The Future of Meetings, Events & Technology

The attendee experience has changed dramatically and will continue to evolve – are your events ready?  Attendees are beginning to expect an elevated experience, such as eliminated registration lines, highly personalized content, enriched speaker/audience interaction, superior networking, etc.  Brian Ludwig, VP of Sales at Cvent, and Roger Lewis of AllianceTech took the stage at Cvent CONNECT to present a sneak peek at what the future attendee experience might look like, and what planners can incorporate into their events to stay ahead of the technology curve. Technology is evolving every day, and event technology will be a $9.28 billion industry by 2020. Ideas that once sounded far-fetched are now becoming a reality for event and meeting planners. Self-driving cars? Tesla has already released two models of autonomous (well, semi-autonomous) cars, and two people in the session own one! These futuristic ideas are already in effect, and they’re beginning to greatly impact the dynamic of meetings and events. Roger touched on how technology is not only modernizing automobiles but the entire travel experience. Airports will soon take a page out of the EZ-Pass playbook and expedite check-in and TSA security, removing friction from attendee travel. However, if holoportation becomes mainstream, attendees won’t need to travel and will be able to attend events remotely. The opportunity for new technology is endless, but what can event professionals realistically see shaping the meetings and events space in the next couple years? Roger believes that attendee tracking will become more mainstream. This includes the use of beacons, mobile check-in and entry, navigation guidance, and augmented reality. It will become much more difficult for attendees to “ghost” at your event, causing a huge loss of valuable data. Brian also thinks that more events will become virtual or a hybrid. Picture attendees attending sessions via video. This allows you and them to save on costs while still providing valuable information. Meetings and events are going to change exponentially as technology continues to evolve. It’s the job of the planners to stay ahead  and continue to provide their attendees the elevated experience they’re expecting.