Posted on February 28, 2024

The Future of Events: 12 Trends for Events in 2024 and Beyond

The event industry has undergone a significant transformation in the past few years. Technological advances and shifts in demand have changed how events are thrown and how they are attended.

In this article, we’ll discuss everything you need to know about the future of events. We’ll talk about major trends and technology shaping this industry and how you can use them for your event.

1. Hosting Hybrid Events

The pandemic pushed the event industry in a virtual direction, and four years later, virtual and hybrid events are still as relevant as ever. 

Virtual events come with a slew of benefits, including:

• Possibility for global connections 
• Greater accessibility
• Lower cost to attend
• Lower cost to host
• More eco-friendly
• Time flexibility 

However, what virtual events lack is the face-to-face networking opportunities that come with in-person events. While this can be mimicked with chat feeds and breakout rooms, many people still want that face-to-face interaction.

By hosting hybrid events, which tie together in-person and online components, you can reap the benefits of both sorts of events without much more effort.

2. Using Events to Upskill Teams

Different events have different purposes, ranging from education to networking to entertainment. However, more companies are investing in upskilling their teams, creating a demand for events that do just that.

You can tap into this by hosting events that feature workshops and seminars that are geared toward providing useful information and actionable takeaways. 

One of the best ways to ensure that your events are geared towards upskilling participants is to round up speakers and educators who are truly experts in their field. So many even planners get carried away with filling their stage with big names that they forget to ensure that the presenters actually have value to give.

Some event planners curate education-focused events that result in certification for those who participate. Of course, having this certificate accredited might be difficult. Still, if you’re planning an event on behalf of a company that holds a lot of weight in its industry, that could make the offer appealing enough.

3. Getting More Strategic with Promotion 

In the age of digital marketing, there’s no excuse for not properly promoting your event. However, many event planners forget this critical piece of the puzzle.

By harnessing the power of the internet, you can get more strategic with your event promotion and maximize your attendance. 

For example, you can leverage various digital marketing channels, including social media marketing, email marketing, SEO, and paid ads, to reach as many people as possible. 

Fortunately, all these marketing methods are relatively low-cost, so you can test out different options to find out what works best for reaching your target audience.

The timing of your promotional campaigns is equally important to your marketing and distribution channels. You’ll need to promote your event far in advance. It’s vital to start promoting months ahead of time for in-person events since many people will travel to join you. 

Virtual events don’t need as much lead time, but they’ll surely benefit by providing prospective guests with an adequate heads-up.

4. Leveraging Generative AI for Event Marketing

In the spirit of getting more strategic with promoting their events, many event planners are leaning into generative AI to streamline and enhance marketing asset production. 

Whether you’re writing blog posts or generating imagery for social media, generative AI is a powerful tool that can save you tons of time.

5. Using Events for Public Relations

Another major trend for events is using them for public relations purposes. Events create PR opportunities for both event hosts and those who participate in the event as speakers.

That’s why some companies opt to host free events where they are focused more on reach than profitability. 

Think about a tech company that wants to host an event to demo a new product line or update its existing products. Getting people in the door (or on the stream) will yield profitability down the line. In this scenario, the free event is more of an investment in brand awareness.

Many brands are starting to turn to events and speaking opportunities to establish thought leadership for their brand. 

For example, a CEO of a company may go to a conference in their niche to give a topic on a subject matter that they are an expert in. This positions that brand as a trusted source for the product or service at hand.

6. Going Green

Hosting sustainable events that prioritize environmental conservation is becoming popular as more brands become aware of their impacts on the environment. 

One of the easiest ways to make your event more sustainable is to host it virtually. This reduces the need for travel and related energy usage that comes with an in-person event. 

In-person events often come with a lot of mindless consumption of single-use items, such as plates and napkins for refreshments, pamphlets, signage, and the like. You can eliminate this entirely by hosting a virtual event or consciously reducing that excess waste in your in-person event.

Another easy way to make your event more eco-friendly is by suggesting digital notetaking rather than taking notes on paper. This seems so basic, but small changes like this add up.

7. Distributing Event Replays

What’s nice about hosting virtual or hybrid events is that the video element creates an archive of the event to share with those who paid for access to the event, whether they attended live or not. 

It makes the event more accessible and accommodating to people’s schedules and opens the door for more significant ticket sales.

Some event planners include the replay video as part of admission to the event. Others offer the replay alone for a reduced fee. It’s up to you to decide what makes the most sense for your specific event.

8. Leveraging Speech-to-Text Technology for Event Recaps

In addition to video recaps of your event, many participants will appreciate access to a transcript of an event. This is convenient for people who prefer to read. 

Organizers increasingly use AI-powered speech synthesis to enhance attendee experiences by quickly creating transcripts. As we look to the future, integrating the best text-to-speech solutions will be crucial in transforming how we communicate and engage at events.

Plus, this technology allows seamless narration to facilitate accessibility and make events more inclusive. 

9. Staying Ahead of the Competition

Competitive intelligence is essential in the events industry, and leveraging tools for competitive intelligence is becoming increasingly vital for success. 

These tools enable organizers to stay ahead of emerging trends, analyze competitors’ strategies effectively, and adapt to consumers’ rapidly changing expectations. 

By utilizing these tools, event planners can comprehensively understand market dynamics, identify potential opportunities for innovation, and make informed decisions. 

This strategic advantage is crucial in an industry where staying relevant and responsive to attendee preferences can distinguish between a successful event and an overlooked one.

10. Making Events a Year-Round Initiative

Hosting in-person events can be costly. In the past, the expenses involved with hosting an event forced many organizations to limit the number of events they hosted in a year. 

However, with the rise of virtual events, businesses can host multiple events throughout the year without breaking the bank. This opens possibilities for additional event revenue, boosted brand exposure, and more.

11. Analyzing Data for Improved Experiences

The beauty of hosting virtual and hybrid events is that it creates opportunities to collect data that may not be possible with in-person events. For example, streamed events can generate data on watch times, viewer activity, dropoff points, and other similar activities to help even planners understand which parts of the stream are most interesting for viewers and which aren’t.

With access to this data, more event planners can make informed decisions on future events, which enables them to create better experiences for their guests.

Additionally, this data often provides valuable insights that help shape marketing and promotion for future events. Specifically, you can use demographic analytics to better understand who is in your audience, where they are tuning in from, and what devices they use to access your stream.

12. Investing More in Event Technology

As we discussed before, adding a virtual component to your event to make it hybrid or making it virtual altogether is an easy lift for most event planners. This is mostly due to the accessibility and affordability of powerful event-streaming technology.

With that, many event planners are inclined to invest more in event technology to add a virtual component to their event or simply streamline the experience for all parties involved. 

Some of this technology includes tools for:

• Sponsor Management
• Speaker Management
• Booking Management
• Event Registration
• Event Streaming 
• Event Marketing
• Ticketing 

A provider like InEvent helps you access all these and more in one place. 

Conclusion

The future of event planning is bright. Advances in technology make hosting events more affordable for planners and more accessible to guests. Fortunately, there are so many easy ways to take your event planning to the next level.

Which trends will you jump on for your events this year and beyond?

Athe author Catalina Grigoriev is a incurable optimist with a bubbly personality. That’s what my colleagues say. Secret mission: cat lover disguised as a dog person. Ex law student who switched into the digital marketing lane. Currently delving into the depths of SEO and content marketing at Planable.