Don't miss Olivia Breene's IMEX America session, "You're losing your audience," Thursday, Oct. 19!
Disengagement at conferences is a significant problem, and the solution is providing attendees with more. But what does “more” mean?
Event production agency AVCOM went in search of this answer with its “The Future of Events Report 2023,” which features the voices of more than 200 people who attended three or more corporate events virtually, in person or both in 2022.
Olivia Breene, head of business development for AVCOM and VP of communications and marketing for the MPI United Kingdom & Ireland Chapter, spoke with us about some of the reports most interesting findings, covering everything from the level of disengagement at events to what’s causing dissatisfaction to the role of sustainability.
The free report can be downloaded here.
Can you tell us about a significant finding of the report that relates to what attendees currently expect from events?
The overwhelming message from the report is that technology is enabling connections at events and is keeping audiences engaged. We found that one-in-10 event attendees fall asleep when they disengage at a conference. Others carry out work, look at their phones, chat or even carry out household chores if they are attending virtually.
Event organisers need to do more to keep their audiences engaged, and we found that event attendees are excited about emerging technologies being used at corporate events. Audiences want to experience more at events and that can involve a multitude of things, with technology being a common theme. Some 81% of attendees say production values can enhance their event experience, 71% cite virtual reality, 67% are interested in augmented reality and 65% would be interested in holograms being an element at an event.
Based on your research, in what ways are attendees currently dissatisfied with events?
In total, 97% of attendees have become disengaged at an event, so keeping people immersed in the experience is the biggest challenge for organisers, which can only be overcome by a big focus on planning.
Audiences also find technical issues very frustrating, with bad audio being viewed as the most annoying by event attendees, followed by poor video quality for presentations and those joining virtually.
“We found that one-in-10 event attendees fall asleep when they disengage at a conference. Others carry out work, look at their phones, chat or even carry out household chores if they are attending virtually.”
Were there any specific findings related to virtual events?
What we found is that people are a lot choosier with how they spend their time now, and the greater focus on work/life balance is impacting event attendance, too. Our research found that 39% of event audiences now prefer to attend events virtually when they can, while 38% said they will only go to in-person events if they know they are going to be very good. Evidently, event planners and organisers need to focus on the overall experience, as event attendees’ expectations have grown and they want to be rewarded for dedicating their time to an event. The focus needs to strike an equal balance of return on investment for the end client, as well as the return on investment for the attendee’s time. What value will be delivered to an attendee for their time?
There tends to be an even split between in-person and virtual attendance, highlighting the importance for event organisers to appeal to their audience no matter where they are. They need to ensure that they capture the in-person experience through video content, highlights, key takeaways and other means, to allow the event to live on virtually long after it has concluded, while also expanding the audience reach through the virtual world.
Almost all (97%) attendees say they would like video on demand post-event. This makes sense; personally, I know from attending conferences with parallel sessions with attractive subject matter, that sometimes it is hard to choose what you want to attend. Being given the opportunity to engage with those sessions and learn post-event is always helpful. I am surprised that this is not something that the industry has universally adopted, as it is a natural—and easy—step to take for every event. The industry misses a beat with this and loses an opportunity to reach a larger audience post-event. In a digitally engaged world, we should leverage this powerful vehicle to share content and exchange knowledge and insights by making it more accessible and increasing the opportunity to create a community. When you think about it, this is something TV does well within the sporting industry: post-match analysis, match highlights, half-time sessions, opinions on play and so on. Why not corporate events, too?
Can you tell us about any other interesting findings from the research?
Sustainability is playing a growing role in event attendance, particularly for overseas events. Thirteen percent of attendees say their company is now banning travel for overseas events due to sustainability concerns, while 31% say they must get special permission. For local events, companies are encouraging attendees to be more responsible in how they get to in-person events—such as taking public transport or walking—while 38% encourage employees to attend virtually when they can.
We wanted to look at the rise in usage of networking apps and were surprised at how similar to dating apps they are. We saw a bit of corporate catfishing going on at events! Thirty-five percent of those who use networking apps say they have noticed someone lying about themselves or their job on a networking app. Attendees will also decline to meet someone via an app if they don’t like their profile photo or if they have an unprofessional personal bio.
