The best event planners never stop learning, so to help readers be their best, here are five things to know this week from around the event planning industry. 

1. Finding Amazing Conferences Just Got Easier

Finding the best events to attend, or to recommend can be quite challenging. While there are some event directory websites out there, the list of events aren't curated - so it's hard to know which ones are truly excellent.

Thanks to our experience working with over 6,000 event organizers, we were able to build two directories of only amazing events happening in 2016. One directory features 2016 marketing events, and the other showcases world-class tech conferences happening next year. Refer to them when you're looking to recommend an event to colleagues - and let use know what you think!

2. Tips For Connecting With Social Media influencers

Marketing an event is no easy task. But to make it a bit easier, we've always recommended tapping into the power of social media influencers online.

Once you've identified influencers who might be interestd in promoting your event using your industry knowledge and tools like BuzzSumo, you can then try to find them on social media platforms like LinkedIn.

You can send influencers Inmail, but be sure to let them know that you understand their time is precious. You might also consider reaching out on other popular platforms like Twitter or Instagram. Via Social Media Examiner

3. A Quick Tip To Dramatically Improve Email Marketing Results

One of the most popular event marketing channels is email, but if you think about it, most of the people who receive your promotional emails will never open them. If you're using an advanced event marketing platform, you should be able to see who exactly didn't open those emails.

If you can see that data, then you can simply resend the first email you sent your contact database, and just switch up the email subject line. This tactic can help you increase open rates dramatically, thus helping you reach more people and improve your event registration results. Via OkDork

4. Social Media Changes To Watch In 2016

The new year could feature some considerable changes to some beloved social media platforms, making it something event marketers should pay attention to. Specifically, Facebook has plans to do a better job of keeping users on their platform for longer periods of time.

Specifcally, Facebook  is creating an in-platform blogging feature called "Notes" and allowing users to upload videos natively to the platform - thus making Facebook a YouTube competitor.

These and other updates will likely become more prominent aspects of Facebook's platform in the year to come, and event marketers should take note now so they can prepare an appropriate social media strategy to make use of them. Via Content Marketing Institute

5. Proven Strategies To Gain Some Press Coverage

It can feel like a daunting task to get some press coverage for an event you're trying to promote. It seems like most of the journalists you email never get back to you, and the ones that do, provide non-committal answers. 

So how can you find journalists who are actually interested in sharing your event with their readers? You can start by using a PR tool that has a database with contact info of major journalists, or you can simply create a Twitter list and start reaching out from there.

Once you've created a list of journalists who you think might be interested in your event, try to find evidence that this is true by searching through previous articles they've written. Then you can craft tailored outreach emails and mention these articles to demonstrate that you've done your research. Via Distilled

Event Planning Next Steps

The best event planners never stop learning. So if that's what you hope to be, download our free ebook on event design best-practices and learn some new skills to create amazing event or conference experiences for attendees. To download the 40 page eBook, click the button below!