The approach of 2020 has us thinking about all of the amazing developments we’ve seen in our industry this past year - as well as some that we’re seeing on the rise going into this new year! Here are some of the trends we expect to see even more of in the year ahead:
As convenient as they can be, ballrooms can be a bit.. well… boring. Choosing a unique venue allows you (and your partners) to push the boundaries of your creativity, creating truly unique event experiences for your attendees. Thanks to things like custom fabric solutions, projection, lighting, and advanced staging techniques, event planners have more options than ever in terms of choosing an interesting location, whether it’s an industrial space, a farm, a museum, or even a gym! And although it’s true that unique venues come with unique challenges, like power supply, rigging points, and lack of wifi or staging, the challenges just give you more opportunities to get creative - and the right partner can help you transform virtually any space to meet your needs.
We’ve talked a lot about polling in the past, as a way to help attendees’ stay engaged (The Evolution of Audience Participation), but there are other ways you can appeal to their tendencies and get them involved in the event without too much extra effort on their part. Gamification is a great way to capture attendees’ interest and increase the fun factor of your event! Leveraging gaming elements like competition & rewards can help drive your event goals while also increasing attendee satisfaction. For example, you could reward attendees with points for connecting with different sponsors’ booths throughout the event, or they could win awards for acing a post-general session quiz. You could even display a leaderboard to keep the competitive factor high! These are all ways to make your event more fresh & interactive, and keep your attendees interested.
We’ve all heard lots about AR (Augmented Reality), VR (Virtual Reality), and AI (Artificial Intelligence) this past year. But the beginnings of an opposite reaction have begun, where people are looking for more authenticity & more “real” sensory engagement - even in events! The use of dedicated scents has long been used across retail & hospitality establishments as a means of establishing a mood, and creative lighting is another way to help your attendees connect with the event space in a unique way (and is a great way to pull in your brand colors!) We’re also seeing more textural elements coming to the forefront, like unique custom fabrics and interesting furniture, lending a tactile element - even if it’s all the way up onstage.
With high-impact displays at your disposal, it’s never been more important to ensure that your visual content is engaging. Utilizing basic design principles to keep slides legible & interesting is key. (Here’s a quick reference document with some tips for designing your slides: 10 PowerPoint Tips) We’re also seeing speakers integrate more emojis, GIFs, and ambient video graphics to bring their visuals to life! Additionally, if a speaker has slides or graphics that are crucial to their content but are complex to understand, animated infographics are a great alternative to help audiences better understand the visuals. (No one likes looking at an over-stuffed slide that they can barely read, let alone understand.)
As social norms in the workplace are tending towards the informal, so are those in the event sphere! Event breakouts & meeting locations are becoming more casual, and classroom-style configurations are being traded in for more informal, multi-purpose gathering spaces.
Ready to employ some of these trends for your 2020 events?
Give us a call and let us come up with some unique & innovative ideas for YOU!