Business meetings and conferences are always a huge deal and essential to your companies growth, and this year may be the biggest one to date for the meetings industry in general. Here are a few of the biggest trends that you will be seeing this year and should take advantage of in order to make your event more successful than your last.
Change of Scenery
Regular attendees have seen it all. They want something to be exited about. Hotels, conference centers, all that stuff has already been done. This year we will be seeing a lot of new and creative destinations for meetings. Don’t even think about which hotel resort will be the best. Instead, think of something fun and adventurous. Maybe even throw in a few group challenges that will bring attendees closure and make them feel like a team.
Shifting Demands
Overall in 2015, demand is looking stronger than ever. But there are a few different segments that stand out way more than others. Focus on these: education, association, financial and insurance, healthcare and pharmaceutical, energy-related, and technology.
Complete Connection
With new and more powerful devices coming out every day, and more and more people buying them, the demand for strong, fast, and RELIABLE Wi-Fi is just going to continue to grow every single year. Your attendees are going to come with laptops, smartphones and tablets. Not only do they want and need a good internet connection, but you would be smart to give it to them. You want all of them Tweeting about the event and posting pictures. You can also have them be a huge part of the event’s success by incorporating the use of interactive apps. Plus, you don’t want them complaining about anything on their personal social media accounts and making you look bad. Give them everything they could need.
Link Up
Facebook is a powerful social media tool for businesses, allowing them to get content out to potential customers with ease. However, if you are looking to make solid business connections with other business professionals then LinkedIn is where you need to be. LinkedIn is really taking off right now, and it is a huge way that planners and suppliers are communicating meeting agendas and logistics. Other smartphone apps like Twitter and Instagram are really taking off as well, especially while used during an even in the correct ways.
Smart is the New Black
Smartphones are everything now. They are probably the most important tool that you could use. You can use them to conduct virtual venue tours, make real time agendas and meeting info that your attendees can keep track of, and all kinds of other stuff. If you are smart, you will use your smartphone and every attendees smartphone to make your conference a success. The key is getting everyone involved somehow with a few different key apps.
Keeping up with the times is paramount, especially in today’s business meeting industry. Trends are changing faster than Superman in a phone booth and it can be hard to figure out what’s in and what’s out in the meeting industry. If you take these trends to heart you can make your next business meeting or event something really different and special.
