The business events industry is growing at local, continental and global level and so are the expectations of participants such as delegates, visitors and exhibitors at such events. Most participants have attended business events at various times and places around the globe where they have learnt new experiences and trends which have heightened their expectations from the organisers of similar events at home or on the continent.
Over time business events have evolved from business meetings or functions to experiences. This means that even organisers now need to move with the times and cease to view their events as mere types of business meetings but experiential brands which should be built and sustained by incorporating in them benefits, features and value which enable the attendees to their events to have unforgettably great experiences. This is possible if they take their time to find out from their customers, the attendees, exhibitors and others, what they want addressed or included as they prepare the events in order for them (customers) to have wowsome business events experiences.
It is normal for organisers to hand out event feedback forms to attendees to assess a just-ended event. While this is commendable, organisers need to go beyond this post-event ritual and use the information so gathered to improve their events that so that no attendee or exhibitor will complain that they have filled the form three times during the past three editions of the event but none of the issues they raised had been addressed.
There are many areas which business event attendees wish addressed or improved in line with prevailing global business event trends. Some of the issues which attendees wish addressed in line with current global business events trends include the following foremost ones but the list is not in any way either conclusive or in any order of importance :
- Great speakers and sessions
Conference or confex (events in which conferences are held concurrently with exhibitions) speakers and presenters, apart from the venue, are an indispensable part of business meeting events. Delegates usually make decisions on whether or not to attend conferences on the basis of the speakers who are billed to present at the event.
Today’s delegate expects powerful speakers who know their stuff. The conference of the by gone era was characterised by a one-way communication speaker who just delivered his presentation with little or no interaction except for the question time at the end of the session. The contemporary conference attendee is increasingly the young generation who are easily fed up with the traditional conference format and the traditional speaker. They prefer more interaction and engagement to classroom-like method of conducting business meetings.
This means that they prefer more of breakaway sessions and networking opportunities than the lecture-like sessions of yester year. They also enjoy ancillary activities such as a game of golf or a tour of the nearby animal sanctuary or nature reserve in addition to the session presentations to spice things up and add more value to business events as well as to improve their experiences.
- Technology-enabled experiences
In the past technology was necessary to drive only necessary processes such as lighting the event room, projecting presentation slides or, where necessary, to drive a public address system. Technology has taken centre stage in people’s lives through social media platforms and applications which enable them socialise with their families and friends. Today’s business event attendees expect no less. They do not expect to be cut off from daily life which is facilitated by technology such as the Whatsapp messaging platform, the images or video camera on their smart phone or tablet just because they are attending a convention.
In view of this, event organisers are expected that to ensure that the experience at an exhibition or conference does not stand in the way of the attendees’ social lives. If anything, a business event should enhance attendees’ daily experience through technology. This means that basics such as free Wi-Fi should no longer be treated as an expensive luxury for a business event attendee. An attendee or visitor should be able to take quick video of an important point given by a speaker and Whatsapp it immediately back to his or her workplace group for sharing instead of waiting for the two-day duration of the event.
Apart from enhancing social life, technology has gone some way in bringing about convenience even in business. Using technology people can now open bank accounts without walking through the door of a bank brick-and-mortar branch. And so too can they use their smart phone to transfer funds from their bank accounts to some third parties. They can pay their utility bills from their lounge couch seamlessly. Similarly, event attendees are now also expecting such technology-enabled convenience in business events process processes such as registration using applications (apps). Apps are increasingly important in business events as they are used in sharing information such as event programmes, speaker profiles and venue maps among others. In developed countries exhibition staff members do not have to ask visitors for their details for purposes of lead capturing. They just use scanning devices to capture their details electronically from the visitors’ badges. This is the kind of technology-enabled experiences which business events customers are expecting going forward.
An event may be so attractive that no one would want to miss it for anything but not every interested person attends due to various reasons. Those who fail to attend such key business events may wish to follow the proceedings using social media platforms such as twitter and organisers should arrange for live twitter updates using a hashtag that is announced and popularised beforehand.
While organisers would want every interested person to attend their events and make more money, they would not lose anything by arranging to live stream or webcast the event for the benefit of those who fail to attend despite the ardent despite to do so. Sometimes it is not only about revenue but building relations as well. Additionally, this would assist in marketing the event’s brand to the market.
- Experience-enhancing event venues
While in the past event organisers mostly worried about a venue in terms of its size and capacity to comfortably accommodate all their registered attendees, time have changed. Apart from using topics to be discussed or presented on and speaker profiles, would be business event attendees are also increasingly using the location of the venue and its features as one of key determining factors to decide whether or not to attend. This means that those venues which offer more than just accommodation, food and conference rooms are finding favour with attendees.
These are venues which are close to national and international tourist attractions such as the Victoria Falls, Vumba or Nyanga areas of Zimbabwe which enable attendees to combine business and leisure as opposed to the city venues which are largely undesirable due to their familiarity and staid environments.
Today’s business event attendee is increasingly looking for venues which enable him or her to enhance their desired lifestyles. Such delegates, visitors or exhibitors are happier with venues which enable them to maintain their lifestyles. A yoga practising or gym-going attendee would be happy with a venue with the necessary facilities to enable him to continue his morning or evening routine.
Business events are no longer just about meeting other people in the same industry. They are also about unwinding from the demanding but predictable daily work routine. Attendees and organisers are looking for venues which enable them to confer and discuss business issues in an environment that that allows them to take a break and enjoy some fun away from the workplace. They are looking for places which allow for some fun-enhancing activities such as team-building that enable an attendee to achieve corporate goals in a fun and relaxing way.
Business events attendees and stakeholders are also expecting venues which facilitate online attendance and participation by people who are away from the event venue. This means that going forward, business events are no longer going to be about those in the conference room only. It means that the conferences or business award nights of the future are going to leverage technology to include interested people who may not be able to make it to the venue and organisers and venue providers need to provide for this eventuality.
- Enhanced security
Security is increasingly taking centre stage in most societies from the point of view on national security and individual safety. This is especially important in countries or regions of known insurgency, terrorism or war. Even in peaceful countries and regions the personal safety of individual attendees and other business events stakeholders is very important. Attendees and organisers value venues whose owners have good records of handling situations of bomb scares, terrorist attacks and other security possibilities well to enhance their safety and security.
Instead of merely looking for venues with the right capacity, organisers now require to go the extra mile and check on the security measures in place and assure their attendees of the same.
- Food which supports desired lifestyles
Business events stakeholders expect food which enhances their lifestyles. The general trend is that most people are moving from unhealthy foods such as junk food towards diets which enhance healthy lifestyles. These are foods which are rich in fruits and vegetables. They are avoiding foods which increase chances of obesity and some lifestyle-related diseases such as diabetes.
In view of this background, business event organisers and participants are also increasingly expecting menus which address these concerns. Business event participants, like most human beings, are social animals. They expect their meals to also address their social side. Beyond the functional purpose of food, participants also now expect the food served to them to have an appearance which is so good as to be sharable on social media platforms such as Instagram.
Most human beings assess food through sight and aroma first before taste. It is, therefore, perfectly normal for business event attendees and other stakeholders to expect visual culinary perfection which is worth sharing with colleagues on the social media. Food for thought for event organisers and venue owners.
Going forward
One hopes that these top five expectations have opened a business event organiser, venue owner and other stakeholders’ eyes to the direction which the industry is taking. It is clear that most attendees and other participants are expecting business events to be more social, fulfilling, lifestyle-oriented and technology-driven. Given this conclusion, stakeholders such as venue owners, organisers and others need to work hard to meet and exceed these expectations in order to keep their brands relevant and provide sustainable value to their customers.