Lara McCulloch

Lara McCulloch

On Posted on by Lara McCulloch to Eventprofs, Social Media Marketing

everything you wanted to know about #eventprofs

what is eventprofs

What is #eventprofs?

Eventprofs is a community of smart and digital savvy event professionals from around the world who come together online and in person to discuss progressive topics relevant to our industry – all with the intent of improving our businesses and, in turn, the Events Industry.

When and how did #eventprofs begin?

Eventprofs was founded in February 2009 on Twitter. I started it because, at the time, there were a fantastic group of event professionals on Twitter having sporadic real-time conversations. But there was no way of planning and organizing those conversations. Although hashtags are a dime a dozen today, at the time there was only one other Twitter community using a hashtag. I created #eventprofs, shared it with key influencers within the events, meetings & tradeshow industries and scheduled a weekly 1-hour chat every Thursday at 9:00pm EST.

How has it evolved?

There was a small group of very passionate #eventprofs from the very beginning who deserve recognition as they were instrumental in the growth and development of the community. They have also been a great sounding board for me over the past year and a half. Special thanks to: @gregruby, @michaelmccurry, @jeffhurt, @jessicalevin, @greena_v, @samueljsmith, @pinkdeb and @spkrinteractive (to name a few). Thanks to this small group, #eventprofs has blossomed into a thriving community of thousands.

When I started the group, my intent was to make the community self-sufficient, not controlled, not closed, and without hierarchy. The result is that everyone, whether a newcomer or not, feels ownership in #eventprofs. This mindset has spawned members to create their own events within the community (like Event Camp), promote their businesses and blogs, create lasting partnerships and help spread the word about the community at conferences and events.

How can you learn more about #eventprofs?

I’ve created a number of ways that members can stay in touch with #eventprofs. First, it’s key to follow @eventprofs – the official account that informs members of upcoming chats and community news. There’s also the Facebook Group Page, the Wiki, and the Eventprofs Awards (an announcement on the awards will be released in the coming days).

If you’d like to participate in an upcoming chat:

1) Watch this video on how to participate in an #eventprofs chat

2) Mark your calendars with these upcoming #eventprofs chats

3) Feel free to listen first or jump right in!

4) I invite you to message me if you’re looking for a quick tutorial or simply want to ask questions.

Did you know?

Eventprofs was mentioned by Tim O’Reilly of O’Reilly Media in his The Twitter Book! You are a part of written history.

Most importantly…

Get involved. The success of #eventprofs is very much a part of each and every person who participates. From sharing articles to participating in chats to making friends – all of these activities help to grow the community.

I want to personally thank every person who has contributed. It’s made me so happy to see how far #eventprofs has come from its early days as simply a hashtag.

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