Conventions

            In order to help my company grow and expand my experience within the business I have began to look into finding some events and conventions that my boss could attend to meet some new clients and suppliers.  I began looking into conventions that he already takes the employees to in order to see what he is currently researching.  One convention that my boss has attended over the past couple years is the Nightclub and Bar Show http://www.ncbshow.com/nightclubbar/v42/index.cvn.   This is one of the nation’s largest food and beverage destinations.  This debuts the latest innovations, new strategies for growth, hot products, and networking opportunities.  Another convention that the company attended for the first time last year was The Special Event http://thespecialeventshow.com/specialevent2010/public/enter.aspx.  This show is to get together people in the event planning industry to network and share ideas. 

            I decided to look into other conventions that our company could go to in order to grow in various industries throughout our company.  The first one that I found, which is coming up fairly quickly is the International Special Events Societies Eventworld convention http://isesew.vtcus.com/index.aspx.  This is more of a conference where people can meet with professionals across the world in order to brand your business, gain knowledge of other companies, meet potential clients, and develop new plans and trends in the industry.  This conference is different from other things we have gone to because you are able to actually market yourself and company through talking to people instead of just being confined to a booth.  Another great convention and expo is the International Festival and Events Association http://www.ifea.com/. I think that this would also be interesting to attend to learn more about different venues of event planning. 

            After doing a lot of research I learned that the event planning industry is larger than I imagined.  I hope that other people that read this blog can take some of these ideas and apply them to their own company.  I think that all of these conferences and conventions would be great learning experiences and hopefully my company will take them into consideration.