Gotta Share!

John Reynolds

One of the things that have impacted the event industry is definitively technology, focusing this time to the Internet transformation in social media. In his creative presentation called Gotta share!, John Reynolds uses common people to explain how social media has occupied an important aspect in its users becoming part of their daily lives. It is a short-musical presentation but rich in explanation. Why social media is so popular in these days? Social media has broken time and space barriers thanks to its immediacy and availability. Its impact has been such that its users feel the need of being online most of the day -if not all the time- to share status, shopping histories, information, photos and videos, and keep connected with their friends and family.

How can we connect these facts with the event industry? Social media development help events to be distributed in their communication channels, causing an effective marketing process. Not only the event can be announced in traditional media like television, radio and newspapers, but now Internet and social pages serve as announcers too.

Social media has also contributed to marketing development, especially with the Internet marketing innovation. Social pages give the industry more ways of creating awareness among the public about events. In other words, it increases the distribution and advertising of events. Internet marketing in these pages is accurate for its speed and immediacy. Websites like Facebook and Twitter are already essential tools to follow and study the people’s behavior towards the event, giving the planner a perspective of predicting the event’s acceptance and assistance.

Entry Manager App

Events may be also managed technologically and monitored virtually in real time thanks to the social pages innovation. Social media administration is also responsible for creating mobile applications facilitating their uses and access. That’s why instruments like smart phones and tablets accelerate this communication process with peers involved in the planning, and social pages users. An example of this is the Evenbrite website with its mobile application Entry Manager App. This innovation enables the public to have access to events, monitor the status of events planned by themselves and its attendees, and check in other events

The International Special Events Society

During the years the event industry has gone through many transformations. Starting to be a simple strategy for organizing business and board meetings, it has turned out to be a professional and demanding career responsible for gigantic and international events. Backing up this fact there is also the creation and development of university level studies in the field. This helps to perpetuate its practice ant professionalism too. 

Another factor that has affected positively the industry is globalization, Internationalizing and unifying it. And this is how the International Special Events Society (ISES) was founded. The ISES focus is making special events a successful career through education, creativity and professionalism. Its central offices are located in United States, Australia, Canada and United Kingdom. These locations provide the association that global unification that the industry enjoys.

 

The society looks to: bring the profession and its benefits to the general public; develop and promote the industry with professional high standards; relate the field with other industries; and educate special events planners. One of the programs –and basically the best– that the association offers is a membership. ISES member businesses are: the planners or producers; rental, technical, decorating and travel services; event marketing and advertising, entertainment, photography and video
services; and catering services.

Throughout worldwide chapters the membership programs guarantees to its affiliates special events resources like: job and business opportunities; education, to be updated in the newest trends of the industry; leadership development; and networking links among the members.

 Other important program offered by the society is the Certified Special Events Professional (CSEP). The CSEP is a program that gives recognition to those event professionals who exceed the standards of being a leader in the industry. These professionals have accomplished excellent potential and skills delivering special events. The program was founded in 1993 and it seeks: to improve events professionals’ abilities; promote the industry; keep a high level of education with correspondent certification; and to acknowledge and reward those members that outstandingly have carried out the profession elevating the industry practices.  

Important to the industry is that this society and its programs give special events two things: union between different regions of the planet and a complete competitive image at the same time. Also, they were not created only to connect special event planners, but to link products and services business that are related to the industry too. Thanks to this the society reunites all those requirements that help making the special events industry a professional career to its maximum splendor.