Digital project management reduced vulnerability and stress – boosted profitability for events in Växjö Municipality

Växjö Municipality, like many other Swedish municipalities, is increasingly investing in both small and large events in music, culture, and sports. These events are important for strengthening the town’s appeal and destination brand, attracting new residents and tourists, stimulating entrepreneurship, and reinforcing citizens’ sense of pride, identity, and community.

But as the number of events grows, becoming larger and more complex, profitability and execution are threatened by limited resources and time, while employee stress increases.

As one of the first municipalities in Sweden, Växjö has embraced technology and now runs the Scensommar festival, library programs, and the arenas’ event services with the help of a new digital project management system: Jetty. Errors and stress decreased, profitability improved, and the brand was strengthened.

“We reduced our vulnerability significantly and were able to increase both control and safety. With all planning, information, and communication in one platform, we save a lot of time and stress. It has also improved the profitability of the events we manage,” says Thérese Johansson, cultural developer at Växjö Municipality’s Department of General Culture.

Scensommar was launched in 2015 and is Växjö Municipality’s flagship initiative, featuring eight weeks of music, dance, theater, contemporary circus, and stand-up on a wide variety of stages and venues. Always outdoors and always with free admission! Scensommar is organized in collaboration with Region Kronoberg and other municipalities in the county.

In the summer of 2022, Växjö Municipality arranged 78 performances and 42 acts across 53 different venues in cities, rural areas, and small communities, all coordinated through the Jetty system. Around 40 employees in public events, along with several hundred seasonal staff, technicians, and artists, had access to shared information in the system. Before adopting this digital approach, overloaded Excel sheets and countless emails created confusion, misunderstandings, forgotten tasks, and uncertainty.

After scanning the market for IT-based event systems, the municipality found Jetty Event Management System, already in use by Malmö Municipality and Stockholm Culture Festival. Following a pilot project in 2019, Växjö is now using Jetty fully in Scensommar and has begun integrating other operations into the system, which has become the hub of Växjö’s event work.

“There were no other systems with more experience, functionality, or stronger IT security – and being Swedish-owned was also a requirement for us.”

The municipality also realized that the system was just as effective for the libraries, which host numerous events and reading sessions for children and adults throughout the year. These are as frequent, though smaller in scale, as those in Scensommar, explains Johansson.

Jetty also became the planning tool for the city’s Arena Service, which handles all events and technical operations at the municipality’s football and sports arenas. All tasks are collected, scheduled, and communicated in the system to technicians, caretakers, and external suppliers.

“One effect was that the human factor was virtually eliminated. We reduced vulnerability and time spent on events drastically – double bookings and forgotten venues, addresses, and locations disappeared. We became less dependent on individuals; if an employee was sick, another could instantly take over since all planning and tasks were documented in Jetty,” Johansson adds, emphasizing that GDPR and data security standards are strictly upheld.

“We could trust the system – our workload decreased, and we got rid of much of the double work and high stress we previously experienced. At the same time, event safety improved since we could quickly provide emergency services with precise information if something happened.”

For Växjö Municipality, the new digital working method with a common planning tool has brought major advantages on other levels as well. It aligns with the municipality’s process initiative “Enabling an Active Leisure Life” and integrates the many elements of event operations. Costs for working hours and error handling have been radically reduced. The system also provides a full overview of all the municipality’s events throughout the year, minimizing scheduling conflicts as everyone can see what is planned.

“Not least, the municipality is now perceived as a reliable and professional organizer that also has the time to be welcoming. This makes it easier to attract top artists and strengthens Växjö’s brand as a tourist destination.”

“There is no going back to the old way of working. We are seeing huge gains on so many levels. Our employees can work methodically without stress or uncertainty, and seasonal staff find it easier to absorb all the necessary information. We are now working to modernize and streamline even more events and cultural institutions with this system,” Johansson concludes, noting that evaluations, documentation, and daily schedules can now all be handled in Jetty.