature of inter-temporal price discrimination for flights, the relative price could also change significantly in the time period prior to a departure time. In particular changes in real income and the prices of substitutes or complements will affect demand. Alternative transportation modes (road and rail) are important variables for short-haul flights, while income effects should be measured for both short and long-haul. Oum et al. (1992) provide valuable tools that occur when evaluating the demand models. Air travel demand can be affected by changes in the prices and service quality of other modes. For short-haul routes (markets) the relative price and service attributes of auto and train would need to be included in any model; particularly for short-haul markets such as low cost airline. Failure to include the price and service attributes of substitutes will bias the elasticity. For example, if airfares increase and auto costs are also increasing, the airfare elasticity would be overestimated if auto costs were excluded. The entry of low cost carriers leads to lower fares for a subset of traffic and competitors will offer a supply of seats to match these fares. Lower average fares should lead to lower demand elasticity estimates, while increases in the number of competitors in the market will lead to higher demand elasticity estimates. How low cost carriers such as Ryan air able to achieve cost savings? Fixed Costs and Variable Costs. Ryan airs business model is focus around its general low cost philosophy. That is Ryan air attempts to cut all non value adding activities as it strives to drive costs down to the total minimum. Below are typical examples how it drives its downwards which include selling directly to its customer over the internet or over the phone rather than via agents and middlemen, thus saving commission cost and administrative cost. Ryan air is a ticketless as most of it customer buy over the internet, in return for a booking reference that is exchanged at the checking counter at the airport for a boarding pass. The airline has no in flight meals which is a cost saving measure that cannot be much inconvenience to its customer since all Ryan air flights are short haul. Nevertheless has subcontracted catering services on its flights where customer can buy an in flight meal and drink should they wish which is another way of driving price. Cabin crew double up as cleaner and this helps Ryan air to promise a turnaround time at any airport of 30 min rather than 45-60 min that has FSCs been the norm. Another cost cutting device, is the typical example of the UK smaller airports such as London Luton, cheaper to fly to from than bigger airports such as Heathrow which it is use at least as its base as they are less congestion and facilitate turnaround times for aircraft to be a lot shorter. Fixed Costs Fixed Costs are defined as the Total costs that do not vary with the amount of output produced (John, S. 2005:82) Ryan air as a LCC operate in the environment of high fixed cost, fixed capacity in the short term, a perishable product and seasonal demand. Virtually all of airlines costs can be considered fixed. The cost of the capital tied up in the plane, the fuel it take to fly the route, the crew it will take to staff the ground and flight operations insurance, rent, etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ All these cost are fixed once the company decides to fly a particular route and the variable costs associated with serving another passenger on the flight are figure lively peanuts. Ryan air generates sufficient revenue through ancillary services such as car rentals, accommodation, currency, travel insurance, transactions, refreshments, to cover variable costs and offset at least some fixed cost. Management believes that providing these services through the internet allows Ryan air to increase sales, while at the same time reducing costs on a per unit basis. Variable Costs Variable Costs are defined as the total costs that do vary with the amount of output produced (Sloman, 2005: 82) The relatively low variable costs associated with many capacity- constrained Ryan air allow for some pricing flexibility and give operators the options of reducing pricing during low demand times. Ryan air always seeks for low variable costs. Below are factors that help Ryanair to maintain a low variable cost: One type of aircraft, management believes that its strategy of limiting its fleet primarily to three variants of a single type of aircraft from a single manufacturer enables it to limit the costs associated with personnel training, maintenance and the purchase and storage of spare parts, as well as affording greater flexibility in the scheduling of crews and equipment. Pricing is based strictly upon revenue maximization process that matches the aims and objectives of prices elasticity of demand Internet booking which cut paper and administrative costs No airport sales offices/ no cancellations Charging a surplus for excessive baggage Maximization of seat capacity per plane Use of less expensive airport as Ryan air been offered incentives is a controversial one Ryan air director of communications. Ryan air further endeavours to reduce its airport charges by opting, when practicable, for less expensive gate locations as well as outdoor boarding stairs rather than more expensive jet ways. Ryan air has entered into in agreements on competitive terms with third party contractors at certain airports for traveller and aircraft handling, ticketing and other services that management believes can be more cost resourcefully provided by third parties. Management attempts to obtain competitive rates for such services by negotiating multi-year contracts at prices that are fixed or subject only to periodic increases related to inflation. One of the typical example is the price of aviation fuel which is directly related to the cost of oil but Ryan air control this through hedging. All these factors listed above contributed to a low variable cost of Ryan air, a key component in any successful yield management system and provide an opportunity for leverage against its major competitors. Critical analysis of the issues involved in the following article: BAA Airports: Notice of release of interim undertaking

Relationships in Lawrences Sons and Lovers Essay -- Lawrence Sons and

Relationships in Lawrence's Sons and Lovers      Ã‚   There can be no argument that D. H. Lawrence's Son's and Lover's is a study of   human relationships. Gertrude Morel, because of her turbulent and odd relationship with her husband, ends up developing deep emotional relations with her two eldest son's. The second eldest in particular, Paul, is the receiver of most of this deep emotion. Because of these feelings and the deeper-than-usual emotional bond between the two, Paul has difficulty being comfortable in his own relationships.   Paul's relationship with Miriam is plagued by his mother's disapproval, jealousy, and Miriam 's own spirituality.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Paul's relationship with Miriam is one where the love is not allowed to flourish.   Although there is no doubt that there is love between the two, the forces around them create tension that suppresses it. Miriam believes herself not nearly as beautiful as she really is. Because of this she is always looking for things to love her. In the case of Paul she believes that if Paul was to need her, if she could take care of him, "if he could depend on her, if she could, as it were, have him in her arms, how she would love him."(137) However, this is never allowed to happen. Paul's mother Gertrude already occupies this space in his life. Thus the relationship between the two is a struggle for an identity. The relationship is a struggle between Paul and his mother and Paul and Miriam.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The main conflicts between Paul and Miriam are between physical- spiritual differences and his mother. Miriam holds spirituality very close to her. Thing with Miriam are always on a very spiri... ... giving in to his mother, he breaks it off with Miriam. We get the impression that Miriam waits for Paul forever. It concretely ends when his mother dies and he leaves to find himself.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Son's and Lover's is a study of human relationships. Paul is the receiver of most of his mothers deep emotional feelings and has with her a bond tighter than normal. Because of this Paul has trouble handling and being comfortable with his own relationships.   Paul's relationship with Miriam was plagued by his mother's disapproval. If it wasn't for the selfishness of his mother Paul would of most likely been happy with Miriam.    Work Cited    Lawrence, D. H. Sons and Lovers. New York: Viking, 1913. On-line. U of Virginia Electronic Text Center. Internet. 23 February 1998, www: http:Hetext.lib.virginia.edu/english.html.

Writing Essays for Dummies?

Every student would have to write several essays through middle school and high school to college or university. Most essays are a part of the curriculums. Some are imperative requisites at the time of enrollment, such as the college application essay. Dissertation is also a type of essay, usually much longer and certainly more comprehensive than ordinary essays. Very few students have a natural penchant for essay writing. Students dislike or fail to specialize in writing essays for a myriad of reasons. Some students find the sheer uncertainty at the outset to be rather daunting. Some students find it difficult to convert their thoughts into words. Many students do not have the affinity for research, which is a quintessential prerequisite of writing an essay. These are the realities that students, teachers and parents must deal with. Our guide to writing essays for dummies is a good place to start to overcome the overwhelming challenges.Introduction to Writing Essays for DummiesAn essay is a short piece of writing on a subject or topic. You may also call it an article, a composition, a paper or study, dissertation or thesis, an assignment or disquisition. Before we delve into the different types of essay and how you should go about planning to write one, it is necessary to understand the entire premise. Students are asked to write essays so their understanding and hence grasp of a particular subject or topic can be assessed. An essay is supposed to reflect the personal opinion of the writer but not without due allegiance to facts. Every essay has a specific purpose. The scope of the essay is defined by that purpose. An essay should convey a message. It can convey more than one message. The best essays showcase contrasting perspectives and establish the truth through such contradictions. An essay can be limited to any one aspect of a topic or subject. It can be comprehensive. An essay is rarely all-encompassing.Explore the Plethora of Forms & Styles of EssaysA vast majority of students do not have a lucid understanding of how to plan an essay. This is the biggest initial hurdle. Most students have the ability to express their thoughts or what they know about a given topic and can also carry out substantial research if they are provided the necessary guidance. Beginning to write an es say is not very different from a writer staring at a blank piece of paper or a painter setting up the blank canvas. The best writers and painters can create wonders out of that nothingness. Students can do so too with their essays.Four Basic Types of EssaysThere are more than a dozen types of essays. You can subcategorize them further if you want more specificity. Broadly, there are four major types of essays. These are narrative, descriptive, expository and persuasive. An essay may be an account documenting personal experiences, it can describe an object, person, situation or idea, it can explain something or it can try to convince the readers to accept a particular perspective. The purpose of the essay and the message you need to convey will determine the type you need to choose. Unless a specific assignment at school or college demands a certain form and style, students usually have the choice among these different types. A narrative essay is like telling a story. You are the writer and the narrator. As a narrator, you have to be vivid with everything you show and tell. The story is narrated in first person so it gives you an opportunity to establish an immediate connect with the audience or reader but it also limits your ability to cast light on anything within the essay that is beyond the reach of the narrator. Narrative essays are best when the message or purpose is some kind of personal statement. A descriptive essay is like drawing a picture. This can be a narrative essay as well. You can narrate the essay in first person while being descriptive. Descriptive essays are mostly about places, people, objects, memories or experiences. The description in the essay needs to have a purpose. There has to be a coherent message or some deeper meaning. The objective of a descriptive essay is to establish an emotional connection or to evoke a reaction, not just to paint a picture that no one cares about or r elates to. An expository essay is about facts. It is more informative than narrative and descriptive essays. There is little room for personal opinions. Whatever personal perspective that may be presented in an expository essay must be substantiated. There should be verifiable evidence or facts. An expository essay illustrates a topic by employing statistics, facts, real and theoretical examples, comparisons, causes and effects. This is not a first person narrative or even a descriptive account to evoke a premeditated reaction. A persuasive essay is basically an academic version of a sales pitch. The writing should be able to convince the audience or reader to accept the presented opinion, reasoning, perspective or facts. Persuasive essays could be narrative, descriptive or expository. Since the reader needs to be convinced, there has to be more than just personal opinion or perspective. The logic or reasoning presented should be irrefutable. It is necessary for such an essay to dis cuss or debate all perspectives relevant to a topic. The writer may have a preconceived notion or may choose a standpoint even before writing the essay but this cannot come across as obvious in the written piece. A persuasive essay should not read as a biased account of facts.Other Types of EssaysAs you may have realized by now, the form and style of essay will depend on the type. You cannot use flowery vocabulary when you are writing an expository essay as facts are more important. You can be as poetic or ornate you want in a narrative or descriptive essay but you should still be able to establish the purpose and convey the message. The essence should not be lost in the writing. There are other forms and styles beyond the four major types of essays such as compare and contrast, cause and effect, process, argumentative, critical, classification & division, dialectic, exemplification, familiar, economic and reflective. All these forms or styles can actually be categorized in one or more of the four major types of essays.The Definitive Guide to Writing Essays for DummiesAn essay has three parts: introduction, body and conclusion. A short essay of around four hundred to six hundred words should have one introductory paragraph, a few body paragraphs and one concluding paragraph. A longer essay of around a thousand words or several thousand can have multiple introductory paragraphs, a few demarcated sections as the body wherein each has one or more paragraphs and a concluding section with one or multiple paragraphs. Writing essays for dummies has six stages. These are preparation, study or research, writing the first draft, improving the language and the chosen style, reviewing the structure and content, finishing the piece with elan.Stage One: PreparationThe preparatory phase has far-reaching implications. Everything you choose at this stage will have a bearing on every subsequent phase. If you have been given a topic or subject and you have been instructed to write a certain type of essay, then you don’t have the liberty to choose. If you can choose your topic or the style, then you must play to your strengths. Some people are naturally good at describing or narrating. Some people are naturally drawn towards facts and analytical assessments. Choose the style or form depending on your deftness.Stage Two: ResearchAn essay has to be heavy on substance. It cannot be rhetoric. Even if you are writing a narrative or descriptive essay wherein you are exploring an idea, concept or thought and t here is no correlation with real incidents, you would still need to use substantial information to your advantage. An essay is not a dramatic soliloquy. Expository and persuasive essays will require sufficient research. You can confine your research to the books you have access to as a part of your curriculum. You can expand the scope of your research. The library at your school or college and the virtual world will offer you instant access to any information you need. The challenge is not the access to the information you need but the studying and assessing of everything you learn. You will come across a lot of information. There would be complimenting and contradicting findings. Depending on the topic, it may be impossible for you to include all sources and hence you would need to choose some information over others. The presentation should still be comprehensive enough. You cannot choose one type of factual findings and discard another. An essay must have some semblance of nonpartisanship even if you have a preconceived purpose.Stage Three: First DraftYou would have a word count in mind. Break it down into the three segments of introduction, body and conclusion. You can start with the body. The information you obtain through your research would be the foundation of the body of your essay. Since you would have plenty of details, starting the first draft with such information would be simpler than trying to find the best words to begin your essay. Often, writing the body would influence a writer to choose the right wording for the introduction. However, this is not a universal rule. Many writers would want to begin with the introduction, set the tone of the essay and then work on the first draft of the body. You should not be too conscious while writing the first draft. Just pen down whatever you have learned and what you have understood. You don’t have to be too adherent to the purpose and you don’t need to excel in the use of language. The objective of the first draft is to put your thoughts into words and to have a basic version that you can rework to perfection. The first draft can be much longer than the chosen word count. Try to write down everything you think is important in the given context.Stage Four: Review/Revise or Edit/RewriteYou should review the first draft and crosscheck the factual information with your references. Make sure there is no factual inaccuracy. Ensure there is no plagiarism. Consult your notes from the research phase to know for sure that you have been true to the sources. Revise or rewrite any portions that you think are inaccurate or would do with some better writing. Check everything from spelling to grammar, use better words wherever approp riate and try to develop a unique voice in your essay. Most people have a natural writing style. This is not necessarily good or bad. You should find, identify and amplify your voice. Your essay does not have to emulate the styles of others.Stage Five: Optimize Structure and ContentAt the end of the fourth stage of writing essays for dummies, you should have a readable piece that sheds more light on the topic and conveys a message. The primary purpose of writing the essay must have been accomplished by now. However, the structure and content may not be the best they can be. You should try to optimize both. Review the word count of each paragraph, assess how you have argued in favor or against a particular notion, whether or not your writing is actually conveying what you wish to emphasize, if the reader will get to imagine or visualize the picture you are trying to draw and if there is an impact of the entire content, which could be an emotional connection, a certain type of reaction or just being convinced with the facts of the case.Stage Six: Finishing TouchesThe finishing touches will vary from writer to writer. You can look for a quote, one that is the most appropriate for your essay. You can come up with an anecdote to make your essay more memorable. Often, it is not just the words in an essay that makes it unique but how it is presented.

The Success Factors of Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon

The Success Factors of Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon Presented to The Department of Business Administration 2011-12 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This repost is studying the success factors of Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. It will be collect the information and data from questionnaire survey and focus groups. Also, it will be through Value Important Performance Grid tool and SWOT analysis that more understand the performance and state of this marathon, then make some recommendation. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This thesis would not have been possible unless someone who give the information support.It is an honor for our group to interview Mrs. Vivian So, the Executive director of HKAAA, and Mr. Wong Ka Man, an committee of HKAAA. Our group also would like to thank some participants who attend our questionnaire survey and focus group. Their view and information gave us a lot of help for this report. I would like to show my gratitude to my supervisor, Leonard Kwan and course leader, Johnny Ch iu, whose encouragement, guidance and support from the initial to the final level enabled me to develop an understanding of the subject.Lastly, we offer our regards and blessings to all of those who supported us in any respect during the completion of the project. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF APPENDICES CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 2. 1 Background of Event 2. PROBLEM STATEMENT 3. 2 Statement of the Problem 3. 3 The Assumption 3. 4 Methodology 3. 5 Limitation 3. FACTORS AFFECTING A EVENT 4. 6 Public Acceptance 4. 7. 1 Social Environment – Cultural 4. 7. 2 Lifestyle 4. 7 Support from Stakeholders 4. 8. 3 Commercial Sponsorships . 8. 4 Participants 4. 8. 5 Organizations 4. 8. 6 Non-profit organizations 4. 8. 7 Celebrities 4. 8. 8 General Public 4. 8. 9 Government 4. 8 Effective Event Management 4. 9. 10 Event Planning 4. 9. 11 Human Resource Management 4. 9 Publicity 4. 10. 12 Word of Mouth 4. FINDIN GS 5. 10 Value Important Performance Grid 5. 11 SWOT Analysis 5. 12. 13 Strengths 5. 12. 14 Weaknesses 5. 12. 15 Opportunities 5. 12. 16 Threats 5. 12 Sustainability 5. 13 Potential for future development 5. CONCLUSION 6. RECOMMENDATIONS APPENDICES 2| 1. Introduction 1. 1 Background of the EventStandard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon is one of the most significant and brand sport event for Hong Kong. This sports event has been held annually every Chinese New Year. This event is large-scale, with local and foreign people participation. Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon has been gaining a lot of support from companies, organizations, public, government and tourist. Prior to Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon, it was named â€Å"Shenzhen Marathon† and was held in 1996. Due to the lack of funds, Standard Chartered Bank become the title was sponsor of â€Å"Shenzhen Marathon†.Afterward it has been named Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. Since then the Marathon has been held for 15years. In the beginning, the number of participants of this event was limited thousand and the awareness was 1000. Until 2011, the number of participant has increased to more than 70,000 in 2012. 2. PROBLEM STATEMENT 2. 1 Statement of the Problem The purpose of this report is to find out the success factors of Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. The event had a humble beginning, and very few Hong Kong people showed interest to join the race.After a few years, Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon has started to gain its popularity in Hong Kong year after year. The event has become a Hong Kong branded sports event now. This report is to study the factors that attributed to its success. This report also investigates the possible strategies to sustain its success in the future. Based on the participant number of Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon in past 16 years, it showed in Chart 1. The figure indicates that the participant numbers are growing year after year. This proved the event has been more widely accepted by people in Hong Kong than other sports.Hence, how to this event successes in attracting so many people to participate every year allows us to better understand the reason behind its success. Thus, it helps to project whether the event is sustainable in the future. 2. 2 The Assumption Our group assumes public acceptance, support from stakeholders, effective event management and publicity are the important factor of success event. 2. 3 The Methodology In this report, we had used primary and secondary sources of information for the analysis of the critical success factors of Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. 2. 3. 1 Data Collection Secondary researchFirst of all, we had found a lot of reference books in the library, for example, Successful Event Management, Event Sponsorship, Sports and Entertainment Marketing and Sports Marketing etc. Also, we will find the professional journals, such as the Journal of Business Research, Jour nal of Marketing Event Research, Journal of Marketing, Organizational Behavior etc. Then, we will have more information about the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon’ success factors. Moreover, we had found the sports magazine, such as Sportsoho, these helped us to know more about Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon.Moreover we found a lot of relevant information on the newspapers, such as, Singtao newspaper, Mingpao newspaper, etc. It can help us to find out more Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon information, such how can prepare for the event. Moreover, we had used internet to find more secondary information. For example, using Google to research information related to Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. It can easy to research some useful information in the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon, such as, past history and year the participant situation etc.Also, we used Wise News to find some past news. Primary research First of all, we have interview with Miss V ivian, the Executive Director of the Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association (HKAAA) to get more information of Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. So, we can have more information about this event, such as the process of marathon, brand building etc. Furthermore, we had set questionnaires and used to interview with stakeholders such as, runner and supporter, to find out how they feel about Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. We had interviewed them the days near the marathon.We had finished 384 interviews in different place, such as, sport ground, a competition area etc. Then, it can help us to understand the customer’s behavior and expectation. We are using the following formula to decide the number of questionnaire: n=[z * se]2 Where n = sample size n=[1. 96 * 50%5%]2 z= Confidence level =384 s= sample variance e= error acceptance The latest survey has a response rate 92 per cent, a sampling error of plus or minus 5 percentage points and a confidence level of 95 perce nt.On the other hand, after the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon, we had interviewed with focus groups who are amateur sport members from The Citizen Athletic Association and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Track and Field Team. We had interviewed with four focus groups that 5 to 6 people in a group. We had asked lots of questions on how they feel on the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon in order to help us to draw out the analysis. Lastly, we will use the following analytical methods to analysis the success factors of Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. 2. 3. 2 Analytical methods 1. Value Important Performance Grid 2.SWOT analysis The Value Important Performance Grid can help us to evaluate the performance and areas of improvement of Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. Also, SWOT analysis can let us more understand the relative strength and weakness of this sport event for organizer perspective. 3. Factors Affecting a Mega Event 3. 1. Public Acceptance Public ac ceptance is defined to be a clear identity and social statuses have a favorable position. Also, it get the support and love of people and their ideas and direction is have to the same goal that can establish a good reputation and word of mouth . For example, Echoes of the Rainbow movie made in Hong Kong, a low-cost film production. At the beginning, this movie had few people pay attention. When this movie received the best picture in the new generation of Children's Film Unit Crystal Bear Award at the 60th Berlin Film Festival, there are many people start attending this movie. Since this movie had received an award, it caught everyone’s attention about this film. More people accept that this king of film and story. In 2008 Beijing Olympics was very successful sport event. It is because the sportsmen from all over the world had come to support and participates in it. We all attach great importance to this event.It is because this game has good recognition. This paper approache s the topic by first referencing to the present environment under the categories of social and lifestyle perspectives of the living environment in Hong Kong. According to the findings, we conjecture the public needs and analyze how the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon can fulfill the needs and obtain public acceptance. 3. 1. 3Social – Cultural Since 1996, Lee Lai Shan won the first-ever Olympic gold medal for Hong Kong in the women’s mistral boardsailing class and was the first champion in the Asian Games representing Hong Kong, China.Since them, Hong Kong people started paying more attention to our Hong Kong Campaigns. And government started investing a lot more money and time in the promotion for Hong Kong sports. In addition, Lee Lai-Shan has received â€Å"the ten most Outstanding Youth Award† and the Bronze Bauhinia Star Award in recognition of her outstanding achievements in the international sports scene. A stating of her on a wind surf board was ere cted in honor of her near the beachfront at Cheung Chau. Hong Kong Sports Stars Awards is an annual election organized by the Sports Federation ; Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China.The purpose is to encourage athletes and teams to strive for excellence. Also, it can provide role model sand inspiration for Hong Kong young people, thus help to promote sports development in Hong Kong. Moreover, it can encourage the community’s involvement in sports to further promote the sport culture in Hong Kong. Among them, Lee Lai-Shan has won numerous awards including 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004. Government has also encouraged the public to do more exercise. And it promotes different sports and exercise for us. Furthermore, nowadays people are increasingly aware about their health and peruse a healthy way of living. In the Leisure and Cultural Service Department of Healthy Exercise for All Campaign, Launched in April 2000, the â€Å"Healthy Exercise for All Campaign† is a territory- wide event jointly organized by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) and the Department of Health (DH). With the slogan of â€Å"Daily exercise keeps us fit, people of all ages can do it†, the Campaign aims at raising the public's interest in exercising and encouraging them to exercise regularly so that they can understand the benefits of exercising to health. † This can show that doing exercise benefits for both body and mind.Also, regular exercising can improve the health conditions, and strengthens body’s resistance to illness, trains muscles, strengthens bones and helps prevent osteoporosis. In addition since the outbreak of SARS on 2003, the public awareness to public health exercise caused more people to do exercise. All their incidents coincide with the repaid growth of participants in Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon from 2001 to 2006. Moreover, running is one of the most popular sports and easily practiced by people of all ages. Also, running can enhance physical fitness, strength and willpower.Nowadays, running of the equipment has become more advanced technologically. The innovation of running supplies, clothing and footwear which become to more lightweight and offer better protection. Running gears are how made with more eye-catching color, preferred by ladies who want to live and run in a more relaxed mood. For example, running shoes are now ultra-lightweight. Shoes cage is widen to allow runners to wear comfortable with high-tech arch boosters and the stronger induction of the foot to promote runners reflex, increase their agility, run faster. Also, windproof and breathable jacket make running more comfortable and enjoyable.Furthermore, the technological advancements now even allow smart phones to measure the running speed and pacing. It is very convenience for runner and makes more people like this sport. 3. 1. 5Lifestyle â€Å"Lifestyle is a mode of living that is identified by how people spend their tim e and resource, what they consider important in their environment, and what they think of themselves and the world around them. † First of all, there is an apparent relation between slow economic growth and desire for participation in sports event. In 2003, Hong Kong has a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and bully impact the Economic. A government spokesman explained that the March to May this year. The unemployment rate and underemployment rate rose to a new high. It is because of the impact of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome(SARS) on the labor market intensifies, consumption and tourism, the impact on industry layoffs increase with an overall decline in employment. † According to government year book2003 â€Å"The labour market worsened abruptly in the first half of 2003, mainly affected by the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased from 7. per cent in the first quarter of 2003 to an all-tim e high of 8. 7 per cent in May-July 2003. † â€Å"Also, Hong Kong economic situation in 2003 can showed the unemployment rate and the underemployment rate surged to record highs in the summer of 2003, a consequent of an abrupt economic downturn under the impact of SARS. † (Chart 1) Chart 1 Unemployment and underemployment rates â€Å"Amidst the slackened labour market conditions, overall labour earnings and wages continued on a decline in 2003. The decline nevertheless narrowed down after the mid-year. †(Chart 2) Chart 2 Earnings and wages| year-on-year rate of change in money terms)| Since more people were unemployed, so that they have more time to use the spare time for exercise running. Also, running does not cost money and is a low-consumption activity that is good exercise for most people. Therefore, most people change their lifestyle. They are love to running. In addition, running is good for health. It is because most of doctors said that running could enh ance the breathing health of lung. So people started paying more attention to running. (App1) The Hong Kong Anti-Cancer Society also suggests that people to do exercise 30mins every day, such as running.They claimed that, running can prevent the disease. Since then more people are interest in doing exercise. ————————————————- Furthermore, the World Health Organization suggested people to do 150mins exercise every week. This can make the body became healthily and lengthen the life by 3years than without doing exercise. ————————————————- ————————————————- Therefore, people need to health and good life time, they take action to running. It can benefit for their health.It can show that the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon increase the participants join to after 2003. Moreover, every person has different a way of living and habits. Their lifestyle reflects the attitudes and values of a person. Ms Vivian So, the Executive Director of HKAAA said that â€Å"Running is not limited to any place and no need to pay any money. Anyone can do it. However, if one plays football, basketball etc one needs to have a large group of players. Therefore, running is very convenient. † This explains why distance running has become popular in the present busy lifestyle of Hong Kong people.Leung Yiu-chung a member of the Legislative Council also said that when he was young who like swimming, running, hiking, football, table tennis, volleyball etc. But most of sports need to have a partner. After he started working, it become difficult to find a partner does exercise together. Therefore, he chose running because he can do it alone. He has been ru nning which run for more than 20 years. Ken Yuen, Hong Kong Commercial Broadcasting Corporation Limited of presenter said that running need only sport shirts, pants and shoes which can be done alone.Running is very convenient for him. There is one thing in a common, many people working busily. It is difficult to meet friends to do exercise together. Therefore, running can fit in to the lifestyle of new generations. Then, a study on consumer behavior can explain why people join the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. We apply the theories of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to explain it. â€Å"Consumer behavior is the study of when, why, how, and where people do or do not buy a product. It blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology and economics.It attempts to understand the buyer decision making process, both individually and in groups. It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics and behavioral variables in an attempt to unders tand people's wants. It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general. † It is mean the consumer behavior is a buyer decision making process, it includes individual, groups. The groups are like the family, friends, media, leader or artist. Participant will influence with them when they make decision. Consumer behavior is â€Å"The study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society. † Behavior occurs either for the individual, or in the context of a group (e. g. , friend’s influence what kinds of clothes a person wears) or an organization (people on the job make decisions as to which products the firm should use). † We can understand consumer behavior is affect by individuals, groups, or orga nizations. The consumer behavior also knows people's need.So, people join the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon is effect by their making decision and what they needs. Otherwise, the participant also will use their knowledge, experience to join it. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (chart. xx) â€Å"Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology, proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation. Maslow subsequently extended the idea to include his observations of humans' innate curiosity. His theories parallel many other theories of human developmental psychology, all of which focus on describing the stages of growth in humans.Maslow is use the terms Physiological, Safety, Belongingness and Love, Esteem, and Self-Actualization needs to describe the pattern that human motivations generally move through. † ————————————————- The Nee ds can identify why participants join the Marathon. Physiological need is base on eating, drinking. Participates need a healthy body. Safety is meaning ensure public safety, such as how the events management provides enough facilities to protect participants. Belonging and love is base on with friends, family together. Participants may join this event with friends, families.Esteem is the glory of participating in the race to makes them satisfied. The self challenge is when the participant makes a breakthrough in their finishing time or finishing the race by challenging their potential. ————————————————- Participants join the race as they think that they can gain a great experience or achieve their personal goal in the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. Chart 5 Through our questionnaires, we find that near a half part of participant motion that they join this marathon a s for self- challenge. About 24% participants join because of the health.Impact of peer and family and honor respectively is 11% and 14%. Also, these had a 2% was participated with company or a litter bit number for other reasons. So, we would understand that achievement is really importance as the personal goal and this may cause the reason that why the number of participants is continuous growth. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Higher– Level Needs Lower – Level Needs ————————————————- ————————————————- 3. 2 Supports from Stakeholders It is important to cooperate with stakeholder in an event.A good stakeholders’ support can make the event more successful. In the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon, we can see that it has received a good support from participants, celebrities, general public and the government etc. 3. 2. 1 Commercial Sponsorship Sponsorship is a contribution to an activity (typically in sports, arts, entertainment or causes) by a commercial organization in cash, or in-kind, with the expectation of achieving corporate and marketing objectives. Sponsorship continues to represent a popular way of cutting through advertising clutter and reaching potential customers.Commercial sponsor can increase the media and marketing leverage which can let the event become more large-scale. The scale of a representative event can’t be too small. A large scale of an event can attract and increase the number of people to join or to pay close attention to it. Also, it can cause by the public and media to discuss and report the event. – For instance, Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse sponsored the Hong Kong Sevens Rugby Match was one of the successful model in the early years. Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse was t he title commercial sponsors.Because of the sponsorship, Suisse Hong Kong Sevens become more popular and large-scale. And, the event has been well known. Because it makes the event become more representative and attract the number of people to pay attention to it. Regarding Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon, because of the sponsorship of Standard Chartered Bank, making had more resources to promote the event. Also, commercial sponsor can increase the media and marketing leverage which can let the event become more large-scale. A large scale of an event can attract and increase the number of people to join or to pay close attention to it.A part from that, it can cause by the public and media to discuss and report the event. Therefore, it prove that commercial sponsor is also one of the reason why caused the marathon be more success. 3. 2. 2 Participants The Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon started in 1997. Since then, it has been gaining in popularity. In the past thirteen y ears, it made record in entries every year. Now it has become a signature international sporting event in Hong Kong and was recognized as a â€Å"Brand Hong Kong Event† by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government.The continuous growth of the number of participants, it proves that people support the event. Chart 1 Also, Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon has attracted a lot of international athletes from over seventy countries and regions, including China, Chinese Taipei, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Kyrgyz Republic, Malaysia, Mongolia, Morocco, Poland, the Netherland, New Zealand, Russia, Ukraine and Singapore. It is because people believe that Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon is a large-scale and well-known running event.These may cause that why they are interested and support for the marathon. Participants join the race as they think that they can gain a great experience or achieve their personal goal in the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. Chart 5 Through our questionnaires, we find that near a half part of participant motion that they join this marathon as for self- challenge. About 24% participants join because of the health. Impact of peer and family and honor respectively is 11% and 14%. Also, these had a 2% was participated with company or a litter bit number for other reasons.So, we would understand that achievement is really importance as the personal goal and this may cause the reason that why the number of participants is continuous growth. A part from joining the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon, participants can achieve their personal goals. We find that about 70% of participants had joined more than one times. It can show that a great part of number were repeat participate. Chart xx Chart 6 Also, all of interviewer motioned that they will participate in the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon again.It can see that participant generality enjoyable and think the higher value than payable in this mara thon. So, the continuous growth of the number of participants, it proves that people support the race. 3. 2. 3 Organization On the other hand, Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon also has attracted a lot of companies and organizations’ support. Some companies and organizations like Standard Chartered Bank, LI & FUNG, Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants have joined corporate challenge or SME Marathon Cup.Furthermore other education groups include The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and The Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Educational etc. They were many staff and students who participated in it. The purpose that they may not to win for the race, they only want to have a nice day and enjoy the event. They may only want to express the support to a meaningful cause. These show that organizations’ support for the event. —————————†”——————-For example, Standard Chartered Bank has 2800 staff running in Marathon 2012. It is means participants had affected by each other’s within these groups. Through the organizations we can identify the reasons that made this event became successful. 3. 2. 4 Non-profits organization Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon is a large-scale sporting event. Therefore it needs lots of volunteers to make the event orderly. Ms Vivian So, the Executive Director HKAAA, said that volunteers are important for an event and good services can attract potential customers.Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon had thousands of volunteers serving the runners and the organizer beyond the track to ensure the race can go on smoothly. Volunteer physiotherapists, overseas invited runners’ liaison team members and photographers etc. The volunteers in Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon come from all walks of life and all of them regarded the vo lunteer work very challenging. Therefore, it can prove that non-profits organization is important for an event enter in successful. On the order hand, in order to let the marathon carried out more smoothly, it s important to have non-profits organizations’ support, like Scout Association Hong Kong – Hong Kong Island Region, Auxiliary Medical Service etc. Without their support, the event can’t continue as such smoothly. 3. 2. 5 Celebrities The Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon has received a lot of support from celebrities. Since 2004, artists like EO2, Fiona, Sky etc, they played games with participants, sang and share their experiences on running at the Marathon Expo. On the day before the marathon, there was a cheering concert to boost the morale for participants and volunteers.These make the event more interesting and attract more potential customers to join. Also, Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon Ambassadors personally participated in the event, for example, Andy Hui, Alex Fong etc. These can prove that how the celebrities supported the event. Celebrities are important endorsers of the marathon. Therefore, from 2001 to 2006 the participants’ number has significant increase and one of the reasons that maybe participants want to support their idols. On the other hand, Mr. Donald Tsang Yam-Kuen, the Chief Executive, presented at opening ceremony and supports the participator.Moreover, lots of support from celebrities and famous people, likes Mr. Ricky Wong Wai-kay, Chairman of the City Telecom (H. K. ) Limited. Mr. Timothy T. T Fok, GBS, JP President of Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, they helped promote the vision of Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon to their employees as well. These may attract more people to join the race. A part from these, it proves that the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon has received a lot of support from celebrities and these may cause the reason that why marath on are success. 3. 2. General Public Moreover, in order to let the marathon conducting more smoothly. Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon caused large scale road closure, making it inconvenient to a lot of people who live along the race track. However, no public protest against the road closure has been heard. According to Apple Daily on February 24, 2012 â€Å"Road closure would certainly cause inconvenience to some people, but for the marathon road closures was definitely better than New Year Parade, fireworks, Celebration Parade is worth. † showing that the public accept holding a mega event like this.Also, Ms Vivian So, the Executive Director HKAAA, said that it can prove the popularity. The event has been support by the popularity, though it may have caused a little disturb to the neighborhood. It showing that most of the public accept for the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon and they are support Hong Kong for holding such kind of international activities. 3. 2. 7 Government Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon is now being recognized as a â€Å"Brand Hong Kong Event† and a â€Å"M† Mark sporting event by the Hong Kong Government.It has attracts more than 70,000 participants taking part in this challenge in 2012. In order to contain a greater amount of participants, government has done a lot of measures, such as road closure. Moreover, in order to let the marathon conducting more smoothly, Hong Kong Police Force and Hong Kong Road Safety Patrol had send out a great amount of human resources to support the race. On the order hand, Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon normally starts early in the morning (5 a. m. ). In order to support the marathon, MTR Corporation started its trains earlier.Also, those runners who could not reach the pre-set specific time limits need to board the official buses. These special service can see that how government support Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. 3. 3 Effective Event Management 3. 3 . 1 Event Planning â€Å"Event planning is the process of planning a festival, ceremony, competition, party, or convention. Event planning includes budgeting, establishing dates and alternate dates, selecting and reserving the event site, acquiring permits, and coordinating transportation and parking.Event planning also includes some or all of the following, depending on the event: developing a theme or motif for the event, arranging for speakers and alternate speakers, coordinating location support (such as electricity and other utilities), arranging decor, tables, chairs, tents, event support and security, catering, police, fire, portable toilets, parking, signage, emergency plans, health care professionals, and clean up. † The event manager should control that planning process for events management is management, organizational and operates.Also, the planning should address in coordination of when, where, who, what, why and how (5Ws). Because an event is need to identities the objective. Set the location can hold the event, such as indoor or outdoor. Decide to who are the major customer and potential customer, or sponsor. Find which timing is suitable to hold the event. We study that when (timing), where (location), who (human resource management) to prove the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon becomes success. Timing The event planner selected the race day to decide the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon in which day. Spring, summer, and particularly fall are the busiest times for transportation companies, hotels, and resorts, which are taking care of good-weather conventions, vacationers, and business meetings. Because of the potential attendees are more likely to able to afford the time, and to attend the event. About the sport events effect are on the daily pace and commerce of the city. † The Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon always starts one to two weeks after Lunar New Year. Because in this period, the weather is cool. It coul d increase participator’s running performance.According to Ms Vivian So, the Executive Director of HKAAA , said that the Half- Marathon and Full- Marathon have been held only in a few seasons. During Lunar New Year, road traffic normally decreases because many people will be on their vacation and no need to go to work. Air pollution is greatly reduced. † Because, it can avoid the celebration of New Year, and government could regulate would more effectively. Thus, HKAAA selected the race day after Lunar New Year one to two weeks. And decrease some impact for resident and store.Moreover, this period can reduce participants working hour. Location Location can be a critical factor in determining the success of an event. During 1997 to 2012, the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon changes the route 7 times. In 1997, the route started from Sheung Shui, Lok Ma Chau, and ended in Shenzhen. In 1998, the route started at Tsing Ma Bridge and the end point was Hong Kong Internati onal Airport. In 1999, as a starting point in Central at Tsim Sha Tsui and passed by Western Harbour Tunnel, Cheung Tsing Tunnel, and as the end point, Sham Shui Po Sports Ground.In 2000, runners departured from the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, passed by Tsim Sha Tsui, Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade, and a crossed the Ting Kau Bridge and ended at the Sham Shui Po Sports Ground. In 2001 to 2007, it started from Miramar Hotel, Tsim sha tsui, and then passed by the West Kowloon Highway, Cheung Tsing Tunnel, Tsing Ma Bridge and Ting Kau Bridge exhumation of the Western Harbour Crossing, ended at the Golden Bauhinia Square in Wan Chai. Start 2008 to 2009, the route of race was separated from the10 kilometres, Half-Marathon and Full-Marathon.The participants can follow their designated route. 10 kilometres race was first staged on Hong Kong Island Eastern Corridor. Participants are required to walk from Victoria Park on the Island Eastern Corridor in order to reach the starting point. The race end ing points was Victoria Park. Half-Marathon and Full-Marathon continued to start on Nathan Road and ended at Victoria Park. But Full-Marathon continued to run on Tsing Ma Bridge, Ma Wan, and Ting Kau Bridge. In 2010 to 2012, the 10 kilometres race was held on Hong Kong Island Eastern Corridor, and end at Victoria Park.Although Half-Marathon and Full-Marathon are started by Miramar Hotel and end of Victoria Park, Full-Marathon race was changed to Ngong Shuen Chau Viaduct, Stonecutters Bridge, East Tsing Yi Viaduct, Nam Wan Tunnel, Tsing Ma Bridge, Ting Kau Bridge, and Western Harbour Crossing than Half- Marathon. In conclusion, the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon has been holding in urban area and the race track passes by score local landmarks. Participate can tour around the city such as Island Eastern corridor, Nathan Road, Tsing Ma Bridge, Stonecutters Bridge, etc. This is different from other running races.Because those routes are only for transportation, people normally ca nnot walk or run on the Tsing Ma Bridge, Ting Kau Bridge and other public facilities. Thus, participate can enjoy and find the route interesting. In overseas, the Marathon route shared similar characteristics . For instance, Tokyo Marathon is also held in urban area. In 2011, this event attract more than 350,000 participates to apply. But the participants need to draw by ballot. So the actual number is around 33,000. So we can know if the event can be held at downtown, it can attract more people to join.The routes are showed in Fig. 1 Tokyo Marathon and Fig. 2 Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. There are similar with both held the marathon in landmarks. Fig. 1 Fig. 2 3. 3. 2 Human Resource Management â€Å"Human resource management (HRM or simply HR) is the management of an organization's workforce, or human resources. It is responsible for the attraction, selection, training, assessment, and rewarding of employees, while also overseeing organizational leadership and culture, a nd ensuring compliance with employment and labor laws.In circumstances where employees desire and are legally authorized to hold a collective bargaining agreement, HR will typically also serve as the company's primary liaison with the employees' representatives. † The human resource management is including selection and training or briefing staff. And make sure staff understands the job duties and responsibility. Staff and Volunteer In 2012, 2800 Standard Chartered staff runners participated in the Marathon while another 700 volunteered to cheer or support on race day. Appendices xx) Among those volunteers their were Association of International Marathons and Road Races, Auxiliary Medical Service, Civil Aid Service, and Scout Association Hong Kong, and so on. (Appendices xx) There was a wide range of supporting volunteers and organization from commercial organizations, voluntary bodies, and to charitable organizations. The success of the event is found highly depending on the cooperation among them. Their duties include crowd control, logistics, and so on.Michael Armstrong, Joint Managing Partner of E-reward and an independent management consultant, said that business success is most likely to be achieved if the personnel policies and procedures of the enterprise are closely linked with, and make a major contribution to, the achievement of corporate objectives and strategic plans. Therefore, the management of staff and volunteers are critical to the success of the event. Ms Vivian So, the Executive Director of HKAAA, said that the marathon was success because of the enthusiastic staff and volunteers also worked hard and endeavour to finish the event.It raised the normal of event workers. This showed the marathon event was successful due to support from the staff and volunteers. In conclusion, the success of the marathon depends on the preparation of the job descriptions to staff and volunteers. Since the duties are different. HKAAA should select the volu nteers well. HKAAA should ensure them understand the procedures well. HKAAA should provide sufficient briefings to its staff and volunteers before the race events. 3. 4 Publicity 3. 4. 1 Word of Mouth Word of mouth (WOM) is one of the importance factors for holding a successful event.Mr. Wong Ka Man, an committee of HKAAA, said that it lead to more people know Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon and feel interest in this event because of word of mouth. Mr. Wong also motion that â€Å"after few years for holding this marathon, Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon was more corporate with media like Hong Kong Commercial Radio. Under eulogized, Standard Chartered Marathon was became a hot topic. Also, participants were post some event photo in the internet that attract many citizens attention and feel interest to participant. So we can that word of mouth is the importance factor. Word of mouth is a social communication between consumers or between businesses about a product, service or brand. People share and seek other opinions on consumption experiences. A desire to help other people drives consumers to provide advice to others while a desire to reduce risk and time in decision making pushes them to seek options from other consumers. Storytelling is the oldest form of word of mouth communication where one person tells others of something, whether a real event or something made up.Word of mouth depends on the extent of customer satisfaction with the product or service, and on the degree of its perceived value. Even without a direct and full control of word of mouth, companies can indirectly influence word of mouth by making sure consumers have many incentives to praise and no reason to talk about the negative aspects. Sports marketers must can take the expanded relationship into account. To do so, engage in positive word of mouth exchanges with other people. Word of mouth by event organizationBecause of positive word of mouth building, Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon was doing something that let more people think this is a joyful event. Firstly, Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon have had revamped official website (www. hkmarathon. com or http://hk. hkmarathon. yahoo. com) in 2002. This website has been designed and engineered by the renowned internet service provider Yahoo! Hong Kong. Up to now, except the related race information of Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon on the website, there are also including â€Å"Activities†, â€Å"News†, Photo Gallery† and â€Å"Webcast† etc.Visitors can gain more information like pre-event promotional activities, pre-race activities, any news report, also review the exciting moments of the past few years and last event's highlights. People accept more positive information and image, so they may build up a confidence for this Standard Chartered marathon and feel a grand occasion that they need to participate too. Word of mouth by media Newspaper reports also hav e a lot of influence on the public image of Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon, the more positive reports for this event by the media, the more word of mouth can be built to help them to build the image.Because of knowing the covers range of Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon report by all newspaper medias, what including Apple Daily, Ming Pao Daily News, South China Morning Post, any Free and overseas Newspaper. The reports will collected by using Wisers information Portal service system and with the keywords â€Å" / / / /Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon/Hong Kong Standard Chartered Marathon/Hong Kong Marathon/Standard Chartered Marathon† that search the number of related article between 1998-2012 (no data before 1998). Also these include the number of StandardChartered Hong Kong Marathon official Press release (no data before 2002). Source: Wiser Information Portal and Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon official press release Period| Number of Article| Number ofStandard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon official press release| 1/1/1998- 30/6/1998| 64| -| 1/7/1998-30/6/1999| 256| -| 1/7/1999-30/6/200| 219| -| 1/7/2000-30/6/2001| 247| -| 1/7/2001-30/6/2002| 299| -| 1/7/2002-30/6/2003| 375| 3| 1/7/2003-30/6/2004| 404| 5| 1/7/2004-30/6/2005| 468| 15| 1/7/2005-30/6/2006| 938| 29| 1/7/2006-30/6/2007| 805| 14| 1/7/2007-30/6/2008| 895| 11| /7/2008-30/6/2009| 1281| 10| 1/7/2009-30/6/2010| 1386| 7| 1/7/2010-30/6/2011| 1885| 12| 1/7/2011-26/3/2012| 2817| 13| According to the analysis the numbers of articles are increasing every year. And except in the first few years, the number of Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon official press release had increased and so are the news reports. During 2005 and 2006, the number of press release and article doubled. After 2006, the official press release reduced, but the news reports still increasing. So that, we can see how the news reports caused stronger word of mouth.In analyzing of the official press release a nd the newspapers report from2002 to 2012, within the period from September to March, it was found that most of the news releases were reported from October and February. The race entry usually starts in October, so there were more news posted in this month, and there report are usually related the race information, apply state etc. Usually, around before the date of event applies entry 1-2 months, there also has had the report for pre- event promotion and help to attract more participants when thought this word of mouth.Since the race is held after Chinese New Year, so that Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon will be become the hot topic during February and that explain why most of the news report were written on this month and some on March. The news in this time are usually related the race, winners and champion feeling or comment. Other then print media, Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon also gained a lot of electronic media exposure like CCTV, myTV, Magazine, internet too ls etc.Some difference sport magazines are like to report Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon, like Sportsoho. Sometime, magazines are like make a interview with this event winner or coach. They present both feeling and professional knowledge and view to influence people to think that Standard Chartered marathon is a popular event as the participant of some outstanding contestant. Sportsoho is a popular monthly magazine, special for sport lover. There were some themes related Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon during October to March.According to the research, there were averages of 8 to 15 pages related to Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon in one issue of Sportsoho. The content was sicker as compare with other sports event and it can get a big help in word of mouth among the magazine readers. Journal of Advertising Research had motion that â€Å"There is a positive relationship between openness and word of mouth. People are more willing to forward a message to their frien ds. And this group people are intelligent, imaginative, curious, visionary, and emotionally responsive consumers. Also, people are easily influenced by each other and affect their decision making. Without created the word of mouth on some media, Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon also did a lot of thing to building their image and tell the public that they have social responsibility. At the same time, word of mouth will be create and gain an effective effort. Word of mouth by celebrity For example, in 2005, Standard Chartered bank was sponsored HENRY WANYOIKE, who have lost his sight overnight in 1995, to raise fund for â€Å"SEEING IS BELIEVING†.Henry Wanyoike is a famous runner and used to gain a lot of awards in running before he lost his eye sight. People may really appreciate his firm and persistent, also they may take action to support this so meaningful raises fund. Another, Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon also invites some famous celebrities as spokesmen. In 2004, this marathon had invited Alex Fong, a highly successful swimmer who represented Hong Kong at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and set several local records in the pool.Furthermore, Do Do Cheng, who is a famous artist in films and television in Hong Kong was once the event spokesperson. The public may trust what she said due to her positive image. So that they can really create some positive work of mouth as their support, and leading more people come to join this event. There are some celebrity will be join this marathon every years, they may like to share their preparation of race, race feeling and experience to public. There will be increase the attention after their word of mouth. Word of mouth by participantAs revealed from the result of our this marathon race focus group on the reason of the first time to participant in Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon, most of the participants said that good of word of mouth and recommendation from their friends or families are the main reason. Also, all of respondents mentioned that they used to share their feeling and experience of Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon to other people. In the focus group research, nearly 80% of the interviewers used Facebook to share their experience, and a great part of these massages are positive.Internet is the one of the extensively communication way for people send and received massages. In the internet, these are so many tools for us to express ourselves feeling. Facebook, yahoo blog, weibo and chatroom also are the popular tool in Hong Kong and abroad. Now, we are Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon was found successful in creating a special and unforgettable experience for participants. The participants will give their comments and express their experience in SCHKM to everyone on the internet. We had known that people like to forward a message to their friends, thus generated a social facilitation effect.In the internet search, it is not difficult can see the topic whi ch related Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon in the social network website, like facebook, weibo,and some popular chatroom etc. For example, one participant of this Standard Chartered marathon used to mention in her blog that she felt so great to join this event, and the feeling was so different between being the help and the runner. She thanked her friends who keep giving her the support. Also, she was wished everyone can do the best next year and appeal more people come to join together.The comment from his friends in his post, they were so agreed with her and promise to join together next year again. So, it can see that these social communications really work to exchange experience whatever friends or unknown, also direct to create word of mouth. Ms Vivian So had motion that an attraction of the event is important. If the events have attraction itself and give the happy experience, it can build word of mouth easily and a positive image, then these unforgettable memories will stay in their mind deeply. Ms So also said that Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon is attractive by itself.This event is a brand event in sports. Fun and good atmosphere of SCHKM have influenced many people. Because of this, word of mouth let one person to spread the message to ten people and grow exponential. 4 Findings 4. 1 The Value Important Performance Grid on Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon (Chart 7) As revealed from the analysis with the Value Important Performance Grid, we can identify and determine which value of the event attributes that need improvement. There are four parts including waste resources, people feels good, ignore and problem area.Among the 17 attributes studied in the survey, participants regarded 8 of them are well performed, with only one attributes found to have priority for improvements. This represents that participant will continue to be loyalty to join this event. According the Value Important Performance Grid, we found that Standard Chartere d Hong Kong Marathon have 8 attributes performing well and met the expectation of the participants. They are scale of the activity, word of mouth, transport arrangements, staffing arrangements, atmosphere, personal meaning, activity flow and support.Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon has been a mega sports event in Hong Kong, the scale of the activity is large. This sports event attracts  a lot of media to  reports of every year and the number of participant has been increasing. In addition, then people have different feeling about Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. When the event has been organized, people have become more willing share with each other, thus creating word of mouth. Also, transport arrangements have been one of the important elements that to hold an event and participants are relatively satisfied with the arrangement.On the race day, MTR  provide special transportation arrangements that is the routes will open early to succeed the shuttle and  buses p rovide the relative transport arrangements  to pick up participants  to  the  race location. Furthermore, staff arrangements are important to the success. Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon has been a mega event, with many people and organizations to orchestrate the event, including staff and helper, to help make this sports event holding smoothly. There are different training and briefing to staff and helper. The atmosphere of this sport event is has been very hot.The public knows about  the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. Close to  the event holding date, people will see  a lot of promotion about this sports event,  such  as  television advertising  and newspaper  advertising. Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon have strong message bring out. Their slogan is â€Å"Run for a reason†, let people thinking Marathon for their own personal meaning. Each participant  has  their own personal  reasons  to attend  this event. Therefore th ey all have  different purposes  to participate this sports event. The interviewers also feet satisfied with the schedule of the activity. The sports event categories are clear.Apart from full marathon, half marathon and a 10 km run hold on different time, they found the racing schedules were much friendlier. Furthermore, Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon needs different government departments, organizations and groups to support it. Without that, HKAAA is difficult to hold this sports event become a mega sports event. Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon has many supported by different companies, patrons, agencies, organizations, groups and government departments. It is include Hong Kong Tourism Board, Leisure and Cultural Service Department etc that can help this sports event holding smoothly.In the other point, there are three attributes that people feel importance but the performances are not good, including information, sponsorship and guide. There problems need to be improved, to make the event more successful. The information attribute of the event is slighter lower in the performance, so compared with the importance. It need to carefully. Many people think that need to improve. They feel  that  the  information  is not very liquid, should know the message through the General Assembly announced. With regard to sponsorship, the attributes is average level but its performance is bad.Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon has many companies sponsorship. Although Standard Chartered Bank is the title sponsor, the overall sponsorship is not attractive enough. Race participants expect more than the current level of sponsorship. Guide the importance is average but the actual performance is badly. This must need to improve. As a mega event, guideline must be clearly, let people easy to find where they can go. In race day, the race route do not have enough guideline, they do not have the way of cheer in en route, there are many cheer  group cann ot cheer  for the participants.In the Value Important Performance Grid, performance is high and importance is low area is mean not important but the performance is good, it is waste resources. According to the analysis, Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon did not have attribute not important but the performance is good. That means HKAAA holding this event have little wastes of the resources. Besides, there are six attributes are not important and the performances are bad. This attributes can be ignored. They include enrollment process, promotion, social contribution, entertainment, application fee and souvenir. . 2 The SWOT Analysis on Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon SWOT Analysis is conducted in order to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and  Threats involved in Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. SWOT Analysis can identify the internal and external factors. HKAAA can ensure a clear objective that it is important part for event planning and achieve t heir objective. SWOT Analysis provides information that is helpful in matching HKAAA resources and capabilities to the competitive environment in which it operates.Moreover, SWOT Analysis can help us find out more, which is the potential problem and fault of Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. 4. 2. 1 Strengths Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon has received a lot of sponsorship and been supported by different companies, patrons, agencies, organizations, groups and government departments. Standard Chartered Bank has been the title sponsor. Without which, HKAAA might not have sufficient resources to hold the event. Many patrons support this event, including the honourable Donald Tsang (Chief Executive, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region).The promotion has been well planned with advertisements on television, cover page on print media and has built a positive image. As a result, more people know this mega event. Ms Vivian So, the Executive Director of HKAAA said that increas e in the promotion has been one of the factors that can let more people attend this sports event. In addition, HKAAA has sent mails to past participants of Hong Kong Marathon, to remind them come to join this year Hong Kong Marathon. Promotions of a star players are quite effective point attract people to join this sports event.Moreover, there are theme songs of 2003- 2006 year. Since 2009 Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon provides touching slogan that remind people about Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon effectively and created word of mouth in the community. Also, they have good human resources support from include staff, helpers and volunteers. They are well co-ordinate to make this event run smoothly. Ms Vivian So, the Executive Director of HKAAA said that the  volunteers help  has been  a very important part than let more people care this sports event and make Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon  to  be conducted  successfully.For instance, this event was very good in planning and supporting, includes baggage, equipment food supplies etc. Apart from full marathon, half marathon and a 10 km run hold on different section time, crowd was controlled effectively. Participants were mostly satisfied with Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. Moreover, HKAAA, as the event organizer had invited some overseas runners to join this event, and it can capture the international media attention about Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. Therefore created more media coverage let more local people and foreigners know about Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. . 2. 2 Weaknesses The event experienced some accidents in year 2001-2007, when the full marathon, half marathon and a 10 km run were arranged on the same track,  10 km and half- Marathon runners crowded  in  the  Western Harbour Tunnel. Besides,  some participants dressed in fancy costume, took pictures  and even  pushed baby trolleys on the race track ,  caused danger and ot her participants’  discontent. In the  2011  race,  the wheelchair  race was canceled. Many disabled athletes  could not participate in the race and felt disappointed. There also lack  toilets on the race track, making it inconvenient to some  participants.This is a quite an important problem. Participants feel bad about that and are not satisfied with the race route for having too few toilets to use. 4. 2. 3 Opportunities People began to focus on their health nowadays. According to our survey (Chart 5), 24% of the participants ran in the race for this reason. Therefore many people wanted to join this sports event. ‘Launched in April 2000, the â€Å"Healthy Exercise for All Campaign† is a territory-wide event jointly organized by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) and the Department of Health (DH). With the slogan of â€Å"Daily exercise keeps us fit, people of all ages can do it’.The Campaign aims at raising the public's awareness in exercising and encouraging them to exercise regularly so that they can understand the benefits of exercising to health. † This is an opportunity get more attention for Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. This can encourage more people to do more exercise and let them peruse their interest that is good for health. â€Å"As people  grow older, physical fitness decline,  and  wanted to do something  easier  sport. Running is a good choice to keep healthier. This sport equipment  to  acquire  are less expensive  and there is no strict requirements  on the  physical fitness.Most important of all, there is no opponent,  and can be  done anywhere. Reaching the  age of 30, friends, and family are usually busy at work. Finding sports  partner can  become increasingly difficult. † This massage brings out running is a good sport. As a result, many people have been more willing to join this exercise. â€Å"With five days  at work, it is difficult  to  find  time for exercise. In  fact,  I like a different ball games, but  with teammates  gradually busy at work,  practicing together has become difficult and, running has become my only  sport. Otherwise, busy life of Hong Kong can attract people running and let the public keen to go running. Gradually running becomes a public favorite sport. In  addition, Ms Vivian So, the Executive Director of HKAAA said that running  is easily accessible, even with no partner. It can be  flexible, and inexpensive, and without doing it in a team. Furthermore, there is no restrictions, need to rent a  venue;  individual can also participates in the run  without the need for special gear. † The lifestyle is more favorable to long distance race like Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon. 4. 2. 4 ThreatsStandard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon has been one of the Hong Kong major running races. But there are many different running races in Hong Kong . Running races are confronted with strong competitiveness. These are about Mizuno Shing Mun River 10KM, UNICEF Charity Run etc. Marathon to race still face strong competition among themselves. HKAAA need to constantly improve the activities. Otherwise, Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon may be replaced by other running game. According to am730, road closure has been the one important problem to be a real mega event. Now participants needed to join the e