Transformation and digitalisation of the event industry

Just like society, the event industry is always on the move, and event industry trends always reflect this. It has been proliferating.

The global events industry size was valued at $1,100 billion in 2018 and is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.3% to reach $2,330 billion by 2026 (Allied Market Research, 2019).

Overview of the Event Sector

Events can mean anything from a large music festival to dinner with just a few people. In this context, we focus on the business event industry where the attendees are participating in their professional roles. Business events also include all types of inter-organizational conferences or internal gatherings within the public sector sphere that are not per se business-related but has the same characteristics that the attendees meet in their professional capacity.

Within this space, there is a number of different types of events that vary in their purposes, objectives and stakeholders – as well as in length, size and format.

• Business event types include (among other) larger organizational internal meetings, conferences, conference trips, customer events, exhibitions and trade shows.
• Internal meetings in this context consist of kickoffs, conference/incentive travel, leadership summits, training sessions, internal roadshows, sales conferences, planning conferences, change management events and other types of gathering within an organization. The purpose is often to team build, share knowledge, spread a message or implement a cultural/organizational change, plan for the coming year or similar. Internal events are also a key component in building employer branding.
• Customer events are “produced by and for business, with a primary purpose of supporting business growth”. Business relations are a crucial focus on corporate events. During the last two decades, there is significant growth in B2B planned events sector. The reasons for it are increasing corporate visibility, driving sales, and building relationships between a company and its customers/partners. Large companies consider corporate events among core activities and hire internal event managers or outsource to professional event agencies.
• Conferences are assemblies for the purpose of conferring and discussion and should be small enough to facilitate interaction. They are often a mix of the typical plenary session and smaller breakout sessions. The main objectives of the conference include discussion, problem-solving, fact-finding and many others. Meetings vary in size, length, and content, but in most, they focus on a specific topic discussed by key speakers on the plenary session, panel discussions, and different workshops and smaller lectures.
• Exhibitions and trade shows form a significant part of business events. They can be described as events that bring together buyers and sellers in a particular industry. They include agricultural shows, consumer shows, specialized trade shows and exhibitions and private exhibitions.

Structure of the corporate events’ industry:

Likewise, in other industries, the conference industry consists of buyers and suppliers. The buyers are usually event managers and organizers, who are ‘buying’ venues, technical support and other services to conduct a conference.

• They might have their internal department for conference management activities, or they are outsourcing conference organizing. Most of the companies do not have a department responsible for conference organizing. Moreover, during economic downturns, such departments are closing first to save the budget.
• Additionally, besides the buyers and suppliers, there are hundreds of agencies and intermediaries. They can be characterized as both suppliers and buyers. They are buyers as they are working for companies or associations, and they are intermediaries between the client and suppliers.

Events are, by definition, occurrences where a number of people gather at a particular time and place. However, this does not mean that event organizing is a singular happening, organized ad hoc as a one-time occurrence. Organizing events is one of the critical ongoing responsibilities for a marketing department and often represent one of the largest budget areas in the marketing budget. Also, the Human Relations department often spend time, money and energy on organizing internal events and employee development throughout the year in order to build culture and team.

Among different methods of communication, events are the most powerful ones.

• This happens because people are tending to remember emotions more than knowledge.
• They might forget the concrete numbers and specific information, but they will remember how the event made them feel, especially if they get to be involved and active in the dialogue.
• Event methodology has, over time, evolved and matured to increase the ROI of the events. Instead of aiming for a “firework” – something that creates a powerful but short-lasting impact on attendees, more and more event organizers are looking to structure the event so that they reach their objectives of the event long term.

Most business events have an objective oriented around that attendees should feel, do or learn something. To achieve that goal, it is of high importance both that the aim is clearly stated, that the methodology, dramaturgy, agenda and topics are tailored towards that objective – as well as making sure to involve and engage the attendees. Put in other words: The important thing is not to get the message out to the audience but that it actually stays in the attendees’ heads.

Event Technology Market – an Overview

As in all other aspects of our life, mobile technology, and instant access to information through the internet dramatically impact the event market. Event technology is since many years an essential integral part of almost all events.

There is significant overlap among products where several niche functions can be included in an EMS or an event app.

Before the event

• Registration software collects attendee data, processes payments and distributes confirmations and tickets.
• Event management software (EMS) automates the planning of events. It places tasks, timelines, resources, vendors, partners, design, content, communication, collaboration, budgets, reports and evaluations into an automated and interconnected workflow.
• Venue sourcing is software built to send out an automated electronic request for proposals (eRFP), an inventory of hotel properties and matchmaking capabilities.
• Speaker sourcing – Speaker sourcing websites are part directory (listing and categorizing speakers) and part matchmaking solution.
• Digital Marketing – Event organizers and marketers rely heavily on digital marketing software to reach attendees, exhibitors and sponsors via email and social media.

During the event

• Mobile Event apps are generally applications that can be installed or accessed through mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.) for the purpose of giving attendees access to a number of standard features. Many of the features described below can be included in an event app.
• Audience participation/engagement: The interaction between presenters and audience members has changed dramatically in recent years. Software downloaded onto organizer-provided or personal mobile devices makes it easier for attendees to follow along and play a role in the presentation.
• Gamification is an engagement strategy that serves to educate attendees, reach qualified prospects, deliver a more immersive attendee experience, generate leads, increase booth traffic and produce user-generated social media content. While technology isn’t required to gamify an event, it facilitates play and enhances data collection.
• Lead management: One of the most important reasons to host or exhibit in an event is to identify customers and capture new business leads. Lead management technology was designed to address the pain points associated with this activity.
• Networking tools are software solutions built to drive networking, matchmaking and encourage contacts between attendees.
• Real-time data and analytics: solutions that track attendee behaviour and relay findings to the cloud in real-time can assist planners.

After the event

• Post-event surveys: One of the essential requirements of business-to-business events is the ability to evaluate the attendee experience and follow up with prospects.
• Post Event data and analytics: Direct feedback is only one way to understand the attendee experience. Another way is to leverage behavioural tools that derive data from a wide variety of sources.
• Post-event digital communities: Creating virtual ‘water coolers,’ where event participants can seek advice, discuss relevant topics, and engage with an online community, is one of the most effective ways to keep the conversation going after the event and year-round.

Trends before March 2020:

These are some of the trends observed prior to the covid crisis:

• Consolidation in the event tech space has been a strong trend during 2019 and the beginning of 2020. “Organic growth is also on the horizon for local players. There is still a big opportunity for growth in non-English speaking markets. Strong players in these markets are strong candidates for funding or future acquisitions.”
• More investment in even tech is expected – Event professionals are investing more in event technology in 2019/2020.
• All-in-one is booming. While 45% of planners use both all-in-one and vertical solutions, the percentage of those using all-in-one solutions has grown by 27% year-over-year. In 2018, only 9% used all-in-one tools; now, over 36% prefer them over multiple solutions.
• Cost is still a major source of frustration. 25% of event professionals say cost is the most frustrating thing about event technology.
• Event professionals prefer operational efficiency to shiny new objects. The focus is now on securing a good ROI through operational efficiency, with costs being the dominant factor, followed by integration and available support.
• 59% of event professionals are tech-confident or tech-savvy. Event planners are embracing event technology more and more; the days of the technology-unfriendly planner are gone. This is an excellent outlook for the industry. Very few planners seem to resist tech anymore.

Engagement is one of the crucial aspects for event planners and one of the most important things to consider as it is a key to successful events.

• People are no longer want to “just sit and listen”. They want to act, want to try, and expect completely different methods and tools for getting knowledge. One of such spectrums is mobile technologies.
• Conference organizers cannot afford to ignore or, even worse, fight the use of technology at their events. They must use event technology to their advantage to create events and sessions that are more interactive and engaging.

Technological trends are modifying the whole events industry from different angles.

• Keeping track of new features and implementing those technologies is one of the critical concerns in the event management profession.
• Such technologies enable conferences to remain competitive, maximize revenues, create better communication between the audience and speakers, and engage people.

Overall, event app adoption rates are very high nowadays, with nearly 40% of app developers stating an adoption rate of over 80%. Another 35% of developers are claiming an adoption rate of 60% to 80%. This is a fundamental metric in the industry, as apps are the results of time and money investment. High adoption rates suggest that the app works out for many clients.

Conclusion:

Event Technologies are developing quickly and playing a pivotal role in the Event Management processes.

• New software is evolving, and event organizers are more and more positive about implementing them. The market for event technology is expected to grow faster than the overall event market.
• End-to-end solutions with a high emphasis on attendee engagement are at the centre of this development, with buyers who prioritize reliability and cost-effectiveness.

The COVID19 short-term impact and opportunity

Events and, consequently, the event industry was obviously very hard hit by the covid crisis. No in-person events could be done, planned events were cancelled, and the whole industry was initially turned upside down.

Reed Exhibitions released recently its first’ COVID-19 and how it’s changing the Event industry’. Among its key findings, the Reed Exhibitions COVID-19 barometer reveals that:

• COVID-19 is accelerating changes in consumer behaviour. 84% of visitors and exhibitors have tried at least one new digital service since lockdown.
• Acceptance of digital tools is increasing over time.
• Consumer willingness to adopt digital is reflected in attitudes towards online events. The number of visitors who say they would like to carry out one or more event activities digitally whilst they are unable or unwilling to attend in person is significant and has increased consistently, from 91% in June to 94% in September.
• Visitor agreement with all positive statements around digital is increasing. 59% of visitors now say they would be likely to sign up to attend an online trade event, up from 57% in June. The percentage who believe that they can still carry out most of their event objectives online also increases, up from 52% to 57%.
• Engagement with digital activities increases with familiarity and exposure. For example, participants in travel events, which have a long tradition of using online meeting tools to arrange physical meetings, are much more comfortable with the idea of using live meeting software in a digital environment.
• COVID-19 has not diminished the value of in-person events for participants committed to returning as soon as restrictions are lifted. Throughout the period of the tracking survey, the importance of events has remained consistent for both exhibitors and visitors.
• While exhibitors remain sure, they will spend less while the pandemic continues to unfold, and before there is a vaccine, around two-thirds of exhibitors expect to return to normal levels (or invest more) once a vaccine is deployed.
• Customers are increasingly open to the idea of engaging with digital alongside in-person events as they return. 65% of visitors and 57% of exhibitors believe digital will continue to work for events after COVID-19.

Another study (EventMB’s State of the Event Industry, Dec 2020) shows that In terms of hybrid events, almost three-quarters of planners (71%) plan to continue to employ a digital strategy to maintain their virtual audience once they return to physical events.

In summary, most analysts foresee that:

• Virtual events are here to stay since so many people have gotten used to them, and it has been proven that for some types of events, the virtual format is comparable or even better than in person.
• During a transition period, hybrid events are expected to be the norm, but even after that stage, it is most likely that attendees expect to be able to take part in a digital format from anywhere and not be required to attend in person – at least not for the whole duration of the event.
• People want to meet, and in-person events will surely have a significant upswing again, and these will live together with the virtual events.

The conclusion is that the trends before the crisis (more investments in event tech but with cost-conscious buyers) combined with the urgent need to cater towards the new post-pandemic market will create a strong force towards providing all-in-one solutions that can meet the needs of all types of event formats to an attractive price point.

• This means that players that were strong in the in-person space not only will have to continue their journey towards the virtual space – they also need to make sure to do this in a flexible and unified way so that an end-user and an organizer seamlessly can shift between the different formats (Virtual, Hybrid, Hub and In-Person) and devices used to consume the services.

In the same way, it means that the pandemic’s superstars, the online event platforms such as Hopin and On24 that have seen massive booms, will need to move towards in-person and hybrid events to meet the same need.

Consolidation remains a macro trend in event technology that will continue in 2022. With many small businesses incapable of weathering the coronavirus storm, it is widely anticipated that this trend will grow even stronger in 2022.