What one trend, challenge or opportunity are you predicting will impact the events industry most in 2015?
We asked many leading figures in the event industry this question, and we got some incredible responses (you can see all 30 of them here).
However Paul Colston, Editor in Chief at Mash Media went even further. Paul cast his gaze beyond 2015, and shared the many insights he has gained from overseeing publications like Conference News and Exhibition News.
Here is what Paul has to say about the future of events.
Technology marches ahead apace as ever, but it does seem as if that pace is increasing exponentially.
Demand for sophisticated data management systems is voracious.
New systems will allow event organisers and meeting planners to analyse their events more thoroughly and derive much more added value and knowledge, and provide them with far deeper understandings of delegate behaviour.
When I came into the events industry just 10 years ago, organising meetings and events was a labour intensive affair, now mobile technology and apps in particular, can provide a wealth of data only dreamt about back then, when faxes and manual lists were still common tools.
We can now know what a delegate enjoyed, what they thought and what they talked about and with whom – and usually just a matter of hours post-event. Knowledge is indeed power.
Our events are now 24/7 and 365 days a year. We have evolved into rolling communities of interest. Someone is always ‘on’ if you feel like dipping in to social media and someone is always able to make that deal before you if you slip off the grid.
Video streaming continues to offer a broader dimension to information delivery in our sector, with the hybrid event likely to extend the virtual experience. There is still a certain novelty, however, and much attention is still on the technology rather than on the information conveyed.
I expect rapid moves to invest and improve Wi-Fi reliability and speed. The customer can easily be disappointed and the youngest generation in the workforce feels almost no loyalty and will move on from non-performers in the blink of an app.
Price hikes are likely in 2015 and 2016 as economies recover, with air travel likely to rise 5% and AV, room hire and bedrooms all coming in more expensive on average.
The MPI Autumn Outlook research (2014) predicted overall business for meeting and event professionals in the US and Europe would grow 3.6% next year, so there is hope of better times ahead, provided the danger is not realised that costs rise faster than budgets.
And, on budgets, again according to MPI research, 55% of meetings professionals are predicting a budget increase, so the majority is a small one.
Wearable technology I expect to transform how we interact with each other during live experiences: and Google Glass, Oculus Rift and Apple watches are some bold first steps.
Moreover, what is pioneered in medicine today, with embedded microchips in the human body, will surely come to the conference hall within 10 years.
The value of face-to-face will continue to be demonstrated at our trade shows, such as International Confex, where real people will come, under one roof, to discuss new technology and put it to the acid test. Some new technologies will fail when put to the stress test.
I expect events management courses in the UK to blossom, with ever increasing numbers of graduates. I just hope a larger proportion than currently are from the UK.
Oh, and one final prediction: Everton FC to qualify for the Champions League within 3 years if Roberto Martinez stays as manager!
What do you think? What one trend, challenge or opportunity are you predicting will impact the events industry most in 2015? Let us know in the comments below!
