AI is fuelling toxic productivity in the events industry

This month’s LinkedIn Newsletter, Katie Whatley , FFAIR’s CMO, explores how the increasing adoption of AI in the events industry is, in her opinion, driving a culture of toxic productivity, shifting the focus from quality to quantity.

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"I’ve got a bee in my bonnet about AI. Not AI technologies themselves, but the conversations around AI and how, in my opinion, it is fuelling an expectation of unrealistic and potentially unnecessary levels of productivity within the events industry.

Many of the AI sessions I’ve attended, podcasts I’ve listened to, or articles I’ve read over the last year have focused on how event professionals can use AI to free themselves from mundane tasks and supercharge their event processes.

Fantastic—I'm in. Tell me more.

However, while the aim of these conversations is often about making life better for event attendees, I’m always amused (and slightly unnerved) by the overarching theme of how AI enables event professionals to do more.

I’ve never sat in an AI session where someone has said, “Yeah, I saved myself so much time using AI that I went shopping or met a friend for lunch.” The idea that someone - especially an event professional - would use technology and not reinvest that time into their events is almost blasphemous. Even if it’s not said explicitly, it’s always implied that freeing up time allows event professionals to do something else work-related, i.e., deliver more.

Let’s be honest, many businesses are adopting AI so quickly because they believe they can achieve more with fewer resources. I’m seeing a lot of businesses often willing to accept a dip in quality output for the sake of greater volume at speed. But when it comes to events and marketing, more is very rarely the solution to the ongoing problem of engaging audiences and achieving better outcomes in 2024.?

Doing more is not the answer

Post-pandemic, I consulted for several event organiser businesses who couldn’t understand why, despite increasing their marketing efforts (more social posts, more emails etc), they weren’t seeing the results they had expected. A common thread in these cases was the focus on the volume of output, rather than the quality of the messaging. My solution was always that you had to slow down in order to speed up to create magic in marketing. You had to take it back to basics: Who are we serving? What are their pain points? How does this event and our brand help them?

It’s the same with events.

An event floor or conference packed with countless activations for attendees isn’t really the answer in creating a better experience. More exhibitors, more seminars, and more things to see and do don’t necessarily equal a better event.

The focus should be on creating moments that resonate with and align with the audience you are serving. It’s something all event professionals know, but it’s often hard to carve the space in a packed yearly event schedule to take the time to think, connect with those audiences, and fully engage with our industries to understand their needs.

AI can’t create the magic here. This engagement between event professionals and the industry they serve is about understanding the humanity in our events—the humans we want to bring together and how we can create platforms for them to connect.

So, if not AI, then what?

You don’t necessarily need AI to do less, better. Many technologies exist that don’t use AI but have proven to improve the lives of those who use them. Ultimately, technology should help you save time or improve your life, and it doesn’t have to rely on AI to do this.

Given that I’m CMO at FFAIR, I’m going to use our online exhibitor manual and e-commerce platform as a prime example (though there are many other platforms on the market that don’t use AI).

FFAIR doesn’t use AI (cue the crowd gasping and shaking their heads). It’s not that we don’t like AI or see the value AI brings to the table; it’s just that our platform is designed to be super easy to use, and AI currently wouldn’t add any benefit to the exhibitors, event organisers, or event suppliers that use it.

And yet, FFAIR still delivers on saving hours, days, even weeks for event professionals who use it. FFAIR streamlines the manual, mundane administrative tasks involved in exhibitor and sponsor management and removes the need for spreadsheets and other tedious tools. All without using AI.?

And, importantly, FFAIR wasn’t created because we believe in freeing up time for event teams to do more. We actually believe event professionals should do less, but do it better.

Technology should empower event professionals to focus on the aspects of their job, and vitally their lives, that truly matter.

We’ve had event managers tell us they are no longer the last person in the office or glued to their computer late into the night. They’ve been able to achieve a better work-life balance. The list of things event professionals tell us they now do with their free time includes (but is not limited to) picking up their children from school, going fishing, or focusing on building their house.

Leveraging technology to do less, better

If you’re onboard with the idea that the volume of activity isn’t equal to quality, you’re probably still looking for solutions to help you use your work time more effectively - and close your laptop at a reasonable hour.

For this reason, it’s vital that I believe we take a renewed approach to implementing technology into our teams and work processes. Ask ourselves: Will this save me time? Could I do more with this technology? Or more importantly, will it help me deliver quality to my attendees, exhibitors, sponsors, and partners? Where is the value for me and my team? What will this technology take off my plate??

Tech should enable you to do less, and give you the space to be more strategic, with more thought and care. Event professionals often live and die by their to-do lists, so the idea of having space to think, observe, and create can feel alien. Freeing themselves from the administration of event delivery to be more creative can be frightening. In the back of many minds is the question, will technology replace my job?

The answer in events is no. The right tech will help you work smarter and deliver more valuable, better-quality events and more importantly, give you more freedom to close your laptop and enjoy a better quality of life. The right technology can and will help you do this, it might not be AI but it still will have the power to change your working life.

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We'd love to hear your thoughts on this article either by dropping us a line - [email protected], or DM'ing our CEO Adam Jones or CMO Katie Whatley - EWD or stop by our stand at Event Tech Live next month to chat to us live and in-person!

Want a better work/life balance? Find out more about @FFAIR's multi-award-winning online exhibitor manual and e-commerce platform. https://www.ffair.io/.

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