Educational & Program Support

The IFEA Foundation helps to support the mission and vision of the IFEA by providing financial support that allows the organization to fulfill its educational goals; goals which further ensure the quality of both the events and the professionals who make up our unique industry. Some of the educational and program support made possible in-part by the IFEA Foundation are listed below. Your financial donations and support make these programs possible.

Professional speakers and trainers, the best in our business, are one of the monikers that IFEA conventions and seminars are best known for. IFEA attendees learn from the top experts in our field who share their best practices, advice and creativity for success in our industry. Each year, nearly 90% of the session speakers and topics at IFEA events are new, reflecting the most current trends and issues affecting those in our field. The IFEA Foundation helps to make these speakers possible, providing support for speaker fees, travel, and program support needs.

Professional Certification is an important step in the career track of leaders in all industries. It enhances professional stature among one’s peers; recognizes those who have gone beyond expectations to be the best that they can be; makes a statement to those with whom we do business; provides a leveraged position from which to negotiate and build career success; and sets higher standards for our industry. For all of these reasons, it is important that the IFEA offer a certification program.

The IFEA's Certified Festival and Event Executive (CFEE) program was founded in 1983 to provide an opportunity for industry professionals to achieve those goals. The program has evolved significantly over the years and currently has over 250 graduates. The CFEE program is proudly sponsored by Kaliff Insurance. Kaliff Insurance believes that certified professionals are the cornerstone of a safe and successful festival and events industry.

With the combined support of our sponsors, the IFEA Academy of Event Education and the IFEA Foundation, the IFEA keeps updated all professional certification curriculum and guidelines for the CFEE program, and has begun expanding our ability to offer courses and credits to new corners of the globe. New top-level speakers for the Advanced Professionals courses have enhanced the value of that program in an ever-changing world; and two days of professional / certification programming during our convention now provide expanded opportunities for continuing education at all levels.

The development and expansion of our new CFEE FastTrack has opened up many new doors for those in our industry that may not otherwise have had that opportunity presented to them. Enrollment has grown to reflect a real interest in this valuable program that serves as a way to raise the professional training level in our industry across the board and provide a statement of credibility for those who complete the defined curriculum and requirements, to those both inside and outside of our industry. We anticipate expansion of this program even further in the years ahead thanks to the ground work that has been laid to date.

Approaching the IFEA's education and professional resource capabilities from a standpoint of customizing our tools and taking them directly to those who need them has opened up many new successes that we will be able to build upon in the future. Offering specialized training programs, sponsor forums, consulting teams and much more, has opened up many possibilities for what the IFEA can bring to the table for our members and industry. Early development projects have resulted in great successes that will help to lay the foundation for the future, while giving us the flexibility to meet the changing educational and professional needs of those we serve. The IFEA Foundation provides the resources necessary to develop these important programs.

Networking and education are two of the IFEA's prime directives and the hub of those is the IFEA web site (www.ifea.com), offering everything from our popular Webinar Series to templates shared by members on everything from Volunteer Manuals to Sponsorship Proposals. Additionally, IFEA hosts sites on FaceBook and LinkedIn. As social media continues to expand, so will the IFEA’s efforts to maximize our use of those that seem to offer the best returns. The IFEA Foundation allows for the development of these new and expanded communication tools.

“ie” has become the most used, referenced, and valuable educational tool that we offer. Sent to all IFEA members four times per year (in print and electronic versions), “ie”’s high-quality educational format and approach to the magazine provides a plethora of immediately useful information by the top professional sources in our industry and beyond, but requires a dedicated and ongoing effort by the IFEA publications staff to obtain, create, edit and produce this important member benefit. “ie” is currently rated as our most valuable international benefit and our top-rated member benefit overall.

"Venue Safety & Security" magazine is a joint, on-line publication published by the IFEA, together with our Association Alliance Partners (IAAPA, IAAM, OABA, IAFE), and focusing on the important, multifaceted issues of life safety at events and event venues. It has been warmly received by the combined membership of the five associations.

The IFEA Foundation helps to make these important professional education tools possible.

Providing top-quality speakers and programs at a more regionalized and affordable level is one of our most effective methods of providing targeted educational opportunities for our members and prospective members. Through the efforts of our Affiliate representatives, we have added substantially to this area in recent years and hope to continue that growth pattern with the continued support of the IFEA Foundation.

Globalization now brings festival and event professionals from virtually every corner of the globe to IFEA conventions and seminars on every continent. In 2005 we provided translation services (for our Chinese guests) for the first time ever, recognizing that this trend will (necessarily) continue to grow in the years ahead. A wealth of ideas are waiting, but we must ensure that they do not get lost without translation and the IFEA Foundation is helping us to ensure our communications capabilities.

In all of the IFEA's strategic planning scenarios, it is very clear that we need to be able to communicate, manage information, and provide a whole new menu of educational and professional resources to our members, worldwide, through technology. Our future success depends on it. Support from the IFEA Foundation is and will continue to ensure that we are able to keep up with the most current capabilities.