Can you believe we’re just a few short weeks away from a brand new year? And with this new year comes a ton of new possibilities — but also some uncertainty.

For those of us who find ourselves in the heart of the event industry, it feels like we’ve experienced a ton of change and uncertainty over the last several years. But not all of these changes have been negative — in fact, there have been many exciting opportunities that have popped up as we quickly learned to socially distance ourselves and embrace technology in a variety of new ways.

And, thanks in part to the way the world was forced to adapt in response to the pandemic in 2020, there have been quite a few permanent shifts across the events industry that we’ll continue to see even as things continue to get “back to normal” in the coming year.

Let’s dive into some growing trends you can expect to see in 2024 — and beyond.

Webinars and Hybrid Events Continue to be in High Demand

Despite the fact that extensive virtual events — like longer, day-long online conferences — are starting to decline, shorter, educational online events are still going strong!

A recent LinkedIn study uncovered that 79% of the respondents found unique opportunities they didn’t have access to before adopting virtual events — and 74% of those surveyed expressed interest in hosting hybrid events in the future.

And it makes sense — the incredible Internet of Things has unlocked a whole new channel for engaging with our customers without the logistical hassle that comes from organizing in-person events. When strategizing and planning for 2024, it’s important to consider situations in which virtual events can supplement your in-person gatherings, as opposed to completely replacing them.

This could look like hosting a momentous, annual, in-person event but then adding monthly virtual events to keep your audience engaged throughout the rest of the year.

And there are plenty of other ways technology will support a unique event experience in the future. For example, the International Association of Conference Centers (IACC) offers something called a “MultiPOD Meeting”, which enables different groups of people (in separate, in-person locations) to interact with each other in real time. The future of hybrid event opportunities is brighter than ever!

Organizations Plan to Implement Sustainable Event Management Practices

As with every other industry, concerns over adopting sustainable practices in every facet of life continue to grow year after year. A report conducted by Forrester revealed that over the next twelve months, two-thirds of the surveyed B2B business and technology professionals will focus on improving their business’s environmental impact.

Shifting the focus to sustainable event practices has its own set of benefits associated with it: the Events Industry Council released a study that showed how implementing a sustainable event strategy can reduce upwards of 20% to 30% in costs, and 60% to 80% of waste.

And, since the events industry is responsible for generating about 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions every single year, this move towards sustainability is a must. To put that into perspective, that’s about the same impact the United States alone has on annual CO2 emissions!

But how are we actually applying these green initiatives to our event management strategies? Here are a few things we’re likely to see

• Offering your attendees the choice of attending an event in person or online.
• Incorporating green initiatives into your events, such as a zero-paper policy (with all event marketing materials available in an app or online).
• Working with eco-friendly sponsors, suppliers, and vendors to create an eco-conscious event from start to finish.

Positive impact will continue to be a key differentiating factor for events that proactively address its environmental impact and focus on creating a sustainable solution that attendees can feel good about participating in.

Artificial Intelligence Moves into the Event Marketing Space

You’ve probably heard of ChatGPT, an online tool that can generate a human-like response based on the information you provide for it to learn from. As you can imagine, this is a super-powerful tool for event marketers who need to create a ton of promotional material like social media posts, blogs, press releases, etc.

AI technology can also be helpful for creating graphics and video content, generating speaker bios, event descriptions, and so much more.

And the ways we’ll see AI in the events industry aren’t going to just extend to the promotional marketing side of things — there are plenty of opportunities to integrate facial recognition software for checking-in attendees or as an extra security measure onsite.

Regardless of how you feel about it, AI isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Is 2024 the year that you’re going to add it to your event marketing strategy? If you weren’t planning on it, it isn’t too late to reconsider!

There’s Going to be a Continued Increase in Event Technology Investments

There’s been talk that the pandemic condensed years and years of change — shifting consumer behavior, industry upsets, and technological revolutions — into just a matter of months. And, boy, are we feeling that in the event world today.

While we’re simultaneously experiencing a deep economic recession and a stunted supply chain, we’re also seeing an explosion on the tech front. And for event planners, leveraging this new technology comes with a ton of benefits!

For one, integrating new technologies into our events is a total personalized upgrade to the attendee experience. Participants can use their smartphones to register for the event, navigate the venue, learn more about speakers or sessions, and connect with other attendees via an event app or mobile responsive website.

And you and your event staff can also really benefit from these new pieces of technology, too! Set up your event ahead of time with an event marketing platform like AddEvent so you can easily promote your upcoming events! Plus, you can plan for the right number of attendees thanks to our RSVP solution.

→ AddEvent Pro Tip: Did you know that you can integrate your AddEvent account with other useful event management and marketing tools? Check out the thousands of options you can access thanks to Zapier!

Data collection enthusiasts — listen up! Event technology, such as AddEvent, is full to the brim with useful data and information that you can analyze to make educated decisions for future marketing and event planning activities.

The new year is going to bring about a lot of new and exciting challenges and opportunities.

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