When we last left off, I was talking to Ralph, still not his real name. I just told him that I was like an event planner. I really wanted Ralph to know what I did. So, if you don’t mind, I am going to do a little bit of ranting.

Using similies to describe one thing to another is commonplace. But in order to help someone who wants to get into that profession you need to be exact. Here’s an example, I love the color slate, if someone is unsure of what that color looks like, I simply say it is like grey. However, if you were a colorist, a painter or a graphic designer you would probably disagree. I just told you my favorite typeface is Neutraface? Well, when you look at me befuddled and ask me what the hell that looked like? I would politely say it is like a thin Helvetica.

My Rules of the Trade

I think this is a great segway to one of my rules of the trade. These rules have nothing to do with a class I took, but rather a personal guide I created along the way with the help of some of my mentors and good old failures.

Rule # C0.1.0R: Always keep a Pantone swatch book in your arsenal. When you find that your client’s logo was printed in the wrong color of lime green, you will know a whole new type of stress. Oh yeah that happened. To clarify, I’m not saying you can’t use your computer to check the colors. I’m just saying printed and digital can differ.

There is a point to my rambling, I swear. In order to understand how to become an event producer let’s look at examples of what they do. It can be hard to know what it is going on in your city with the number of events happening. Or just wait for the flurry of posts from friends who all went to the latest Instagram museum. Luckily we have the internet and all its infinite glory. Here is my list of sites that I go to learn and get inspired.

My Top 10 Event Professional Sites You Should be Reading

This list is in no particular order because each site offers something completely different.

Event Industry News

If you are interested in news and trends that are from over the pond you have to check out this online magazine provides the latest news, views, and reviews of the events industry. There’s an entire guest blog section with comprehensive coverage of news in the event industry. This site is also a great tool for recruitment and job postings.

Event Manager Blog

This members-only blog is a great way to see what else is going on within the event community. This blog leans a bit heavier on the conference side of event management. There are some very good review articles on the site as well as some great templates. These can be used to assist in creating own templates for your own events.

Event Planner.net

This bog is really full of some unique and interesting short- read articles. You can read everything from event trends to how to help yourself become more proficient in your role as an event planner. This site also has a members-only section which has some great insights if you’re interested.

The Bizzabo Blog

Bizzabo is an event software platform that was started by three guys that were attending events and noticed that there was no way to bring attendees closer together. Today according to Bizzabo’s website they are the world’s fastest-growing technology company. The blog which shares advice from other event professionals and is full of articles that inspire. You can definitely spend hours reading through this site.

Bizz Bash

Another one of my favorite online publication is BizzBash. This source is great if you are looking for cool venues, trends in event styles, technology, and tools for your next event. With a mission to empower event professionals with ideas, intelligence, and resources to create smarter events this should definitely be in your favorite bookmarks folder.

Event Brite

Eventbrite is a global platform for live experiences that allows you to create, share and find a variety of events in your area that can definitely fuel your passion. As a leading technology platform that allows you to both ticket and gain insights of your event they have cultivated a blog that is sure to inspire you if you plan to be an event professional.  

Endless Events

As a leading events production company Endless Events has over 10 years of a positive proven track history of creating some of the best events in the industry. This gave birth to their blog which started as a way to showcase their own work. As the blog began to grow they began to provide tricks, secret tips and event inspiration and trends that would help other event producers make their events rise above the rest. With a slight focus on event audio and visuals, this is a great blog to read for inspiration.

ADWeek

I have been a long-time friend of reading AdWeek. This online publication is dedicated to the discipline of advertising, which led me to this amazing career. As you will soon find out advertising is like the fraternal twin of marketing. This online resource covers things that are going on in the industry, showcases creativity and shows off the latest campaigns from some of the world’s largest brands. One of the other things I love about this publication is that advertising campaigns practically gave birth to what we now know as experiential.

Digital Agency Network

In my opinion the best experiential activations are those that not only evoke all of your senses but inspire you immensely. So it should come to no surprise that a lot of what goes on in the digital space winds up in some of those activations that we find so breathtaking. The digital world around us is ever changing and if you want to keep up with the trends or stay ahead of them you must check out this site.

Event Marketer

Event marketer is another web publication that spun from the magazine era. Combining through the site you will find great reads on insights into the wide array of event types, which is especially good because they don’t only focus on trade shows trends. The only downside to this site is that there is a fee to read all the articles. So be selective in what you read and when you are ready to become a subscriber be prepared to dish out $299 for the year.

In conclusion

With so much noise online that can distract you and make it hard to find appropriate resources in this industry. Therefore, I hope you take a moment and go through these sites and find that inspiration that will ultimately help you decide if this is indeed the right career path.