Monday Buzz: The Sharing Economy’s Impact on Events

From hotels to taxis to employment, the so-called sharing economy is disrupting industries around the world.

But as sustainable event specialist Shawna McKinley  (opens in a new tab) notes, shared resources and spaces have been hallmarks of event planning for years. Nonetheless, many elements of the modern sharing economy are creating new opportunities and raising new challenges for event planners. In a post for Event Manager Blog  (opens in a new tab), McKinley lists the ways 21st-century sharing has disrupted events:

1. The internet and mobile technology have magnified sharing potential exponentially.
2. Concerns that users have had about safety and quality of sharing services are declining through better user rating systems and social media integration.
3. Apps can dissolve the planner’s role and influence in arranging core services like rooms and transport.
4. Traditional regulation, licensing, and taxation models are struggling to respond to new sharing services in ways that addresses unfair advantages, such as room rentals that circumvent hotel taxes or share-cars that don’t require taxi licensing.

But are all of these changes a net gain for event planners? Read McKinley’s full post to see her conclusion  (opens in a new tab).

Competition of the Day

Who is the top #association  (opens in a new tab) CEO? The top lobbyist? Nominations are now open: http://t.co/vkLyeAk0hc  (opens in a new tab) #assnchat  (opens in a new tab) pic.twitter.com/6x2lQ8rEEr  (opens in a new tab)

— CEO Update (@ceoupdate) February 23, 2015  (opens in a new tab)

Think your association’s CEO should be heralded for his or her excellence? Is there a lobbyist on your team whose work demands recognition? Then submit their names for CEO Update‘s Association Leadership awards  (opens in a new tab).

Other Good Reads

“Not too long ago, acquiring software was pretty easy,” New Idea Engineering founder Miles Kehoe writes for CMSWire  (opens in a new tab). But now the process is much more complicated. His post demystifies open-source-software purchasing.

Are your brainstorming meetings prompting more of a sprinkle than a deluge of new ideas? Then check out these tips  (opens in a new tab) from Inc. contributing editor Jeff Haden  (opens in a new tab).

Plenty of jobs are won via the power of personal connections, but whether you’re a job seeker or recruiter, Forbes contributor and millennial expert J. Maureen Henderson  (opens in a new tab) has some advice  (opens in a new tab) on when you should neither take nor make a referral.

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