Company event management is constantly evolving and changing. As new technology is incorporated into business processes, more companies find themselves embracing new ways to enhance their event management. Long gone are the days of scrutinising every tiny detail yourself and time-consuming manual planning where vital details are missed!
But emerging event management technology presents new and unique challenges for event organisers. It’s more important than ever to stay abreast of the hottest trends and technologies to stay relevant. Attendees have much higher expectations than ever before, and they drive trends in company event management. We’ve rounded up the biggest trends so you can incorporate them into your next event management plan below.
Trend One – Adopting Event Management Software
Incorporating event management software to personalise an attendee’s experience and how they interact with your company is critical. Manual processes are becoming obsolescent, and a fully-automated event management cloud that features all-in-one capabilities is becoming more popular.
Once you assure attendance to your event, it’s just as important that you do everything possible to make sure that the check-in process on the day of the event itself goes smoothly from start to finish. You need as much precision as possible here as an event lead up. When your attendees check into your event, it should be an easier process than registering for the event itself. Having excellent event management software can make this a reality.
Unlike previous years where your attendees queued for minutes or even hours for admittance into the event venue, this software has worked to streamline the event check-in process. Your goal is to make the check-in process so seamless that your attendees don’t have to think about anything by giving you their name when they get to the door. Queues don’t have a place at events today.
Additionally, event attendees also expect convenient, mobile, pocket accessible networking opportunities and networks. Having separate apps for attendees, event managers and staff, event management software has transformed the way organisations and attendees interact.
Trend Two – Giving Attendees a VIP Experience
Everyone likes to feel special, and by making attendees feel important, you’ll be providing an unforgettable event. Make sure your attendees know that their expectations and interests matter to event planners. Your goal is to give each attendee the VIP experience and show that your company cares about them; the result will be increased brand loyalty. Being able to customise an experience to suit any restrictions or needs an individual has lets your attendees know that your company values them.
The VIP experience extends to your personalised marketing campaigns leading up to the event. Whether you have a laid-back day out with a tour planned or a high-end experience, each attendee should feel like a VIP.
Trend Three – Infusing Hands-On Experiences
You don’t have to make the mistake of limiting your interactivity during your event to a digital format. Workshops with hands-on experiences are quickly becoming a favourite among large and small companies alike. Event attendees want to experience whatever your event is instead of simply being able to witness it.
Instead of having a host of long speeches, break up your event with short talks and interactive activities. You could even have activity stations for your guests to cycle through like a cocktail making station or an outdoor activity. Hands-on experiences give your attendees a very high learning value, and it can also reduce their stress levels.
If you’re going to add a workshop or two to your event, keep your venue in mind. You’ll need to have enough space for people to flow from one area to the next, and don’t forget to budget for the logistics, including money and time.
Trend Four – Bleisure Travel
Corporate travel has always had a hard focus on combining business and pleasure. Business meetings and events can be gruelling, especially if you attend back-to-back events with deadlines and goals. While attendees tend to be high-functioning by nature, it’s essential that you work to incorporate relaxation and leisure into your corporate event at one stage. With the correct level of rest and fun, your attendees will perform better.
This reasoning is why many events are starting to add things like bars, VIP lounges, spas and massage stations. You want to consider your venue here because some sites are better suited for leisure activities than others. If you incorporate travel, make sure that it’s convenient for your attendees to partake. Maybe it’s a luxury cruise that lasts for a few hours in the middle of the event, or you plan a day out just to get a break. Whatever the leisure activity may be, your attendees will be able to relax and enjoy it.
Trend Five – Planning for Diversity
Diversity is more important than ever in every area of your event. For example, your event sponsors will take a hard look at the diversity of your event before they decide whether or not they want part of it. You can cater to this by making sure that your corporate event has both people of colour and visible women among your speakers. Inclusiveness in speaking isn’t going anywhere, and more events are making a point to include panellists across the gender and race spectrum.
Because of these reasons, it’s essential that you use diversity as a thing to consider when you plan your event. It should be well-integrated into every aspect of your event and not just an afterthought. This means doing things like serving food that is culturally appropriate, making sure you have restrooms for the entire gender spectrum to use and having a code of conduct in place for your event.
Trend Six – Sustainability is on the Rise in Event Management
More and more companies are making a point to keep as sustainable and environmentally-friendly as they possibly can. It goes hand-in-hand with diversity as an upcoming trend, and it’s more urgent than it ever was due to shrinking resources. You can’t put sustainability as an afterthought in your event. It should be ingrained in every area of your event planning. You can incorporate simple things like going paperless and using green transportation to and from your event if it’s possible.
Your event catering should have a sustainability plan as well. You want to compost and recycling processes in place to deal with any leftover food and paper or plastic products. Having more thorough planning in place and getting an accurate attendee count also plays a large role in how much waste your event generates. Make sure you strike a balance between conserving resources and giving your event attendees the best experience possible.
Trend Seven – Using Facial Recognition to Enhance Event Security
Ensuring event security is essential for every event. There are specialised solutions that are available to event management companies, such as Event Control Room. Enhancing your event’s security using facial recognition software is getting more and more accurate. It’s also more convenient for your event organisers and managers, and it seamlessly integrates with your registration process. Due to smartphones, more people are getting more used to this advanced technology; it’s something they have access to and use each day.
We’re on trend to see more integration between AI and facial recognition software for events. Chatbots could soon “look” at a person’s face and customise any responses based on that particular person’s stored data. For example, it can pause if people are thinking, or adopt a soothing tone if attendees become distressed. Your facial recognition could also track crowds and monitor emotions and moods based on gathered data. This lets you head off any problems before they escalate. You can engage an electrician specialising in CCTV/security to cover this aspect for you.
Trend Eight – Using Stage Design to Stand Out
What’s the thing that grabs and holds your attendee’s attention at your event? It’s the stage! Modern technology and enhanced imaging techniques like 3D projections and lighting stay front and centre for trends this year. However, this doesn’t shove older techniques out of the way. Cardboard backdrops and foam cutouts are still very effective for creating eye-catching designs.
Trends point to having more clear-cut themes to your events, and this directly influences design. You want your stage to engage your attendees’ senses, and not just their eyes. You also want it to reflect your event and goals. You can use lighting and colour to reinforce your event theme, and mix and match modular stages. All of these simple things catch your audiences’ attention and makes your event memorable.
Allow MPT Corporate Events to Create Your Event Today!
Keeping on top of the latest trends for your corporate events can be a full-time project for anyone to take on. Your goal is to make your event as memorable as possible, and our event organisers and event packages can help you achieve this goal. No matter if you have a large event, small event, high-end event or a laid-back event in mind, we can tailor our packages to you.
If you’re interested in finding out more about our events and processes, we invite you to reach out and contact us today! Our staff are on-hand and ready to answer any of your questions, address any concerns and help you find the best event for your wants and needs that is memorable and fun.
