TY - JOUR
T1 - Academic events
T2 - An empirically grounded typology and their academic impact
AU - Hansen, Thomas Trøst
AU - Pedersen, David Budtz
AU - Foley, Carmel
PY - 2020/1/1
Y1 - 2020/1/1
N2 - The meetings industry, government bodies, and scholars within tourism studies have identified the need to understand the broader impact of business events. To succeed in this endeavor, we consider it necessary to develop analytical frameworks that are sensitive to the particularities of the analyzed event, sector, and stakeholder group. In this article we focus on the academic sector and offer two connected analyses. First is an empirically grounded typology of academic events. We identify four differentiating dimensions of academic events: size, academic focus, participants, and tradition, and based on these dimensions we develop a typology of academic events that includes: congress, specialty conference, symposium, and practitioners' meeting. Secondly, we outline the academic impact of attending these four types of events. For this purpose, the concept of credibility cycles is used as an analytical framework for examining academic impact. We suggest that academic events should be conceptualized and evaluated as open marketplaces that facilitate conversion of credibility. Data were obtained from interviews with 22 researchers at three Danish universities. The study concludes that there are significant differences between the events in terms of their academic impact. Moreover, the outcome for the individual scholar depends on the investment being made. Finally, the study calls for a future research agenda on beyond tourism benefits based on interdisciplinary collaborations.
AB - The meetings industry, government bodies, and scholars within tourism studies have identified the need to understand the broader impact of business events. To succeed in this endeavor, we consider it necessary to develop analytical frameworks that are sensitive to the particularities of the analyzed event, sector, and stakeholder group. In this article we focus on the academic sector and offer two connected analyses. First is an empirically grounded typology of academic events. We identify four differentiating dimensions of academic events: size, academic focus, participants, and tradition, and based on these dimensions we develop a typology of academic events that includes: congress, specialty conference, symposium, and practitioners' meeting. Secondly, we outline the academic impact of attending these four types of events. For this purpose, the concept of credibility cycles is used as an analytical framework for examining academic impact. We suggest that academic events should be conceptualized and evaluated as open marketplaces that facilitate conversion of credibility. Data were obtained from interviews with 22 researchers at three Danish universities. The study concludes that there are significant differences between the events in terms of their academic impact. Moreover, the outcome for the individual scholar depends on the investment being made. Finally, the study calls for a future research agenda on beyond tourism benefits based on interdisciplinary collaborations.
KW - Academic event
KW - Business event
KW - Impact
KW - Legacy
KW - Typology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85085201310&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3727/152599519X15506259856598
DO - 10.3727/152599519X15506259856598
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85085201310
SN - 1525-9951
VL - 24
SP - 481
EP - 497
JO - Event Management
JF - Event Management
IS - 4
ER -