ILEA HISTORY
The International Live Event Association (ILEA) was founded in 1987 under the name International Special Event Society (ISES) in response to phenomenal growth in the industry, a growing demand for promoting professionalism, and providing continuing education. In 2016, ISES changed its name to International Live Events Association (ILEA).
Today, ILEA is a global community of over 5,500 creative event professionals associated among 51 chapters in 37 countries whose skills, expertise and experience power some of the most influential live events around the world. ILEA is a community centered around celebrating all aspects of live event production and management, joining event and meeting professionals to focus on the "event as a whole" rather than its individual parts. This enables our members to deliver the very best work to their clients through collaboration, thought-leadership and idea sharing. ILEA members include event planners/producers, caterers, meeting planners, decorators, audio-visual technicians, convention coordinators, entertainers, educators, journalists, photographers, hotel sales managers and more.
ILEA strives to be THE PRINCIPAL ASSOCIATION REPRESENTING THE CREATIVE EVENTS PROFESSIONAL, GLOBALLY.
We value CREATIVITY, INSPIRATION, TEAMWORK, EDUCATION, & RELATIONSHIPS.
For nearly 30 years ILEA has been a valued and trusted partner in the events industry- an industry that generates over $200 billion for the global economy and supports over four million jobs. As our association continues to expand and engage, reaching new audiences and markets around the globe, so the ILEA brand continues to evolve. ILEA is changing. We are launching our new vision to become a community of creative event professionals. A community that values creativity as part of our culture and our spirit. A community that is looking to the future with confidence and anticipation, and looking back at our achievements with pride.
"ILEA members are regarded as the very best in what they do, creating a powerful and
influential community of event professionals around the world, working together to find
new ways to communicate through the power of live events."
ILEA SAN DIEGO:
The San Diego Chapter, established in 1990 by co-founding President Annie Revel, CSEP (current Founder & Director at Revel Productions) and co-founding member Pat Pfohl (current Director of Event Sales at USS Midway), empowers its members to increase their strategic value with industry-related education, professional development, and business growth via networking opportunities.
The Chapter is run entirely by a member-elected Board of Directors, who report directly to ILEA International, completely on a volunteer basis. Elections to this board are held yearly and offer either one or two year positions. Furthermore, committees are an alternative to a Board Office and are often used as a stepping stone to board involvement. Committees can vary according to expected time commitment and type of involvement, offering many choices for the individual member.