Because it’s the beginning of the year, the time has come for the most desired article: 2016 trends in events.

The last years have brought major changes in the events industry, in 2015 we talked about technology, participants and end-to solutions -end.

2016 continues to invest in the foundations laid in recent years and takes the event experience to the next level. So, in 2016 the events industry is about:

Events that become Experiences
In 2016, we are no longer talking about events… but about the experience offered by them. The whole event becomes an experience. In the dictionary of experts in events, the word “experience” is very present, and the entire arsenal of an event has adapted in this direction. For example, new event technologies offer many more opportunities for interaction, both during and before and after the event, which turns everything into an experience.

Creating an Emotional Link between Brand and Consumers
It is more and more clearly visible that the relationship between the consumer and the brand is no longer as transactional as it used to be. By giving the participant as many elements of a complete experience as possible, he gets to invest emotions in the respective brand. From here to the growth of brand awareness and loyalty, there is still… just one more experience to offer!

Technology integration
One very important thing that the events industry has understood is automation. The need to have a clearer ROI (Return on Investment) of an event, but also to save time invested in painstaking activities, led to the creation of technologies to automate processes. Not only do they make the life of an event planner much easier, but they remove from the system processes that made the experience of the participants low-quality.

Use of Event Applications
The need for an application for the event is becoming more and more evident. The experience of the participants becomes much more complete with its help. For example, My Connector, not only helps the registration process to be much faster, but also facilitates the interaction with the other participants in event as well as the speakers. The application is also useful post-event, offering valuable insights about the participants and their experience.

Creativity
Surprise or not… creativity “is the new black”. This trend is constantly present every year. If one thing is certain in the events industry, it is the use of creativity. Right from its design process to the moment of development, from the set-up of the location, to the names of the food and drinks or the way the bar is arranged and the way the staff interacts.

So, 2016 is about the legacy left by 2015: complete experiences, technology and personalization.

We like to learn from:

• Event Farm
• Event Manager Blog
• Ungerboeck
• Meetings Imagined