The Art of Event Planning - Chapter ELEVEN Part 1 Sneak Peak!
/Tis the Season for Giving! As a small gift, I’ll publish the final free chapter of my book this final month of 2020 in hopes it will keep those in the event and hospitality industry inspired. I hope Chapter ELEVEN, Part 1, “WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE FUTURE” from my book, The Art of Event Planning will resonate with everyone, as we look ahead towards 2021 with hope. For those who purchase my book as a gift this month, please contact me via my website (giannagaudini.com/contact) if you’d like me to mail you a signed sticker to include in your book.
Chapter Eleven - Part 1 - What to Expect In the Future
The Art of Event Planning, Pro Tips from an Industry Insider
When I think about the future, it might surprise you that my first thought doesn’t go to technology, but rather to sustainability, so that we will have a beautifully preserved planet for our children and their children. As event planners, we have a responsibility to focus not only on the community we are hosting inside the event venue, but to show respect for and give back to the community in which the event takes place. If you're hosting a large conference in a metropolitan area, aim to make the locale better than when you left it rather than disrupting the city with added traffic (and hence pollution), road closures, and waste. When planning an event, think about sustainability before you even determine a venue or event location. Consider how far attendees will have to travel by plane or ground vehicle to get to the destination. Ideally, plan an event that limits air travel, and if there is substantial travel involved, consider purchasing carbon offsets. When selecting a venue for an event, look for venues that are LEED certified (like the Moscone Center in San Francisco). When hosting an outdoor event, try using sustainable power sources like solar or sustainable biodiesel. When planning the fabrication and rentals for your event, consider the materials you’re using and how you’re shipping event properties to the venue. Can you used recycled or reclaimed materials rather than new ones? Can you eliminate any shrink wrap used for shipping by using shipping blankets? It goes without saying to make sure you limit the number of trash cans at your event and supply more recycling and compost bins. There are organizations (I use Green Mary in San Francisco) that you can hire locally who will help sort refuse and even help educate your attendees on how to properly dispose of their waste. Finally, consider who you hire to support your event. I always inquire about sustainability practices when evaluating an RFP for caterers and agencies and hesitate to hire those who do not have these standards in place.
A result of the “always on” society in which we live today is a renewed focus on the importance of mindfulness and wellness. Thinking like an attendee, wellness is especially challenging to maintain when traveling. Events can be overwhelming, especially when people are away from their jobs and families, trying to juggle it all while remaining present. I like to offer healthy food options like fresh, local produce and proteins, fruit-infused spa waters, and healthy snacks available in a “micro-kitchen” that rejuvenate people throughout the day. I’ve incorporated breathing techniques, yoga, and meditation into sessions to break up the heavy content, which is often a welcome and refreshing break. Meditation rooms and massage lounges are rising in popularity, as are group activities such as a morning yoga or hike, to help keep attendees feeling at their peak and fully engaged at the event while building community.
As the event planning industry continues to evolve with increasingly complex experiences, new solutions are forming that will help planners rise to the heightened expectations of attendees. Although we face an ever-present reality of higher workloads and tighter time constraints, around us, solutions percolate for every part of the planning cycle. We are in an era of innovation, but in order to be successful, we must follow consumer attention and use the tools that benefit both our teams and our attendees. This means understanding which trends will last and which will fade—yesterday, it was the six-second video app Vine and automated messaging; now it’s Instagram, virtual reality, and customized event apps.
We know that the origin of any great event begins with a motivated audience, so when we’re confident about lasting technology, we can reverse-engineer pain points and use it to shape our solutions. We also need to think about the bigger picture: Are we truly delivering diverse content? Does our venue have accessible entrances for everyone? Are we spreading more than just product awareness, but our company culture and beliefs too? The best way to maintain relevance is to read, listen, and constantly absorb. When the future beckons, it’s your job to take charge and move with it.
When we look to data, all conclusions point to a more prolific use of technology within the event industry. A study from Enterprise Event Marketing found that the use of technology can create a twenty percent increase in event attendance while reducing related costs by up to thirty percent. Conversely, one of the biggest reasons event professionals don’t use new technologies is due to costs—but this much is changing. As technology improves, event management and planning products will integrate and SaaS models (software as a service) will be offered at a limited cost or even free of charge. One integrated technology to look out for is event diagramming software. Diagramming has been around for a while, but now planners are able to complete their venue diagrams by dragging-and-dropping virtual props, constructing 3D walkthroughs, and designing different levels of comfort seating, all on the same platform. Within the next two years, planners will be able to construct virtual attendee experience simulations, too. A number of companies have platforms that offer much of the aforementioned, but I take note of the ones that offer their services for free.
The web based app, Social Tables (part of Cvent), is one example; the event diagramming company allows users to accurately create to-scale diagrams in minutes, and centralize communication between team members. Diagrams can easily be shared with venues, clients, and collaborators. Planners can also manage guests, from VIPs to special meal requests, and visually seat them in the diagrams they create. There’s no harm in trying a free version of the SaaS, so go for it! With so many tools cropping up these days, I recommend using a structured product evaluation process to determine whether a solution is a good investment for your team’s unique needs before purchasing it. Stay focused on your core use cases for what it must do and don’t get mislead by shiny features that may even distract your attendees from why you wanted the app in the first place.
We can all agree that apps have become an integral part of how we function in daily life, so it comes as no surprise that this is also true for our industry. We will likely see a rise in event apps, since they provide limitless opportunities to interact with consumers while providing helpful information to attendees. Apps can be customized to appear as if they were created specifically for certain occasions, while offering functionality that enhances and personalizes the attendee experience. I encourage planners to study the proliferation of artificial intelligence, since AI will be used to alleviate industry pain points within these applications. AI-powered concierge apps are prolific in the hospitality industry already and come in the form of digital assistance, voice-activated hotel check-in agents, and travel experience enhancers. Since human interaction is so vital in our industry, it’s likely that we’ll see a higher frequency of concierge apps that also incorporate person-to-person interaction. Attendees will use their digital concierge to ask questions, and the AI will handle their requests or flag a skilled worker nearby at the event. Should a guest want a cappuccino, they need not wait long—their AI-powered devices will make the necessary request, and soon the beverage will appear. A recent study by American Express reported that 9% of Americans would spend more with brands that provide superior customer services, which bodes well for the digital concierge industry, so expect to see more of these types of solutions. The event planning industry will not become entirely reliant on AI-powered apps anytime soon, though, so we will still need day-of-event staff for set-up, catering, and of course, general friendliness and face-to-face interaction. However, AI management services will begin handling the bulk of incoming requests from guests, so that employees can better focus on the tasks that require human sentience.
Not only will guests begin to create their own in-seat on-demand snacks and beverage schedules, similar to the Virgin airlines model, but they will also help shape the content they consume, too. Attendees have been suggesting speakers and topic ideas for a while now, but their influence will continue to grow. Most event registration platforms or websites are currently set up so that attendees can pre-select the talks they want to attend, and if sessions don’t attract enough people, they’re dropped from the agenda or can be moved to a smaller room within the conference.
Stay tuned next week for Chapter 11 PART TWO….
