As a student eager to start and develop your career in the events industry you will have lots to learn. In fact, the learning never stops. I continue to learn something new every day and I left University a number of years ago. Your final academic qualification is not the end of your learning; it’s really just the start. Armed with your qualification you will be keen to really understand the industry. If you are not then your fellow students may leave you in the dust.
There are a number of ways in which you can learn about the industry and here are three simple ideas to start you off but hopefully you are doing these already. After all, you don’t need to wait until your course is finished before discovering the industry.
Read the trade press and read on a regular basis. Read from different publications and on line e-zines. You will soon discover the trends and finds the personalities that make their views heard. It is a great first place to start.
Add social media channels to the mix. Discover Linked In Groups and join in the conversations. Find companies on Facebook and YouTube. But the key one here is to grab a twitter account and then follow the #eventprofs stream. Everyday there is something of interest in the stream. It has helped me no end and I am sure will do the same for you.
Finally, my third tip, is to put the trade publications down, move away from your la top, iPAD or mobile device and start walking into your face to face networking event/meeting. There is no substitute for hearing first hand what people really think about issues and what is coming around the corner.
When you do go networking also work on the basis that you are there to glean as much as you can. It’s not a problem when you put forward your own opinions but if you speak at people all night you are unlikely to learn as much as you could have done by listening more.
The recipe for the perfect sponge is:
- Stir in a large amount of trade press on a regular basis
- Add in some social media channels
- Flavour with face to face meetings and networking
You can never learn enough which is sometimes frustrating but on the other hand if we don’t learn we don’t develop. Be the sponge and keep developing.
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