It’s a known fact, event organizers work long hours and are constantly juggling multiple tasks at once. Whether it be before, after or during an event, their lists of tasks is continuous, leaving them with little time to ensure they are up-to-date with the latest trends and strategies of the event industry.

In spite of this, event management is an exceptionally dynamic sector and being knowledgeable on the latest industry developments can greatly help event agencies distinguish themselves from their competitors. After all, it isn’t uncommon for clients to ask about the most popular event themes, colors and decor ideas, or even inquire about the newest technological developments. Clients expect us to promptly and confidently answer their inquiries.

Event companies therefore cannot undermine the importance of providing their employees with the training and the tools necessary to successfully execute their clients’ projects. Therefore, the aim of this article is to offer ideas on how to encourage your employees to stay in touch with the latest industry trends.

Promoting a new morning routine

Firstly, encourage your employees to put aside 15 to 30 minutes every morning to read about new trends from reliable sources, such as blogs, discussion groups, magazines or even websites from fellow event planners. Your employees will quickly grow a list of their favorite websites to visit daily, which in turn will enhance creativity and brainstorming during company meetings. The aim of this exercise being to discover new sources of information every day, you could even encourage your employees to work on this as a group. If you think about it, attributing 15 to 30 minutes a day to research and brainstorming is surely more constructive than conversing around the office coffee machine.

Vocational training amongst employees

Since your employees are most likely working on multiple events a year, who better to lead vocational training sessions aimed at enhancing their skills and knowledge, than your employees themselves?

Vocational training within the company can be approached by many routes. For instance, you could either give your employees specific subjects and ask them to develop compelling presentations, or let them take the reins and surprise you!

In order to bring structure to your employee training, you could start by organizing training sessions once a month, say on the last Friday of the month, and schedule in different subjects so that each employee can take part in the activity. Not only will this concept allow your employees to build a broader knowledge of the industry, but it will also help them develop essential skills in public speaking. Indeed, knowing how to present with confidence, especially when faced with larger crowds, is an indispensable asset for event coordinators!

Travel time: an opportunity for additional training

Nowadays, it is increasingly easy to find podcasts that delve into a breadth of subjects; event planning is definitely no exception! As event organizers, we are constantly on the go. Whether this be to visit a venue or to meet with our clients and suppliers, our travels provide us with the perfect opportunity to catch up on our favorite podcasts and receive advice from the trendsetters of our industry.

Here is a link to get you started: https://travelersq.com/10-event-planning-podcasts-you-should-be-listening-to/

Putting LinkedIn to good use

Many of us mistakenly use LinkedIn solely to build our professional network or to search for employment opportunities. However, by doing so, we are negating the incredible library of information, articles and discussion groups available to us on LinkedIn!

Not sure this is for you? Take a first step by joining these groups:

• Planificateurs d’événements BizBash
• Organisateurs d’événements et professionnels de l’industrie événementielle Potpourri
• Professionnels de la planification d’événements
• Event Managers
• Event Planning & Management Association
• Event Planning & Event Management
• Events & Hospitality Industry Network by Cvent
• Sales & Marketing Tips & Strategies for Event Planners, Meeting Planners & Event Managers
• Event Marketing Pros
• Successful Meetings

Instagram’s Explore tab

Instagram’s Explore Tab allows users to find new and relevant content on a daily basis. By using key words and hashtags, users are able to build a personalised feed that is curated based on their following, but also on the industries’ most popular posts. For instance, you could use the following keywords to find relevant industry content: “eventtrends”, “eventplanner”, “eventsetup” etc. After having found a key word that matches your interests, don’t forget to follow it! This will  help you garner an Instagram feed that continuously generates the latest industry content and  ensures that you never miss a beat.

You can also use Instagram to follow the profiles of industry trendsetters and keep up with their newest ideas. Here are a few profiles to get you started:

• @david_stark_design
• @david_monn
• @jungleeny
• @storeyrobert
• @bizbash
• @eventcreative

Investing half an hour a day in research and ensuring you are up-to-date on the industries latest trends is certainly not a waste of time. In fact, it’s an important habit to develop and can greatly improve your customer and employee satisfaction.

Our next article will offer four tips and tricks to keep yourself informed on the latest developments of the event industry.

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