International Museum Day (IMD) is an international day held annually on or around 18th May, coordinated by the International Council of Museums. The event highlights a specific theme which changes every year reflecting a relevant issue facing museums internationally.

The world observes International Museum Day on May 18th every year. Since 1977, the International Council of Museums (ICOM) has celebrated this day annually to pay tribute to the international museum community. Museums are vital avenues for cultural exchange preservation and enrichment, as well as for the development of peaceful coexistence and cooperation among nations and communities. The theme of International Museum Day (IMD) 2023 is “Museums, sustainability and well-being”.

Planners’ role

The planner ensures smooth/seamless interaction of IMD committee members. They coordinate the activities of the International Museum Day committee by ensuring all members of the committee are on the same page. The different sub-committees’ activities are also coordinated to ensure they do not work at cross purposes. The planners ensure that the materials to be used by the committees are proactively enumerated. Optimal utilization of resources for the success of the IMD is ensured by adhering strictly to the programme schedule. The planner evaluates to determine if the objective and goals were met.

Likely items/personnel needed during the event

1. The goals & objectives: This is to create awareness and to educate the general public about the museum as the custodian of our culture and heritage and its benefit to man.

2. Time and date: The time to start the programme is 9:00 am. The reasons for starting this early are to enable various invitees to get to the venue on time and to ensure the programme is finished on time because this period is unpredictable. The other reason is to ensure that the various schools invited return to their various schools on time.

3. Canopy and decoration of venue: The type of canopy to be used is the cover canopy (tent). Reason for using this is because of the weather in Benin City; IMD is usually celebrated during raining season. This will prevent any anxiety if it starts raining on that day. Secondly, to prevent hoodlums from gaining entrance into the premises uninvited. The canopy usually has doors that will be guarded by security officers on the ground.

4. Target audience: Invited schools will be four schools and each school will bring 10 people. The reasons for this are to enable the committee to take care of the participant and to also control the crowd.

5. The event decorators: They will decorate the venue and supply the chairs to be used. The chairs will be numbered and tagged and the names of special invitees we be tagged on the chairs, this process make the venue orderly.

6. Dress code: The dress code for both staff and students are indigenous dresses – Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba and Benin cultural dresses. Cultural diversity is displayed using adornment.

7. Disc Jockey (DJ): Will be made to provide music reflecting our cultural space and capturing the event of the moment.

8. Master of Ceremony (MC): The MC is a person who is knowledgeable about culture. The MC will introduce the guests as they arrive and generally take charge of proceedings on the occasion. Once the ceremony starts, success and failure are largely dictated by the MC.

9. Ushers: A team of ushers will be on the ground to coordinate the invitees; the usher will direct various guests to their sitting area.

Tentative programme of IMD

Opening prayer: A Muslim or Christian clergy can be called upon for an opening prayer.

Breaking of Kolanut: This will be done under Benin culture. The kola nut must be broken by the highest ranking Benin Chief and use the kola nut to pray for the success of the programme.

Opening speech by the DG of NCMM: Being the number one civil servant and head of NCMM, his goodwill message will be read by the curator of the station.

Opening speech by Chairman of Occasion: The Chairman’s speech is expected to focus on museum activities generally or on the theme of the year’s celebration.

Cultural group performance: The various cultural groups invited will come out and entertain the public one after the other; they will be given seven minutes each to perform on stage.

Quiz competition or debate: The topic of the quiz competition would have been sent to the schools before the day of the celebration. A panel of judges will be announced for the competition. It can be constituted by the curator before the day or during the event. Guests will be used as judges to avoid any form of partisanship or accusation of favouritism on the outcome of the result.

Refreshments: Everybody on the occasion will be giving refreshments. The caterer will be made to prepare native food because it is a cultural ceremony. Food will be served in between the entertainment period in order not to prolong the programme.

Traffic management

A team of traffic controllers will be formed to help manage vehicular movement, safety and orderliness of vehicles to the designated parking area(s).

Security

Security personnel will be on ground and will be supervised by the museum security unit; the security officers will also wear reflective jackets with the inscription ‘Museum Security’. This is to ensure that visitors easily spot them and ask for assistance where necessary. Some will work undercover, and they will not wear identifiable apparel. This is to nip in the bud any incident likely to disorganize the ceremony.

Evaluation/assessment: At the end of the programme, evaluation will be carried out to determine if the programme achieved its aims and objectives.

Using SWOT for analysis

When organising an event such as International Museum Day, there are goals we want to achieve. Therefore, while planning the event, it is worth using SWOT to evaluate the event. SWOT – a simple tool to assess the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats associated with the programme. This analysis can be successfully used in assessing events such as conferences, workshops or training courses.

Strengths

These are the features of the event that can contribute to the goals of the event. The strengths: exceptional lecturers, e.g., guest speaker, quiz competition. If you organize an event and you can offer its attendees contact with someone who is an authority in a given industry, it will certainly be your strongest asset.

Weakness

These are the features of the event that can prevent you from achieving your goals. Examples of such are the lack of sufficient financing for the event. Check if you have the right buffer in case of unforeseen expenses again, ineffective event management system can be seen as a weakness to the event and environmental volatility can also affect the success.

Opportunities

These are external factors that can help achieve event goals. Examples of such are the cultural group that will be entertaining the audience and cultural display from the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria. The staff of the commission will also add to the features by way of dancing around in their native dress. Since the Museum will be in the Lime-Light, Museum can use the forum to appeal to the good conscience of invitees and those who will see it on news programmes to assist in areas of lack.

Threats

These are external factors that may prove detrimental to the achievement of the event goals. Examples of threats are bad weather, particularly when organizing outdoor events, delivery delays, technical difficulties and other potential mix-ups.

Conclusion

This is just a plan towards the celebration of IMD. This paper looked at the event, the role of a planner in organizing an event, the programme for the day and the evaluation of the festival.

No matter how good a plan is, it is very cogent that provisions should be made for the amendment of items in the programme. It is essential to adopt the Boys’ Scout Motto which is “Be prepared”.