ISES Rebrands as… (and The Elephant in the Room)

Published May 2, 2016 | By ncmarsh

ISES Rebrands as…(and the Elephant in the Room)

Nathan Coe Marsh

The International Special Events Society (ISES) is now The International Live Events Association (ILEA)

Today the International Special Events Society (ISES) has announced that it is now the International Live Event Association (ILEA). To have a brutal terrorist organization grab the headlines with a sound-alike acronym to the one you’ve been using for 30 years could not have been easy, and they’ve used the development to re-focus on what their association has grown to do, the big-picture value of what we in the event business provide, and who it truly serves. I think the move makes good sense, and is a positive step for all involved.

The official announcement video is to the left, you can also read ILEA’s press release on the re-branding.

The elephant in the room and authenticity in institutional communication:

The change in some way echoes the National Speakers Association’s (NSA) halted effort to rebrand as “Platform.” Both groups’ members were having to explain the acronym because the name had taken on some other association due to political and historic happenings beyond their control.

The ILEA announcement video and press release hint at, but avoid any explicit mention of, what must have been a major driving force behind the name change: the emergence of ISIL/ISIS/Daesh as a bloody and repressive group responsible for horrific violence within the mideast and the isolated strikes in the West. In the video we hear that “the world has changed” and then move breezily into a slideshow of smiling faces and upbeat music.

I understand the impulse: ISIL has never had anything to do with ISES; and the fact that one of the terrorist group’s acronyms is a homonym for an organization of event professionals has caused bizarre headaches, I’m sure, for the group and is the last thing any event industry group wants to be associated with. I empathize with the instinct to just shove that side of things under the rug.

But by not forthrightly addressing a factor that is clearly an aspect of the decision, the group creates an awkward elephant in the room. Everyone watching the video must be thinking “yes, ‘society’ doesn’t quite capture who you are; but there is that other thing, too…”

That creates a lack of congruence in communication. The official message comes off as sanitized corporate speak that doesn’t say what it fully means — and that breakdown doesn’t help the relationship between an organization and its constituents.

We are surrounded by messages that are driven by corporatespeak — to the point that we tend to simply turn them off. When organizations acknowledge the actual conversation going on in their listeners brain (not the conversation they wish was happening) they stand apart and build deeper and more lasting connections. I think this was a missed opportunity for a terrific association.

Congratulations to ILEA – the name is the right step forward and I wish them an amazing year of success. In a world where we spend way too much time staring at screens, live events immerse us in the moment and replace passive observation with experience. I love that the new brand celebrates this!

What do you think about the re-brand? Let me know in the comments!

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