Companies Continue to Invest in Events

The meetings and events sector has experienced major growth in recent years, with companies devoting a larger portion of their marketing budgets to running and sponsoring branded events.

This week we have even more evidence that companies and organizations believe events are extremely valuable. Research from event marketing software provider Splash shows that executives know events work, even if they don’t know exactly how well.

Single-day conferences and seminars are most popular, while pop-ups and festivals remain niche choices for most corporations. Meanwhile, most organizations need to do more to track attendees and figure out how to convert potential leads after the event ends. Check out my story on the research below.

We also have the latest on how a pledge from the U.S. hospitality industry will lead to improved safety at hotels, and how luxury properties are turning to mixology experiences to entice customers.

If you have any feedback about the newsletter or news tips, feel free to reach out to me via email at [email protected] or tweet me @sheivach.

— Andrew Sheivachman, Business Travel Editor

The Future of Events and Meetings

Events Remain High Priority for Companies Even as Costs Rise: Executives know that events work for promoting their brands and driving business. A big opportunity exists, though, for organizations to get smarter about how they spend on events and making the most of the data they produce.

U.S. Hotel Industry Commits to Giving Panic Buttons to Workers: Implementation of panic buttons, or employee safety devices, for hotel employees is a good start, but it should just be the beginning of the much broader measures the entire global hospitality industry should take to ensure the safety of every single person who walks through its doors.

Innovative Hoteliers Tap Craft Cocktail Culture for Luxury Guests: Craft cocktail culture is based on the same principles driving change in the luxury hospitality world today: consumers’ desires for best-quality ingredients, a curated sense of place, and staff conscious of (and connected to) the local scene.

Around the Industry

25 Things That Inspire Me About the Travel Industry: I wrote out all the things that inspire me and the team at Skift about the daily and larger promise of travel and the global industry that drives it.

New Hilton-Foursquare Mobile Concierge Is a Promising But Missed Opportunity: The idea’s there, but why not take it a step further and personalize it that much more?

Human Behavior and Event Design: Event planners need to start designing an experience far before attendees actually show up, according to a behavioral scientist.

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Skift Business Travel Editor Andrew Sheivachman [[email protected]] curates the Skift Meetings Innovation Report. Skift emails the newsletter every Wednesday.

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