Posted on February 25, 2025
What will a typical corporate event be in 2025 and the future? Should you close your much (or not-so-much) loved PowerPoint and opt for more groundbreaking trends for corporate events?
Spoiler: Prepare for a masterful fusion of innovative tech and human interaction in corporate event management.
Picture this. Instead of a lifeless presentation in a hotel conference room with awkward ice-breakers, you interact with the holograms of your colleagues speaking from remote locations. Or—how about this: You ask your event attendees to take on their VR glasses and dive into enthralling “metaverses” (What are those? Wait for one specific trend).
Whether you plan to organize corporate events for employee engagement or lead generation, these are only the tiny tidbits of what 2025 is rolling out for you.
This article is your front-row seat to see the future of corporate events. Are you sitting comfortably? Then, we’ll begin!
Types of Corporate Events Trending in 2025
Let’s first look at the best corporate event ideas for employees, customers, stakeholders, and your community as a whole.
Examples of Corporate Events for Employees
- Team-building retreat
- Workshop
- Holiday party (Christmas parties usually top the charts)
- Corporate milestone celebration
- Employee wellness challenge
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion or DE&I event (e.g., a religious holiday like Easter, Diwali, or Hanukkah or Pride Month celebration)
Examples of Corporate Events for Customers and Communities
- Product launch celebration
- Trade show or expo
- Webinar
- Conference
- Social happy hour or community networking event
- Customer appreciation day
7 Corporate Event Trends to Follow in 2025 and Beyond
Now, let’s move on to the most impactful tendencies reshaping corporate event management.
1. Priority to Face-to-Face and Hybrid Formats
There’s no denying it—the coronavirus crisis forced literally every business, large and small, to switch to online corporate events in 2019. But now, in the post-pandemic era, in-person events are making a huge comeback.
Did you know that 88% of brands aim to return to face-to-face events (partially or completely)? Here’s why. They find those essential for positive, long-term relationship building.
Let’s take the case of MIRA Safety, a globally recognized leader in protective gear. Roman Zrazhevskiy, Founder & CEO at MIRA Safety, shares the company’s experience in team building. “We feel a strong necessity for in-person team-building events. Nothing can be more bonding than a human-to-human connection via a handshake or a common challenge you can tackle shoulder to shoulder. That’s why we focus more on indoor and outdoor team-building events like BBQs or survival adventures.”
Still, hybrid events are also becoming a new normal thanks to the convenience of virtual technologies.
Example:
The Atlantic team successfully moved from remote-only back to face-to-face events with hybrid elements.
2. Interactivity
Due to the roaring demand for event attendee engagement, interactivity will perform an encore and remain on stage as one of the key trends in corporate events for 2025.
Micro-Activities
The following short and fast activities will keep engaging event attendees in the future:
- Quiz
- Poll
- Q&A session
- Five-minute masterclass
- Idea wall (or gratitude wall)
- AR demo
- Touchable 3D hologram
Pay closer attention to new technologies, such as augmented reality (AR) or holographic speakers popping as if out of thin air. They can add small but super-interactive drops to your corporate event in 2025.
Gamified Activities
Do you want to make your team gatherings even more engaging and memorable in 2025?
Then, turn to event gamification with game-inspired elements like these:
- Quests
- Missions
- Individual or team-based contests
- Scores/points
- Leaderboards
- Awards
- Prizes
- Badges
Would you like to compete and see who on your team solves a jigsaw puzzle first? Or would you rather play a custom game (and win rewards!)? Whichever you prefer, InEvent can help you gamify your events in the office, on the web, or even via a mobile app—your game, your rules.
3. Experiential Learning (Majorly Through Workshops)
As observed by Grant Aldrich, Founder of Preppy, “Needless to say, workshops for experiential training particularly prevail among corporate events in the education sphere. I expect them to stay for 2025 and beyond, not without a compelling reason. A workshop involves attendees in doing and experiencing rather than simply watching. Besides, it puts theory to the test and sharpens practical skill sets.”
Example:
The Ancient Language Institute hosts virtual workshops for learning Attic Greek (or Koine Greek), Latin, and Old English.
“Yet,” he remarks, “Today, they are likewise used as a form of team building in companies.”
Grant Aldrich shares a list of the most popular workshop event ideas for teams:
- DIY crafting
- Improvisation
- Culinary challenge
- Hackathon or appathon
- Conflict resolution bootcamp
- Leadership workshop
Example:
Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines organized a joint labor and management workshop to “learn, align, and collaborate” while having fun.
4. Live Streaming
Have you ever tried to live-stream an event?
If never at all—no more sitting on the fence! There can be no excuse for overlooking live streams as one of the top corporate event trends today.
Having already tapped into this technology for the company’s events, Max Tang, CMO at GEEKOM, said, “You can’t ignore the tech capacity of live-streaming for your corporate events in 2025. It redefines connectivity and builds an invisible bridge between you and your audience behind the screen. The greatest advantage, however, lies in accompanying activities for attendee engagement like Q&As, polls, giveaways, or anything else amid your live streams.”
Consider these live-streaming platforms:
- InEvent’s Live Studio
- vMix
- StreamLabs
- LiveMe
- EcammLive
- Social media live-stream solutions: Facebook Live, Instagram Live Rooms, YouTube Live, Twitch, etc.
Example:
In 2024, GEEKOM engaged users worldwide, from Los Angeles to Tokyo, during a live corporate event on YouTube. The team organized a product launch live stream to showcase new Mini PCs and run a giveaway.
Another example (for B2B):
Finario chose InEvent to stream live webinars and boost its video marketing strategy in B2B.
Note: 45% of B2B marketers cite live streaming as the #1 tool for managing their events.
5. CSR Alignment
Corporate social responsibility, or CSR, is on the majority (71%) of business agendas these days.
In this context, Chris Aubeeluck, Head of Sales and Marketing at Osbornes Law, predicts, “In the future, we’ll definitely see more brands turning to socially responsible practices in corporate event planning. The three most critical directions will be giving back to communities through volunteer days or charitable team-building activities, supporting sustainability in corporate events, and making those ethical and inclusive.”
Let’s quickly review each aspect: community, sustainability, and inclusion.
Community-oriented
Only in the United Kingdom, the number of employers that organize volunteering events with employees has increased fivefold since 2020.
Example:
The Osbornes Law solicitors are already driving change in their local community with event sponsorships (London Cycling Campaign and All Dogs Matter) and philanthropic team-building events (charity walks).
Eco-friendly
Since businesses are going “green,” the demand for sustainable events is heating up. In fact, according to the Global Meetings & Events Forecast, 80% of business leaders invest in sustainability while organizing a meeting or an event.
The top three initiatives are:
- 22% cut paper usage
- 19% save energy and reduce waste
- 18% book “greener” event venues
Inclusive
Inclusion in event management is another CSR trend on the horizon for companies. The same forecast report shows that roughly nine in ten organizations strive to incorporate DE&I into their meetings and events.
Example:
InEvent helped YOURgb erase geographical and language barriers and make their global conferences more accessible and inclusive with sign language and transcription features.
6. Virtual Immersion (VR and the Metaverse)
Brooke Webber, Head of Marketing at Ninja Patches, says, “The future of corporate event management has arrived, and it’s mind-blowingly immersive. A standing ovation, of course, goes for virtual reality (VR) and the Metaverse. These two “siblings” are by far the most revolutionary emerging trends in corporate events. They are transitioning them to an entirely new dimension”.
Literally.
Just look at the popularity of virtual tours in real estate. For example, here’s a VR tour available for potential property buyers.
These advanced technologies have already reshaped business gatherings in other industries, too. For instance, take a glimpse of the SW Annual Healthcare Summit held in a virtual 3D environment.
Alternatively, think about virtual team building in metaverses—digital 3D spaces with avatars accessible via VR headsets. You can easily organize a VR“Mission to Mars” with your team. Or, rather than awkwardly standing at a cocktail table, you can enter an immersive conference room in the Metaverse, branded and avatar-styled as “metahumans” with your co-workers from all over the globe. Here’s another suggestion—how about throwing a party in the Metaverse?
Such corporate event ideas can be a glove-like fit for remote teams. Plus, they are environmentally friendly—zero waste, just total virtual immersion.
7. Higher Safety Measures During Events
Although mentioned last among corporate event trends, attendee security is not less significant.
Generally, corporate event safety embraces three aspects:
- Physical safety
- Psychological safety
- Online safety (cybersecurity)
Adam Young, CEO and Founder at Event Tickets Center, says, “Yet, with the rising number of cyber-attacks and data leakages, corporate event planners can’t rely on a single password. Today, multi-factor authentication and event data encryption are coming to the forefront for safer corporate events online.”
As for hybrid and in-person events, there appear innovative tools and wearable devices for attendee safety. Traditional badges may soon fade out and turn into vague memories from the past. Companies are switching to more secure technologies like NFC (near-field communication), facial recognition, or biometric scanning for event check-ins. For instance, with NFC bands, you can digitally control access to your events and easily track attendees as they come in and go out.
Head into the Future of Corporate Events with InEvent
Now that you know all the major trends in corporate events, it’s high time to catch those trendy waves with InEvent. Book a meeting today to discuss every single detail of your next corporate event.
Whether you’re planning a conference, team-building game, or a charitable event in the community, InEvent will help you create truly unforgettable experiences. Your attendees won’t stop buzzing about it long after—mark our word.