Events are growing again: lessons from Cvent Connect Europe
Where can you find 1000 events professionals gathered together? And another 1000 watching online? Cvent Connect Europe.
I (Tom) dropped in to speak there this week. Sadly I didn’t make it on to the big stage with Dermot O’Leary and Oti Mabuse. But I did get to speak to an audience of around 50 in a session with ICE, the organisation for in-house corporate events organisers, and meet a lot of interesting people from the sector while waving the flag for Pomona Partners (and find some new guests for our podcast!)
Events: Behind the scenes
As a speaker and agent, one of the most interesting things was to see more of the bits of the event world that we don’t get involved with. The work that goes into researching, profiling and creating target lists. The technology, creativity, analysis and sheer graft that goes into the invitation and registration process. And into the planning, design and production. The speed at which event technology is changing is quite something. And it was fascinating to see how AI tech is being applied to streamline the job of the event planner.
If you’re a regular listener to Events Dear Boy! you’ll know that admin is the number one complaint from our event planner guests. And it feels like a good chunk of that might soon be automated, allowing planners to focus on their favourite tasks: the creative work that really makes events sing.
The stats are strong
Listening to the keynote address from Cvent CEO, Reggie Aggarwal, I was pleased to see how fast the meetings and events sector has bounced back post COVID. And how it looks to be on track to grow well beyond 2019 levels. Business travel is already at record levels, with spending forecast to hit $1.5 TRILLION dollars in 2023.
That’s a big carbon footprint, but it also shows how hungry we all still are to interact in person. Research that Cvent showed said that 82% of people prefer face to face meetings. UK events revenue is already back to pre-pandemic levels. And even OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, was quoted as saying that the rise of tech and AI will make us crave the in-person connection all the more.
Impact, Impact, Impact
Speaking with event organisers at the show, they face lots of challenges, many of which are highlighted in the new ICE research, out today. But something I heard over and over again was that people are laser focused now on the impact of events. It’s a noisy world now. People have lots of demands on their time. So while they might prefer to connect face to face, it’s not always easy to get the right people out of the office. In order to get their time and attention, events have to be super-valuable. And they have to deliver value that you can measure, as well as create great experiences that people go on to speak about with the colleagues and peers. Great speakers clearly have a role to play here, both as a draw, and a deliverer of that value.
A growth sector
Overall, it was highly reassuring to walk away with a sense of the buzz of a growing industry. We can see that growth in the stats, but we can also feel it in the atmosphere at this event and others. As technology grows in sophistication, we’re still keen to connect in person. And to learn from great speakers.