Iain Edmondson has had a career in calculating the impact of major events. He’s now joined the Boat Race board, and we’re delighted he sat down with us to explain exactly how the benefits of huge public events are understood.

Q: Being involved in London 2012 must have been fascinating. What was your specific remit?

I was originally a paid employee of the company set up to prepare the bid (which was finally won in July 2005). I came with experience of establishing public-private agreements for sports facilities, which was particularly relevant for the planned new venues such as the Aquatic Centre, which London committed to building even if the bid wasn’t successful.

After the bid was won and development of the new Olympic Park had commenced, I was employed by the Mayor of London’s tourism agency, responsible for securing related sporting and cultural events in the city both before and after the Games. It was an incredible time to be working in the city, with people and organisations keen to explore ways of working together to make the most of the “once in a lifetime” opportunity and make London an even more global and attractive city to live, work and visit.

Q: How do you judge the return on investment for something like an Olympic Games?

Any return on investment is judged on how the benefits compare with costs. There are quantifiable ways of measuring the tourism and trade benefits, eg tourism footfall and expenditure during the event and in the years thereafter, and “harder to measure” benefits, such as impact on health and wellbeing of people involved as spectators, volunteers or local residents.

Olympic Games have become so big that “return on investment” is very different depending on the host city and nation. For London, the regenerated area of East London was a major focus and whereas other hosts judge success on the impact on global reputation or national identity.

Q: Do you have specific metrics you use?

There are established techniques for measuring the economic impact of spectator and organiser spending in the local area. And methodologies are also being established for measuring the socio-economic impact in financial terms, for example the financial saving to the taxpayer of improving the quality of life of individuals, particularly where they have come from a more deprived background.

Some high-profile sporting and cultural events are so popular that they have the power to influence people’s attitudes, opinions and behaviours so there are also other metrics which can be gathered through surveying and digital media.

Q: What about the benefits other than business investment? How do you quantify those?

The fixed deadline of events can be hugely powerful as a catalyst for action and the “spotlight” effect can often help ensure programmes are completed. For some events, this may be construction work on venues or transport improvements, and for others it may be financial commitments to funding development programmes or the implementation of new environmental standards. Quantifying success can be as simple as establishing that plans have been implemented and people are aware of them.

Q: What are the non-financial benefits that flow from major events?

We all have our own memorable experiences from watching or participating in events. Some of these experiences may just have left a positive memory, but for some these experiences can be life-changing – presenting new opportunities which lead to meaningful change such as a new job or health improvements.

Q: What about the impact on charitable giving?

Many major events design-in ways to capitalise on their high-profile inspirational effect for the benefit of local charities. Such as through fund-raising in mass participation events, co-funding related charities and enabling charitable giving amongst spectators.

Q: Generally, how do you think that major events benefit cities such as London?

Major events have the power to show the best of humanity – inspiring and influencing positive impacts, particularly where organisers work in partnership with existing organisations and community partners. London is a great example of a melting pot of creativity and industry, and major events are one of the ingredients which contribute to its success.