3 key takeaways from InEvent Kick-off 2022
InEvent Kick-off 2022 was InEvent´s first event of the year, bringing together top marketing, tech, and event professionals to discuss what challenges and opportunities lie ahead for the event industry.
The event covered four central topics: Event Tech and Experiences, Sales and Marketing, Leadership, and Innovation.
So, we have highlighted the key takeaways from the thought-leadership event, summarizing insights brought forward by the industry leaders.
If you missed the event or wish to re-examine the sessions, you can watch the sessions on-demand here.
Human interaction should always be front and center
Time and again during the event, speakers emphasized the need to put the human experience at the forefront of events.
With the tech-first approach that characterizes many virtual events, we tend to lose sight of the human and personal level.
As Anthony Vade, North American Director at Event Design Collective noted: “it is less about the bells, widgets, and modules that you turn on and off within the platform. It´s really about how does the tool enables people to come together to have meaningful conversations”.
Therefore, we have to think about heightening that human experience, keeping the human aspect front and center of all of the design elements and of all the platform functionalities offered.
Victoria Matey, the co-founder at Matey Events, highlighted the need for event organizers to research cognitive science. In order to design better event experiences, we ought to learn how people think and behave.
Keep in mind a clear vision and defined objectives
When putting together an event, there must be an overarching vision and objectives behind it.
As the InEvent Kick-off 2021 tech panel advised, it is imperative to define the business needs and goals before looking at tech solutions, and not the other way round.
As event planners, we should be asking ourselves: what are we trying to accomplish?
Indeed, there needs to be a solid narrative around the event, a “why”. That narrative or briefing can then be conveyed to the event suppliers, partners, or tech providers.
Similarly, Hully Duckworth, CEO at Leadership Solutions International outlined 3 tips to lead in uncertain times. One of those key recommendations for executives is creating a clear vision.
The certified workplace mindfulness facilitator challenged us to ask the right questions. What is the highest and best vision for the event? What must the meeting become to meet that vision?
Alongside that, she recommended taking the organization’s mission and vision statements and making sure all of the event aspects relate to them.
Now is the time to throw out the old playbook
As Corbin Ball, CEO at Corbin Ball & Co, put it, “this is the time for innovation, where we can throw out the old playbook and really look at things in a different way”.
Indeed, the COVID-19 crisis has caused major upheavals in the events industry. However, it can also prove to be the time for reflection, the time to re-examine what works and what doesn´t.
In that line, Kathryn Frankson, Director of Event Marketing at Informa, predicted that “this is going to be the year of bold creative”.
Creativity and innovation are not only about embedding the cutting edge-tech. Event planners have to be creative at every touchpoint: the keynote video, the confirmation email, the choice of speakers.
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[hubspot portal=”5958648″ id=”de0c0cbb-e144-4596-8bde-5ca391770991″ type=”form”]About the Author / Gabriel Marin
