Cvent CMO Patrick Smith explains how GDPR can help event professionals strengthen relationships with their audience.

Frankfurt, Germany – May 17th, 2018 - Recent research conducted by Cvent Inc., a market leader in meetings, events, and hospitality technology, shows that two-thirds of event professionals across Europe and the United States are unsure how the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) can help strengthen their relationships with their audience. The results stem from research Cvent conducted in April 2018 with input from nearly 3,000 event professionals.

According to Patrick Smith, Chief Marketing Officer at Cvent, the regulations, which will begin being enforced on 25th May, can offer an opportunity for meeting and event professionals to build deeper relationships with their attendees through trust and transparency.

“There is a lot of information out there on how GDPR will impact the MICE industry, and the sense of urgency around the new law is understandable. However, the underlying sentiment among many is one of fear and negativity, when in reality, GDPR can be embraced as an opportunity,” said Smith. “The spirit of GDPR is to put the security and privacy of personal data at the forefront and for organisations to develop trust and transparency in their relationships with their customers. For Cvent, this is part of our DNA and how we operate.  We are helping our customers understand and are providing solutions to help them comply. We urge the industry to embrace the opportunity that lies in front of them.”

With more than 25,000 customers and 300,000 users worldwide, Cvent has a team of more than 25 information security specialists dedicated to safeguarding their customers’ information and company resources, and its Privacy Shield certification was added to the U.S. Department of Commerce list in October 2017.  Cvent has been a trusted voice in leading the GDPR conversation – both with their customers and within the MICE marketplace – offering a range of educational assets to help drive GDPR understanding and compliance. For full details of Cvent’s GDPR webinars, resources and other future events visit www.cvent.com/gdpr.