Among standout topics that came up in hours of conversations with our B-to-B Dream Team honorees this year was the evolving workforce, AI adoption and sustainability that’s actually actionable. Indeed, what we’ve learned over the years is that cultural waves of change and market forces are often felt first by b-to-b event and trade show marketers. (Fun fact: In 2016, our honorees talked about the increased demand for live streaming.) And in that way, they’ve got to have a finger on the pulse and be constantly adapting to stay fresh, relevant and efficient.
We asked our 2024 honorees for their takes on the future of events and trends to watch. Here, we bring you bonus content from all our interviews—eight insights and ideas for staying ahead of the curve.
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Take the time to learn about AI.
“The world and everything that we do is going to look completely different five years from now, all thanks to artificial intelligence. I, for one, welcome our robot overlords. The more you can embrace it, the more you can be part of this transformation and not under the transformation.”
–Jeff Tsai, Senior Director-Field Experiential & Executive Briefing Program, Dell Technologies
Program more hands-on learning experiences.
“We’re in an entirely new forefront with data and AI, and I think a lot of our customers and partners are trying to determine: ‘How does this apply to our business, and how can I implement it?’ What we’re doing right now is providing a lot of hands-on training, learning and quick starts to show people how to make the most of the products we’re selling that allow them to embed trusted AI. And that’s what I’m seeing from a shift right now in how we’re designing for our attendees.”
–Erin Oles, SVP-Strategic Events, Salesforce
Tailor content to shortened attention spans.
“Snackable content: You start to see that people really value the 15-minute TED Talk-inspired content, versus a longer session, unless they’re really looking to deep dive on a specific topic.”
–Joslin Witsil, Head of Global Branded Events, Amazon Ads
Create personalized, inclusive experiences.
“Our attendee base is changing. We have Gen Z entering the workforce and millennials being pushed into decision-maker roles. We used to do events for a specific generation; now, you have two or three generations mixed together. How do you connect with those three generations in one event? Truly learn your attendee base and cater to their needs, and that can be creating a neurodiversity lounge, creating more time for networking, having a wellness center or being more mindful about sustainability.”
–Melissa Vilders, Head of Global Events Strategy and Experience, HCM Solutions, SAP Global Marketing
SAP’s Tranquility Lounge at SuccessConnect was built with neurodiverse attendees in mind.
Consider ditching swag.
“We actually haven’t offered swag for unBoxed since we started. It has to be very purposeful, and tied to a specific action someone has to take in order to get it—a contest, a raffle or something where there’s a direct CTA. We’re making those cuts purposefully and figuring out what we can do to better our footprint.”
–Joslin Witsil, Head of Global Branded Events, Amazon Ads
Lean into authenticity.
“I think people have been so inundated with influencer culture and everyone trying to sell something that they’re tired of it and can see through all of that. So when you can show up and produce an event experience that’s authentic to your company, your brand promise or your product, it ultimately doesn’t matter in the end what your competitors are doing or the fads and trends that come and go.”
–Trevor Drewry, Head of Event Marketing, Webflow
Use digital to complement IRL experiences.
“The one thing about Porsche is we want the experience to be seamless; we call it an omnichannel experience. We want to make sure that our customers are having a top-notch experience in the digital world as they are in the physical world, so we are equally focused on both parts. But we also feel that it’s important to get our clientele, our customers, our prospects behind the wheel of our vehicle to really experience what it means to drive a Porsche. At the end of the day, the only way that you’ll really be able to differentiate our brand from another product is through the experience.”
–Ayesha Coker, VP-Marketing, Porsche Cars North America
Make event measurement a core part of your role.
“Event budgets can often be one of the first cuts to be made when people need to reduce marketing spending. Proving the value of events can get ahead of that… You have to be able to, one, know your hard data and metrics about how you’re delivering value to the business, which will inform your event strategy, and, two, how to be the internal marketer at your company to tell everybody from your exec team all the way to your sales team on the ground the value of the events that you’re producing or participating in.”
–Trevor Drewry, Head of Event Marketing, Webflow
For Drewry, the best metrics and KPIs that show an event like Webflow Conf’s value to the business and sales pipeline successes are net promoter score and intent to return.
Featured photo credit: Jakub Mosur Photography
