CHAPTER SUMMARY

To what extent can professional event specialists become involved in social events? Some markets, such as weddings, are clearly geared up for professional intervention, yet there are a great many social events that are self-generating, and emerging trends point toward self-organization and marketing via e-communication as being entirely possible, even for large, complicated gatherings. Event marketing for formally produced events has come to rely upon e-solutions, as we have seen, and the consumer learning curve has resulted in the same e-solutions for informally produced events, as outlined in this chapter. Nevertheless, social event planning and marketing provide status, and it is that which differentiates the formal from the informal, and as long as people need to differentiate themselves on the basis of status, there will be a market for professionally managed social events. It would be as well, however, for the event marketer to be aware of changing norms, especially among younger consumers.