< Previous“There are so many exciting things happening with emerging technology in the meetings and events space, par- ticularly since generative AI exploded onto the scene in the past year,” says Paulina Giusti, Cvent senior meetings and events manager. Since 2020, the way people interact and engage with the world has changed significantly, prompting meetings and event planners to adapt the layout, structure and content of sessions to be more engaging. “While the top reasons people attend events — for net- working and learning — haven’t changed, attendees’ expec- tations for how these are accomplished have. Attendees want to be exposed to content that is inspirational or eye- opening. They’re looking for something that goes beyond the basics and addresses topics that are important to us in both our personal and professional lives — think sustain- ability, diversity, accessibility — just to name a few.” Giusti cites an example from Cvent CONNECT 2022, where one of Cvent’s keynote speakers was deaf. They uti- lized live captioning and other tools to help bring his story to life, which she says resonated with the audience. The Growth of AI Many planners are looking to AI to craft immersive experiences and content. In the 2024 Global Meetings and Events Forecast report from American Express Global Busi- ness Travel, which surveyed over 500 meeting and event professionals and industry leaders from around the world, 42% of respondents say they plan to use AI in some capac- ity this year, with many meeting professionals utilizing AI for things like destination research, event communication and automating event registration. Giusti notes AI can also be used to build entire websites, create customized agendas for attendees, and craft compel- ling push notifications and email reminders. “The tech- nology may still be relatively new, but event planners are already finding amazing ways to leverage it and streamline the event planning process, all while making events more meaningful for attendees.” Advances in Event Tech Tools BY MARLENE GOLDMAN Leveraging, Streamlining the Event Planning Process F rom interactive event apps to projec- tion mapping, innovative technologies and tools help build the foundation for meeting planners to create immersive events. As advances in tech tools con- tinue to accelerate, the possibilities for engaging attendees are expanding as well, whether the tech- nology is integrated into a scannable event badge or publicly accessible AI programs. TECH TOOLS 30 March 2024 | Corporate & Incentive Travel | TheMeetingMagazines.comAI is starting to be used across the industry, including by PCMA with its Project SPARK, which offers an AI tool for meeting planners to help with a variety of tasks and data management. Meeting and incentive management company MCI USA is also looking to AI to drive engagement. “We have the capabilities through AI to create amazing, robust presenta- tions with information that would usually take weeks to gather,” says Valerie Mortimer, vice president, Strategic Events, Meetings & Incentives, for MCI USA. MCI Global recently launched an AI Assistant, Jade, to provide automation tools for registration, housing and leads. Jade matches up exhibiting companies with all the attendees, and scores from one to 10 how valuable any one attendee would be to any one exhibitor. AI is being integrated in other ways. Giusti says a recent prominent industry conference used AI session scanners, eliminating the need for any manual session scanning. “These types of tools are not only making the attendee experience better but they’re also giving planners more opportunities to receive real-time data to better understand session and attendee engagement,” she says. Bizzabo has Klik SmartBadges. One of the benefits is Enhanced Networking Opportunities, according to Alon Alroy, co-founder and CMO of Bizzabo. “The badges can be pro- grammed with light cues to indicate mutual inter- ests or session remind- ers, making it easier for attendees to connect with relevant contacts and engage in meaning- ful conversations.” The badges also help with post-event connectiv- ity. Attendees can access a digital record of their connec- tions and interactions, allowing for effective follow-up. Aside from lead capture the Klik SmartBadges can provide detailed analyt- ics on attendee behavior, session popularity and overall engagement levels. “You can not only see which areas people are physically visiting the most, but also which areas and planned ses- sions facilitate the most amount of networking. This data is crucial for measuring event success and planning more effective future events.” Mobile Apps While mobile apps at conferences and events are not new, the capabilities of everything from networking to lead capture are expanding. Melissa Blackshear, senior director, Event Management at Maritz, says “Mobile apps are not really a ‘nice to have’ anymore. People want to interact with community. We want ways to draw our virtual communities in with our in- person communities and the mobile app is a great way to do that. And onsite we want to give people an experience that they can’t get virtually. We want to create some of that FOMO, so we’re trying to create those Instagrammable moments, really cool experiences.” Onsite using digital content boards at trade shows and other events boosts engagement. Maritz offers signage dis- playing a QR code that is placed in an exhibitor’s booth or a touchscreen monitor that is placed in a high traffic area at the event. Attendees scan their badge and they are auto- matically sent information electronically. CompuSystems’ new M3 app also features the capabil- ity to scan QR codes at booths so exhibitors can exchange contact information with leads immediately. The app was introduced at the AAPEX Show last year, and exhibitors saw a 196% increase in leads captured due to streamlined digital content delivery. The app also includes a gami- fication element. “As part of an incentive to have the attendees learn about and use the product, we challenged CompuSystems to help us gamify the M3 experience. The results in Courtesy of Bizzabo Klik SmartBadges by Bizzabo allow for enhanced networking, better follow-up and scheduling, and more. TheMeetingMagazines.com | Corporate & Incentive Travel | March 2024 31year one were a huge success, and we look forward to continuing and enhancing the program as we get more adoption in the future,” says Mark Bogdansky, vice president, Tradeshows and Community Engagement, Auto Care Association. Attendease, recently acquired by Tripleseat, provides a streamlined integration for event planners looking to book events at specific venues. The acquisition combines two separate ecosystems, social and corporate event planners, and event managers, at restaurants and hotels. “Attendease helps create an immersive event because it’s easily branded,” says Tripleseat Senior Corporate Event Manager Rachel Mazzola. “Everything from when an attendee first visits our website to the emails they receive from us to when they come onsite with us, and then when they leave, everything has the same look and feel, so it immerses them in that experience. It helps create a consistent brand story.” Mazzola says Attendease also helps launch and pro- mote events, and can send out individualized or per- sonalized emails. Eventsforce starts engaging attendees in the registration process, according to Andrius Remeikis, vice president of Growth at Eventsforce. Rather than using different apps or other tools for registration, Eventsforce offers an all-in-one solution, including personalized invitations, registration management, custom websites and advanced reporting. “We’re helping event planners by giving them easy to use tools to digitize those initial touchpoints from the ini- tial event registration and marketing. The heavier lifting is predominantly done through the app. It is well synced and connected, and it provides the seamless experi- ence to the attendee that can add in great value.” Remeikis says Eventsforce is working on the possibility of intro- ducing AI into its app, with the abil- ity to ask the app to review custom recommendations, like what ses- sions to attend and who to meet. Bluetooth Technologies Bluetooth technology is often running in some way behind the scenes to power an event. It’s very agile, and the sky is the limit when it comes to integrating this tech into events, according to Giusti. “When event planners think of Bluetooth, session attendance, wireless badge printing, data collection and tracking to render real-time attendee insights might be some of the first uses that come to mind, but this technol- ogy can be used to create more captivating experiences for attendees.” At trade shows, Bluetooth can send a personalized push notification as attendees approach an exhibitor’s booth and can support wayfinding — which can help attendees find an exhibitor’s booth or the right breakout room in a massive venue. Bluetooth can help drive gamification with tasks such as prompting attendees to take a quiz or survey at a certain location or it can create a contest for attendees to upload photos to win points. Other options include using Bluetooth for feedback surveys or even to promote sustain- ability efforts by reminding attendees to recycle. Visual Tools Video and audio technology advances can help create an immer- sive event, including pro- jection mapping, which can transform any surface into captivating visuals. From immersive stage backdrops to interactive art installations, projec- tion mapping adds to the attendee experience. “The cool thing is it helps from a sustainability perspective, as well as money and time,” Mortimer says. MCI uses holographic displays, creating a futuristic and immersive visual expe- rience. Meeting planners can use these displays for keynote presentations — everything from the company CEO to a celebrity speaker — product showcases, or entertainment performances to engage and entertain attendees. “That technology is getting really slick and a little more afford- able,” Mortimer says. Courtesy of Paulina Giusti / Cvent Technology has pervaded all aspects of events, everything from checking-in to live captioning for a keynote speaker. Attendease helps create an immersive event because it’s easily branded. Everything ... has the same look and feel. RACHEL MAZZOLA Sr. Corporate Event Manager, Tripleseat 32 March 2024 | Corporate & Incentive Travel | TheMeetingMagazines.comAn LED wall also allows for branding. “A digital wall can be scenic and it can be leveraged for presentation as well, because it can show both video and stills, and we can do that simultaneously,” says Chris John- son, director of global travel, enterprise events, and sports partnerships for Land O’Lakes, Inc. “We can build a scenic to start the event.” Johnson also leverages technology to communicate in advance with highlight videos. “We’re getting vendors in front of customers to talk about their products ahead of an event. We’ve had good success. We tend to get stake- holders or presenters for a video that we’ll push out to the audience in advance of the event and that can be simply a ‘hey, we’re excited that you’re coming. Here’s what to expect.’ It might be a sneak peek at some of the content and what they’re going to hear when they get there.” Despite all the new technology available, success- ful meetings and events don’t always need all the bells and whistles. “The more of the new tech you bring in, the more risk there is that something somewhere down the line might fall apart or cause headaches,” he says. “Sometimes, understandably, event planners are not always ready to adopt all the new shiny things.” C&IT Event planners are getting creative about keep- ing attendees engaged during virtual and hybrid events, according to Paulina Giusti, Cvent senior meetings and events manager. “With AI being increasingly incorporated into our work lives, event planners have also started relying on AI-powered event tools, including chatbots, to give attendees unparalleled support and personalized experi- ences. Virtual attendees can ask these chatbots any questions about an event, and receive straight- forward, helpful answers,” she says. Engage Virtual Attendees with: • A video center to host exclusive on-demand content curated for the virtual-only audience • Virtual exhibitor booths to showcase sponsors’ and exhibitors’ video content and facilitate 1:1 communications • AI-powered networking to connect attendees with similar interests and inspire online conversation • Live chat, polling, Q&A with session moderators that can answer questions and engage virtual participants in real-time Maritz offers a product called First Person Trade Show, which can extend the trade show experience. Melissa Blackshear, senior director, event management at Maritz, explains, “Say you’ve got an expo where you spent thousands of dollars on your booth or are show- casing a really large, sophisticated piece of equip- ment for people who aren’t there. Our ‘First Person’ product uses the 360-degree video at the booth. It then creates an interactive piece of technology that can be used to extend the experience later.” Planners can also use the 360-degree video streaming to broadcast keynote speeches, panel discussions or product demonstrations in an immersive format. Maritz is also testing a product called Linkroom to create an interactive and immersive experience in a single platform and drive engagement. Link- room would allow attendees to meet via video in branded environments, and be used for meetings, product launches, events, networking and educa- tion. It could also be used as an extension of the live event experience. Despite some of the new technology options with virtual, Chris Johnson, director of global travel, enterprise events and sports partnerships for Land O’Lakes, Inc., says they are mainly using Zoom to facilitate virtual engagement. “We’re primarily leveraging Zoom to bring those audiences together. Through the technology, we allow Q&A, where people can submit questions and in a live environ- ment.” The company also uses various mobile apps that both virtual and in-person attend- ees can use to respond to polling questions and give real-time feed- back at sessions. Hybrid / Virtual Technologies in 2024 TheMeetingMagazines.com | Corporate & Incentive Travel | March 2024 33Meeting venues today have a range of sustainable fea- tures, from the basics Stelpflug mentions to buildings con- structed from the ground up as shining examples of working environmental integrity, such as the new LEED Platinum Summit building at the Seattle Convention Center. Cor- porations are also leaning into greater sustainability, coming into planning with a range of requirements for their meetings and conventions. Planners are tasked with making destination and venue choices based in part on the availability of eco-friendly options. “Sustainability is absolutely a major focus,” Stelpflug says. “At Rockwell Automation, it’s not only a focus for meetings and events, but also central to our purpose to make the world more productive and more sustainable, and to our promise of Expanding Human Possibility.” Stelpflug believes the shift emphasizes a growing awareness and demand within the industry to prioritize positive environ- mental practices. “It’s likely driven by an increasing empha- sis on corporate social responsibility and a broader societal recognition of environmental issues,” she says. “It’s really exciting to see this significant transformation in the meet- ings industry, with sustainability now being a core consid- eration and venues expected to incorporate eco-friendly practices as a standard offering.” Rockwell Automation itself is committed to sustainability, in every aspect of its meetings. For example, Stelpflug says, booth and event assets must be used for at least three years, and once an asset is retired, the booth is recycled. If an asset has a lifespan of less than three years, a rental is considered instead. Water filling stations are always located throughout the event and no bottled beverages are offered. Additionally, 100% of display lighting must be LED and paper has been eliminated at the largest events in favor of mobile apps. “We’re still working on paperless at our smaller events, but we’re making great progress,” Stelpflug says. “We also recycle name badges, signage and banners and power down or sleep electronics overnight. Rockwell’s larg- est event utilizes over 5,000 CPUs in training sessions and the exhibit hall. Pow- ering down the majority of those items overnight significantly reduces elec- trical consumption during our event. If you can’t turn off your electronics, simply setting them to sleep can make a big impact.” Stelpflug notes that the company’s largest event also requires 50+ semi- trailers of assets and displays. By coordinating shipments, however, even as the event has grown in size and scope, she says they’ve reduced the number of trailers and thus emissions. Food and food packaging are critical meeting com- ponents when it comes to reducing waste and being Expanding Human Possibility BY CHRISTINE LOOMIS The Shift to Sustainable Corporate Meetings & Events “I n the meetings industry, sustainability has evolved from being a ‘nice-to-have feature’ to a ‘must have,’” says Andi Stelpflug, director, global events and experiences, at Rockwell Automation in Milwaukee, WI. “It’s now expected that venues have fundamental sustainability basics such as water coolers and recyclable service ware, to name a few.” INDUSTRY TRENDS It’s really exciting to see this significant transformation in the meetings industry, with sustainability now being a core consideration. ANDI STELPFLUG Director, Global Events and Experiences Rockwell Automation 34 March 2024 | Corporate & Incentive Travel | TheMeetingMagazines.com“greener.” Rockwell Automation chooses to work with F&B partners committed to sourcing local food and drink, and composting food waste and packaging. At smaller events, they use silverware and china plates vs. single-use products. And they donate leftover meals locally. “Fol- lowing our largest event in 2022, we donated over 5000 lunches,” Stelpflug says. Merchandise is another challenge. They recently revamped their merchandising program to include sig- nificantly more sustainable goods — from both a materials and a sourcing standpoint, meaning using local materi- als when possible. Not surprising, venue selection is important. “Whenever possible, we select venues that prioritize sustainability,” Stelpflug says. “Most recently, we were at the Boston Con- vention and Exhibition Center, which is LEED-certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, has state-of-the-art light- ing and HVAC systems, limits energy and water usage, and has a 47% average waste diversion rate. We aren’t yet at the point that we exclude venues based solely on sustainability practices; however, we certainly prioritize and are more likely to select a venue that aligns to our organizational sus- tainability goals.” That was the case with Anaheim, where the group will host Automation Fair 2024. “Not only is Anaheim an amazing location for our growing event, the city and DepositPhotos.com TheMeetingMagazines.com | Corporate & Incentive Travel | March 2024 35the venues share Rockwell’s passion and commitment to sustainability. We were on a recent site visit, and I was impressed with the Anaheim Convention Center’s numerous standard sustainability practices.” Stelpflug knows sustainability isn’t always the lowest-cost option, especially for small meetings on small budgets. But she says it’s important to consider the long-term benefits and potential savings. “Emphasizing the importance of sustain- ability and involving everyone in the process can create a pos- itive and conscious environment without breaking the bank.” She encourages planners to let attendees know about sus- tainable efforts. “Think about it. Many sustainable activities are invisible to event attendees — reduced paper, recycled exhibit booths, powering down comput- ers, donated meals and so on. Attendees want to know about and feel good about attending sustainable events. Don’t be afraid to brag a little bit about the sustainability efforts your team is implementing.” As for where to start, she says, “Start small. There are many little things planners can do that make a big difference.” Lacey Gautier, CEM, is vice president of events for Informa Markets, a b2b provider of major exhibitions among other things. “Sustainability remains a major focus and is growing increasingly important for attendees, par- ticularly those who represent younger generations and the new wave of decisionmakers,” she says. Informa Markets tackles sustainability on many fronts. “We’re working toward the elimination of single-use plastics through various partnerships and investments, including a focus on reusable drinkware for networking receptions and sampling of products,” Gautier says. “Our show bags and lanyards are made from 100% post-consumer recycled water bottles. We have three-bin, front-of-house recycle/compost/ landfill systems and a back-of-house waste sorting system to maximize waste diverted from landfills.” Additionally, the company prohibits foam board and Sty- rofoam items. “To ensure the most effective recycling and landfill prevention, we’ve designated areas for cardboard drop off and zero-waste solutions for items not typically accepted in single-stream recycling facilities,” she says. “We track energy consumption at the convention center and hotel to offset the carbon impact, and we offset all staff travel to and from the show. Finally, we work with the con- vention center to ensure HVAC systems and lighting levels are only used when necessary.” Gautier says one major hurdle is that all of the different facilities for waste, composting and recycling across dif- ferent cities have different rules, regulations and systems. According to her, they can be challenging to understand and to utilize most effectively. There’s also uncertainty around what types of promotional items and procurement practices exhibitors and other partners bring into the envi- ronment, which can create challenges. Finally, budgeting and investment justifications are, of course, hard, particu- larly with increasing prices. Her group addresses sustainability from the start. One of the main ele- ments of their RFP is centered around the venue and destination city’s sus- tainability program(s). They begin these discus- sions prior to booking. Among the destinations where Informa Market has found it easy to create a sustainably focused meet- ing are Anaheim, Philadel- phia and Baltimore. In addition to taking basic steps toward sustainability, Gautier suggests planners set up a sponsorship program to offset sus- tainability costs. She also advises creating a five-year plan to most effectively budget and set goals. “It’s a marathon,” she says, “not a sprint!” Julia Maes is an executive producer with VidCon, the company behind VidCon Anaheim, a mega show devoted to digital creation and culture. The 2023 edition drew 55,000 attendees. “Sustainability efforts continue to increase year over year at major events. It might not yet be a major focus for everyone, but events are at least acknowledging that it is an aspect audiences look for. You can no longer ignore the impact large events have on the environment,” Maes says. “Our sustainability efforts span nearly the full scope of the event,” she continues, adding that Anaheim Convention Center is a great partner for those efforts. Major areas of focus for VidCon were food waste and print signage. Con- vention center caterers were asked to minimize waste and take part in the recycling program. Any suitable food items that were left over each day were donated to local chari- ties or food banks to avoid food waste. For signage, they try each year to migrate more from printed graphics to digital monitors. They also earmark a small amount of non-recy- clable banners for reuse the following year by Rewilder, a zero-waste fashion company that transforms banners into a limited-edition, upcycled merchandise line and zero-waste furniture, diverting waste from a life in storage or landfills. Because of the size of the show, Maes says they have many factors to consider when choosing a venue, though sustain- ability missions and models at each building are certainly a We work with the general services contractor to ensure we’re using items that can be recycled or re-used and try to not produce materials that will end in the landfill. COREY CLARK Senior Sustainability Manager Honeycomb Strategies 36 March 2024 | Corporate & Incentive Travel | TheMeetingMagazines.comtopic of conversation. However, there are many hurdles. “The sheer number of people and activations within an event as large as ours means there’s a pretty hard ceiling as far as what we can reduce and reuse. With a small meeting of 50 people, you might be able to get away with reusable glassware and napkins, entirely digital event materials, and so on. But once you tick into the thousands, the effort to create that same model at that scale becomes deeply chal- lenging — and often not achievable.” In addition to encouraging attendees to bring their own reusable water bottles, Maes says planners should identify which other items fill dumpsters headed for landfills or even recycling and consider ways to reduce or eliminate those from the start — single-use giveaways such as cheap swag and printed agen- das, for example. “Embracing sustainability will resonate with your leadership and your audiences,” she says. “It’s good business and good will to produce sustainable events, so take a crawl, walk, run approach. Find some low- lift efforts for your first year and grow from there. Finding great part- ners, either external or internal, who can help you bounce ideas together and push you out of your comfort zone, will also go a long way.” Corey Clark, senior sustainabil- ity manager with Honeycomb Strat- egies, which helps the hospitality, sports, venue and events industries become more eco-friendly, believes sustainability is still very much a focus for the meetings industry and, in fact, a growing fac- tor in planning an event. “Planners are looking beyond single-use plastic water bottles and evaluating how waste is created, what the emis- sion factor of the menu is and how much carbon is produced from traveling to the event. Sustainability is also a conversa- tion with every vendor partner now — a group effort.” It starts, she says, “with educating the exhibitors how to build the booths for reuse and ship in one crated shipment. We also request that they bring items that are not single- use and are made with recyclable or compostable material. We work with the general services contractor to ensure we’re using items that can be recycled or re-used and try to not produce materials that will end in the landfill. This is hard because there are not good alternatives to many sub- strates, so we ask ourselves if we really need those items.” Green goals are discussed from the start of the meeting process, when vetting locations and venues. “We look at public transportation to/from the venue and airport and whether or not the venue uses renewable energy. Waste programs are also important, including composting.” Among the biggest challenges for planners, Clark says, is reducing emissions. Unfortunately, most emissions associated with an event come from travel to and from the event. “Sponsorship is another area of opportunity but also a challenge,” Clark notes. “We love our sponsors and want to promote them, yet many times it’s through the use of unsus- tainable substrates such as window decals.” In terms of food and beverage, Clark says the goal is to choose items with a smaller carbon footprint and resource use. Not every main dish has to include beef, for example. She believes that venues themselves also want to reduce energy and some requests are simple. Many times, they request that escalators are powered off when the event is not live, and that lighting and heating/AC are reduced dur- ing setup and breakdown as well. Organizers can positively impact meeting sustainabil- ity via educated choices and behind-the-scenes decisions; however, Clark points out, attendees have a huge impact on the carbon footprint of an event. In addition to reminding them to bring their refillable water bottles and coffee con- tainers, Clark says encouraging them to take public trans- portation as much as possible also makes a difference. To planners, Clark says, “Be a role model. Practice what you’re asking of your vendor partners. And ask your part- ners how they can help you on the journey. It’s not all up to you as the planner.” Whatever steps you and your organizations take, what- ever environmentally conscious features venues add, the signs are clear: The industry is moving toward sustain- ability and that’s not just good for the planet, it’s good for everyone. C&IT DepositPhotos.com TheMeetingMagazines.com | Corporate & Incentive Travel | March 2024 37T oday’s meetings and events are veering away from the decades-long trends of cocktail hours, networking breaks, buffet dinners and inspira- tional keynotes. Instead, they are putting inten- tion first — reinventing the industry by building better, more meaningful events — keeping them relevant, useful and worthwhile to everyone. Heather Herrig, CMP, president and chief event strat- egist at Every Last Detail, says putting intention first is critical within every phase of planning. When there is purpose driving each decision, element and invitation, you get to a level of intentionality that makes all the differ- ence in the world. “It’s more than ROI- based planning; we are designing each element to contribute toward an overall experience,” Her- rig says. “It’s almost like taking strategy to the next level by incorporating this intentional design.” Herrig says that it feels like emerging from the pan- demic has allowed today’s corporate meeting planners to be more intentional. “When we weren’t able to connect with each other like we were before, we saw even more how essential and precious our time together was (face-to-face or virtual), and the need to make every minute matter became even more pressing,” Herrig says. “It’s valuable to be inten- tional so that every aspect of your event feels like it’s in the gravitational pull of your core strategy and purpose, and everything feels like a cohesive whole. Being able to articu- late this benefit is vital so that we can earn the trust of our stakeholders and decision-makers, receiving their buy-in to move forward with planning accordingly.” Lee Gimpel is the founder of Better Meetings in Wash- ington, DC. Gimpel says that with events, people often confuse being thoughtful — thinking about decisions and choices — with being intentional, which is to say really having an intent and then designing an event to manifest those intentions. “Yes, being intentional requires thought, but a lot of events skip true intention-setting and then spend a lot of time and thought on details that aren’t connected to the purpose,” Gimpel says. “When we are really intentional about designing events, it might turn out that we don’t need a networking break or a reception at all. Or it may turn out that the event should mostly be about networking instead of only having a few breaks or a single recep- tion between mostly passive presentations. Or it may turn out that it makes sense to have those networking breaks and the reception, but what they look like, how they function, when we do them, and what happens during those segments is quite different than what we expected, or what we did in the past, or what happens at other events.” When planning meetings, Jeanette Davis, customer success director, enterprise solutions at Meetings & Incentives Worldwide, says that more than ever, event owners and stakeholders are looking to brain-based approaches grounded in science to better understand their attendees’ motivations, engage- ment, needs and behaviors – and intentionally design events to meet these elements. Through the lens of neuroscience, event planners are focused on ways to positively impact human performance, their sense of belonging and potential. Intentionally design- ing brain-friendly environments fosters learning, decision- Intentional Designs BY MAURA KELLER Keeping Events Relevant, Useful, Worthwhile to Everyone EVENT TRENDS Jeanette Davis / M&IW Successful events cater to the movtivations and needs of their audience and deliver “wow” moments they won’t forget. 38 March 2024 | Corporate & Incentive Travel | TheMeetingMagazines.commaking, and retention. In turn, this intentionality helps organizations align outcomes to their goals and objectives. “A well-designed event is the most potent form of influ- ence,” Davis says. They become extraordinary when event planners focus on infusing their culture and values, accelerat- ing trust and connections, creating deeper meaning, engag- ing the social brain and inspiring innovation. At Meetings & Incentives Worldwide, they created an event design frame- work where event planners can apply neuroscience to build better, more meaningful events: Experience and Engagement, Health & Wellbeing, Technology & Innovation, Communica- tions & Connections, and CSR and Giving Back. These five pillars are centered around Community and Belonging. “Every year, we host our top clients at our signature event. The M&IW Summit is thoughtfully designed as a highly immersive, experiential day that creates moments of meaning and insights, influences strategic decision- making, and inspires creativity and innovation. The con- tent is curated specifically for industry leaders and change makers,” Davis says. “Much thought is given to the flow and format of the agenda to maximize engagement, energy, excitement, as well restoration and retention. The experi- ence is designed to deepen relationships and foster trust by bringing together our clients, employees and suppliers.” Davis and the team at M&I Worldwide are finding that event attendees are placing a higher priority on where they give their time and attention. Events that have established a solid reputation for delivering “wow” experiences, custom- ized around the motivations and needs of their audience are highly successful. She notes that attendees respond positively to more intentional meetings as they are more engaged in discussions and activities. They are more likely to retain the information shared and leave with greater sat- isfaction and a desire to attend future events. This is sup- ported through quantitative and qualitative feedback. Intentional Design Components So, what does it mean to design a more intentional meet- ing? From event designs that foster conversations to a new environment that creates a wider community and speakers with diverse voices, planners are focusing on event designs that are purposeful and intentional. “Networking breaks and cocktail hours are no longer enough. Business networking at events requires a struc- tured approach that fosters intentional conversations,” Gimpel says. “From event designs that foster conversations to a new environment that creates a wider community and speakers with diverse voices, planners are focusing on event designs that answer the ‘why’ behind every decision.” He goes on to explain that designing more intentional meetings means being really clear about what exactly your intention is. It means first thinking about “why” you’re doing “everything” rather than just jumping to planning the “what and how.” Wanting to bring people together or to show them a good time, or even to share learning, only gets to the surface of an event. You need to go deeper and be very specific about the real value of your event. To Gimpel, an event needs to have an intention or a rea- son to exist and the different elements of the event should align and contribute with that goal. If you’re planning an event that welcomes in a new cohort of managers, for example, you would probably want to be intentional about Courtesy of Lee Gimpel Lee Gimpel, of Better Meetings, helps attendees design meetings with more intention and participation while improving outcomes. TheMeetingMagazines.com | Corporate & Incentive Travel | March 2024 39Next >