Event Management School

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Event Management School

IFEA and NRPA offer Event Management School at
Oglebay National Training Center

The International Festivals & Events Association (IFEA) is pleased to continue an important partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) and the Oglebay National Training Center in West Virginia. Together these highly-respected professional organizations in our industry present the Event Management School, with 2013 classes being offered January 20th - 24th, 2013.

Event Management School: Serving the Future

Leaders in our industry already know that quality festivals and events are among the most successful tools available to communities, states, regions, and even countries to increase tourism, create powerful and memorable branding and imaging opportunities, bond people together, encourage positive media coverage, enhance economic impact, and add to the quality of lives for those who live there. On the other hand, poorly planned, managed and executed events can have a reciprocally opposite effect.

Over time, events themselves have changed; from often informal affairs to spectacular productions, requiring new sets of skills, experience, creativity, financing, planning and leadership.  As a result, event management has also evolved into the business and industry we know today, with new demands, challenges and expectations from attendees / participants; sponsors; host communities and a plethora of other partners that the success of any event depends on.

Recognizing those challenges, the new Event Management School is designed around the concept of serving multiple audiences who represent the future of our industry, by bringing them together with many of the top professionals in our field today. Event Management School classes are expected to include:

• Current event mid-management staff looking to broaden their knowledge base while enhancing their professional networks and careers;
• Parks and Recreation managers and staff;
• Those new to the Event Management field;
• Event Management students looking to strengthen their professional resumes before entering the job market;
• Key event volunteers looking to expand their capabilities.

School Curriculum

The Event Management School first-year curriculum is based around a ‘full-compass’ event creation cycle (as identified by leading industry experts), touching on all points necessary to allow students in the program to put their new knowledge to immediate use when they return home. The second-year curriculum builds on the first year, taking students to the logical next level. The curriculum also includes topical materials following in-line with the IFEA’s professional certification program (CFEE – Certified Festival & Event Executive) and will count towards the electives and continuing education components required as part of that program.

Year One of the two-year program will follow an intensive pathway through 24 hours of training, from defining your event and understanding potential programming components, through to the follow-up surveys and evaluations.  Students will learn about the business side of events, how to build a successful event team, and how to create and manage a successful volunteer program.  Instructors will cover critical success areas for all events, including sponsorship/sponsor service; food and beverage, merchandise and other non-sponsorship revenue programs; marketing and mediums; and event operations from every angle.  And a special Behind-the-Scenes tour of Oglebay’s Winter Festival of Lights (America’s largest light show) and other annual events, is sure to create a whole new avenue of creativity.

Year Two takes the entire process up a notch in every area and adds many new critical elements, including time management, designing and controlling the event experience, board governance, financial management, brand building and community outreach programs. Student professionals will learn about contingency planning, creating sustainable events, building accessible events, maximizing event technology and entry options. Case Studies, in-depth programming considerations, and new Behind-the-Scenes opportunities will complete the most intensive training program of its kind available today.

In A Class All Your Own

Each year’s Event Management School students will live on-site at the Oglebay Resort and Conference Center with their class of professional peers and instructors during the one-week institute each year, adding a unique one-on-one networking opportunity for everyone.

Bill Koegler, long-time Director of the National Training Center at Oglebay, is an important partner in the new Event Management School. The school will be the 15^th professional training school for Oglebay, including nine in partnership with the NRPA and another with IFEA Association Alliance Partner IAVM (International Association of Venue Managers).

“I am excited to be associated with the professional organizations behind the new Event Management School,” said Koegler. “I am a member of both the IFEA and the NRPA and see this as an excellent opportunity for Parks and Recreation managers and staff and many others interested or employed in this unique field to learn the concepts and intricacies of special event management from the professionals. Oglebay is the perfect site to meld the best of both organizational focuses.”

Registration for the new Event Management School at Oglebay is open now.  To Register go to:  www.nrpa.org.

For more information on the National Recreation & Parks Association, go to: www.nrpa.org  

For more information on Oglebay Resort Schools, go to: www.OGLEBAY-RESORT.com/schools