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.
Following a conceptual–theoretical design, the study applies Jaakkola's (2020) model-building approach and Jabareen's (2009) framework-development procedure. An interdisciplinary literature review supports the identification and articulation of the core constructs structuring the CMPE.
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.
The CMPE offers the first theory-driven framework that systematically reconnects protocol and event management, providing a coherent epistemological foundation for a field long characterised by conceptual dispersion. Its originality lies in this dual contribution: it advances theoretical consolidation by clarifying the structural, symbolic and functional principles of both domains, while simultaneously delivering a practical architecture that strengthens strategic decision-making, symbolic coherence and community-oriented design in professional event practice.
