As you know, event planners typically have their hands full, with many tasks on their to-do lists often requiring simultaneous execution. Multi-tasking is a way of life; when a major event is only weeks or even days away, time for family and friends can often take a backseat. Juggling so many tasks – plus maintaining some semblance of work-life balance – leaves little time to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and strategies in event planning.
Luckily, technology is currently the best it’s ever been, making it incredibly easy to remain in the loop without creating extra work for you. From digital newsletters to podcasts, there are many channels available to get details on the latest news and industry best practices. Read on for ideas to help you quickly stay on top of trends without blowing a hole in your schedule.
Event Planner Podcasts
Today, you can find podcasts on a wide range of business topics, and event planning is no exception. Take advantage of your commute time by turning on a podcast! Think about it: you’re commuting to and from event venues, meeting with vendors, and making a trip to and from home. That’s a lot of opportunity to gain some great insights from industry leaders. But podcasts aren’t only for commuters! Many people rely on podcasts to help them stay informed as well as to occupy their minds when doing things like exercising or doing chores around the house.
Event planning-oriented podcasts to check out include:
Event Planners Club Podcast
Savvy Event Planner Podcast
When you signed up for your LinkedIn account, you may have done so just to build connections with fellow industry professionals that can lead to more work opportunities. That’s a great start, but did you know that LinkedIn offers a wealth of information through articles, groups, and posted content as well? The knowledge of your LinkedIn connections is invaluable, so take advantage of the expertise and insight from fellow event professionals – you’d be surprised at what you can learn from one another just by engaging in a dialogue with first- and second-degree connections!
To get started, check out these groups:
BizBash Event Planners
Event Planner & Event Industry Professionals Potpourri
Event Planning Professionals.
No longer an avenue to simply follow the goings-on of pop culture in 280 characters or less, Twitter can be a fantastic tool to stay connected and share ideas with the event planning community. Search for popular event industry hashtags such as #eventmanagement, #conference, #eventtech, and #meetingplanners to share ideas in real time, get feedback, and even market your event. Check out this comprehensive list of popular hashtags and start a dialogue with fellow event planners.
Unsure of who to follow? Take a look at the accounts of some successful event planners including:
Julian Solaris, editor of The Event Planning Blog
Nick Borelli, founder of Borelli Strategies
Christy Lamagna, owner of Strategic Meetings and Events
Industry leaders all have one thing in common – they share ideas on Instagram. Widely assumed to be a social platform reserved for filtered photos of avocado toast and vacation sunsets, Instagram has become a hub for showcasing event design. More often than not, clients need to see visuals of past work in order to make an informed decision, so keeping an updated Instagram account is key to driving business 2018. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words!
There are quite a few event planning leaders making a splash on this platform that you’ll want to follow:
David Stark Design
Candice and Alison Events Group
Shiraz Creative
Online Magazines
You may not have much time to read physical magazines these days, let alone have enough room to carry them around with you. Lighten your load and expand your mind with as much information as you can absorb by reading online event planning magazines.
Load them up on your laptop or tablet computer, or in a pinch, use your smartphone to browse through news and features while on the go. Magazines with an online presence devoted to event planning include:
Catersource
EventMarketer
Meetings and Conventions
MeetingsNet
The best thing about online magazines? They work cross-functionally with social media channels so you can stay updated anytime you want! Follow your favorites on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to see up-to-the-minute news and reports.
E-Newsletters
Start off your day by taking a glance some e-newsletters. A more time-savvy option than an online magazine, e-newsletters are sent right to your inbox to read at your leisure. All you need to do is subscribe to the newsletter and you will start receiving issues in your inbox on a regular basis.
As news of event planning trends arrives, you simply click on a headline to get the scoop. An e-newsletter is easy to forward, so you can share information with members of your team as well as distant colleagues who would appreciate the heads-up.
See if your favorite event planning magazines offer a digest version of their articles in e-newsletter format to subscribe to. In the meantime, here are three e-newsletters to help you stay current:
RSS Feeds
Are you looking for a quick way to see a wide range of podcast topics, articles and blog posts from a single screen? Use Real Simple Syndication software to load up RSS feeds to get updates from your favorite sources of online information. Search for “RSS” on the websites of your favorite publications and paste the RSS feed URL into your reader.
Try any or all of these event planning RSS feeds to see how powerful real syndication software can be at showcasing breaking industry trends:
BizBash Event Planning News
Event Industry News
Event Manager Blog
Don’t have an RSS feed reader application yet? This opensource.com guide to five free and open-source RSS feed readers will help you find one that meets your needs. Staying on top of the latest trends in event planning shouldn’t feel like a chore; these tech tips are simply a tool to help you execute your next event seamlessly. To help you plan, develop and launch future events even more effectively, Expo Pass is an easy-to-use platform with plenty of online event management tools, making event execution a breeze.
