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Joe Goldblatt  (June 4, 1952 – ), an educator who has made contributions to the development of the formalized education sector of the special events industry through the education of younger generations entering the events and event management field. He was the founding president of the International Special Events Society and the developer of the original Certified Special Events Professional program.

The author of the first textbook in the field of Event Management, Dr. Goldblatt has been responsible for researching, developing, designing, and implementing curriculum related to this profession. He has produced hundreds of special events including White House celebrations for President Ronald Reagan, the Bi-Centennial Presidential Inaugural Salute to the First Lady program for President George H.W. Bush, and created, produced, and directed the opening of the Donald J. Trump Taj Mahal Resort.

He is the Executive Director of the International Centre for the Study of Planned Events(ICSPE), the first International Centre for the Study of Planned Events, and a professor at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, Scotland in the Tourism, Hospitality and Events Group (THE Group).

Early life and careers
Since the age of six, Joe has been bringing people together for mutual benefit. As a small boy he organized back yard festivals at his Dallas home to engage his friends in a positive activity. While other children were selling lemonade, Joe was selling tickets to attend events. He soon learned however, that lemonade had only one revenue stream and a festival had many different sources of income generation. Soon, everyone in the neighbourhood wanted to be part of Joe's festival and share in the wealth.

After attending the University of Texas, Joe earned a fine art degree, majoring in theater, in 1975 from St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas. Then he moved to Washington, where he met his wife, Nancy, a professional clown, to take a job performing magic tricks for children as they waited in line to tour the FBI building. With his wife Nancy, in 1976 Joe owned and served as the executive producer of his own special events firm, The Wonder Company. They performed in schools and shopping centers all over the United States and later produced two U.S. presidential inaugurations, the opening of Donald Trump's Taj Mahal Resort, and galas for multiple foreign governments.

They sold the company in 1990, and that same year, Goldblatt published his first book: Special Events: The Art and Science of Celebration (Van Nostrand Reinhold). Lawyers began asking him to serve as an expert witness when people were injured at an event. While doing research for various cases, he decided to conduct more research that would lead to the development of a complete curriculum in event management.

On education
After unsuccessfully shopping the curriculum to a number of schools whose budgets did not permit it, he was contacted by Allan Goldstein, PhD chairman of the department of biochemistry and molecular biology at George Washington University in Washington, DC. Goldstein took a copy of Goldblatt’s proposal to the university president who subsequently forwarded it to others. Faculty members in the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management decided they wanted to explore the development of this curriculum. While Goldblatt developed the curriculum for the GW Event Management Certificate Program, he earned a master's degree in tourism administration (1994) and a doctorate in higher education administration (1996).

In 1993 George Washington University Event Management Certificate Program debuted with 25 students. Eventual, the certificate program received thousands of registrations annually. Joe is credited with developing the research, instruction, and other extra­curricular elements that have given birth to the modern profession of event management. Many colleges and universities throughout the world have adopted/licensed the 21 courses included in the original copyrighted George Washington University Event Management Program curriculum.

Goldblatt is also the founding president of the International Special Events Society. ISES was formed in 1987 when between approximately 20 persons each pledged USD 200 to start the organization, he says. Goldblatt wrote the first check to found this organization. Today, ISES has over 5,000 members throughout the world. He was instrumental in developing the Certified Special Events Professional designation as well. In 1993, he was in the first class to receive a CSEP.

Dr. Joe Goldblatt is now the Executive Director of the International Centre for the Study of Planned Events (ICSPE) at the Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the unrivalled festival capital of Europe, he described. His assignment includes the development of the first Global Centre for Eventology.

Prior to assuming this post, he was the Senior Lecturer in Tourism and Hospitality Management in the School of Tourism & Hospitality Management and Executive Director for Professional Development and Strategic Advancement at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 2006, Dr Goldblatt's Event Leadership Executive Certificate Program at Temple University received the International Festivals and Events Association Haas and Wilkerson Award for Best Certificate Program in the world. In the post 9/11 world, Joe along with researcher Clark Hu, PhD, launched the original concept for eSAFE, an on-line industry safety and security knowledge resource developed by Temple University.

In 2003 Dr. Goldblatt was appointed by the Governor of Rhode Island as the chairman of the State of Rhode Island Tourism Development Advisory Council. He is also the former Dean of The Alan Shawn Feinstein Graduate School at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island where he created the first master of business administration degree program in Event Leadership.

Though the event industry is still his life's work, Goldblatt says he doesn't miss planning events. Being a college professor is much more challenging than being an entrepreneur, he says. In January of 2008, Joe received the Professional Convention Management Association award as International Event Educator of the Year. In 2008 he was the first educator inducted into the International Festivals and Events Association Hall of Fame. During the same year, his alma mater, St. Edward’s University presented him with their Distinguished Alumni Award. He has lectured on five continents and over 60 countries throughout the world and is still helping to guide hundred of students each year in the skills and knowledge they will need to succeed in their careers.

Publications
When it comes to the Festivals and Special Events industry, Dr. Joe Goldblatt has quite literally, written the book or to be more precise, the books. Writing many of the leading books and articles on event management, in 1990 his first book, Special Events, the Art and Science of Celebration (Van Nostrand Reinhold) was published. In 1993 The Ultimate Party Handbook was published by Talk America Publications. In 1995 Irwin Professional Publishing published his The Ultimate Guide to Sport Event Management and Marketing (Co-authored by Stedman Graham and Lisa Delpy, PhD). The Dictionary of Event Management, (edited with Carol Mc Kibben, CSEP), was published in May 1996 and Special Events: The Best Practices in Modern Event Management, Professional Edition was published in late 1996. His most recent book, Dollars and Events: How to Succeed in the Special Events Business was published in March 1999. The fifth edition of his first book, Special Events: The Roots and Wings of Celebration, was published in 2008. A sixth edition is currently being prepared by the author.

In addition, he served as senior editor of ISES GOLD, an anthology of expertise by members of the International Special Events Society (1994) and is currently a member of the editorial board for Journal of Festival and Event Tourism, re-named to Event Management as of 2000. He serves as the Series Editor for the John Wiley & Sons Event Management Series, a new contribution to the academic and professional literature in the field. He has edited the following academic textbooks: Corporate Event Project Management (2001), Event Marketing (2002), Event Sponsorship (2002), Event Risk Management & Safety (2003), Event Coordination (In Press, publication date 2003), Event Entertainment & Production (In Press, publication date 2003), The Sport Play Book (In Press, publication date 2004), The Complete Guide to Destination Management (In Press, publication date, 2004), and Special Events: Leadership for the New World, (In Press, publication date 2004).

Achievement
In 1997 Dr. Goldblatt received the first ever Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Special Events Society. In 2000, Joe received the Industry Visionary Award, based on the votes of 25,000 readers of Event Solutions Magazine. In 2001 Special Events Magazine presented him with a second Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2002 he was among the first inaugural inductees into the Special Events Industry Hall of Fame.

Goldblatt Hall, a conference hall located at Party Design in Johannesburg, South Africa was named in his honour in 2004. In 2005 he was awarded the silver medal; Russia's highest honour for creative achievement in Moscow for his lifetime contributions to the creative industries.

He received a Distinguished Alumnus Award from his undergraduate Alma Mater, St. Edwards University in Austin, TX in 2008.

In September 2008 Dr Joe Goldblatt was inducted into the International Festival and Events Association (IFEA) Hall of Fame. Previous inductees include the producer of the Macy*s Thanksgiving Day Parade (seen by 100 million television viewers every year), the world’s largest fireworks firm, and the producers of the world’s largest festivals and events.

Dr. Joe Goldblatt’s personal and professional papers and memorabilia are conserved by and available to researchers from the Department of Special Collections at The Melvin Gelman Library Event Management archives at the George Washington University in Washington, DC.

Family
Joe and Nancy Lynner have 2 sons, Max (29) a professional actor in New York City and Sam (25) a post graduate student in festival management. In 2008 they celebrated their thirtieth wedding anniversary. When asked to describe Joe’s favorite special event, he always names not one, but two. His sons Max and Sam!