Event Trends in 2024

The new year brings with it new trends including the new colour of the year!

The corporate event trends planners should know in 2024 include a rise in conscious conferencing, attendee-first event design and innovation driven by event technology. Plus, there are new challenges around budgeting and alcohol free events are on the rise along with a focus on wellbeing. 

The rise in conscious conferences as attendees prioritise diversity, accessibility and sustainability

Corporate social responsibility has been firmly on our minds and agendas in recent years and for many attendees it is now a priority, with consumers gravitating towards brands that balance purpose and profit; the rise of B Corp is further highlighting this shift.

So what will purpose driven events look in 2024?

Don’t disregard hybrid events. 

Hybrid events provide a balance amidst demands for social responsibility and budgeting.

While in person has reigned in 2023 and we’ve all enjoyed being back in person, these events are less accessible and have a higher carbon impact than their digital counterparts. Some guests simply aren’t able to travel and demand for hybrid components won’t stop, so continue to consider this option. 

Collaboration is key. 

Event organisers need to collaborate with one another and be transparent on even the smallest of changes they are making to be sustainable. All of these small ideas add up and, as we can make educated changes to each component of an event, the industry will too change shape. Communicating with stakeholders is key to educate one another and emphasise the importance of social responsibility. 

What is green-hushing? 

The term green-hushing has emerged alongside green-washing, as companies fear the complexity of sustainability and the need for data. Businesses are making great progress but aren’t talking about it. 

Socially responsible businesses must be on the forefront to inspire others and lead the way. 

A data led approach is particularly important here. Measuring the carbon impact of events is key as it provides a measurable, results oriented way to articulate why change is needed year on year.

Wherever you or your business is in your sustainability journey; continue to educate yourself, evolve, evaluate. Getting involved in the conversation is integral to remain relevant to attendees as these small changes shouldn’t be ignored. 

Attendee and community-first event design 

Attendees are looking to gain real value from experiences and will attend events they can get the most out of and even achieve personal goals. The key to adding value is creating a personalised experience and building strong connectivity. A community that shares a purpose, wants to learn from one another can create a sense of belonging and connection. 

Within your event you should be proactive in guiding attendees to find networking spaces and opportunities. In 2024, there are so many ways to get creative with networking apps to connect before and after the event, tag interests and personalise your agenda. 

Personalised events

Within networking spaces you can bring likeminded people together to make guests feel welcome and make sure everyone has a voice. 

One way this can be done is through your event app is allowing attendees to shape conversations outside of the main agenda with other attendees. Attendees can post a topic in-app they are interested in and others can book onto a group discussion on this topic to share their knowledge.

This year industry exhibition, IMEX hosted a tour for first-time attendees before the event. It’s clear to see how putting attendee experience first can turn first-time attendees into event regulars or leads.

Create a long-term event marketing strategy

To create sustainable value for attendees all year round, it’s key to be present in your event community. Think about how you can engage with the community across channels pre-event and post-event rather than just at the event. Start forming your 365-day event marketing strategy by repurposing event content into blogs, webinars and social media updates and evolve from there. 

Event technology is driving innovative events

There is more technology than ever available to event planners to drive creativity and personalise the attendee experience.

There is also technology available for attendees such as wearable smart badges. This technology has been developed that link badges to an agenda, can exchange contact information with a tap and use colours to identify different groups.

Artificial intelligence

While not everyone has been keen to adopt AI, it is something you need to be paying attention to as events develop in the future. Beyond the obvious uses, here are some tangible ways event planners can use AI:

• Communications should be shaped around your attendees and who you want at your events. As well as attendee feedback, in-app communications and live reactions, AI can be used to dive deeper into your audience’s personality. 
• Reshape the way you are creating stage designs and event theming. AI has been a helpful creative tool as an alternative to staring at a blank page. With a prompt, AI image generators can provide creative ideas and renders to shape full concepts for pitches.
• The ability to summarise takeaways from an event agenda or predict what questions may be asked from a script are also useful considerations for event planners using AI.

Immersive technologies such as AR and VR will continue to enhance events and gamification.

New challenges around budgeting

Venue, supplier and production costs have inflated and ROI is more important than ever to prove to stakeholders and sponsors the value of events, especially the wow-factor experiences guests are expecting in 2024. If budgets are smaller and selective, data driven spending will be apparent. 

Getting attendees back in the room will shape strategies for lead generation in 2024. Giving attendees incentives and sparking interest pre-event will be beneficial rather than simply inviting them to attend.

Alcohol-free events are on the rise

Mocktail orders and non-alcoholic products are on the rise as alcohol consumption is decreasing. While it’s been the standard to deliver events with complimentary champagne and wine, only 22% of event planners are happy with non-alcoholic selection on offer. 

In 2024, the shift to mindful drinking could result in more events being sober inclusive. For an attendee-first approach, adding an extra drinks option or asking for drinks requests along with dietary requirements can make a world of difference.

Want to know more? Listen to our Podcast with ClubSoda.

The event industry is ever changing, with inspiration and impact from outside trends, so whether its tracking attendee’s interests, an event’s carbon footprint or ROI; data is key to stay ahead of the curve and plan innovative events. 

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