Convention 2020: Initial Survey Findings

Convention 2020: Initial Survey Findings

New Business Models, Radical Price Incentives, Deep Personalisation and Onsite Transactions will shape the industry landscape in 2020. Convention 2020 initial survey findings show hypercompetition, technology and changing delegate behaviours are driving industry transformation.

Fast Future Research launched the findings of the ‘Future Meetings Experience' online survey. The research was conducted as part of phase 1 of the Convention 2020 study on the future of meetings, venues and destinations. Fast Future also welcomed the latest platinum sponsors to sign up to the study - Seoul Tourism Organisation, Athens Convention Bureau and Congrex.

A total of 1125 respondents from 76 countries completed the global online survey which ran from November 2009 to January 2010. The key findings of the survey were that:

The Industry Today

• The biggest current barriers to event effectiveness are seen to be the cost of attending, poor organisation and a lack of focus in the design

• The quality of content, interaction, technology and networking were seen to be the main drivers of an effective and exciting event

For events in 2020

• Reasons to Attend - The Quality of Networking (76%) was the biggest single factor that would encourage delegates to attend events, less than 50% cited price as an influencing factor and only 1% said they would not attend live events in 2020

• Meeting Demand - 74% felt their organisation would maintain their investment in live events in 2020, while 46% felt time and cost pressure might deter organisations from sending delegates and 59% felt their organisation would be investing far more in alternatives to live events

• Meeting Supply - 49% said there would be fewer but larger events, while 79% expected a growth in smaller more specialised meetings and 48% thought there would be an explosion in the number of free or very low cost evening only meetings held in low cost venues

• Business Models - 77% believe events will need to offer strong price based incentives to attract the desired delegates, 60% expect to see a rise in pay as you go / pay per session type models and 76% think there will be far more opportunities to conduct transactions at events

• Event Technology - The most commonly expected developments are ‘Live video streaming to remote participants ‘(75%), ‘A social network before, during and after events' (70%) and ‘All event content downloaded to our mobile phones' (64%). Whilst more advanced immersive and experiential technologies were not ranked highly as individual developments, there was strong support for their potential applications when discussed subsequently in scenarios for personalisation.

• Personalisation - 79% expect a totally personalised technology experience and 70% felt this individual customisation would extend to areas such as food and seating. 93% believe that technology will enable capture and analysis of every activity, presentation and conversation

• Sustainability - 70% say ethical and environmental factors will continue to influence the decision to attend

• Convention Centre Challenges - The greatest competition to convention centres is expected to come from ‘Schools, universities and colleges' (63%), ‘Museums, galleries and libraries' (56%) and ‘Meeting facilities in office buildings' (50%)

Rohit Talwar the project director and CEO of Fast Future said "Far greater focus on ‘enabling business' will be expected - ranging from ensuring the right people are there to facilitating on the spot transactions and proving the return on investment".

Talwar added that "The next decade promises an uncertain economic climate where optimism and growth will be unevenly distributed across the planet, and where technology will offer an ever wider range of alternatives to live events. The challenge for the industry is to recognise the shifts taking place and embrace the need for innovation in event design and business models and to develop the professional capabilities required to survive and thrive in turbulent times."

About Convention 2020

Convention 2020 is a strategic foresight study. The research programme is designed to take a wide ranging and forward looking perspective on the future of live events, venues and meeting destinations. The objectives are to

• Help the industry value chain prepare for the future

• Provide key insights on how live meetings could evolve by 2020

• Help meeting owners, managers and designers think about the future customer experience

• Help venues and destinations think about the implications for their strategy

• Suggest emerging strategies, approaches and business models for events, venues and destinations

• Use a highly participative ‘open' research process to educate and inspire participants