ESPA Honored for “Best Advocacy Campaign” by Association TRENDS

National Award Recognizes DEI, Accessibility Resources for Setting New Standards in Event Services

PRINCETON JUNCTION, N.J. – May 7, 2024 – The Event Service Professionals Association (ESPA) announced today that it has won a national award from Association TRENDS, a leading association industry publication, for its contributions in ensuring a more inclusive and accessible meeting experience for clients and guests across the industry with two new, easy-to-access resources.

ESPA won silver for “Best Advocacy Campaign” by collaborating with its members to initiate a task force to develop a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) guide and Accessibility Toolkit. Both ground-breaking resources, free to download on the group’s website, address critical deficits in the sector by providing event service professionals at hotels, convention centers, convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs) and all other venues with practical and actionable advice on enhancing diversity and accessibility at their venues and destinations.

“Our industry must be committed to opening doors and inviting various extensions of our diverse community to be a part of the journey,” said Dominique Bonds, ESPA president. “We’re proud that Association TRENDS has honored our efforts to develop best practices and tools to help address these critical gaps. All event service professionals should be empowered to enhance the pillars that hold up our profession. Both of these resources deliver the blueprint to do just that.”

ESPA boasts a membership of more than 500. Members work at hotels, convention centers and CVBs and coordinate with meeting planners post-sale to execute events. ESPA empowers its members with continuous education, networking and other key resources to excel in event management.

About ESPA

The Event Service Professionals Association (ESPA) represents over 500 members who play a crucial role in the hospitality industry as event service professionals. Our members work at hotels, convention centers and CVBs and manage all the logistics of an event with a meeting planner to efficiently bring it to life after the sales team closes the sale. ESPA prepares members preparing members for their pivotal role in innovative and successful event execution through education and networking.

For more information, visit www.espaonline.org.