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Ed. note: We strive as an industry to continually raise the
bar. Within the meeting and event industries is the event
entertainment and production element. With its own professional
associations this most important facet gets more professional
with every year that passes. 2005 represents the 20th year
that Mark Sonder Productions has given service to this industry.
Standards: Fear or the Future?
In my work towards developing a framework for a global Event
Management Body of Knowledge (EMBOK) I have encountered varied
resistance to the term standards. This resistance ranges from
the fear of governmental imposition of burdensome regulations
to the fear that obstacles to free enterprise will be instituted,
preventing us from pursuing the entrepreneurial dreams that
led many of us into the planned special events business.
Standard is defined by the American College Dictionary as
“anything taken by general consent as a basis of comparison;
an approved model.” Standards are the criterion guidance
that we and our stakeholder and client publics rely on to
determine excellence, value, suitability, and probability
of success. Standards will not only be used to judge our endeavors,
they can also provide us with the guidance on how to become
the best that we can be in our chosen endeavors.
We embrace such terms and concepts as Ethical Standards and
Codes of Conduct. We, as an industry, regularly use the term
Industry Standards, yet we, as an industry, have not developed
and formally adopted voluntary consensus standards that establish
the criterion for measuring quality, skills, knowledge or
competency. We have yet to even quantify and qualify the very
foundation needed to establish such criterion — our industry’s
body of knowledge. And, as so many other industries have realized,
this body of knowledge (and the standards that may be developed
based on it) must be built upon a broad examination of and
consensus reached by the industry.
When we look at creating a body of knowledge we are not striving
to define the “how to”, but rather the scope of
what the “how to” should include — what should
be considered when developing curriculums, assessment criterion,
process systems, and policies and legislation. From that baseline
— the identification of the scope of knowledge and skills
pertinent to this industry — the definition of competency
will emerge that will enable the creation of proper assessment
criteria and effective academic and professional development
curriculums to prepare and enhance the expertise of event
organizers. (Without standards of competency identified, how
would one even begin to create effective curriculums?)
The challenge is greater in the U.S. because whereas other
emerging countries seek industry standards to ensure viable
and safe events as they build sustainable job capacity and
opportunities, they have the advantage of starting from scratch;
they are not trying to link together a hodgepodge of pockets
of knowledge. The U.S. also suffers from federalism; each
jurisdiction is free to adopt its own standards rather than
conform to national standards (much less international standards).
It is the industry associations that should be in the forefront
of developing and promoting consensus standards that, because
they are created and validated by a broad industry representation,
will typically be adopted by the individual jurisdictions.
However, the event industry hasn’t even gotten to the
point of agreement that it IS one industry; each practitioner
association holds that it is the “leader” and still
tries to minimize the status of the other disciplines.
Although this will likely generate heated opposition, my
contention is that we need standards of entry into this occupation.
Without such standards of entry (a degree, certification,
licensing or other form of credentialing) wherein one has
to demonstrate at least a certain breadth of knowledge —
an awareness of the scope of responsibilities associated with
these endeavors, we will not move to the status of a genuine
profession that clients and consumers can trust. As long as
we remain a business-card entry occupation (one only needs
to have business cards printed to become a “professional”)
the industry will continue to be stalled at the “trade”
stage, unable to garner the respect for and value placed on
the specialized knowledge and skill required to perform at
a capable and accountable level.
Whether standards of entry will ever be required is unknown,
but the marketplace will eventually demand them. Whether performance
or process standards will ever be mandated is unknown, but
the courts and governments will eventually establish them
if we, as an industry, do not. Standards are in our future.
Standards are the future. Let us embrace that fact and be
proactive participants in their development.
For more information on The Event Management Body of Knowledge
(EMBOK) Project,
click
here.
Julia Rutherford Silvers, CSEP
Author of Professional Event Coordination (Wiley, 2004)
Four-Time Winner of ISES Esprit for Best Industry Contribution
Charter Member of the International EMBOK Executive
See Tips of the Month: Standards
in the event entertainment field.
See Tony Bennett,
this month's featured Artist.
 Mark
Sonder, CSEP is the Chief Entertainment Officer of Mark Sonder
Productions, a leading national entertainment agency providing
headline talent and production services for large venues,
corporations and associations. In addition, Sonder sits on
the faculty of The George Washington University MBA/MTA Diploma
and Event Management Certificate program. Event
Entertainment and Production is the book published by
Wiley authored by Sonder.
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