Inspiration Hub

Virtual events defined the Covid-19 era – but with the threat of Zoom fatigue becoming very real, what will future event strategies look like in 2022 and beyond? Ahead of The Drum Awards for Experience 2021, The Drum caught up with Becky Harmer, head of event marketing LMS EMEA and LATAM at LinkedIn, to find out what she learned from hosting virtual events in 2020/21.

The recent emergence of Omicron, a new Covid variant of concern, has sent shockwaves through global markets and led to the WTO conference being postponed days ahead of the planned meeting in Geneva. How concerned should event planners be?

The Events Industry Council (EIC), the global voice of the business events industry on advocacy, research, professional recognition and standards, has extended the benchmarking survey for the first phase of its recently launched Equity Acceleration Plan. The landmark plan aims to provide a framework to turn its vision to action and lead the challenge against discrimination and systemic racism in the events industry.

The 2021 Business Traveller Awards were announced on Thursday, November 25, 2021 by the publishers of Business Traveller magazine, Panacea Media.

The awards celebrate the achievements of airlines, airports, hotels, rail operators and car hire companies and are voted for by readers of the magazine, with the results produced by an independent research company. The awards are widely recognised as the market’s benchmark for excellence.

Leading event technology specialist, Evessio has announced a new partnership with Diversity Ally to provide its awards software for the inaugural Diversity in Events Awards 2022.

Traveler sentiment has fundamentally changed following the pandemic, and the industry needs to stay in sync with these shifts. Travel companies with a digital-first mindset are best placed to recognize, address, and profit from the opportunities emerging from whatever the new normal turns out to be.

As the trade show industry continues its return to in-person and exhibiting companies look forward to re-emerging at live events next year, some organizations may be taking a hard look at their exhibit properties and how they can make sure that all visitors remain safe and socially distanced. To understand how companies can design eye-catching exhibits that also adhere to the latest health and safety guidelines, TSNN consulted with the experts—in this case, Adam Deming, creative director of exhibit design at Skyline, to find out what exhibitors should be keeping in mind as they prepare to return to trade show floors in 2022.

Buyer personas are becoming more and more of a necessity when it comes to marketing. When creating your buyer persona(s), consider including customer demographics, behavior patterns, motivations, and goals. The more detailed you are, the better.

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) has released key findings of its latest business travel index – the BTI Outlook, according to which business travel recovery in 2021 proceeded at a slower, more cautionary pace than expected from a year ago, however, global business travel spending is expected to surge in 2022 with full recovery expected in 2024, ending the year on pace with the 2019 pre-pandemic spend of $1.4 trillion, and a year sooner than previously forecast.

New research from Google reveals three key trends destined to play a role in travel's continued recovery in 2022, including a rise in "life moments" that people put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tech giant also projects travel to become more inclusive and purposeful over the next year, revealing new data to back it up.

Americans may soon get a better glimpse into a future of green-friendly transportation by visiting a U.S. national park.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg signed a joint pledge Wednesday to test some of the newest and most innovative travel technologies on public lands and improve visitors' tourism experience.

Las Vegas is constantly evolving. From electric experiences and new resorts to the latest in culinary trends, Vegas is the place where everything is bolder and brighter. As gathering and capacity numbers are increasing, the destination continues to keep “Meet Smart, Vegas Smart” measures at the forefront, while the new, exciting experiences take center stage.

Creating community around events has become an increasingly important way to build awareness, boost engagement, drive attendance and deliver on ROI goals. 365 Media, a leading expert in virtual and hybrid events and online community consulting, recently debuted a completely free resource that helps industry professionals create, build and grow online communities year-round while continually advancing their careers: the Community Leaders Institute (CLI).

Corporate event organisers have pledged their support for the event industry’s framework on climate change, which was agreed at the COP26 conference last week. As well as representatives from across the industry’s global associations, ICE (in-house Corporate Events) presented the voice of the corporate buyer, who impressed the importance of collaboration between corporates, venues and agencies.

This year’s IMEX America represents the exhibition’s first return to an onsite event in two years. And that same span of time witnessed unprecedented innovation in event tech.

The third annual corporate-events research report from Germany-based meetings organization In-House Corporate Events (ICE) in conjunction with Cvent revealed several interesting trends as corporate-meeting departments coordinate events for 2022.

It's not even the busiest time of year for travel yet, and 2021 has already been chaotic — even for the most seasoned travelers.
So, as you book business trips or 2021 holiday travel, don't overlook the best type of plan you can make: a backup plan. Keep the following tips in mind.

The U.S. State Department announced on Wednesday that it issued the first U.S. passport with an X gender marker, which will provide non-binary, intersex and gender non-comforming people the opportunity to select a gender other than male or female on their official travel document.

For the past 56 years, Meetings & Conventions has recognized the important work of leaders in the meetings and events industry. Many of these influencers have been featured and quoted often in our pages.

In this transitional time, we looked for people who might not be household names among meeting professionals — but should be. The 15 difference-makers we chose to profile here did exemplary work for the benefit of their colleagues, clients and communities when they needed it most.

The easing of the United States travel ban on international travelers is fast approaching. Some people are delighted with the news and cannot wait to get on a flight and head stateside. Others are more cautious.

Let’s look at what it means for the events sector.

Ultimately, when we make technology feel seamless, invisible even, that technology works for us. Technology is often a barrier, but one that we become familiar with and learn to cope with. However, that doesn’t mean we have to live with it.

Wembley Stadium connected by EE has today announced that it will become the UK’s biggest venue to offer British Sign Language (BSL) as a guaranteed service at every live concert. The announcement commits that all future concerts at the stadium will offer guaranteed BSL interpretation with services provided by Performance Interpreting Ltd, ensuring the magic of live music can be enjoyed by more people than ever.

The Biden Administration has set Nov. 8 as the official date the U.S. will reopen its borders to fully vaccinated international visitors arriving by air, land and sea. The news was met with enthusiastic praise from officials throughout the tourism, trade show and event industries.

Cvent CEO, Reggie Aggarwal opened the company’s two-day hybrid European customer conference, Cvent CONNECT yesterday by offering his insights on pandemic-driven innovation and evolution that have transformed the MICE and hospitality industries.

In his keynote address, Aggarwal reflected on the past 18 months and offered an insightful look at the accelerated transformation of the meetings and events landscape.

For many event planners, hybrid events are still a relatively new endeavor, one that brings the unfamiliar challenge of engaging two very different audiences at the same time. Here are 15 tips for avoiding the pitfalls that can easily occur.