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Originally Posted On: https://www.theeventplannerexpo.com/6-trends-for-event-professionals-to-watch/

 

In the coming years, event professionals worldwide will see major changes that will impact how we do business. As more people have gone back to work and started traveling again, we’ll be even more ready to attend events in person—but conferences and events are going to look different in 2023 than they do now.

In this article, I’ll explain how technology will drive how we event professionals will manage upcoming meetings and group business trips.

Then I’ll tell you what these changes mean for your event planning team.

 

Event venues will use technology to facilitate social distancing.

In the future, event venues will use technology to facilitate social distancing. With this new approach, people can interact with one another from different locations and spaces. For example, if you’re attending a conference or a seminar at a local venue, you may be able to communicate with other attendees via virtual reality headsets. This would allow all of the participants in attendance to feel as though they were right there in person with each other—even though they were actually separated by distance.

Event Professionals will focus on green initiatives.

Events are a huge part of the global economy. They’re responsible for billions of dollars’ worth of income, and that number is only going to rise as more people attend them. But with all their waste, pollution, and carbon emissions—not to mention water usage—events are also an environmental disaster waiting to happen.

The event industry needs to act now if it wants to avoid catastrophe down the road but not every company feels like they have enough control over their own carbon footprint or environmental impact for it to be worth their time or money.

Virtual event platforms will become more sophisticated.

Virtual event platforms will become more sophisticated for event professionals. As the industry matures and gathers more data about virtual events, the platforms themselves will become smarter, with better features and more capabilities.

Virtual event platforms will have more features. For example, they’ll be able to recognize attendees so that your content can be tailored to each one individually; this could mean something as simple as changing the background color of your slides for each attendee or sending them special offers based on their preferences or behavior.

Virtual event platforms will be more interactive. This means not only adding live polling but also using AI-powered technology such as chatbots and smart agents to interact with attendees during sessions and give them information they need while they’re attending an event instead of requiring them to go back-and-forth between their phones (or watch TV).

Virtual event platforms will be more engaging. In addition to being interactive, these new generation solutions should make it easier for attendees who want something extra out of their experience—like custom content produced specifically for them—to get it via social media integrations or even subscriptions tiering through multiple levels of service based on different price points rather than just traditional price/feature matrixes.”

There will be a resurgence of in-person events.

As technology becomes more and more ubiquitous, event professionals will be looking for a way to connect with each other that doesn’t involve their smartphone.

According to MEETING & GROUP BUSINESS magazine, “The in-person events market is set for its strongest year ever in 2023.” In fact, there has been a 20% increase in face-to-face meetings this year alone!

 

Food and beverages will have an emphasis on local ingredients and legacy recipes.

Think about the last time you went to a restaurant and ordered a dish that wasn’t on the menu. What did it take for your server to get that item ready? How many people were involved in bringing it to the table? What was their experience like with the food, and what did they think about serving it to someone else?

In order for any event planner or group business owner to start making changes in their events (that will ultimately impact their bottom line), they need a clear understanding of what’s working now and why. These are questions we hope will be answered by looking at trends in both food/beverage preparation as well as other areas of event planning—like technology and design—to try and predict how these evolving practices might affect how we do business together over the next decade.

Music and entertainment will be a way for people to come together again.

Music and entertainment will be a way for people to come together again.

I think that music and entertainment can be a great way to bring people together. It’s something that has been proven to help people feel less stressed, more relaxed, and more comfortable—all of which are helpful when you’re trying to make new friends or have an open conversation with someone you don’t know very well.

Music can also help create a sense of connection within your group by serving as a natural icebreaker when people aren’t sure what else they should say or do together. If everyone is into the same music as you, then it’s easy for everyone in the group (including yourself) to start talking about it! This makes it easier for all parties involved because there’s something tangible, they can talk about instead of just talking about random stuff like the weather out loud until one person eventually gets bored enough with their own voice before leaving first thing tomorrow morning after breakfast at 8am sharp.”

As the world reopens, we’ll all be ready to attend socially distant events in person, but conferences and events are going to look different in 2022.

As the world reopens, we’ll all be ready to attend socially distant events in person, but conferences and events are going to look different in 2022.

The event industry will focus on green initiatives. With global warming becoming an even more pressing concern, meeting planners will continue to find new ways to make their events more environmentally friendly. As technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace, virtual event platforms will become more sophisticated and easier for attendees to use—reducing the carbon footprint of travel by enabling them to participate remotely rather than travel across continents or seas.

There will be a resurgence of in-person events. Because travel restrictions were so restrictive for so long before 2022, there has been little incentive for people around the globe not just get together; now that transportation is once again allowed as it was before 2022 (as well as some other important life essentials), people will want opportunities for face-to-face interaction with others again! This means that if you’re planning a conference or event between now and 2023: expect attendance rates at your next big shindig!

Conclusion

The world is changing, and so are the events that we attend. It’s time for event professionals to adopt new ways of doing things—and it’s going to be worth it!

Join us at The Event Planner Expo 2022 to learn more about the new waves coming our way in 2023.