SKILLS EVENT TECH
New book aims to equip students with modern event tech skills
Co-authored by Edinburgh events academic Professor Joe Goldblatt
BY KEVIN O’SULLIVAN A
new book co-authored by one of Scotland’s leading event industry academics has recently hit the shelves.
Professor Joe Goldblatt, executive
director of the International Centre for the Study of Planned Events and a professor at Queen Margaret Uni- versity in Edinburgh, has contrib- uted to a new student textbook on event technology. Te book, titled Te 21st Century
Meeting and Event Technologies: Powerful Tools for Better Planning, Marketing and Evaluation, is the
33rd of Professor Goldblatt’s career. His co-authors are Dr Seungwon
“Shawn” Lee and Dr Dessislava Boshnakova, both former students of the professor, who writes: “My first book was written by myself nearly 30 years ago and has served as primer and introductory text for event planning for many years. Terefore, I am exceedingly pleased and proud that this book is the work of three pairs of hands that include my brilliant students and now esteemed colleagues.” Te title explores the impact of
technology on the events industry since the turn of the century, with the rapid explosion of smart devices, data and applications driv- ing the sector. But over 15 chapters it also explores some very niche areas of performance that can help events professionals harness the power of technology to enhance
the experience of users. For example, in part one of the
book the authors explore how search engine optimisation (SEO) techniques can boost meetings up the search rankings; as they discuss how software can be used to design meetings and event spaces. In part two they outline the tools needed to develop meeting and events bud- gets, and to monitor performance in real-time, as well as how to use tech to ‘create and execute a 360 degree evaluation of your meeting and event’. Part three looks at how to expand engagement through social media, and integrate marketing channels, while the final section of the book looks at future industry developments and also 50 case studies where tech played a signifi- cant role in successful outcomes. Te authors note: “Whilst writing this book several knowledgeable
technology experts told us that before we entered the words in the computer, the concepts would be out of date. In fact, we have found that the past 75 years of meeting and event technological development have proven that from the manual typewriter to the smartphone and even Google Glass and Samsung Smart Watch, the needs of meet- ing and event professionals have remained very much the same. Te need to conduct research to avoid future To conduct research to avoid future error and improve perfor- mance, to communicate, to design and plan with creativity and preci- sion, and perhaps most importantly, the need to measure and evaluate performance are even more impor- tant today than they were nearly one century ago. What has changed is the speed and intensity of these increasingly challenging demands.”
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44 | EVENTSBASE | AUTUMN 2016
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