Report Highlights

Meet Birmingham has carried out a MICE survey to discover the challenges that event organisers, venues and delegates will face over the next two decades.

The ‘Event City of the Future’ research was conducted nationally among 70 events and conference organisers and discovered that technology will hold the key to making events more relevant, engaging and therefore able to deliver a tangible return on investment.

The survey’s key findings:

Tackling time and budget shortages

• Almost nine out of 10 respondents (89%) think shorter, more concise or virtual events to address budgetary constraints and shortage of time among delegates will become the norm.

Attracting more delegates and making sure they come back

• More than three quarters (79%) think there will be increased convergence between face-to-face and digital events to attract a greater number of delegates.

Locating for success

• More than half (59%) believe there will be greater use of the most accessible locations e.g. urban rather than rural.

Skills gap means technology is not being deployed as effectively as possible

• Eight out of ten respondents (80%) think technology is not currently being deployed as effectively as it could be in corporate conferencing and events. Almost three quarters (70%) believe this is due to a lack of understanding on how technology can support an event.

Delegate engagement and dialogue between delegates and event organisers will grow

• The overall delegate experience on the day, through such tools as live blogging and Twitter, could vastly scale up delegate engagement and encourage dialogue between event attendees to create a more fulfilling and holistic experience.

Measuring ROI

• Almost two thirds (61%) believe attendance levels, new business leads and making new contacts will be the most important measures of success for their clients.