The Virtual Edge Institute (VEI), an organization dedicated to advancing the development and adoption of virtual meeting technology, has created the first educational program to formally train and certify event marketers, meeting planners and education professionals as "digital events strategists," it announced last week.
Launching in June at the PCMA Education Conference in Baltimore — during America Meetings Week, which is part of the inaugural AIBTM — the new Digital Events Strategist Certification program will teach participants the skills and strategies needed to "plan, build, design and execute a virtual events program that achieves business objectives."
"The industry has been growing leaps and bounds over the past few years, yet there has been no step-by-step approach to help organizations understand how digital environments fit into their larger marketing, events, learning and community strategies," said VEI Executive Director Michael Doyle. "With our training and certification program, we are helping them to gain the real-world knowledge and skills they need to strategically incorporate online into their businesses."
According to VEI, which cites data from Market Research Media, virtual will be an $18.6 billion industry from 2010-2015. The new certification is designed to help meeting professionals more effectively tap into that market.
"Corporations and associations across the board are increasingly using virtual events as marketing and sales tools to provide education and share information," said Kati Quigley, director of event marketing for Microsoft. "A certification program designed to train those that put these events together will be invaluable and couldn't be better timed."
To become certified as a Digital Events Strategist, meeting planners must complete a series of hands-on workshops and sessions and complete a written exam. For more information, visit www.virtualedgeinstitute.com.