Creating ISES: Our Tale as Old as Time

By Joe Goldblatt, FRSA, ISES Founding President (1987-1988)

In the Disney Broadway musical “Beauty and the Beast,” Mrs. Potts, the wise teapot, sings “A Tale as Old as Time” to introduce the concept of the beauty and the beast. This same metaphor may also be used to describe the origins and subsequent development of the International Special Events Society (ISES) during the past quarter of a century. In only 25 years, something beautiful was recognized and has been created through ISES to benefit thousands of industry professionals and to subsequently delight millions of guests throughout the world.

Prior to the development of the modern special events industry, this group was generally comprised of a loose collection of musicians, designers, planners and transportation logistics specialists known as destination management companies. It was a classic business example of a small pie being carved into very thin slices.

Twenty-six years ago, The Special Event convention and trade show held its second meeting in Palm Beach, Fla., and several hundred of these event specialists attended. One evening during a long bus ride to the Boca Raton Polo Club for an event, one of the members of this group turned to me and asked, “Joe, why is there not one organization representing all of us?” The man asking this question was, of course, the irrepressible Bob Graves, who was the owner of Mainline Party Rental and the Van Tent Co. in Philadelphia at the time.

I silently pondered his question and then asked him, “What would it take to develop such an organization?” Bob suggested we speak to Carol McKibben, the editor of Special Events magazine. Carol supported this idea and agreed, at my suggestion, to conduct a survey of some of her readers to find out if there was such a need.

Next, Carol provided a small meeting room at the third annual Special Event convention in Dallas on the final day of this event. I sent an invitation to individuals who had a high public profile to invite them to join us for this exploratory meeting. To my amazement, more than 50 people attended. I welcomed the group and introduced the concept of an International Special Events Society that would, as Bob suggested, represent all of us by bringing us closer together for mutual benefit. The goals of the organization would be to encourage professionalism through education and adherence to a code of ethics.

Then came the hard part. Although we had enjoyed a strong economy marked by the rapid growth of the special events industry in America, the economy was beginning to slow. I knew it would require significant funds to launch and sustain the new organization. So, I took out my checkbook and wrote a check for $200 and invited the others to join me. Once again, I was amazed and heartened when almost everyone in that room wrote a check or made a pledge to support the new organization.

I then proposed that we reconvene in 90 days to elect our inaugural board and officers. The group appointed me as chair of the task force to form the new organization. During the next 90 days, meetings were held by small groups in New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and throughout the United States to draft the organization's bylaws and code of ethics, nominate the first board and officers, establish the annual dues and budget, and attend to other important tasks.

Talented and generous volunteer leaders — such as Michael and Julie Loshin, Bob Bargen, Joe Van Eron, Marc Rose, David and Mary Ellen Shuppert, Janet Lee, Bob Graves, Craig Mitchell, Alan Elias, Alice Conway, Rita Bloom Smith and many others — traveled throughout the United States at their own expense to conduct these important meetings. These pioneering men and women were the first in the special events industry to make a conscious decision to stop carving up what had been a small pie and instead work together to create a bigger one to benefit all.

Ninety days later we met in Atlanta and elected the board and officers, approved the budget and dues structure, appointed the first executive director, and adopted the industry's first-ever code of ethics. At this same meeting, we proposed the development of a professional certification entitled Certified Special Events Professional (CSEP) and a conference for professional development (which was held six months later and has been consistently conducted now for 25 years). We were off and running.

During the next few years, the organization slowly grew in numbers, scope and quality. This was primarily due to the hard, unselfish work of the volunteer leadership at both the national and chapter levels, and the expert and hardworking professional staff members that have included Corinne Zane Dudine, Tom Hinton, Barbara Shore, Sharon Gorup, Kevin Hacke, Kristin Prine, Meghan Miller, Tom McCurrie and Lauren Rini. These people, working effectively together for all of us, are primarily responsible for the successful organization that ISES has become today.

A quarter of a century ago, the ISES visionaries recognized that something beautiful could be brought forth from within an industry that was at one time fragmented, amateurish and even distrustful of one another. In just 25 years, ISES has become internationally recognized as the leading organization and certification program for special event professionals. The early dreams of the founders have been realized. Indeed, it is our tale — now as old as time.

Joe Goldblatt, FRSA, leads the International Centre for the Study of Planned Events at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, Scotland. Goldblatt was the founding president of ISES and is the recipient of the first ISES Lifetime Achievement Award. He is the author, co-author and editor of 25 books within the field of special events management.

Name: Joe Goldblatt, FRSA

Title: Professor and Executive Director

Institution: Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, Scotland
International Centre for the Study of Planned Events
School of Arts, Social Sciences and Management
Tourism, Hospitality and Events (THE Group)

Address: Queen Margaret University Drive
Edinburgh, Scotland EH21 6UU

Email: jgoldblatt@qmu.ac.uk

Next Page: The History of ISES