Articles tagged “meetingsiq”

A combination of small-city hospitality, modern facilities, a collaborative approach, and an effort to show off individuality is winning over event organizers who tend to select big cities for their conferences.

The Starwood hack wasn't the first data breach at a major hotel chain, and it won't be the last. As the meetings and events sector becomes increasingly digitized, so too does the risk increase when it comes to cybersecurity.

Fast mobile data connections will allow event technology providers to do all kinds of cool new things. Event planners should pay attention as 5G begins to emerge in cities around the world and shifts how attendees act at events.

Arriving soon: 5G mobile internet. But it will likely be years before it is deployed around the world in any significant ways. Travel companies, along with event professionals, should start planning now for a future defined by ubiquitous access to high-speed data.

Attendees are tired of conferences in the same old locations, and it just so happens that secondary cities are more affordable for planners. Expect to see increased diversity in event location in the years ahead.

Traditional conference cities are still the default choice for events organizers, but rising costs and strained capacity are making secondary cities more appealing. And some are working hard to show their unique benefits.

Eventbrite's rise should be a lesson for the overall event tech ecosystem: Make something that is easy to use and powerful enough to scale, and customers will come.

Eventbrite is still losing money as it grows, but now has strong revenue growth and plenty of cash to spend while getting back on track. The state of the booming global events business is a big help.

Planners expect 2019 to be another tough year, with more commission cuts and increased expenses on the horizon. Succeeding will require doing more with less and getting creative about crafting killer events with a smaller bankroll.

Planners have to get creative as both expectations and costs are set to increase in 2019. Technology can only do so much and event design will shift to reflect the financial priorities of organizations holding events.