The convergent model of protocol and events: epistemological integration for strategic design and professional practice

Abstract

This article addresses the persistent epistemological fragmentation between protocol and event management by proposing the convergent model of protocol and events (CMPE), a unified framework that conceptualises both fields as interdependent dimensions of symbolic and strategic communication. The model positions protocol as a transversal science of human order with strategic and symbolic functions, and events as its operational and performative manifestations. It integrates six key constructs – protocol, events, symbolic language, four structural elements (spaces, people, times and symbols), strategic communication and community cohesion – into a coherent system. The CMPE demonstrates that both disciplines converge around meaning-making and community articulation, while revealing asymmetries and conceptual dispersion in existing scholarship.