11 Essential Blogs for Event Profs To Read

Essential-Blogs for Event Profs

Technology, as we've long argued, has revolutionized the job of event management. One of our favorite changes is the explosion of high quality content for event managers. Not long ago, staying on top of events industry news, trends and opinion meant subscribing to a few expensive niche magazines, scanning major media outlets for the occasional relevant article, or attending conferences. It was the dark ages.

But that's all changed, for the better. There are hundreds of brilliant minds out there sharing their expertise daily, illuminating our paths as event managers. It's never been easier to stay on top of our industry or find the insights we need to grow professionally.

Of the literally hundreds of solid event planning blogs, here are the 11 we make time for every day…and we think you should too. We've broken them out into three categories: the major players that are essential reading for staying current in our industry, the focused thought leaders who write nuanced takes on niche issues important to us, and blogs by companies within the events industry who really know their stuff and can offer valuable advice for the event professional.

Bonus time-saving tip: use a RSS reader to read these blogs. Instead of having to remember 11 URLs, or visit 11 bookmarks, an RSS reader will pull in the content from each of these blogs into one central place. An RSS reader will also show you what you've read and what content is new. We like to use Newsblur, which is available for free, but there are plenty of other solid options out there.

The Big Can’t Miss Blogs

These blogs are the mainstream media of event management content. Miss them at your own peril!

BizBash – The go-to source for news and events industry vendor directories, BizBash functions as the Wall Street Journal for the events industry. If it’s happening in the events industry, it’ll be in BizBash.

Event Manager Blog – If BizBash is the Wall Street Journal of events, then Event Manager Blog is the Buzzfeed. Its engaging and easy-to-read content will surprise you with depth and the quality of its insights. Entertain and educate yourself!

Event Industry News - Edited by Adam Parry, one of our Essential #eventprofs To Follow On Twitter, this UK-based site is updated daily with diverse content about conferences. Don’t miss their frequent and insightful podcasts!

Thought Leaders

These event professionals know their domains better than anyone.

Midcourse Corrections – Run by the top-notch consultants at Velvet Chainsaw, you’ll find nuanced insights for conference and tradeshow organizers from some of the smartest people in the industry.

Corbin Ball – We’ve yet to find another person more knowledgeable and reliable in their insights about event technology than Corbin Ball. Get ahead of the curve on technology; read Cobin and subscribe to his TechTalk newsletter.

Techsy Talk Blog – Liz King has quickly established herself as a go-to for event profs interested in how to get the most out of technology for events. Of special note are her podcasts, which feature interviews with events industry thought leaders (including some familiar names!)

Conferences That Work – With an associations-bent, this blog by Adrian Segar, an engaging event professional with nearly 40 years of experiences, offers excellent high-level insights on designing conferences that work (the title is apt!)

Company Blogs

Don’t discount content produced by vendors and other companies in the events industry space. These people are in the trenches and often have excellent insights or tips to pass along.

Glisser Blog – Glisser was founded by Mike Piddock, a former Chief Marketing Officer who ran hundreds of events per year. Their blog reflects a deep knowledge of marketing and data as it applies to the events industry.

Hello Endless Blog – Endless Events’ blog would make this list for their #eventicons videos alone, but there is more than that to their blog. As a production company, their focus tends towards event production and entertainment but their content is frequent, diverse and always smart.

Double Dutch Blog – Double Dutch knows event apps as well as anybody, and their blog reflects their expertise in attendee engagement.

Hubb Blog – Of course we’re biased, but our blog has great content on event technology, how to perform at your best as an event professional, everything you need to plan a killer conference, and much more. Get us in your inbox!