What’s Trending in Events 2022

Picture the scene. Chairs at every angle, plates full of uneaten sandwiches, non-recyclable coffee cups a-go-go, and tote bags disgorging their shiny, slippery contents onto the floor. Add to that the mish-mash of lanyards, delegate badges and broken pop-up stands, and the ‘landscape’ quickly becomes clear. The tapestry, when viewed from afar, resembles nothing short of a battlefield.

This, for all the ‘chat’ about doing things differently, is the everyday reality of a meetings planner, whether they’re putting on a conference in the biggest convention hall, to the tiniest boutique meeting, the experience is altogether too familiar – of tired and tiresome speakers, uninspiring content, and registration badges with your name or company (or both!) misspelled. The format, also, is staid: death by PowerPoint, followed by what can only be described as a ‘sea of beige’ for your lunch. Networking, for most, is stultifying awkward, made all the worse by an aircon system hand-cranked by a guy periodically opening a door.

If you make it past the breakout sessions (and let’s be honest, this is usually your first available window to ‘escape’), then you can be rest assured that a post-prandial nap at the back of the plenary will enable you to catch up on a few Zzzzz’s. At the end of the day, and by this point you really do deserve an attendance medal, a ‘wrap-up’ session will rehash the precious few ‘best bits’ of the day, before a melee ensues as you step over the dead bodies to grab your coat in a stampede to the door.

It doesn’t have to be this way, of course. And for anyone who has shelled out anything from £100 to £1,500 for a business event ticket, it really shouldn’t. The What’s Trending series is all your birthdays rolled into one – from advances in event technology, to designing successful meeting formats for your guests, to delivering that perfect ‘customer experience’ and making a sustainable impact – there is no better place to be.

Your EVENTIT Journey 

Attending the What’s Trending in Events Series of half-day events will be no ordinary conference experience, we can promise you that. Event planners to our core, we solemnly pledge that you will remember these events above all those you’ve attended this year. Ok, it’s not going to be a religious or cult-ish experience, but our line-up is akin to having a small battalion of Yodas dispensing little pearls of wisdom that will make your future events sing.

Prepare for a truly immersive, genuinely content-rich environment which will increase your events toolbox by the ‘Power of 8’ and more. A random number, maybe, but it will become clear on the day. In the meantime, take a deep breath, relax (wellbeing is a theme so there will be *a lot* of relaxing), suspend your disbelief, and dive in…the water’s lovely.

The Themes

It can be pretty hard to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to the business of events, so we’ve done the job for you. How? By literally talking to everyone we know who does events (which is a lot), and researching every event trend from here to Timbuktu. All you have to do is turn up, in person and check out all we have to offer. Amazingly comprehensive, amazingly erudite, and amazingly curated, the Power of 8 will fill your mind, your contacts book and inspire you to produce the best business events money can’t buy.

Here are some of the themes we will be focusing on throughout the series:

1. AI
   Artificial Intelligence may be a term that fills you with dread (do I really have to learn about this stuff?), but we can assure you that the future is just around the corner. Before long, robots will be doing your job, so find out how to retire early with some help from your trusty algorithmic assistant.

2. Brand
   Sexing up an international association conference on metallurgy is always going to be a challenge. But sometimes when you move away from the subject matter and appreciate a science’s contribution to society, you hit that all-important Eureka moment, and start to build an event’s ‘story’. Et voila, you have a brand! 

3. Catering
   People are obsessed with food, perhaps now more than ever. In an event sense, food offers so many opportunities to engage your delegates, whether it’s through, ‘theatre’, ‘food art’, or sustainable sourcing. Thinking about what you serve your audience should be a deeper conversation than whether you opt for brown or white bread.  

4. Facial recognition
   Event registration is complicated, often messy and varies massively between events. No one seems to have cracked it, but with the advent of facial recognition, is this the unique identifier we will all adopt as the best practice model of the future? 

5. Format
   Plenary, followed by breakout, and a spot of lunch in a bland exhibition area where people are patently struggling to exhibit signs of life, let alone flog any products or services. Sprinkle with some windows for networking where delegates awkwardly sidle up to each other to mutter some unintelligible remarks about how much they are ‘enjoying’ their day and you’ve successfully described 99.9% of business events. It. Doesn’t. Have. To. Be. This. Way. If you want to truly inspire and engage your delegates, break the mould, be brave, and organise your meetings differently. We have a few ideas about that. 

6. Healthy options
   Ok, back to the ‘sea of beige’. It’s not that lunches are all bland, sweaty masses of freeze dried, then reheated or dipped in oil, but it is an issue. We have a national problem, in particular. Obesity rates are around a fifth higher in Scotland among adults than they were at the turn of the century. So, as events organisers, we have a responsibility to take dietary options seriously. Think about nutrition as well as provenance; cutting sugar, salt and our hugely calorific consumption habits should be incumbent on us all. 

7. Mindfulness
   It may strike you as a bit offbeat and hippyish, but a full-day’s conference requires a lot of concentration, and for many delegates attending an event can in itself be a bit stressful. Creating a positive environment brings an air of calmness to proceedings which may also yield better results: why not increase engagement by ‘taking five’, or providing a Wi-Fi free area for device disengagement (resulting in a more focused delegate); there are many different ways to inject a bit of serenity into your event. So, call for Yogi, and don’t make a Boo Boo. 

8. Platforms
   Everyone is talking about platforms in events. It’s perhaps the one area where Scotland is playing catch up to the rest of the UK. We have precious few homegrown event technologists who are looking to streamline the event management process from beginning to end, from registration to ticketing, marketing and production. But they are out there – and we’ve found a few for you to talk to. Don’t be shy. 

9. Social media
   A good social media strategy recognises not only the value of projecting an event to a potentially global audience, but also links to other core marketing functions such as raising awareness of your brand, building a two-way conversation, extending and celebrating your values in a way that is genuinely appealing and engaging. Too much of social media is poorly-thought through, clumsily delivered and inauthentic.
10. Sustainability
    Did you know that after a trade show, the carpets that are used for a single day are simply ripped up and carted off to landfill? Or that the average delegate produces 28kg of waste at a three-day conference, compared to just 6kg if they stayed at home? And that doesn’t even begin to factor in the carbon footprint as their Boeing 737 spews climate-changing contrails into the atmosphere. To its shame, the events industry is second only to construction in terms of the most wasteful sectors. We need to up our game, so we’ll share a few handy tips that can, we hope, be easily implemented.

11. Teambuilding 
The teambuilding market is, to use a well-worn phrase, ‘going gangbusters’. Gone are the days (thankfully) where the boss enthuses the team around a game of office skittles. Instead, thanks to a much-needed change of culture and, frankly, better taste, we are now able to delve into ‘experiential’ pursuits, whether that’s a tech-driven treasure hunt around the city, or a proper no-holds-barred test of your survival skills when dropped by a helicopter into the perishing waters of the Outer Hebrides. If you want to really build a team with the ability to cohere around a project, test them in the ultimate setting.

12. The ‘why’
It’s an old adage but when designing a successful event, less really is more. Try to resist the temptation to throw in endless amounts of needless ‘add-ons’; yes, it’s nice to have a drinks reception where the cocktail waiters are dressed as Bugsy Malone or Fats Domino, but what has that got to do with a new pair of goggles you are launching for the swimwear market? Keep your message simple and clear, and at the heart of what you are trying to communicate. You don’t want the fluff to overtake the real substance.

13. Ticketing 
In a post-GDPR world, the data you capture from your registrants should be closely guarded and used only for legitimate purposes. Of course, you all know that. But in a world where security and privacy are quickly becoming the watchwords, why not get ahead of the pack by offering your delegates a ticketing experience where security is ‘baked in’? Events organisers, meet Blockchain.

14. Video
The written word is an evocative tool but many simply tune out. A PowerPoint full of graphs about homelessness is not going to tell the story as well as someone in front of a camera telling the story of how their life spiralled out of control. Video offers depth, narrative and insight into your subject, whether deployed pre-event, during or afterwards, or ideally all three, if your budget can stretch to it. It requires creative input from your side, but if harnessed well, with good production values, video is a brilliant medium to exploit for events.

15. Virtual/Augmented Reality
If you’ve not tried it, get yourself a Google Cardboard for £11.55 and give it a go. It is genuinely flabbergasting how VR/AR can throw you into a completely different world. Personally, I’ve wandered around a Roman military encampment and sat in a boat next to a breaching whale. There are limitless possibilities when it comes to this rich, immersive technology as a means of enhancing your event. And I highlighted the price point for a reason – it can be very cheap!

16. ‘Wow’
Last but not least, always try and leave your guests with a memory that is likely to be a dinner party conversation piece for years to come. Making a lasting impression is a strange mix of events alchemy, serendipity, and good luck. But it can be done, and it needn’t be expensive. Superlative attention to detail when it comes to customer service is just as likely to impress as a squadron of Porsches to ferry your guests around the Highlands. We know of an event guest who told her hosts of her love of nigh time beach-strolling, only to find a pair of wellies and a torch in her room when she retired for the evening. That’s how to capture hearts.

Join us for an experience to remember.  After 8 quickfire ‘speed dating’ sessions you will be armed with a tool kit to make you future events stand out from the crowd