With budgets bouncing back and confidence growing, 2015 has been a busy year for EventProfs. It’s also been a year of learning and development, with organisers and suppliers garnering wide-ranging wisdom, from the importance of facilitating photo opportunities at events to the need to understand digital marketing tools like SEO.

We asked 10 event professionals to share their key takeaways from 2015 with us…

1. Attendees are snap happy

Tamina Mir, Founder, Fantazi-Events

“Technology is king at every event you plan, whether it is a small gathering or a large, lavish affair. Today, event planning is all about understanding the client’s expectations on capturing those special photographs to share on social media. Clients are savvier with social media apps that come armed with followers and the desire for images has revved up client’s expectations.

“Uniqueness, experience and flexibility would be the three key core qualities for any event manager planning an experience and going out of their way to meet the changes at each step of the plan. People judge your brand by the experience and by the photographs taken by all those who have attended. It’s all about the pictures that add to their memories of their event but also to your ‘brand’.”

2. Event apps are the future

Wayne Morris, General Manager for EMEA at Guidebook

“In 2015, we’ve seen people’s confidence and understanding of mobile applications grow. As a result of this, adoption rates have increased, in-app engagement rates have jumped dramatically and mobile applications are being applied to a significantly higher percentage of company event portfolios.

“I think there are a couple of reasons for this swell in confidence: there is now a greater level of understanding when it comes to ROI and value, and the technology is easier to access and take advantage of. In 2016, we expect that adoption by both the attendees and the event organisers will rise exponentially with more creative use cases of the tech.”

Related: A round-up of 15 expert marketing predictions for 2016

3. Networking is the cornerstone of an event

Maria Schuett, Head of Marketing at Central Hall Westminster

“For me, 2015 has cemented the necessity for venues and events generally to have a strong networking infrastructure. Without the free exchange of ideas and information events lose their impact, so all parties – venues, suppliers, organisers – need to ensure they are doing everything they can to facilitate great networking.

“On a more technical level, in 2015 we’ve seen a jump in the number of ‘all-in-one’ technology solutions – largely because of compatibility concerns. In 2016 I expect to see stand-alone solutions continuing to open their products up via APIs, with more emphasis on collaboration. This is the only way they are going to truly harness their full potential.”  –

4. On is the new off when it comes to phones at events

Juraj Holub, Marketing Manager at sli.do

“I think the industry is learning to trust technology and in 2015 it took a giant leap in this aspect. A good proportion of event planners are starting to appreciate that if they really want to foster connections and facilitate audience participation, technology can play an important role. Gradually they are starting to leverage its potential.

“When we attend events (and we attend a LOT of events!) more often than not we see planners encouraging their delegates to keep their smartphones turned on so that they can fully interact with the event, rather than asking them to turn them off. This is a huge leap and one that we expect to continue in 2016.”  

Related: 35 Experts predict the event trends that will shape your 2016

5. Face-to-face is still important

Matthew Pavli, Digital Marketing Executive, Display Wizard

“2015 has been a very positive year for the events industry. We have certainly not seen any slowdown in consumer appetite for event marketing, with the power of face-to-face communication remaining as strong as ever, particularly for securing large, international trade deals.

“In 2016 we expect to see the events industry go from strength-to-strength and to supply lots more exhibition stands – with a bigger focus on sustainable, re-usable stands in place of costly, disposable custom-built stands. As ever, innovation is key and thinking outside of the box in terms of the design of a stand and methods of attracting new prospects (stand gamification, augmented reality stands etc.) will be the way forward.”

6. EventProfs must wear many hats 

Chris McConville, Sales & Events Manager, Motel One Newcastle

“I’ve discovered that as an event professional, especially in a smaller organisation, that you need to be very well versed in all areas of digital marketing, such as SEO (search engine optimisation), PPC (pay per click advertising), social media and analytics to ensure success.

There’s definitely more of a cross over of roles now. Within the smaller organisations and promotional companies, the event professional curates the initial event idea, develops the strategy, books the venues, the speakers or entertainment, takes care of marketing across all platforms, the event management and the financials.”

Related: 6 Social media predictions that EventProfs need to know

7. CDM Regs aren’t that big a deal….yet

David Strafford, Director, Hopper and Events Management lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University

“Much hullaballoo was made a couple of years ago about the introduction of the new Construction (Design and Management) Regulations to the events industry and how they were going to affect us when they officially came into play earlier in 2015. The fear was they would be too restrictive and too expensive, preventing smaller events businesses from actually getting on with the job at hand. However the reality is that they haven’t affected the majority of events anywhere near as much as first feared.

“With very little guidance in terms of the practical application in the events industry, much is still up in the air, however it would seem sensible to think long term, wouldn’t it? The fact is, with large plant machinery like forklifts and temporary structures like marquees, some larger event sites are just like construction sites, and don’t forget these laws are meant to help not hinder. My advice would be stay on top of the regs and keep abreast of any changes throughout 2016. We’ve produced a handy guide to help planners.”

8. Attending other organisers’ events is a valuable learning opportunity

Olayinka Seriki, Managing Director, UK Together

“2015 has been a year of learning for UKTogether; our learning point this year was making a conscious decision to attend other people’s events particularly the ones organised by other events company.

Attending other people’s event is probably one of the greatest learning opportunities for any event organiser, either established or just starting out or to anyone wanting to get into the event industry. This is a real live experience at first hand, as it provides you with every opportunity required at once, starting from the venue, welcoming guests, table setting, menu choice, entertainment and most importantly getting hold of those valuable contacts required to build your networking.

“We have made so many direct contacts through networking and attending other event organisers’ events which otherwise would have taken us months or years to build those relationships. We are going into the New Year knowing what to do and what works for us. We will be attending other events regularly as part of our marketing strategy for 2016.”

Related: 5 Venues for a company kickoff meeting in January

9. Meetings management is getting more strategic

Shirley Craven, Managing Director, Curvebox

“Here at Curvebox, we learned that the appetite for implementing strategic meetings management (SMM) platforms is reaching further and, significantly, is no longer just for huge organisations – mid to small sized companies are making expressions of interest. This is a culture change in the way meetings are procured at every level.”

10. Don’t undersell yourself

Racheal Bitmead, Director, Balance Photography

“We learned that you shouldn’t be afraid to put a higher value on what you do. This year we took the decision to put our prices up and rather than deterring clients, it’s actually led to more interest from a different level of client and exciting new opportunities.

“For example, we have been engaged to photograph weddings and events at some of the country’s most exclusive venues. We’ve also been hired for international assignments, in America, the Middle East and the Caribbean. We have had to speculate to accumulate, exhibiting at different shows and investing in the highest quality albums and frames, but it’s really paid off.”
Conclusion

Technology continues to present new opportunities, meaning EventProfs must keep their fingers on the pulse and stay wired in 2016. At the same time tech can be used to enhance old-fashioned event fundamentals such as networking and interaction.