The Future Of Event Tech

Working across many facets of technology for many years, there has been one constant: most people are cautious and many are scared when it comes to new technologies. They use technology during nearly every waking hour and, yet, they never see themselves as digital people. But coming out of the pandemic, events have permanently changed. The most successful events will embrace a unified experience, bridging the divide between the in person and online experiences. While event marketers currently tend to approach these as two experiences, they are the same from an attendee perspective, connected by technology. So we have to get it right. We have to overcome our reluctance to dive in on technology. We may not all have the expertise to implement the tech – we can rely on experts for that. But we do have the ability to think like our audience. We have the ability to look at the digital experiences with which we interact every day and think critically about why they work. And we can bring all that thinking to our events.

Technology has enabled event experiences, powering attendee journeys for years, albeit focused primarily on event logistics or transactions. It has been a long, steady evolution mixed with windows of rapid innovation driven by adoption of new technologies. The pandemic has proven to be another window of technology innovation, this time forcing everyone to take a deep look at how technology can truly create and drive the experiences themselves. As a result, we’ve hit a turning point in the industry. Many of these existing technologies are already mature and ready to scale, where the relationship between technology and people is commonplace and the tech and tech skills within our organizations are more advanced.

As we get back to meeting in person again, the pandemic caused long reaching changes in the experiential industry. And we have to recognize these changes. There’s no going back to business as usual.

1. The needs of audiences and businesses fundamentally changed during the pandemic.
2. The re-emergence of physical engagement requires yet another change in design and structure to both our in-person and online experiences.
3. Content that was relevant and appropriate last year is no longer applicable.
4. There is an opportunity to strengthen our experiential programs with digital strategies that amplify our in-person experiences.

Things have shifted so we also have to shift.

1. Build on the in-person experience – An experience is an experience. Don’t shy away from your in person expertise. Use it as a starting point.
2. Think digital first and expand – Don’t be constrained by the in-person experience. Focus on building value and driving outcomes rather than emulating formats and tactics.
3. Focus on tech that drives engagement – Technology is not just a facilitator of transactions. Technology can and should be an integral part of how attendees experience the brand.
4. Accelerate meaningful digital capabilities – Focus your innovation on technologies that build community, drive personalization and allow for more immersive storytelling.

The future of experience looks different, and flexibility & integration will be key to the next stage of event tech.

We can expect to see:

1. Targeted, geo-specific, and more personal experiences
2. A longer tail on the content and conversation
3. Different event portfolio structures – different experiences for different needs
4. Flagpole events supported by digital and even other physical events
5. Connected, interactive and focused experiences based on changing needs

Three things you can do now:

• Align and refine your objectives - what are you trying to accomplish, what does success look like, how are you impacting the business?

• Get to know your audience, again. Have their needs changed, have their expectations changed, how do we create value?

• Audit and explore with a newly focused lens - what’s working, why is it working, what is missing, how can you fill the gap then evolve it to make it seamless.

As everyone struggled to adapt their events to digital formats in 2020 and 2021, the focus was frustrating but understandable in simply getting the basic content elements up and running. The experience, connections and community took a back seat. But now that everyone has a few event cycles under their belts, that’s changing. It’s critical that as we move into an age of hybrid events that we think about them more as unified experiences. We must keep the attendee experience at the center of everything we create. And when we get that right, we will create more meaningful experiences for our attendees which will create more meaningful results for our businesses.