Dealing With Increased Choice at Events

When conferences and conventions provide more choice, attendees often feel overwhelmed and unsure of what to do.

How does one pick from three similar, conflicting breakouts when you know you probably won’t be able to get a seat at any of them if you don’t make your decision in advance?

New research from Cvent finds that conference-goers are amenable to personalized recommendations for which sessions to attend and who to network with. As attendees begin to skew younger, better technology can help improve the overall event experience. Check out the story below.

While you’re here, I also had an interesting chat with Chris Kelly, co-founder of Convene, about how lines are blurring between co-working and the corporate meetings space.

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, Senior Editor

The Future of Events and Meetings

Overwhelmed Conference Attendees Crave Personalized Recommendations: Conference attendees feel overwhelmed by making choices about which sessions to attend and who to network with. Digital tools featuring personalization can help smooth over these pain points.

Convene Co-Founder Sees Sweet Spot Between Co-Working and Events: Bringing hospitality into the office experience is an elegant way to provide a better experience for workers.

Marriott Cites Growing Pains Following Data Breach, Labor Strikes: Being bigger, Marriott is discovering, may not always be better in the short term. But if the company can weather a massive cyber attack and some debilitating labor strikes, the future shouldn’t be nearly as challenging, executives hope.

Around the Industry

The AOC Effect Comes to Travel, Whether You Like It or Not: U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her Green New Deal have stirred up debate about the path toward a sustainable travel future. She’s right on time — and hopefully not too late.

Hospitality Startup Selina Follows Hipsters to New York City’s Hotspots for U.S. Debut: “Everything is converging in hospitality,” according to one Skift 2019 Megatrend. Selina embodies this Megatrend perfectly in how it pushes the bounds of co-living and co-working. But the company needs to execute its plans on time or else business partners will lose faith.

Slowdown in Meetings Growth Could Be Here: PCMA Convene’s annual survey finds international meetings attendees are likely to avoid the U.S. going forward.

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

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