7 lessons we learned from 2022 events

This year brought a lot of change and transition to events - yet again. Live events were back! Site visits were on the calendar. And while virtual events were still happening, they weren’t the hot ticket they were in 2021.?

As the year draws to an end, the Quint team took some time to reflect on some of the biggest trends we saw throughout the year and how the event industry continues to evolve. Here are 7 of our top key takeaways from 2022.

People want to be together.

There is no doubt about the power face-to-face events can have on a brand experience. The first event we produced that did not have pandemic-level health and safety requirements came in April 2022 in the city of Boston. You could walk around the event and see people smiling - genuine smiles - and hugs and laughter! We knew not everyone would be open to hugs and handshakes, so fun social distancing stickers were placed around so attendees could indicate if they were open to hugs or not. As attendees continue to make their way back to live events, be helpful and supportive. Understand that their behaviors and habits may have changed since you hosted them last.

Use tailored experiences to increase your attendance.

While people want to be together, they won’t go to as many events as they used to. So, how do you get them to pick your event? Tailored and personalized experiences that surprise and delight are going to give you a better chance to drive the attendance numbers you need for your program. Attendees are looking for thoughtful, curated experiences that combine content & learning with technology in a unique setting.?

Content is supreme.

Who is on your program? What keynote speaker is featured? How many breakout session tracks are included? These are just a few questions attendees will ask as they start researching your event. Definitely pick quality over quantity. You don’t have to build a full 3-day program. Attendees may struggle with justifying a 3-day program and it’s expensive. Can you do it in 2 days or 1 ? days instead and make it incredibly valuable content?

Events need a content strategy.

Your event produced a variety of valuable content for your community and should not exist only on your event days. How can you make your event content available post-event? Think about your content programming as owned media that you can curate for post-event consumption on your website and via social media platforms like LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, Tiktok, etc. This takes a content strategy.

Attendee engagement is evolving.

We are seeing interesting and exciting shifts in how attendees are engaged at events. For example, they no longer want to sit for hour-long presentations. After 20-30 minutes, attendees start to mentally check out. Shift the way your program and sessions are structured to make them shorter and more interactive. What are you doing for the more introverted attendees? Can you offer them more staff interaction and guided networking? We recently featured a dedicated room with reduced lighting and noise for guests who may feel overstimulated and prefer a quieter environment.?

Everything is more expensive.

And there's no sign of it changing. Costs are just going up. We have seen venue rental and catering price increases as high as 30% in some cities. This makes event budgeting challenging but crucial in those early planning days. Don’t just look at ways you can cut costs, be creative. Look at Tier 2 or Tier 3 cities for venue & catering cost savings. Considering packaging multiple events under one venue umbrella for bulk discounts. Adjust your revenue strategy - which brings us to our next point.

Consider your revenue model.

Registration fees and sponsorship packages are how events can make some money to help offset production costs. Take a look at your ticket model and your sponsorship packages - give them an overhaul. Get an outside expert to take a look at your revenue strategy and offer up suggestions. If you decide to host a free event, you may expect a greater than 50% no-show rate. The opposite is true for events that charge a registration fee. We’ve seen no-show rates hit as low as 19% for some events.??

Event professionals are some of the hardest working, toughest, think-on-your-feet people. The pandemic challenged us all - there is no doubt about that. The event landscape continues to evolve and change and so, we must evolve and change with it. Keep an eye on the trends you are seeing with your events, be aggressive with costs and budgets as early in the event planning stage as possible, challenge your vendors and venues to be a part of the solution, and go the extra mile - like you always do.?

Here’s to a happy and successful 2023!