Events-within-events and the online reproduction of their emotional dimensions: a case study of the Dubai 2020 expo

ABSTRACT

Large-scale events are typically described as single, monolithic entities. In this paper, we argue that large-scale events actually comprise multiple sub-events or events-within-events and their online representations. We explore the theoretical implications of this shift in perspective for the study of audiences and event engagement through the lens of communication power theory. We also discuss the practical implications for event management. The paper uses the Expo 2020 Dubai as its case study to illustrate the richness of sub-events within large-scale events and to consider the role of digital communications. The discussion highlights the ways in which physical events' digital twins aim to solicit similar emotional responses by audiences as their physical counterparts. By adding complexity to our understanding of these sorts of events, we argue that large-scale events comprise multiple sub-events, taking place both face-to-face and online, that make large-scale events richer and more multifaceted than they are typically seen to be. Our research shows that event organisers will need to go beyond the creation of virtual event replicas if they want to take full advantage of the affordances of digital communication. The paper concludes by calling for more critical and interdisciplinary research on large-scale events and their online representations.

KEYWORDS:

• Large-scale events
• sub-events
• expo
• emotions
• communication power

Introduction

Large-scale events take multiple forms – including conferences, trade shows, sporting fixtures, cultural occasions, and many others – that are typically described as single, monolithic entities. For example, in a calculation about accommodation for the multi-stage Giro d’Italia bicycle race, Jørgensen (2015, p. 11, emphasis added) writes that ‘43,000 hotel nights were related to the event’. Similarly, in a description about the multi-day FIFA World Cup football competition in South Korea, Cudny (2020, p. 20, emphasis added) writes that ‘the event was accompanied by a decrease in the number of tourists during the following year’. Such descriptions of large, multi-part events – descriptions that treat those events as single occasions – are common. In this paper, however, we argue that large-scale events, such as the Olympics and expos, comprise multiple sub-events, also called auxiliary events (Goldblatt & Lee, 2020) or events-within-events (Lunt & Nicotra, 2018), and that describing large events as singular occasions is problematic because it diminishes the occasions’ richness and complexity.

Large-scale events are now the focus of extensive discussion, promotion and general engagement on social media and other digital communication platforms. As such, the richness of events within large-scale events represents a unique opportunity for scholars to study the significance and complexity of, as well as the power dynamics within, large-scale events. The primary contribution of this research to theory and practice in the study of events is its incorporation and critical examination of events-within-events or sub-events and their online representations. As part of the contribution, we provide a theoretical framework about events-within-events that can bring clarity to the functions of these events and their online representations, which, we argue, constitute digital twins of the physical events. We also discuss the practical implications of the research for event practitioners and other tourism or recreation professionals. These insights provide a valuable contribution to the study of events, and especially large-scale events, as they yield a richer and more accurate understanding of the nature and social functions of these events. In particular, our research invites event organisers to pay additional attention to new forms of online representations of large-scale events, which are becoming increasingly mediated through digital technologies.

To achieve our aim of understanding the types and representations of sub-events or events-within-events, we focus on a specific case study: the 2020 Expo, which took place in Dubai (from October 2021 to March 2022, following a delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Expos, as Rydell et al. (2013) note, have attracted academic attention primarily from historians and cultural studies scholars. The largest set of scholarly works, these authors write, comprises histories and anecdotes about past expos and associated media coverage that has been examined through studies of newspaper articles, photographs and posters (see, for example, Anderson & Viviane, 2008; Davis, 1999). Other studies have focused on analysing and critiquing audiences in terms of cultural hegemony (see, for example, Rydell, 1993), drawing on the theories of Foucault and Gramsci, as well as investigating organisers’ attempts at influencing the experiences of fairgoers (Breitbart, 1997). Anthropologists have also focused on expos as modern ‘potlatches’ and rituals (Hinsley & Wilcox, 2016), while cultural studies scholars have examined these events as idealised forms of national identity that are instrumentalised by the nation-state (Hubbert, 2017). Recent studies have highlighted the nation-branding and soft power dimensions of these events, especially in the case of the Shanghai Expo in 2010 (Barr, 2012; Wang, 2013; Winter, 2012). In particular, Wang (2013) has compared the marketing approaches and communication outcomes of the countries participating in the Shanghai 2010 Expo, focusing on those countries’ successes and failures. While previous studies had focused on perceptions of individual countries, Wang has called for a comparative approach that makes use of surveys and focus groups to understand different countries’ national projections to publics-at-large. His book also explores Chinese soft power and articulates the ways in which countries participating in the Shanghai 2010 Expo targeted Chinese publics, emphasising the significance of expo ‘as a global cultural phenomenon and a historical institution’ (Wang, 2013, p. 13). Despite the insights into expos offered by different disciplines, each expo has usually been described as a single, monolithic event or as a collection of the participating countries’ image projections, constructed through their pavilions. These insights are very valuable, but, we argue, there is room for a more complex understanding of expos and other large-scale events.

The existing literature has also paid little attention to the online communication surrounding expos, with the exception of one notable recent output (USC Annenberg, 2021). However, expo organisers and participating countries are increasingly using digital media platforms to promote their events and engage with publics. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, digital media have become even more important and popular communication tools for event organisers and publics alike. As such, the online representation of any event is becoming a key component of the organisational effort of the event. The hybridity of the online and offline dimensions of events is something that, we believe, will increase in the years to come. Hence, in terms of this study’s contribution, we offer not only a novel way of looking at expos (in making sense of diverse forms of activities within expos) and other large-scale events, but also an understanding of the digital representations of events through the lens of communication power theory.

The remainder of the paper is divided into six sections. First, we review the existing scholarship relating to events-within-events in connection with planned events and large-scale events, especially expos. Second, we articulate the theory of communication power and social transcendence to help develop a fresh understanding of events-within-events as part of large-scale events. Third, we outline the research methods, including the case study (Expo 2020 Dubai). Fourth, we present the results of the original research. Fifth, we discuss the implications of the research for theory and practice. Sixth, we note avenues for further research in the conclusion.

Literature review

Theory about sub-events or events-within-events is limited in the existing scholarly literature. As such, the examinations of these types of events draw on theory used in event studies more broadly, such as serious leisure theory (Stebbins, 2007), the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991; Reysen et al., 2018) and the theory of event allocation (Getz & Page, 2020). However, Goldblatt and Lee (2020, p. 418) provide an extensive discussion of the development of auxiliary events. The authors theorise these occasions as spokes in the frame of a large umbrella, with each spoke or event supporting the larger overall event. In order to ensure the success of both the macro-level event and the micro-level events, the authors explain, event planners need to undertake audits of guests, vendors, and other third parties. These sorts of explanatory insights, shedding light on the nature and organisation of events-within-events, align with the existing scholarship that has examined the implications of event management for tourism education (see, especially, Hawkins & Goldblatt, 1995). Lunt and Nicotra (2018) briefly discuss events-within-events in terms of brand sponsorship, noting that the occasions are often arranged by brand sponsors of larger events. Swiatek (2023) specifically examines the sub-events held by the organisations that present major awards and prizes. In line with his theory that prominent reward and recognition events (such as televised award shows) have become publicity-generating tools of strategic communication, the sub-events are also viewed as strategic occasions designed to help awarding organisations fulfil and communicate particular goals.

Although theory about events-within-events is limited, theory concerning large-scale, planned events is much more prevalent in the scholarly literature. Large events, drawing on Müller’s (2015) widely-cited theoretical framework, can be divided into three types: major events (such as APEC Summits and Super Bowls), mega-events (including expos and Football World Cups), and giga-events (like the Summer Olympic Games). Theory about planned events, Getz and Page (2020, p. 58) note, must take into account the events’ ‘specific outcomes … involv[ing] the design and implementation of themes, settings, consumables, services and programmes’. Getz and Page’s (2020) typology of planned events assists scholars and practitioners in understanding the occasions more effectively. The key types of planned events are:

1. cultural celebrations (including festivals and heritage commemorations, carnivals and Mardi Gras, religious rites, pilgrimages and parades),

2. business and trade occasions (comprising meetings and conventions, fairs and exhibitions, markets, corporate events and scientific congresses),

3. arts and entertainment events (including scheduled concerts, shows and theatre performances, art exhibits, installations, temporary arts displays and award ceremonies),

4. sport and recreation fixtures (comprising league games and championships, one-off meets and tours, informal fun-focused events and sports festivals),

5. political and state events (including summits, royal spectacles, VIP visits, military tattoos and political congresses), and

6. private functions (comprising rites of passage, parties, reunions and weddings) (Getz & Page, 2020, p. 59).

Of course, the typology is neither fixed nor definitive; as such, it continues to evolve and allows for events to be classified in flexible ways.

The quadrennially organised expo giga-event on which this paper focuses has also been examined in the literature in various ways. When studying expos (or large sporting events, such as the Summer and Winter Olympic Games and football World Cups), scholars have generally been focusing on nation-states as units of analysis (Barr, 2012; Grix & Houlihan, 2014; Grix & Lee, 2013; Wang, 2013; Winter, 2012). This focus is due to the fact that the expo is often considered to be a grand stage on which countries display their national culture and technological advancements. However, multiple events, such as conferences and fora, are also held during expos. In the above-cited literature, publics have been considered homogenic and the expo has been considered a monolithic event in which the competing messages, narratives and storytellings created by each country have been viewed as one totality. Attention has often been focused on the nation-state and its pavilions rather than on the myriad of events comprising the expo. Focusing on the individual countries participating in the expo may be useful in studying the countries’ competing messages or the soft power that they wield; however, this approach leaves aside important factors that shape visitors’ experiences.

As such, drawing on the work of Getz and Page (2020) and Rojek (2013), this paper also considers the combination of multiple and varied experiences of visitors (or online users) when they take part in large-scale events. As the paper argues, these events should be re-thought as the sum of their sub-events and the multiple experiences that they offer, with different power dynamics operating across the events. The literature about events, in particular, invites us to look at the nature of events in more complex ways. In order to do so, we draw (in the ‘Research Methods’ section) on the typology created by Getz and Page (2020). This typology focuses on understanding events in relation to their practical purposes (in other words, their functions); yet, each large-scale event now has a noticeable online presence, with social media users discussing and challenging official representations of the event. In order to capture this situation, we explore, in greater detail, the online dimension of large-scale events and provide a framework that maps what Rojek (2013, p. 14) calls a sense of ‘social transcendence’. The next level of analysis described in the following section focuses on the ways in which events exploit the power of emotions.

Communication power and social transcendence

The theory of communication power is a valuable tool for understanding the complexity of sub-events (physical and, in particular, digital) operating as part of large-scale events. In his book about event power, Rojek (2013, p. vii) suggests that we look at ‘how power is generally distributed’ and how it operates. Rojek’s critique draws on communication power, ‘the relational capacity that enables a social actor to influence asymmetrically the decisions of other social actor(s) in ways that favor the empowered actor’s will, interests, and values’ (Castells, 2009, p. 10). Castells’ (2009) theory of communication power, which refers to the movement of power dynamics beyond physical spaces and into digital spaces, along with the changing of power relationships to enable grassroots social actors to exercise power more extensively through new digital communication tools, thus usefully sheds light on the ways in which the dynamics of events within larger events, along with the social actors within them, operate. As such, attending to the smaller events within large-scale events – both the physical and, in particular, the digital events-within-events – provides a more complex understanding of the power dynamics of the overall event. The organisers of events, making use of the communication power dynamics operating in online spaces, can exploit the online networked power relations created by digital media and, in doing so, reproduce (online) the emotional dimensions of the physical events. The following sections of the paper examine the ways in which this reproduction takes place through the Expo 2020 Dubai case study.

Drawing on the theory of communication power and the related ideas that stem from it, especially social transcendence (explained later in this section), helps to overcome the existing scholarship’s focus on soft power in relation to large-scale events. As noted in the literature review, academic research has often used soft power as a theoretical framework to study expos (and other large sport events). The expo has mostly been seen to be a soft power activity. Scholars have been looking at the ‘politics of attraction’ (Grix & Lee, 2013) surrounding the expo or the national branding effort of ‘selling the country to the world’ (Nauright, 2013). Expos market themselves as apolitical and ‘low-politics’ events, analogous to other global cultural events (such as World Cups and Olympic Games), since they aim to create positive and non-threatening environments to discuss global issues and foster international collaboration. The narrative around expos is characterised by a rhetoric of ‘universal improvement’ and ‘hope for the common good of humanity’ (Paganoni, 2015, p. 97).

As part of the existing focus on soft power, academic attention has been paid to the analysis or evaluation of countries’ competing messages and communication activities. Due to their ‘low-politics’ and celebratory nature, expos can ‘easily lend themselves to taking on alluringly spectacular form by their very nature’ (Swiatek & Di Martino, 2023, p. 288). In this sense, expos aim to transmit a sense of ‘virtuosity’: that is, to show the ‘skill or proficiency’ of the host country (p. 286). Such planned events, ‘an essential part of human civilization’ that help to bring together communities and define cultures (Getz, 2020, p. 31), have become increasingly important in the age of ‘promotional culture’ (Davis, 2013; Wernick, 1991). To make these events attractive, organisers have increasingly had to focus on visitor satisfaction. According to Lee et al. (2014, p. 129), visitors satisfaction ‘is enhanced by five quality dimensions: entertainment program, exhibit program, admission experience, extra Expo opportunities, and visual attraction’.

We argue, however, that there are other layers of complexity – beyond soft power and the planning of large-scale events for visitor satisfaction – that need to be considered. Even if events, such as expos, can ‘possess a therapeutic value’, the crowds and publics attending these events ‘constitute an illusory community, in which unity and commitment are largely apparitions’ (Rojek, 2013, p. vii). This is precisely why, in his book about the power of events, Rojek (2013, p. vii) asserts that we must examine ‘how power is generally distributed’ and operates in events. This assertion echoes Castells’ point about the importance of taking into account multi-layered power and media dynamics, which are not captured solely through the analysis of the soft power projection of a country through a large-scale event.

For example, Expo 2020 Dubai has been the focus of multiple criticisms, as have many other large-scale events that have reshaped the urban, social and economic landscapes of their host cities and countries. In a report about the working conditions identified during the building of the infrastructure for Expo 2020 Dubai, the NGO Equidem highlighted the fact that migrant workers had to pay illegal recruitment fees, were victims of racial discrimination, experienced forced labour practices and had their passports retained (Equidem, 2022). Other concerns were expressed about domestic human rights violations. For example, Michael Page (in Human Rights Watch, 2021), the deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, warned that: ‘Expo 2020 is yet another opportunity for the UAE to falsely present itself on the world stage as open, tolerant, and rights-respecting while shutting down the space for politics, public discourse, and activism.’

These criticisms are not new to large-scale events. Hiller (2000), over a decade ago, pointed out that mega-events, in particular, perpetuate a problematic idea of progress for cities: progress that is usually driven by economic elites. In this sense, ‘the idea of citizen participation is […] primarily merely responding to a plan conceived by others’ (Hiller, 1999, p. 193). The rhetoric around mega-events often claims that the interests of organisers and publics are the same, or, in Rojek’s (2013, p. 22) words, ‘synonymous’. Organisers tend to make use of a sense of ‘transcendence’ in their rhetoric in order to flatten different perceptions and experiences of the event under a unified narrative. This paper extends these considerations by arguing that this emotional approach is utilised not only in the physical event, but also in its online representation.

Although the operation of communication power is relatively new, due to the growth and democratisation of digital communication tools, the mediatisation of large-scale events, especially sports events, is not novel. Roche (2017), in particular, has highlighted the symbiosis of mega sports events and the cultural industries. Media scholars have been studying, for decades, what they call ‘media events’, particularly referring to televised events (Dayan & Katz, 1994, p. 14). However, until now, world expos were predominantly events that required physical participation; thus, academics had, until now, been focusing their inquiries on visitors’ experiences. Nowadays, expos are becoming widely communicated, particularly in the digital environment, and they are developing increasingly rich digital communication resources. In this sense, expos can now be considered ‘situated, thickened, centring performances of mediated communication that are focused on a specific thematic core’ (Couldry & Hepp, 2017, p. 3). For example, Expo 2015 in Milan invested a considerable amount of public funding into social media promotion, even though the organisational digital communication did not leave much room for online interaction (Di Martino, 2018). Studies (see, for example, Xin & Mingming, 2020) continue to highlight the importance of making use of key influencers in the process of communicating large-scale events online. Social media, though, make attempts to control the narrative around any event increasingly challenging for organisers. At the same time, online events have become more prevalent around the world as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; these events are increasingly being organised as antecedents to mega-events (Di Martino & Swiatek, 2023).

For the first time in expos' history, the Expo 2020 Dubai organisers decided to provide an online version of the event in the form of a web portal: www.virtualexpodubai.com. The portal provides information, photos, transcripts and recordings of many events within the 2020 expo. The homepage reproduces the design of the Dubai Expo site, giving visitors the opportunity to access information about the events-within-events based on their physical location. It is likely that the online versions of expos will only increase in the coming years; hence, it is crucial that organisers pay increasing attention to the online dimensions of the events.

In particular, in this paper, we are interested in understanding the ways in which the online representation of the large-scale event and its sub-events complicates our understanding of the standard, monolithic view of large-scale events, especially in terms of their ‘social transcendence’. As organisers aim to ‘exploit and romanticise’ an emotional response from event-goers and online users, Rojek (2013) suggests that three social and psychological characteristics be taken into consideration when examining this transcendence:

Catharsis, that is, the articulation of powerful private and public emotions in group settings. Events bestow altruism, empathy and the release of emotions. Openness to the marginalised, a powerful sense of mutual vulnerability and strong messages of social recognition and social inclusion are common.

Emotionalism, that is, a sense of righteousness, identification with the pain of others, the desire to help, criticism of those who either refuse to help or help in objectionable ways, the desire to do good, the wish to be publicly recognised as a team player or member of a social group are strong incentives. Emotionalism supports direct action and uncluttered tactical responses to responding to misery and want.

Exhibitionism, that is, kinetic and symbolic behaviour designed to communicate powerful sentiments of unity and transcendence. Exhibitionism is often characterised by the spirit of occupying the moral high ground and folk camaraderie. (Rojek, 2013, pp. 19–20, original emphasis)

These three characteristics are used in the analysis of the online representation of Expo 2020 Dubai’s ‘social transcendence’. Looking for these three characteristics allows us to trace the ways in which event organisers are exploiting emotional reactions from online users in order to reproduce the ‘social transcendence’ of the physical event in its online representation.

Research methods

In order to understand the complexity of events-within-large-scale-events and the emotional dimensions of their online representations, two research questions were advanced.

RQ1: Which types of events-within-events constitute large-scale events, such as an expo?

RQ2: How do digital events-within-events project the ‘social transcendence’ of the event online?

The paper used two methods (each selected to answer one of the research questions) and a case study of Expo 2020 Dubai. This one case was selected to enable a ‘comprehensive, detailed and in-depth examination of a phenomenon’ (Weerakkody, 2009, p. 228); in other words, it was chosen because it allows a rich array of insights to be gained into other events-within-events. The Expo 2020 Dubai, as a global mega-event (Müller, 2015), comprises a wealth of events-within-events. Although the expos were originally organised as ways of showcasing nations’ achievements, in addition to serving as tools for governments, industrial leaders and key intellectuals to buttress their authority (Rydell, 1993), they have increasingly featured ever more varied sub-events. Hence, the use of this single instrumental case study (Stake, 1995) was deemed to be an effective way of understanding principles in other settings (Yin, 1981): that is, other events-within-events.

To answer RQ1 – which types of events-within-events constitute large-scale events, such as an expo? – the study used a directed qualitative content analysis (following Hsieh & Shannon, 2005). This method involves the analysis of data using codes derived from an existing theory or theoretical framework; as a result, the existing theory or framework can be validated (by finding its components, in the form of codes, in the data) or extended (by finding categories that do not fit the existing codes). In this study, the Getz and Page (2020) typology, including its sub-types, served as the collective set of codes identified in the Expo 2020 Dubai events that were organised by countries (rather than the Expo organisers), as listed in the Events Calendar (Expo 2020 Dubai, 2021). The focus of the analysis, in line with the Hsieh and Shannon (2005) approach, was on the lexically-communicated content – that is, content communicated through words – in the calendar; this content featured in the calendar’s schedules and descriptions of events, for example.

To answer RQ2 – how do digital events-within-events project the ‘social transcendence’ of the event online? – the study employed rhetorical analysis (following Long & Wall, 2014). This method provides a robust approach for understanding the ways in which media texts are put together, and the ways in which meaning is organised and presented in those texts. The four categories of rhetorical analysis – verbal, presentational, photographic and editorial rhetoric (each featuring a range of conventions) – were used to examine the three prevalent emotional characteristics (that is, catharsis, emotionalism and exhibitionism). This process involved examining specific aspects of each event’s online representation by ‘zooming in to look at features in detail’ (Anderson, 2012, p. 182). The virtualexpodubai.com digital version of the physical expo was selected as the site for exploring the online representation of Expo 2020 Dubai because of the volume of publicly available content on the website about the events. The virtualexpodubai.com website, created ad-hoc for the event, provides different ways to navigate the events-within-events, including through a timeline (specifically, a calendar called ‘time capsule’) and through the locations of the events within the Expo 2020 Dubai site. The sample comprised five events’ online representations on virtualexpodubai.com; this sample allowed for a sufficient amount of information about the events to be analysed and provided robust insights into the different ways in which the events-within-events have been represented online.

Results

With regard to RQ1, the results of the data collection show that a rich array of events-within-events or sub-events takes place during an expo. The varied events that took place during Expo 2020 Dubai align with the events in the typology offered by Getz and Page (2020). Table 1 provides an outline of a representative assortment of these events-within-events. In the table, the occasions are further subdivided into small, medium and large events. As the table shows, the events are organised for varying purposes. Hence, the answer to RQ1 is that the full array of events-within-events – as outlined in the existing scholarship about planned events (Getz & Page, 2020) – can be held during a large-scale event (like an expo), and that the events-within-events can take the form of cultural celebrations, business and trade occasions, arts and entertainment events, sport and recreation fixtures, political and state events, or private functions.

Table 1. An outline of examples of different events-within-events that took place during Expo 2020 Dubai (as identified through the analysis of the event calendar).

Size	Event title	Description	Mode of delivery	Recurrence	Type of event (based on Getz & Page, 2020, p. 58)	Predominant emotional characteristic of online events (based on Rojek, 2013, pp. 19–20)
Small	Estonian President Alar Karis visits Expo 2020 Dubai.	One of the visits from heads of state at Expo.	Face-to-face	Part of a series of visits.	Political and state	N/A
Small	Ministerial dinner	Facilitated conversations among high-level, influential players on specific topics.	Face-to-face	Part of a series of events.	Private functions	N/A
Small	Italian Pavilion. It’s not just a game. It’s sport.	Youths 5–14 years trying out the various sport disciplines.	Face-to-face	One-off	Sport and recreation	N/A
Medium	Celebrating Unsung Heroes	The Unsung Heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic.	Face-to-face and online	One-off	Arts and entertainment	Emotionalism
Medium	Steve Harvey: Live QandA	QandA with Steve Harvey on the occasion of the International Day of Happiness at Expo.	Face-to-face and online	One-off	Sport and recreation	Catharsis
Medium	The Global Business Forum LATAM	This forum brings together public and private sector stakeholders from Latin American economies and UAE.	Face-to-face	Part of a series of events.	Business and trade	N/A
Large	20 Million Visitors: Al Wasl Projection and Fireworks Display	Projection of images and colours on the Al Wasl building dome, music and Fireworks Display.	Face-to-face and online	One-off	Arts and entertainment	Exhibitionism
Large	Golden Jubilee @ EXPO	A site-wide celebration of 50 years of the UAE	Face-to-face and online	One-off	Political and state	Exhibitionism
Large	New Year’s Eve Celebration	Multiple fireworks displays, projections, live music and light displays marking the end of 2021	Face-to-face and online	One-off	Cultural celebration	Exhibitionism
Online-only	Expo 2020 Dubai: Shaping the Future	40-min documentary created in collaboration with Discovery Channel that describes the story of Expo 2020 Dubai, from concept to completion.	Online	Available on-demand during the last month of Expo 2020.	Arts and entertainment	Catharsis

In terms of RQ2, the events-within-events are represented in a multiplicity of ways on virtualexpodubai.com using verbal, presentational, photographic and editorial conventions. These elements appeal to the three emotional characteristics of events, as described by Rojek (2013, pp. 19–20). As noted in Table 1, five events were also represented online. Only one of these events, ‘Expo 2020 Dubai: Shaping the Future’, was delivered entirely online.

The design of the virtualexpodubai.com homepage itself exploits two emotional characteristics – catharsis and exhibitionism – of events. The cathartic element is represented in the names of the different areas of the expo site (as shown in Figure 1). For example, the ‘opportunity’, ‘mobility’ and ‘sustainability’ districts, from the outset, transmit to the viewer a sense of altruism and social inclusion. Exhibitionism is represented in the grandeur of the site design and the fireworks over the sky of the virtual expo site.

Figure 1. A screenshot of the virtualexpodubai.com’s homepage.

Across the different online representations of the events, some elements that represent the virtualexpodubai.com’s layout – such as the Expo 2020 Dubai logo (and other branding features) – are consistent. When the user moves into a specific event webpage, the layout includes a professional video-recording of the event, which is at the centre of the webpage, and a short description of the event, as well as an event image gallery. At the bottom of the webpage, the user can access a list of related events, in a section titled ‘Discover more events’.

With regard to the analysis of the events selected as part of the sample, we explored three groups of events related to the following emotional characteristics:

• Exhibitionism: ‘20 Million Visitors: Al Wasl Projection’, ‘Fireworks Display, Golden Jubilee @ EXPO’, and ‘New Year’s Eve Celebration’;

• Emotionalism: ‘Celebrating Unsung Heroes’; and

• Catharsis: ‘Steve Harvey: Live QandA’.

It is unsurprising to see that exhibitionism is the most frequent emotion exploited by Expo 2020. The exhibitionism emotional element transmits amusement and excitement, through verbal and presentational rhetoric, to online users. In the description of this type of event on virtualexpodubai.com, users can read sentences such as: ‘Join the countdown to 2022 and celebrate New Year’s Eve with a spectacular compilation of firework displays from all around Expo 2020 Dubai’ (Virtual Expo, 2022b). For the ‘20 Million Visitors’ celebrations, the tone of the writing also aims to foster an atmosphere of wonder: ‘20 Million Visitors … We Dreamed, We Dared, We Astonished!’ (Virtual Expo, 2022c). These sorts of components can be viewed as attempts to prepare the emotional state of users before they watch the video-recordings of the events. The videos themselves also follow a similar photographic and editorial rhetorical style across the online events-within-events that appeal to exhibitionism as the main emotional characteristic. In particular, a combination of colourful lights, fireworks, people cheering and joyful music conveys emotions consistent with the exhibitionistic nature of the (physical) events-within-events.

The two events that focus on catharsis – ‘Shaping the Future’ and ‘Steve Harvey: Live QandA’ – use a more authoritative rhetorical tone for verbal, presentational, photographic and editorial conventions. In the first example, the title ‘Shaping the Future’, at the outset, conveys a sense of caring for future generations. The video is about the construction of the expo site; however, this piece of media becomes an opportunity to project expo onto broader issues that are rhetorically framed as the ‘themes of innovation, sustainability, construction, design, safety, social impact and legacy’ (Virtual Expo, 2022a). This example effectively shows the way in which the storytelling of a practical achievement (the building of the expo site) can become an opportunity for emotionally-charged storytelling. The images of the building site are full of dust, with the buildings themselves still being incomplete. However, the music and the narration convey the scale of the challenges faced by the organisers, as well as the magnificence of their achievements. The video also includes interviews with the workers, who claim that, for Expo 2020, ‘looking at the physical and mental health of the workforce was a top priority’ (Virtual Expo, 2022a). In this sense, the documentary video-recording also aims to address the aforementioned concerns expressed by human rights organisations regarding working conditions. For instance, the photographic element conveys a sense of everyday work-life when the workers go for a health check with people who seem to care for, and assist, them.

Similar remarks can be made about the ‘Steve Harvey: Live QandA’. Harvey’s discourse is about imagination and the translation of imagination into results. This verbal rhetoric conveys a message of hope and common good through empathy between the speaker, Harvey, and his audience. Harvey presents himself as a person who used to be poor, but made use of his imagination to create something significant through his career as an actor. Again, the themes of hope and the future, as well as the ability to shape the environments around us, are used to convey ‘powerful private and public emotions’, which constitute a defining characteristic of catharsis, as defined by Rojek (2013, p. 19).

Finally, the ‘Celebrating Unsung Heroes’ event represents a good example of emotionalism in the online representation of events. This event is part of a series, titled ‘Leave no one behind’, which represents a message consistent with emotionalism: the willingness not only to help and support others, but also to identify with their pain. The event is an encapsulation of the stories of largely regular people who have helped each other during the pandemic; artists, decision-makers, health workers and experts also feature in the event. The presentational, photographic and editorial rhetoric is empathic and positive. The language of both the host and the guests transmits composure and professionalism. Trust in the actions taken by governments during the pandemic is often expressed, in a sign that the hero-speakers are part of something larger created, organised and managed by governmental efforts and resources. In this sense, even representations of emotionalism still have exhibitionistic aspects.

In the three groups of online events-within-events, striking visual representations, achieved through video and photography, are notable and reflect the organisers’ likely desire to showcase the richness of the Expo and its multiple components through visual content (rather than through verbal descriptions, of the events, alone). Consequently, in answering RQ2, the events-within-events aim to extend the ‘social transcendence’ of the physical event to its online representation. The sub-events exploit the same emotional dimensions and are represented through a multiplicity of conventions that enables the ‘social transcendence’ of the on-the-ground experience to be transmitted as fully as possible online. That is, the virtualexpodubai.com site deliberately attempts to replicate the ‘social transcendence’ of the physical event. This attempt indicates the clear intention, on the part of the organisers, to create a copy of the (physical) event, rather than a digital extension that takes full advantage of the affordances of digital communication.

Discussion

An array of theoretical and practical implications arises from the results. As such, this section is divided into two parts that consider, respectively, the two sets of implications.

Implications for theory

Understanding large-scale events as sets of physical and digital events-within-events, featuring their own activities, power dynamics, and multimedia engagement approaches, has multiple implications for theory, especially in terms of the advancement of communication power theory. Although Castells (2009) used the theory to explain the dynamics operating in various social arenas, he did not use it to understand the operation of large-scale events. In the present study, though, the theory has been utilised in an innovative way precisely to achieve this end. That is, the dynamics of physical and digital events-within-events have been revealed by examining the ways in which power is distributed and ‘social transcendence’ (Rojek, 2013) is generated through the events. This fresh use of communication power theory helps to fill the previously mentioned gaps in the existing literature about auxiliary events (Goldblatt & Lee, 2020) and events-within-events (Lunt & Nicotra, 2018; Swiatek, 2023).

In this respect, a more sophisticated view of a large-scale event can be offered, drawing on the study’s findings. This view takes into account the fact that a large-scale event (especially a mega-event) comprises multiple sub-events of different sizes and types. By extension, this fresh view urges anyone engaging with these events to take into account ‘who defines events, how they are managed and what they achieve’ (Rojek, 2013, p. xi) and, as such, to be aware of the communication power operating at different levels in the sub-events. Figure 2 provides a visual representation of the typical or traditional view of the large-scale event, while Figure 3 visually represents the fresh view that we are offering in this paper.

Figure 2. A visual representation of the typical view of a large-scale event as a single entity.

Figure 3. A visual representation of a large-scale event as an occasion comprising multiple sub-events of different sizes.

The more sophisticated view of the large-scale event and its sub-events also needs to take into account the events’ digital twins. Although not all large-scale events will have digital twins, these online entities do need to be taken into consideration in theorisations of the events. As this study’s analysis of Expo 2020 has shown, an immersive digital version of the events was developed by the expo organisers for participants unable to engage with the events in person (in Dubai). The digital versions of such events make the already-rich array of events even richer. Figure 4 visually represents this situation. These digital twins bring an additional media layer to the events, enabling wider online engagement and, thus, the wider exercise of communication power by diverse participants. Thanks to this more sophisticated understanding of the events, the engagement of grassroots participants with the events, both physical and online, can be appreciated in a much richer way. In particular, online interactions can be grasped more effectively. The more complex view of participants’ engagement with sub-events can also help researchers to understand whether the events’ emotional characteristics (exhibitionism, emotionalism and catharsis) are being embraced or rejected by the participants.

Figure 4. A visual representation of a large-scale event (as an occasion comprising multiple sub-events of different sizes) that is also accompanied by a digital twin.

As large-scale events become increasingly complex, especially in terms of the digital components that are added to them, it will become more and more important for any theory-driven examination of such events to take into account the communication power dynamics generated by multiple, and particularly grassroots-level, participants. This study’s findings have shown that the Expo 2020 Dubai organisers simply provided a virtual replica of the physical event, not providing the opportunity for online users to react, contribute and curate online content. This attempt to control fully the digital representation of the event collides with the widespread participatory use of digital platforms, especially social media, where online users now expect opportunities for liking, disliking, commenting and curating their own content. The future organisation and study of such events will need to accept the interactive nature of the Internet and the complexity with which communication power is articulated online (Castells, 2009). The advancement of the study of large-scale events through communication power theory is especially important given the growth in online events during, and since, the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this respect, another implication for theory relates to the challenge of creating any narrative for a large-scale event that features a set of sub-events. All of these events, as we have discussed, drawing on the complex dynamics of communication power described by Castells (2009) and the re-theorisation of media events proposed by Couldry and Hepp (2017), are represented and understood in a multiplicity of ways by diverse actors. In particular, as Couldry and Hepp (2017) have argued, media events have a ‘wide range of representations’ and ‘are anything but (globally) homogeneous and free of contradiction’, despite organisers’ attempts to control the narratives around the events. This range of representations has also emerged in this study’s analysis of the different online representations of Expo 2022. Building especially on Rojek (2013) and Getz and Page (2020), we have presented the different ways in which participants can engage in large-scale events and their sub-events.

Challenges also surround the emotional engagement that organisers try to generate through online versions of these events. This study’s findings show that the construction of online events, drawing on Rojek (2013, pp. 19–20), is consistent with organisers’ attempts to exploit ‘a transcendent sense of emotional, and even spiritual, uplift’ in non-digital events. We believe that this attempt to catalyse emotional engagement in the online space, as shown in the analysis, requires additional attention from scholars. It signals event organisers’ efforts to replicate the emotional characteristics of in-situ events in online spaces. This replication might be persistently unsuccessful given the fact that online events cannot make use of some senses – especially taste, touch and smell – in the same ways as physical events. It is also important to take into account the fact that, despite the low-political aims of events such as expos, there are still noteworthy attempts by organisers and stakeholder governments to shape public perceptions through emotions and, in particular, emotional language. In a way, the celebratory and relaxed environment of these events makes them even more political in their aims. A similar critique has been already advanced for physical events (Rojek, 2014). This paper invites scholars to extend these concerns to the online representations of events-within-events, which require further critical examination.

The visitor’s perspective also requires further attention from scholars, as this paper has focused on the input-side (or construction-side) of the events. The visitor’s perspective can usefully provide richer insights into the lived experiences of the individuals and groups taking part in physical and/or virtual events and their sub-events. These perspectives, of course, can subsequently be usefully employed to enhance theory and practice in the development and management of the events. The visitor’s perspective of the micro-experiences in the sub-event would likely have a significant impact on the view of the overall event. Some experiences could be more important than others in informing the overall view. Collecting evaluations of both the overall event and sub-events would be beneficial for practitioners. They would also benefit scholars, as the visitor’s perspective might reveal the need to expand or modify elements in the analysis presented in this paper (as captured in Table 1), given the fact that not all visitors might view the event categorisations, such as exhibitionism and emotionalism, in the same way. Hence, the richness of the visitor’s perspective would further add to the richness of understanding large-scale events as constellations of sub-events in their complex physical and digital forms.

In a related vein, the more sophisticated view of the events and their sub-events enlarges the possibilities for understanding the instrumental uses of the events by different stakeholders, too. As Getz (2008, p. 403) notes, events play many important roles, ‘from community-building to urban renewal, cultural development to fostering national identities’, in addition to tourism  – and recreation-related roles. By understanding the more complex dynamics of sub-events within mega-events, these different roles and their usefulness for diverse stakeholders can be explored with greater sophistication.

Implications for practice

Understanding physical and digital large-scale events and their sub-events in this more complex way has multiple implications for practice. It particularly offers benefits for event organisers. Above all, it provides organisers with a more fine-grained way of approaching the running of a large-scale event, in giving greater attention to the sub-events that comprise it. It also enables organisers to consider the ways in which visitor satisfaction can be increased, not just by paying attention to the experience at the macro-level, but also by understanding the experience at the micro- or sub-event-level. On that note, this enhanced perspective of events and sub-events can prove useful for improving perceptions of a destination or region. As scholars (see, for example, Moon et al., 2013) have long noted, the quality of attention to detail in events, especially in both intangible elements (including ambience and design) and tangible components (such as reliability and communication) related to service quality, positively impacts the destination image. By paying greater attention to the more complex dynamics of events and sub-events, organisers can also potentially attract more sponsors or exhibitors by virtue of taking a more fine-grained view of promotional and participant opportunities in events-within-events. On that note, a greater focus on sub-events can also potentially enable organisers to co-create some, or even many, of the events and, as a result, enhance both the sub-events’ and the umbrella-event’s appeal to greater numbers of visitors and wider stakeholders.

Additionally, conceiving large-scale events as clusters of events has wide-ranging ramifications for understanding participants’ navigation of the complexity of large events. These sub-events make large-scale events more complex than they first appear to be; they also increase the complexity for the participants who engage with them. Hence, participants’ attention is likely to be pulled in multiple directions, creating challenges for organisers to engage successfully with particular publics (and micro-publics). Event-goers, as Oklevik et al. (2021) have highlighted, already need to navigate different dimensions of event experience – and, specifically, the affective, cognitive, physical, and novel dimensions of events – thus increasing the challenge of developing virtual replicas of physical large-scale events in ways that will maintain participant satisfaction.

In that respect, the more complex understanding of large-scale events also has implications for resourcing, event organisers’ workloads and professional development or training. Above all, the delivery of multiple events in different formats raises costs, calls for the provision of extra resources, and makes organisers’ work more challenging; the organisers need to consider the ways in which the design elements – such as scale, shape, focus, timing and build, to draw on Brown and James’s (2012) classic event design framework – need to be adjusted for the different events-within-events and then re-adjusted for the online versions of the events. Indeed, workloads are increased by the very need to create digital versions of events, which might even require specialists to be added to event management teams. The need for organisers to have the skills and knowledge required to shape complex sets of physical and virtual sub-events aligns with Backman’s (2018, p. 170) call for ‘more and better prepared workers’ in event management. ‘Due to the fast changing world today,’ as Backman (2018, p. 170) has noted, ‘there is a great need for more knowledge and skills for the event industry to be successful in the future’, and large-scale events – especially ones, like an expo, that feature virtual twins – highlight this need.

Conclusion

Large-scale events continue to evolve in many different ways, especially in the digital era, and especially following the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted the holding of these and other events significantly. (For a discussion of post-COVID-19 implications for travel and tourism, see, for example, Seyfi et al., 2023). This paper has argued that large-scale events comprise multiple sub-events, both physical and (increasingly) digital, that make large-scale events richer and more complex than they are typically seen to be. As the paper has shown with regard to the Expo 2020 Dubai case study, the events-within-events take a multiplicity of forms and serve a range of purposes; they are also represented with incredible richness online. Indeed, the digital representations of the sub-events – effectively, the events’ digital twins – replicate and exploit the same emotional dimensions of physical events; these dimensions are an extension of the complex communication power dynamics operating throughout the events. The Expo 2020 Dubai case study also highlights the additional resources and expertise required to bring multiple sub-events together under the one, larger event, and to reproduce both sets of events online. Event organisers need to be mindful of the additional resources that are required in, as well as the workload and training implications of, holding sub-events and creating digital twin versions of those events; they also need to be mindful of visitors’ attention being pulled in multiple directions and, as a result, of different visitors having divergent experiences.

This richer understanding of the complexity of large-scale events and the sub-events within them calls us to examine these events more critically beyond their promotional aspects (for example, the aspects related to soft power and place branding) in order to understand the ways in which power is distributed and exercised in, as well as through, the events. As the paper has discussed, different communication power dynamics are exercised in each sub-event, and those dynamics contribute to the overall power dynamics of the larger event in different ways, too. Emotions are used in significant ways throughout the operation of these power dynamics. The Expo 2020 Dubai case study has highlighted exhibitionism being the most frequently exploited emotion in the collection of events, though emotionalism and catharsis also play prominent roles in different sub-events. These emotions are represented through a range of conventions that increase their appeal to visitors. In addition, the analysis of the virtualexpodubai.com site has shown that the creation of digital twins of physical events does not take full advantage of the affordances of digital communication. The creation of online spaces where users can fully interact with each other and respond to the events requires the will from organisers to be open to criticisms, alternative interpretations and differing perceptions of events.

This investigation opens a number of avenues for further research. Although the results from our single case study are generalisable to other large-scale events (even if those other events do not necessarily contain the same number and diversity of sub-events), further research could investigate different large-scale events in order to gain an even more detailed understanding of the different types of auxiliary events found within overall or umbrella events. On that note, these occasions’ constructions, as well as the roles that they play, could also be examined in greater depth. A related area of further inquiry is the digital representations of the events; these representations could be analysed more extensively in order to understand the ways in which the event organisers are exploiting – successfully and unsuccessfully – the emotional dimensions and the affordances of digital platforms.

As noted previously, the visitor’s perspective was outside of the scope of this study, but would be valuable to analyse in the future. Insights from the participants of the physical events could be obtained in future studies through research tools such as surveys and focus groups. Fully digital versions of these tools could also be used to gain insights from the users engaging with online versions of the events. Additionally, insights relating to the visitor’s perspective could also be complemented by insights from the organiser’s perspective, gained through interviews, for example. Acquiring both the event participants’ and organisers’ views, together, would help to provide the richest possible understanding of the events and their sub-events – including elements such as their strengths and weaknesses, and organisational enablers and constraints – in helping not only to appreciate the diverse nuances of the events, but also to strengthen practitioners’ development and management of them in future. Finally, as expos become increasingly mediated, we call for more interdisciplinary research across event management, tourism and media studies. This research will be needed to understand the varied ways in which visitors and online users can now engage with events.

Acknowledgement

The authors sincerely thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments, which helped to strengthen the paper on multiple levels. Also, the authors extend their gratitude to Assoc. Prof. Heather Ford for the final editorial review of the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Luigi Di Martino

Luigi Di Martino is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Young and Resilient Research Centre, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University. His research investigates the use of social media in public and political communication and in everyday life, with a focus on developing and theorising ethical online listening and monitoring approaches through social media analysis. Other areas of interest include public diplomacy, online political engagement, public and political communication on social media, and media events. He has received international recognition for his conceptual framework on social media listening.

Lukasz Swiatek

Lukasz Swiatek lectures in the School of the Arts and Media  – within the Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture  – at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia. He mainly undertakes research in communication and media studies, higher education, and cultural studies. Over the years, he has taught a range of postgraduate and undergraduate courses (both junior and senior) in media studies, communication, and international and global studies across universities in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. A wealth of practical industry experience (in news reporting and integrated communication) informs his teaching.