If you want your event to create a sense of awe and wonder, you need to engage the senses of your audience. These event Industry trends below will do just that! For one, you can use projection mapping to deliver new interactive experiences to attendees without needing extra gadgets or apps. Offering unique Food and drink choices is also a great way to delight often hungry audiences.

We tackle these as well as more dire issues like harassment during events, the effect of millennial audiences at events and much more in this week’s roundup.

PS: Looking to wow your audiences? Check out our free webinar guide for fulfilling the five senses.

Event Pro Highlight: Will Curran

Really successful event professionals are a rare breed. Given the constant shifts in the industry, being one takes both extraordinary mettle and truckloads of creativity to engineer unique, elegant, and effective solutions. In this interview, our own Chief Event Einstein Will Curran shares how our company became one of the most dynamic when it comes to event AV. His early entrepreneurial start, his immersion with global DJs, his curiosity about the finer aspects of production, all these elements combined helped him grow Endless Events.

Center Stage at InfoComm

InfoComm is a conference you do not want to miss. It’s a hub for thought leaders from fields ranging from healthcare, education, entertainment, and events. Center Stage at InfoComm will give the platform to the AV industry’s innovators and thought leaders to discuss the power the AV industry holds and what is in store for the future. Our very own President, Will Curran, will be taking the stage Friday, June 8th at 2:30 pm, discussing his secrets to magnetizing video content, don’t miss it!

Conferences and the Millennial “Threat”

As millennials take over the world, event pros are asking a difficult question: “Will conferences continue to thrive when millennials consider connecting online just as effective?” While the exact answer is still up in the air, most people have discovered that enabling convergence will also enable the survival of conferences. And by “convergence”, we mean the total merger of various interests and concepts. No longer will conferences be a gathering of like-minded people in pursuit of a common goal. Now, such gatherings will challenge attendees to seek solutions for their own fields from unlikely sources and unusual viewpoints.

Should You Take That Call in a Meeting?

Nowadays, most meetings are punctuated with people looking at their devices, taking calls, and sending messages. But when is it okay to do so? Etiquette demands that devices be turned off (or at least silenced) during professional or formal functions. But when something important does come your way, you need to be polite about it. Make sure no one gets distracted, even by the buzzing sound as it vibrates against the meeting table. Here are more rules for tech etiquette we all need to abide by during meetings and events.

It’s high time harassment in events get addressed through proactive approaches such as enforcing codes of conduct and empowering women to take the main stage.
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#MeToo and Meetings: Eliminating Harassment in Events

Meetings can be a hot bed of problems, and sexual harassment in the middle of your event is the last thing you want to happen. And yet, it appears that the industry has not been doing a good enough job at preventing such abuse. It’s high time harassment in events get addressed through proactive approaches such as enforcing codes of conduct and empowering women to take the main stage. Displacing the monopoly men seem to have on areas of authority in the event industry is also something that will go a long way to effect large-scale change.

Food and Beverage Trends for 2018

Food and beverage is an integral part of the events industry, though this too is not safe from the heaving currents of change. We’ve already seen breakthroughs on culture-specific food items in events, and this trend is bound to continue. Authenticity and interactivity are also fast becoming the norm, turning food into a medium for stories. Alternatives for various diets are taking centerstage as well, and transparently-sourced food items are an up-and-coming trend. Also, while food and beverage take up a significant chunk of the event budget, wowing audiences without extravagant spending is also something we are bound to see.

The Event of the Future Is a Projected One

Industry leaders are turning projection mapping into the next big thing. Take for example the Grand Fiesta Americana Coral Beach Cancun. Aside from the gastronomic delights served, guests are treated to a feast for the eyes through a “video table” that weaves a story along with the food. Then there’s also the Fast & Furious Live event, which matches jaw-dropping stunt driving with the of precision projection that puts the audience in the center of the experience. These are just two of several ways projection mapping has contributed to the creation of futuristic events that score magnificently on the interactivity scale.

Tame Seeks to Tame Event Planning for Teams

A Denmark-based startup called Tame is looking to make team-based event planning a breeze. Their product, an event management platform that allows teams to interface seamlessly with sponsors, supplies, and exhibitors while also allowing program building and file sharing, is considered the Swiss Army Knife for events. There is even ticketing feature and an API that allows it to integrate with other event technologies. We’ve often said that integration is an important aspect of event technology, and Tame takes that concept to the next level.

If you could only invest in one type of marketing strategy, what would it be?
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Are Social Media and SEO Intertwined?

We know that both SEO and Social Media are important in the creation of successful marketing campaigns. The top two search engines, Google and Bing, have both been using social media signals in ranking results since 2010. But how about now, are they still interweaving social and search? According to HootSuite’s experiments, there is a “strong correlation” between search engine ranking and social media activity. Specifically, a post with a lot of engagement is bound to rank higher. This again points to the fact that quality trumps quantity when it comes to posts. Surprisingly, HootSuite also found that paid promotion has almost double the ranking benefits that organic promotion does.

Happy Customers: The Ultimate Trump Card

If you could only invest in one type of marketing strategy, what would it be? The simple answer is “happy customers”. This trumps anything a well-run campaign could do. This is why customer reviews are such a crucial factor in the success of a business. The customer experience should be the core of your marketing techniques, with funnels and other techniques taking the back seat.

Workspace Hacking and Why You Should Be Doing It

Have you ever thought of improving the space where you work? Making your space greener, for example, will make you at least 15% more productive according to research. Getting a view of the outside helps your serotonin get going. Reducing mess such as tangled cords will also help. Get your hands on some healthy food and feed your mind (and purpose) through mementos. These are perfect to help you power through the day.

Event professionals often have two customers that they need to keep happy. There are the clients and sponsors who give funding and the vision for the event. And there are the attendees who you need to please and provide a meaningful experience. How do you balance keeping each kind of customer happy?