In the beginning, there was the World Wide Web, or www. The early stage Web 1.0 was a static tool. Then, Web 2.0 emerged in 1999 offering multiple platform capabilities including social networking sites. Web 3.0, not fully realized yet, extends technology into 3-D space and the convergence of the physical and virtual world.

The subsequent pace of change sometimes feels like the biblical six days of creation or a Big Bang theory of the technology age. The trickle-down effect on the meeting planning business might not be as cataclysmic, but it is dramatic.

In a recent guest post on eventmanagerblog.com, Howard Givner, founder and executive director of the Event Leadership Institute, borrowed web terminology to label the comparative stages of change in the meetings industry.  Event Planner 1.0 centers on the details or logistics, which Givner describes as a mentality, “which represents the vast majority of our industry.” Event Planner 2.0 is about strategy, goals, measurements and ROI.  Event Planner 3.0 shifts the mentality from reactive to proactive, requiring planners to go further and deeper: redesigning meetings, generating more revenue, and creating new events that respond to the economic landscape, utilize new technology, incorporate new learning theories and engage participants.

The evolution is critical to the future of face-to-face events and, says Givner, the growth and security of many meeting planners’ careers.

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