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Industry Update

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WHAT ATTENDEES WANT

New study identifies five macro-trends that will impact the future of meetings and events.

Research courtesy of PCMA Foundation and Marriott International

“THE MEETINGS AND EVENTS industry’s future is being shaped by so many factors—from people’s desire to be part of a broader community to their expectations when they travel. [‘ The Future of Meetings & Events’] brings a real-world and provocative lens to where planners, attendees and suppliers will be heading in the years to come,” says Tammy Routh, senior vice president for global sales at Marriott International. Download the full report at pd.pcma.org/FutureTrends2019.

1.

EMOTIONAL Intelligence Designing with the end-user in mind

Meetings and events will need to move past reactive adjustments to adopt a proactive approach to personalized experiences, understanding the needs of participants before they arrive. At meetings and events, participants can no longer be treated as a homogeneous crowd or a series of behavioral data points, but instead must be recognized as individuals, understood on a deeper emotional level, and treated accordingly.

SUPPORTING SUB-TRENDS

–––AI and Tech to Unlock Intelligence –––Employee Agency to Act on Their EQ

2.

ORCHESTRATED Serendipity Engineering and embracing the unexpected for more meaningful moments

Experiences must embrace freedom and surprise, freeing consumers from the constant constraint of schedules or agendas. By embracing the unexpected, we can engage participants and leave a lasting impression. “There’s that whole concept of ‘sweatworking’—like SoulCycle—let’s arrange a workout in the morning that fosters some serendipitous connection. That’s how you end up meeting people that you wouldn’t normally meet. I like those things where people who are organizing these structured events are actually thinking beyond the event itself. What will people do outside of our programming? How can we structure that? The point of this whole event is to create these human collisions.” —Amy Blackman, senior advisor, A Hundred Years

SUPPORTING SUB-TRENDS:

–––Create Human Collisions –––Leverage Context –––Embrace Natural Serendipity –––Deprioritize Convenience

3.

MULTIMODAL Design Designing for adaptation and iteration

Every event has a unique objective and audience, and a space must reflect an event’s specific personality and needs. From technological infrastructure and architecture to furniture and fixtures, space is critical and should be designed to adapt to the ways that participants will engage with one another, the content and the space itself. Investment management company Jones Lang LaSalle predicts that by 2030, 30% of all commercial office space will be consumed as “flexible space” that can transform to fit the needs of individual employees, as well as collaborative group dynamics.

SUPPORTING SUB-TRENDS

–––Design Space that Assumes Change –––Design for Differences –––Sensorial Tech to Enable Empathy

4.

BIGGER THAN Oneself Acting on a meaningful message

You can’t just provide content anymore. Every event must have a message. Participants want to understand what’s important to a business and experience events that deliver that message down to the smallest detail. According to a 2018 Mintel report on responsible brands, 51% of consumers in the U.S. agree that an environmentally responsible product is worth paying more for. “The devil is in the details. I see these organizations that put on events about sustainability, but then they don’t give you a refillable water bottle and have disposable plastic all over the place. You’ve got to pay attention to the details. It’s credibility. Follow through.” —Amy Blackman, senior advisor, A Hundred Years

SUPPORTING SUB-TRENDS

–––Be Polarizing –––Design Down to the Details

5.

CLEAR SENSE OF Place

Leveraging geography for deeper enrichment

The most memorable events celebrate local surrounding, enrich visitors, expose them to the local culture, and connect them with the community to increase engagement. “It’s not just about utilizing the convention center anymore, and instead, it’s about utilizing all the assets within the city to create that really personalized experience based on the interest of the participants that are going to the conference.” —Sherrif Karamat, CEO, PCMA

SUPPORTING SUB-TRENDS

–––Honor the Place—Keep It Local –––Distance Helps Disconnection –––Don’t Forget Human Nature