What will events look like in 20 years? Here are our 30 predictions.

1. Time Capsule:
Events in the Next 20 Years
#FFEA 2014
@danberger

2. August 2014 @danberger #FFEA
● Get out of jail card
You are free to leave any time.
● Join the conversation
Tweet at me @danberger and the hashtag #FFEA.
● Steal everything!
Take as many photos/notes as possible.
Audience-Presenter Agreement
Interactive Exercise
Which of these is most important to you and why?

3. I am an event
goer.
I am an event
planner.
I am an event
believer.

6. August 2014 @danberger #FFEA
1. Identify trends that will profoundly impact
our industry.
2. Hear my predictions for what events will
look like in 20 years.
3. Be able to execute your own futurist
exercise.
Learning Objectives

7. August 2014 @danberger #FFEA
Current Trends: Industry + Technology

8. Businesses spend 1% of their revenue on
events and meetings.
Meetings and events account for $565 B
global spend.
Hotel revenue from meetings and events is
$103 B.
“A Survey of Meeting and Event Planning Professionals and Hotel Operators,“ Frost and Sullivan, March 2013

9. Source: “Internet Trends 2014” by KPCB

10. Source: “Internet Trends 2014” by KPCB

11. Source: “Internet Trends 2013” by KPCB

12. August 2014 @danberger #FFEA
Futurist (n)
a person who studies the future and makes
predictions about it based on current trends.

13. August 2014 @danberger #FFEA

14. “Corporate America will be excited about meetings.”
“Attendance via virtual holograms.”
“Speakers will be certified in adult education.”
“Real-time seat availability.”
“Robots. Lots of robots.”
“Events will never end.”
“There will be more events.”
“Without A/V because we will use our smartphones.”
“100% customizable online on a venue’s site.”
“Attendees will have contextual information about other attendees.”
“No check-in.”

15. August 2014 @danberger #FFEA
29 Predictions for the Next 20 Years

16. August 2014 @danberger #FFEA
Categories for Predictions
● The Discipline of Event Planning
● Marketing
● Technology
● Logistics
● Business Model
● Content
● Attendees

17. August 2014 @danberger #FFEA
The Discipline of Event Planning

18. Special Events Magazine
"Lifting the Curtain on Live Events," Think with Google, 2014
Brookings Institute
There will be more events.
25% of Corporate Planners expect events in 2015.
Live Nation Concert Revenue was up 29% in Q1 of 2014.
Google search for sport tickets up 32% from 2 years ago.
Oh, and the middle class will grow from 2B to 5B by 2030.

19. The number of event planners will
continue to rise significantly.

20. Event planners will be more
strategic than ever.

21. Manage
Source
Communicate
Plan
Objectives
Data
Organization’s Mission
Technology
Technology
Project MgtScheduling
Transportation HousingSite Selection
Surveys
Badges,
Check-in, etc
Email
Marketing
Speaker Mgt Design
Reg Social Media
Reports
Measure
Database
Logistics
The
Meeting
Planning
Process
Pyramid
Learning
Zone
(c) Social Tables, 2014

22. Event planning will be a more
respected and common field.

23. “Meeting design” and “meeting
consolidation” will be
commonplace terms.

24. Learning
Zone

25. August 2014 @danberger #FFEA
Event Marketing

26. Events will be a part of a full-
365 marketing plan.

27. Sponsorships will be integrated
into the experience.

28. Learning
Zone

29. “Internet Trends 2014” by KPCB
True ROI will be achievable.

30. August 2014 @danberger #FFEA
Event Technology

31. Meeting planning as we
know it will be automated.

32. Learning
Zone

33. Virtual audiences will be
a basic component of events.
1990s 2010s

34. Event planning software will
be free and integrated.

35. August 2014 @danberger #FFEA
Fits your workflow
Cloud-based (SaaS)
Open
Device-agnostic
Technology Scorecard
Learning
Zone

36. Custom event apps will
no longer exists.

37. Group business will be booked
mostly online.

38. August 2014 @danberger #FFEA
Event Logistics

39. Event space will be more
commoditized than ever.

40. Learning
Zone

41. Everything you will need will
be available on-demand.

42. Event security will face some
of its biggest challenges.

43. August 2014 @danberger #FFEA
Event Business Model

44. There will be a subscription
model for events.

45. Learning
Zone
(c) Zoura

46. There will be no cash at
events.

47. Events will be crowdfunded.

48. Free and illegal events will put
our profession at risk.

49. August 2014 @danberger #FFEA
Event Content

50. Education will be the key
component at meetings.

51. Content will be crowdsourced.

52. Events will be an artist’s
dominant source of income.

53. August 2014 @danberger #FFEA
Event Attendees

54. Events will be smaller and
more intimate.

55. Learning
Zone

56. Discovery will be seamless
and perfect.

57. People will pay more money
to experience not attend.

58. Announcing
How can sponsors help announce the
event? Can sponsors be involved in
promotion, marketing, distribution? The
event branding?
Attracting
Can sponsors be involved in campaigns or
offerings to attract attendees? Giveaways,
raffles, incentives? Content building up to
the event?
Anticipating
Are you using sponsor offers to build
anticipation? Can you include them in social
media campaigns? How can you get your
audience interacting before the event?
Entering
What will each attendees first interaction
with your sponsors be? Is it engaging? What
would make your attendees aware of the
sponsors immediately?
Experiencing
Are sponsors part of the experience? How
can they be involved during the event?
Consider the entertainment, technology,
food, program, etc.
Engaging
How did your sponsors interact with
attendees? What can you as an organizer
do to inspire these interactions? Was
everyone engaged?
Exiting
How could sponsors enhance the exiting of
your event? What utility is needed or could
be provided? Consider transportation,
directions, gifts, etc.
Extending
How was the life of the event prolonged
after it officially ended? Consider post-event
communication, follow-up, sharing content,
etc.
Learning
Zone

59. Audiences will be a thing of
the past.

60. Source: eMarketer, April 2014
Face-to-face interactions will
be even more coveted.

61. Events will be more important
than ever.

62. August 2014 @danberger #FFEA
Interactive Exercise:
Question: Which do you believe the most/least?
Time: 3 minutes
Group: Pairs

63. YOUR
FACE
HERE

64. August 2014 @danberger #FFEA

65. Happy 20th Anniversary, FFEA!

66. August 2014 @danberger #FFEA
● Slides available
http://www.slideshare.net/socialtables
or give me a biz card.
● Contact info
dan@socialtables.com
@danberger
(917) 359-7757
Questions + Connections