Smart Event Academy Course Catalog

Become a Smart Event Professional

The need for event professionals that “get” digital and event tech is growing, with 3x growth projected in the next five years. The need is only going to grow – you can grow with it, or get left behind.

At the Smart Event Academy, we want you to grow as a digital event strategist, event tech project manager, and digital event advocate.

  • Someone who can see where the tech fits in.
  • Someone their clients trust to ensure the tech gets done right – independent of who is doing the tech.
  • Someone who helps make event delivery that much easier for everyone involved.
  • Someone who deserves a seat at the table.

Check out our current course catalog below and click the Get on the Waitlist button to let us know which courses would benefit you the most. We regularly add new courses and your input helps us build our roadmap.

Free Courses

Instructor: Jen Santos

5 lectures (2 Hours)

FREE: Registration is Open

Increase your event delivery confidence with these two industry best practices – the dry run and run of show. In this free course, we will:

  • Find out how to significantly simplyfing your live delivery experience

  • Learn exactly what should go into your documents – and why

  • Discover how make the document work to support any event type as well as remote and in-person teams

  • Explore a proven step-by-step pre-event testing process.

These processes will increase your – and your client’s – confidence going into an event. This template is one of the best client retention tools out there.

Instructor: Jen Santos

5 lectures (2.5 Hours)

FREE: Registration is Open

Learn how to use AI — like REALLY use it — to make your life as a digital event specialist that much better.

  • Learn to create prompts that don’t sound cookie-cutter

  • Dig into the seven most common event delivery use cases

  • Discuss the pros and cons of various types of generative AI tools

  • Cover the all-important legal and copyright discussions

If you’re tired of using generic prompts to get generic results, this course is for you.

Foundational

Instructors: Jen Santos and guest lecturers

14 lectures (6 Hours)

Next offering: Coming soon

More is not always better — particularly when it comes to event data. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. In this course, we will:

  • Learn the three types of event data

  • Discover how to get clear objectives and data requirements

  • Discuss the all-important exhibitor and sponsorship data

  • Discover the one critical mistake most event pros make

Data is one of the biggest advantages of digital events for event owners. Learn how to set up your team to get the right data.

 

Instructor: Jen Santos

68 lectures (20 Hours)

Registration opens soon

Get a comprehensive look into digital event strategy and event tech with the Smart Event Foundations (SEF) training course and certification program.

  • Learn about the world of events, digital event delivery, and event management basics

  • Explore event registration, content, speaker, and exhibitor tools

  • Discuss project and client management best practices

  • Discover how to align digital delivery to event objectives

A broad-based fundamentals program – this course covers in-person, hybrid, and virtual events.

Best Practices

Instructors: Jen Santos and guest lecturers

12 lectures (6 Hours)

Next offering: Coming soon

In the fast-paced world of events, managing expectations is everything. In this course, we will cover:

  • Writing client emails that get opened — and read

  • Change management practices that work

  • Consultant vs contractor mindset

  • Delivering tough messages

By using these best practices, you can help control the pace of the project, improve client satisfaction, and deliver a higher-quality event.

Instructors: Jen Santos and guest lecturers

26 lectures (12 Hours)

Next offering: Coming soon

Mobile apps and events go hand-in-hand, but not all apps are built the same. In this course, you will learn:

  • What to look for when choosing a mobile app

  • The different types of mobile app solutions

  • When your event needs an app (and doesn’t)

  • The pros and cons of using an all-in-one solution

By right-sizing the mobile app to your event and your team, you’ll up-level the attendee experience in all the right ways.

Instructors: Jen Santos and guest lecturers

14 lectures (8 Hours)

Next offering: Coming soon

Learn what core IT development and deployment principles are essential to creating and delivering a successful digital event program.

  • How the software maturity model applies to client tech stacks

  • Tech stack roadmaps and change requests

  • Event tech software selection that works

  • How to make the tech stack make sense to the event owner

By embracing these IT principles, you will improve the overall event experience — from attendee to planner to owner to implementor.

Instructor: Jen Santos

12 lectures (6 Hours)

Next offering: Coming soon

Just when you think, “attendees won’t do that” they will. Which is why you need rock-solid testing practices.

  • Find out what are the must-have elements of a solid test plan

  • Learn what to expect at the different stages of testing

  • Explore testing best practices for each of the different event tools

  • Discover what testing stage builds the most client confidence

A professional approach to testing is what separates the amateurs from the pros. Learn how to test like a pro.

Instructors: Jen Santos and guest lecturers

13 lectures (4 Hours)

Next offering: Coming soon

Digital events are the great equalizer — enabling so many more people to participate — if you build your tools correctly. Learn:

  • How to build your website for all abilities

  • Baseline accessibilty testing anyone can do

  • Pre-event activities to make participation simpler

  • How to ensure your event mobile app is accessible

Meeting base accessibility requirements doesn’t have to blow the budget when done thoughtfully. Discover how.

Instructors: Jen Santos and guest lecturers

15 lectures (7 Hours)

Next offering: Coming soon

An exhibitor management experience that consists of a couple of emails and links isn’t enough anymore. Discover what it takes to build an ERC that gets results:

  • Various levels of permission for different user groups
  • Authentication integration
  • Metrics and reporting for different stakeholder groups
  • Contract management
A comprehensive event management portal is an essential first step towards getting your exhibitors the ROI they need to come back next event.

Instructors: Jen Santos and guest lecturers

16 lectures (7 Hours)

Next offering: Coming soon

A well-designed, easy-to-use SRC can make a huge difference on how well a show goes. We’ll dive into these elements and more:

  • Tech checks and speaker prep

  • Authentication integration

  • Managing speaker conflicts

  • Speaker resource management

We’ll look at variety of resource centers from a variety of events to help you figure out what you need and how to build it.

Instructors: Jen Santos and guest lecturers

12 lectures (5 Hours)

Next offering: Coming soon

Badging and scanning are two fundamental event management tasks, and easy to get wrong — really wrong — when they aren’t considered all the way through the event planning cycle. In this course we will cover:

  • The integration between registration, badges, and scanning

  • The promise of smart badges

  • Session and lead scanning — when and why

  • What to do — and not to do — when creating your badge plan

The safety and security of your event, and the ROI for your sponsors, depends upon getting this right.

Advanced Topics

Instructors: Jen Santos and guest lecturers

17 lectures (8 Hours)

Next offering: Coming soon

Ensuring both attendees and event organizers get what they want out of ancillary and third-party events requires additional up-front planning since these events are not the stars of the show. In this course we will cover:

  • What are ancillary events and third-party events

  • The three key components of a good attendee experience

  • Capturing the right attendee data before, during, and after

  • Tools to consider for all levels of integration

These types of events can be really powerful brand-building and sales-making activities when done right. We’ll get you started on that path.

Instructor: Jen Santos

26 lectures (11 Hours)

Next offering: Coming soon

A fully-localized digital event experience is every event planner’s dream for an international audience, but the realities of getting there can quickly turn this dream into a nightmare. Before you start planning your localization efforts, learn:

  • The difference between localization and translation

  • Strategies for choosing what language(s) to support

  • What key planning questions to ask your stakeholders

  • The budget and timeline realities of a fully translated / localized event experience

With impacts all the way through the event planning cycle, translation and localization are advanced event strategies. This course will give you the path to do it the right way.

Instructors: Jen Santos and guest lecturers

48 lectures ( 280 Hours)

Next offering: Coming soon

Campus-like events are good candidates for advanced wayfinding and location services. While mobile app maps make it look easy, it’s anything but in an enclosed environment. In this course you’ll learn:

  • The right types of events for location services

  • Overview of different location service technologies

  • Considerations for different types of buildings and spaces

  • Budget considerations

While this course will touch on some currently available technologies, the intent of this course is to arm you with the knowledge you need to find the right solution for your event.

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