The event industry undoubtedly has emerged as one of the most successful industries in the past year i.e. 2017. It has duly accepted the latest and ongoing trends and technological updates in business events, conferences, professional meetings and so on.

Tools and techniques are the two vital factors for any industry to thrive. Complete usage of these has been observed in the successful events in the year of 2017.

Learning from the past, and accommodating many more changes and trends, the world of events will look a bit different in the coming future. The year 2018 will be full of new discoveries, technologies, venues and food varieties. With a large data collection from recent events, one can have a fair idea of how they will shape things for the future.

So, without wasting any more time, let’s have a look at what event industry might look like in the coming year of 2018.

Here is a list of few highlights of the trends that are likely to be inculcated in events sector.

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) –

Artificial Intelligence has already set its roots in the industry by the introduction of chatbots. We might see more advanced AI tools and techs this year that can be useful for the event organizer.

AI is the tech trend that in the coming few years will grow a lot and never be outdated. Instead, it will keep on improving and bringing out new products beneficial for both attendees and eventprofs. Developers are working on establishing and launching new plugins for the event apps and websites.

2. Improvised Attendee Experience –

With the upsurge in networking amongst the attendees and the usage of apps to build connections, it is necessary to improve attendee experience at the events. Attendees are the reason an event is a hit or a flop, or what and how one can improve their experiences.

An event organizer must know what demands of the attendees must be met at that particular event. It is not always that food and décor satisfies a customer.

Sometimes, what matters is a unique event experience.

3. More advanced AR and VR –

It is a slow rise in the event industry. Augmented and virtual reality has been the talk of the event tech town for a while. But, many of the people haven’t yet tried it.

With the help of these advanced technologies, the event organizers can give their attendees a spectacular view of the event sessions, creating an interactive virtual environment for them and utilize and leverage these techs to their core.

You can also pave through various ways on how to integrate AR and VR in today’s events.

4. Unique venues –

People nowadays are going crazy to have a destination wedding. Similarly, some unique venues play an important role in events as well.

It is essential to dig out new places which will support your reason for the event and gain a huge audience attraction as well.

Virtual venues are a new concept that can be introduced by the event organizers if following tech trends AR and VR.

Spend on technology and less on the venues with the introduction of virtual venues.

5. Purpose of the event will be a crucial–

A social campaign only gets a support when it is a valid and a potent/strong cause. Any professional event also has the same clause. For any attendee to visit the conference/meeting/event, the organizers must have a convincing strategy for it.

The “WHY this event” question shouldn’t be taken lightly but answered in the most compelling way for the target audience.

6. Updated Security measures –

Security is a major concern since there has been so many threats and bombings in major events. With the advent technologies being provided to the event organizers, they can perform various measures to ensure the security of the venue.

· Choose a venue that is not so hyped or under threat all the time

· Hire a security team

· Use CCTV’s to keep an eye on things. You can also go for drones, the new surveillance tech in the field.

· Sweep the area in and out with metal detectors to ensure safety for the attendees

· Design a crowd control and emergency exit strategies

· For taking digital security measures, consult a cyber-security firm to keep all the data highly encrypted.

7. Facial recognition –

With the Apple’s latest implemented phone unlock feature — face recognition, it is the future login criterion in the events as well. Use of such new technology makes the attendees enthusiastic about using them and then complimenting it on social media.

Use this to your advantage and create a hashtag that can be promoted by the attendees, ask for feedback; encourage them to share their experience stories. Not only does it promote your event but also gives credibility for being a tech-savvy event.

8. Live streaming/crowd streaming –

With the ongoing trend of Facebook live and Instagram live, the crowd attention to these live streaming has shown a swift increase. Just imagine the possibility of the attending crowd streaming live the event, how much attention the event will get?

The event reach will be the maximum on the day of the event if even half of the audience is engaged in live streaming.

9. Big data and crowd shaping –

In a 2015 survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), 1,800 senior executives from mid- to large-sized companies were surveyed, and results revealed that only a small percentage of companies reported effective data management practices. Of the executives surveyed, 43% said they had received few tangible benefits from big data, while 23% reported zero benefits from data analytics.

According to these stats, event companies are not acquainted with the correct usage of big data or data analytics. There are various ways in which Big Data is helping out event organizers.

Crowd shaping, another useful feature especially for event trends in 2018. Crowd management during an event has always been a cause of concern but with the technology surfacing in all the aspects, the crowd can also be managed technically.

Crowd shaping generally relates to the data collected and generated by the real-time experience in an event. It is a technology that detects the attendees’ movements and actions and figures out their possible interests.

Event planners can use this kind of technology to give their attendees an experience of a lifetime.

With the efficient use of these pointers, an event organizer and a planner can make their events of 2018 a major success.

Every year brings a bag full of joy and surprises, with a flicker of hard work and dedication in their work!

Let’s see how further can these technological trends develop and impact the event industry in 2018.

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