A dedicated team of industry volunteers has been on a mission for the past five years, creating a career pathway to educate and train high school students for jobs in the events industry.
The Events Education & Workforce Development Federation (The Federation, for short) comprises more than 7,500 individuals and organizations from throughout the events industry, including the Live Events Coalition, Entertainment Services and Technology Association, Event Safety Alliance, International Association of Venue Managers, and International Union of Painters and Allied Trades.
Leading the charge is Laura Palker, president of The Federation and CEO of Trade Show Solutions Center, whose overarching mission is to finally put the events industry, which has often been called, “The Invisible Industry,” on the map.
”I realized at some point that our industry was self-established, self-developed, self-educated, self-governed — and nobody knows about us,” she said. “What I did not realize is the depth to which nobody knows about us.”
At a Turning Point
This past summer, the group succeeded in getting the National Career Clusters Framework, an organizing tool for career technical education (CTE) programs, to reference “hospitality and events.” Conferences, exhibitions, meetings, events, air festivals, performances, political conventions, and fundraisers are included under that classification. Palker has also assembled a group of 22 subject matter experts and representatives from academia and the industry to create a catalog of published event planning books that will be available for the 2026-2027 school year.
Then, at the Association for Career and Technical Education’s December conference, Palker plans to “introduce the industry to the educators.”
The next step will be the design of actual curriculums, “which will take a little bit longer because they need to comply with each state’s specifications,” she said.
On-The-Job Training
Also ongoing are The Federation’s efforts to update the NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) code and to establish an ONET (Occupational Information Network) code. These are necessary to establish industry apprenticeships that lead to employment. As a step in that direction, The Federation has partnered with Tallo, an online platform that connects 2 million students with colleges, companies, and career opportunities.
Ultimately, The Federation’s efforts will create a dual benefit: Students will have a defined career path from high school to hiring, as they do in other industries, and companies will be connected to a pool of educated, trained talent.
“Right now, students might go to a job fair and learn about the importance of our industry, and that’s great. But we needed to have our industry recognized at a federal level,” said Jacqueline Beaulieu, vice chair/governance and senior director, marketing, advocacy, and client strategy, at Poretta & Orr and a member of The Federation’s Executive Board.
Eventually, the hope is to attract attention beyond the trade show/events segment, including meeting and incentive associations who understand the need for workforce development. That’s even more crucial, Beaulieu says, with the impending “Silver Tsunami,” the wave of retirements among older, experienced workers who are leaving the workforce in large numbers.
“We’re here to talk about these issues and how to solve them,” she said. “We want to help, and I think we are. So we’re looking for those partners that want to help move this forward and really make a difference.”
