Event Planning Certification You Can Teach
The growth of event technology is exponential and technology adoption will affect how planners plan events in the coming years. For those who are shaping the minds of future event professionals everywhere, what can you do to help prepare them for the technological side of event planning? A good starting point is to teach your student’s event technology right in the classroom. This ensures the student is ready and well-equipped with the skills they’ll need to tackle any kind of meeting or event with the use of tech.
What is Social Tables and why should I teach it in the classroom?
We’re glad you asked! Social Tables‘ cloud-based product suite provides an ecosystem of diagramming, check-in, and attendee management to the hospitality industry. We are the chosen partner of over 4,500 clients, and used daily by over 80,000 individual event professionals. Hyatt Hotel Corporation, Harvard Business School, Wolfgang Puck, and Forbes are but a few of our clients. But if you’re not sold…
Social Tables has won numerous industry awards, including Fast Company’s Best Innovation for Live Events in 2017, 2015 Innovator of the Year from Catersource and Event Solutions, Best Industry Innovation from ILEA, an Honorable Mention from EIBTM, and People’s Choice Award from Canadian Special Events.
How do you get started teaching event technology?
At Social Tables, we have a certification program called the Certified Social Tables Event Professional Program, or CSTEP for short. This program serves as a way to give hands-on experience with one piece of event technology to your students through project-based assignments. The program equips each student with the key skills to diagram any kind of event to the accuracy of 1/10th of an inch, and enables students to do virtual walkthroughs at the touch of a button through Social Tables’ 3D capabilities.
Social Tables is currently taught in nearly 30 academic institutions across the country and internationally, including University of Nevada at Las Vegas, Florida State University, Temple University, and Metropolitan State University at Denver. Thus far, close to 3,000 students have passed the Social Tables certification exam.
The goal of this curriculum is to provide free access to our software for the students who will soon be shaping the future of the hospitality industry.
How does it work in the classroom?
We provide a three-part curriculum merely as an outline for how you can incorporate Social Tables into your classroom. After you make the decision to teach Social Tables in the classroom, we’ll provide a folder that has both a .doc and .pdf version of the CSTEP and a Certification Exam in it for you to tailor to your classes needs.
Step 1: Educator sends a class list (email address, name) of each student to ST who will participate in the certification program. The educator then sends a video playlist of a Social Tables Overview to students in class or as a homework assignment. If there are any lingering questions, Social Tables is happy to answer any questions if scheduled in advance!
Step 2: Students and professors alike can sign up for a Planner Essential Package which is a basic, free account with access to 5 events with 1 room each. This blank diagram will be where students will create their diagram assignment.
Step 3: Educator assigns course project (Social Tables Event Template). Students only have access to their own diagrams. Students can use the collaborative features of Social Tables to share their diagram with you for grading.
Step 4: Educator assigns CSTEP as the final exam. This does not require the creation of a new diagram. It is a multiple-choice test.
Step 5: Educator reports back on grades (course project and exam) and receives a certification and email signature button to be distributed to their students who are certified.
That’s it!
If you have any questions about how we have affected classrooms, please see what Elizabeth Lewis, Professor at the Dedman School of Hospitality at Florida State University has to say about us: Social Tables has been a great experience for both me and my students. The opportunity to bring event industry technology into my Events Management course has been well received by my students. I like the idea that my students have a real take away certification when they complete my course in addition to their new skill set of event diagramming. Social Tables delivers rapid student (and faculty) support and has been very committed to excellent customer service.
Ok, this all sounds great but how much does it cost?
Participation in the CSTEP Program costs a hefty price of $0. Access to our basic package will be provided at no cost to the students or the institution, with a set of introductory videos, class project, and certification exam pre-packaged for ease of delivery by educators.
Why?
We want every school to have access to easy-to-use, cutting-edge event technology used by some of the biggest players in the meetings, events, and hospitality industry.
Ready to get started?
If you’re a professor ready to get started with teaching Social Tables in the classroom, click below to send us an email including when you’d like to get started we’ll follow up with you!
If you’re a student of meetings and events management, catering, or hospitality and would like to bring Social Tables to your classroom, have your professor get in touch with us or reach out to support@socialtables.com. Or, download the free version of our software to get started.