Unique Books About Events to Read By 2021

HERE IS WHAT WE HAVE IN STORE FOR YOU

The event industry is continuously evolving, especially this year, due to the pandemic. Therefore, event professionals should continually update their knowledge of events. Following event blogs and attend virtual events (in lack of F2F events for now) are excellent methods to stay up to date. However, let’s not forget the power of a well-equipped library!

In the past few months, we researched the best books about event planning and, if you are like us, since the end of 2020 is only three months away, you will feel than any book about events published before 2020 is already out-dated. Therefore, all event-planning books in our list were published in 2020 or 2019. Let’s find out which ones they are!

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Standout Virtual Events: How to create an experience that your audience will love

There is a lot of uncertainty about future events if attendees won’t be able to travel or meet in large groups in the short term. This concerns many event professionals in terms of the long term impact of the industry too. One thing is for sure: the pandemic changed every business in 2020.

Many event professionals found themselves trying to replicate what worked for F2F events into virtual ones. However, this rarely works for a good outcome. Everything needs to be reconsidered to create virtual events.

In this book, David Meerman Scott and Michelle Manafy share the best practices for virtual events, including:

•How to Network Online
•When You Should Run an Online Event
•Differences Between F2F and Virtual Events
•How to Keep Your Audience Engaged
•Six Reasons Why You Should Host a Virtual Event
•Formats, Software and Platforms
•Speakers for Virtual Events
•The Cost of a Virtual Event
•How To Organise a Successful Virtual Event

You may be experienced or not in running a virtual event. In all cases, this book will give you the tools to plan a tremendous virtual event.

(Published 18 September 2020)

Virtual Event Survival Guide: Plan, Build, and Host Successful Online Events

No matter what format your virtual event is based on, this book illustrates how to:

Plan a virtual event from start to finish
Different designs you can choose from
Promote networking and engagement in your audience
Market to attendees, exhibitors and sponsors
Have a successful virtual event

We found this book particularly useful because of its many checklists for online virtual events, such as:

Platform Checklist
Agenda Checklist
Session Checklist
Speaker Checklist
Exhibitor Checklist
Sponsor Checklist
Testing Checklist

(Published 22 September 2020)

Event Manager: Over More Than 20 Years of Successful Meetings, Some Tips to Learn the Convention Management in Five Days.

This book is particularly suited for young or inexperienced event professionals that want to dive in the event industry world, even during such challenging times. It’s interesting the personal approach the writer talks about, among the technical or practical parts that are inevitably involved in even planning. Daniela Liccardo shares her love for events and what makes every event professional proud, passionate and competent about our job:

– strong determination

– guest management

– convention management

This book allows you to learn the basics of all this in five days. Why not give it a go?

(Published 22 March 2020)

Risk Assessment Framework: Successfully Navigating Uncertainty

Even though this book was written at the end of 2019, we decided to include it in our list, as it’s incredibly relevant to what event professionals are going through, during this pandemic. This book is as if the writer, Ray Frohnhoefe, previewed what was going to happen to our event industry and wisely wrote a guide on navigating uncertainty, which is what #eventprofs need right now without a doubt.

In particular, many event organisers daily face the words “Risk Assessment”, even before COVID-19, for all kinds of emergencies an event may meet. For example, not having Covid-19 trained event staff may affect the event. Hence, it’s fundamental to hire suppliers that trained their staff to keep themselves, event attendees, exhibitors and other staff safe from Covid-19 associated risks.

This book gives the tools, templates, forms and guidance to support Risk Assessment for all kinds of situations. Whether you are a seasoned event professional or new, this book will help you navigate through uncertainty.

(Published 26 October 2019)

Sport and the Pandemic: Perspectives on Covid-19’s Impact on the Sports Event Industry (Routledge Research in Sports Business and Management)

This book will be published at the end of the month. However, for those of you that specialised in sports events, this is undoubtedly an excellent book to buy.

This guide offers a close look at how the sports event industry was affected by the global epidemic of Coronavirus, with case studies, athletes that have been infected, commentaries, and a close analysis on sports business and management, from crisis communication and marketing to event management and finance.

This book gives a future overview of how the situation may evolve and influence policy and practice. This is a crucial resource for anyone caring about the future of sports.

(this title will be released on 29 September 2020)

Planning and Managing Smaller Events: Downsizing the Urban Spectacle (Routledge Studies in Urbanism and the City)

Every event professional is aware of the fact that big mass gatherings like we used to know them, won’t be happening for a while. Therefore, it’s fundamental for those of us who are more experienced with significant size events to get to know the smaller-scale events.

This book analyses several event case studies around Europe, Asia and North America, by classifying them and discussing how they contribute to cities and towns without the risks of large events. Besides, it talks about the transition in post-metropolitan areas and the growing regional scale of urban cities.

Planning and Managing Smaller Events: Downsizing the Urban Spectacle will be particularly interesting for students and researchers interested in event management.

(Published 25 September November 2020)

Festival and Event Tourism Impacts (Routledge Advances in Event Research Series)

Festival and Event Tourism Impacts offers an excellent overview of the multi-aspects involved in festival and events and provides top tips for successful management of this kind of gatherings.

This is undoubtedly for those of you that generally organise these kinds of events. In this book the author analyses a range of diverse event types such as the Formula One Grand Prix in Monaco, the 20^th Universiade in Taiwan, Pope Francis’ visit to Mauritius in 2019 and many others.

This guide will give you a clear picture of festival and event tourism, followed by the current issues these communities are facing. The second part of the book touches the sustainability and environmental issues that may affect venues and locations involved, with impact management strategies.

This read is ideal for academics, students, researchers and professionals in the Tourism, Hospitality and Event fields.

(Published 18 September 2020)

Special Events: The Brave New World for Bolder and Better Live Events (Wiley Event Management)

This book has been the event planner’s must-have guide for three decades, with full coverage of theory and practice of event planning of all kinds in 416 pages.

This book is now to its 8^th edition, and it explores the dramatic change our event industry is facing. In addition to that, the authors discuss the importance of social media and communications technology, sustainability, and culture that are now fundamental in the event industry.

In this guide, you will learn how to:

Produce seamless, secure and sustainable events
The new sustainable event algorithms
Event branding and bold delivery
Best practices and real-world experiences

Although this book may be a bit pricey you can buy the kindle edition or second-hand books to have it half price, and why not, check your local library too, because it’s worth it.

(8^th edition, published 25 August 2020)

Community-In-a-Box: How to Build Event-Driven Professional Communities

This guide is for professional communities thriving to transform the lives of the people through virtual and face-to-face events. Now, more than ever, people are looking for a sense of community, during a year that left many of us with less social connection.

The author, Mark Birch, first started six years ago with no big ambitions, in a conference room for 50 people, now finding himself as the creator of 25,000 members community across 20 cities globally.

Community-in-a-box is a how-to guide into creating and scaling a community from scratch or already existing communities. Mark shares the steps he took and the mistakes that can be avoided to launch and grow a healthy community.

(Published 30 September 2020)

Managing Events: Real Challenges, Real Outcomes

This book discusses the planning process in all its cycles, from the pre-event planning stage, on-site to post-event. The guide is structured in 4 primary phases:

the event cycle
before the event
throughout the event
beyond the event (current and future event trends and issues)

Each chapter profiles someone working in the event industry and offers real-life challenges in their profession.

We found this book very practical and with operations elements such as project management, marketing, sponsorship dealing and risk assessment. Besides, in the final part of this volume, the author discussed the career paths currently existing in this field and the skills and qualifications required to be employed and successful in events.

This is ideal for students and event professionals that want to learn new ideas and inspiration with real scenarios and critical terms to learn at the end of each chapter.

(Published 2 September 2020)

These are the books about event planning we recommend you to read by the end of 2020. We hope to have inspired you to enrich your knowledge in the event industry and keep yourself up to date with new event trends. Furthermore, we firmly believe event planning is one of those fields continually changing, especially this year, so don’t wait any longer and start reading every once in a while, even if you are an experienced professional.

Which books do you find most inspiring that are not part of this list?

About Rox Event Staff, Event Staffing Agency in London

Rox Event Staff is the only event staffing agency in London that helps you take the headache out of staffing and event marketing in one place.

We operate nationwide across the UK with over 2,000 dynamic COVID-19 trained events staff on our growing roster. We have dedicated account management, event marketers, staff’s right-to-work checks, training and skills tests on all workers, taking care of payroll too.