Ever wonder what the meetings industry will look like 10 years from now? Now more than ever, the challenges presented by our turbulent economic climate have highlighted the importance of thinking and planning ahead.

With this in mind, Fast Future Research has just released the Phase 1 findings from Convention 2020, a “strategic forecast” into the future of live events, meetings and convention venues. A range of futures research techniques were used to take a forward look at the evolution of our industry in order to:

• Help the meetings & conventions industry prepare for the future
• Provide key insights on how live meetings could evolve by 2020
• Help venues and destinations redefine their strategy
• Suggest emerging strategies, approaches and business models

The study, sponsored by ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association), IMEX (the leading global trade show) and others, ran from November 2009 to January 2010. A total of 1,125 respondents from 76 countries completed the survey.

Prior to completing the survey, participants were asked to think about what the world in 2020 might be like and were given a list of reasonable starting assumptions.  The results of the Phase 1 study provide a compelling glimpse into the future of meetings and events.

THE KEY FINDINGS:

The Meeting Industry Today:

• Biggest barriers: cost of attending events, poor organization, lack of focus
• Main Drivers: quality of content, interaction, technology and networking

2020 EVENTS

Reasons to attend – Quality of Networking (76%) biggest single factor; less than 50% cited price

Meeting Demand – 74% felt their organization would invest in live events in 2020

Meeting Supply – 49% said there would be fewer but larger events, while 79% expected a growth in smaller, more specialized meetings

Business Models – 77% believe events will need to offer strong price-based incentives to attract delegates, 76% think there will be more opportunities to conduct business transactions.

Event Technology – ‘Live video streaming to remote participants’ is the most expected development (75%), followed by ‘A social network before, during and after events’ (70%) and ‘All event content downloaded to our mobile phones’ (64%)

Connectivity –  92% agreed that the ability to communicate, share data, and negotiate at any time and in any place with clients, suppliers and business partners will be vastly greater and more efficient in 2020.

Personalization – 79% expect a totally personalized technology experience and 70% felt this would extend to areas such as food and seating.

Sustainability – 70% say ethical and environmental factors will influence the decision to attend

CONCLUSIONS

A few key survey conclusions were:

• Demand for live events expected to hold strong, but significant innovation in formats, business models, organizational capability and use of technology are essential
• Proliferation of smaller and more specialized events will lead to hyper-competitive environment
• Advances in science and technology mean greater personalization of entire event experience

The study encourages industry professionals to recognize the shifts and embrace the need for innovation in event design and business models to survive and thrive in 2020.

You can download the full Convention 2020 report here: convention2020.

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