How to stay up to speed on

PLANNING AN EVENT

The events industry is climbing in growth every year. Now is a better time than ever to be in the event planning business!

An important part of our job as event planners is to learn new skills and stay on top of recent trends. With the plethora of blog posts and tips, this can get overwhelming. That’s why we created this page to gather the best resources for planning an event in one place.


FOLLOW THESE SIMPLE STEPS

1 Follow smart people

2 Consume quality content

3 Join Linkedin groups

4 Use Awesome Tools

5 Attend awesome events

1. Follow Smart People

Keep in touch with these influencers on Twitter. They are experts on a variety of topics and provide up to date commentary on planning events.

John Federico @gadgetboy

Co-Founder of Eventhero.io

Follow

Liz King @lizkingevents

NYC-Based Event Planning Superhero

Follow

Jeff Hurt @jeffhurt

Executive VP at Velvet Chainsaw Consulting

Follow



Jeffrey Kirk @jeffreynkirk

COO for Corporate Magic

Follow

Will Curran @itswillcurran

Founder of Endless Entertainment

Follow

Keith Johnston @plannerwire

Publisher Guy at Planner Wire

Follow



Corbin Ball @corbinball

Events and Tradeshow Tech Analyst

Follow

Dina Manzo @dinamanzo

Damn talented event planner, hostess & designer

Follow

David Tutera @davidtutera

Celebrity Wedding and Party Planner

Follow



Mindy Weiss @mindyweiss

Wedding & Event Planner

Follow

Colin Cowie @colincowie

Celebrity Event Planner & Producer

Follow

Preston Bailey @prestonrbailey

Event Designer & International Traveler

Follow



Jordan Ferney @ohhappyday

Event Planner & Blogger

Follow

Marley Majcher @thepartygoddess

Celebrity Event Planner & TV Personality

Follow

Kim Reynolds @kimreynolds

Marketing Manager at Social Media Examiner

Follow



Saundra Hadley @planningforever

Event/Wedding Engineer

Follow

Kasey Skobel-Conyers @blissevents

Stylish Wedding & Event Planner

Follow

Lisa Hurley @lisa_hurley

Editor at Special Events

Follow



Adrian Segar @asegar

Meeting (Re-Designer), Convener, Facilitator

Follow

Jerri Woolworth @jerriwoolworth

Founder of Jerri Woolworth Weddings & Events

Follow

Travis Aaberg @travisaaberg

Community Manager at Event Geek

Follow



Issa Jouaneh @issajouaneh

Senior VP at American Express Meetings & Events

Follow

David Adler @davidadler

Founder & CEO at Biz Bash

Follow

Julius Solaris @tojulius

Editor of Event Manager Blog

Follow



Becki Cross @beckitrain

Event Prof, MD at Events Northern

Follow

Dahlia El Gazzar @DahliaElGazzar

EventTech Connoisseur. Creator of Meeting Pool.

Follow

David Stark @davidstarkinc

President at David Stark Design

Follow

2. Consume Quality Content

There’s a ton of useful info on the web for planning an event. Keeping up on all the hot trends can be daunting and might drive you up the wall!

To bring organization to the learning process, we’ve gathered all the best event planning sources in one place.

Blogs to follow


Endless Entertainment

A fantastic blog for tricks, trends, and tips in event production.

Event Manager Blog

The number one blog worldwide for event planners.

Techsy Talk

Tech resources for event planners and entrepreneurs.

Biz Bash

Event planning news, ideas, & resources.

Event Industry News

An online event magazine that provides the latest news to the events industry.

Plan Your Meetings

Helping you plan better meetings and events.

Special Events

A leader in the event planning industry and posts detailed blog posts regularly

Boomset Blog

Spotlights, guest posts, and some great listicles on all things event tech & marketing.

Velvet Chainsaw

Helping Improve annual meetings, conferences and education.

Gallus Events

UK based event consultants who share knowledge from their experiences.

Ticketbud

A blog about organizing incredible events with technology.

Event Tech Brief

Information for building events of the future.

Guidebook Resources

Tons of quality resources on every aspect to event planning.

The Meeting Pool

A deep dive into event technology.

Conferences that Work

The latest posts on conference design, facilitation, and peer conferences.

Tech Talk

The largest blog & newsletter focused on meetings tech.

Podcasts to listen to


Start Some Shift

Interviews with experts to help you make massive shifts in your business

The Amplifier

"No holds barred" conversations about marketing events and venues.

Event Supremacy

The #1 podcast for creating kick-ass events.

The Planner's Plan

Where event professionals share trade secrets.

Meetings Podcast

For meetings and events organizers who want to produce engaging programs for their attendees.

The Event Tech Podcast

Great interviews with the leaders in event technology.

3. Join Linkedin Groups

What better place to find like-minded event profs then the de facto social network for professionals. In these groups, you'll find discussions across many topics. This is also a great opportunity to connect with others in the event industry.

Many of these groups require approval but you should be fine if you've updated your profile with your event planning experience.


Career Advice for Event Planning & Management

For event planners to request career advice & discuss career related issues.

Event Peeps

The LinkedIn group for Event Peeps -- Professionals across the live event industry.

International Special Event Society

Over 5,200 professionals representing a wide variety of vocations within the special events industry.

National Association for Campus Activities

If you're involved with university events, join this group.

Who's Who in Events

A group to network, learn and bounce off the talent and experience of other event professionals.

Event Planning & Event Management

250,000+ group of eventprofs that shares content to keep up with industry trends.

4. Use These Tools

There are hundreds of products & services to help market, manage and plan your events. We've cherry picked some of our favorites below.

The key here is to find the tools automate your repeated, manual tasks. This equates to freeing up more time to focus on the stuff that matters when planning an event.


Zapier

Zapier is the glue that makes it easy for anyone to connect their web services together, saving time and improving productivity.

Trello

Trello keeps track of everything, from the big picture to the minute details.

Mailchimp

Email marketing service provider that makes it easy to communicate with your audience.

Guidebook

Build and publish mobile event apps for all types of devices.

Sched

Event scheduling software, mobile apps and personal agenda builders.

Survey Monkey

Create and publish online surveys in minutes, and view results graphically and in real time.

5. Attend Awesome Events

It only makes sense that there’s hundreds of industry events where event planning is the focus.

Participate in workshops, catch a keynote, and network your butt off. Who wouldn’t want to meet like-minded people and learn about best practices?


Bash Conference

A "resource" to all those in the Party and Entertainment industry.

The Special Event

The industry's premier tradeshow for event professionals.

CSES

Leading live event for catering and event professionals.

IMEx America

The pulse of the meetings industry that takes place every year.

Techsy Talk Live

The top tech event in the industry.

Experimental Marketing Summit

The world's largest conference on experiential marketing.

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