Event Tech
Go AI or go extinct
TANYA PINCHUK , CEO AND CO-FOUNDER OF EVENT TECHNOLOGY PROVIDER EXPOPLATFORM , SAYS BUSINESSES WHICH IGNORE AI ARE IN DANGER OF BEING CONSIDERED INEFFECTIVE OR EVEN OBSOLETE IN THE NEXT THREE YEARS
M cKinsey research estimates generative AI could add up to $ 4.4tn annually to the global economy – increasing the impact of all AI by 15-40 %. For context , Japan ’ s GDP is $ 4.4tn and Germany ’ s is $ 4.3tn .
Has the rise in AI been positive for the events industry so far ? TP : We have definitely seen progress in the use of generative AI in event promotion , customer support and personalisation of services for visitors and sponsors . But effectiveness depends on pace of adoption .
Our industry is very conservative . We deliver well-established values of connecting people , but it became clear post-pandemic that we cannot continue to bring people together and expect this magic to happen on its own . Visitor expectations changed – especially among younger generations - – and event planners and organisers must keep pace .
Have there been any challenges to adopting generative AI in the events industry ? Kay ones include data unification , a lack of tech-savvy personnel and consolidating diverse data sources for analysis . Another is how real-time the data is . This is crucial for decisionmaking , necessitating tech-readiness within organiser teams for efficient data flow management .
Implementation of generative AI cannot be done in one go – it is a process of training algorithms on relevant data quality and quantity .
The best approach is to set goals , then track and correct results and methods over several editions of an event .
Can you provide examples of AI improving the offering at major events ? Alongside organisers , ExpoPlatform has identified five main domains where AI will play a big role : 1 . Event promotion and content creation . Generative AI is used by marketing teams to create quality content like event email invites , website marketing pieces , social media posts , adverts and more . One example of integration with event tech includes AI for the auto-fill of exhibitor company descriptions using publicly available information . 2 . Real-time supply / demand analysis . Generative AI enables realtime supply / demand analysis by constructing a supply-demand matrix . This correlates product categories represented by exhibitors / sponsors with visitor interest , aiding organisers to identify gaps and optimise offerings for future events . 3 . Pre-event engagement and personalisation of content Another way AI is integrated into the very core of event interactions is in networking / matchmaking . AI enhances pre-event engagement and personalisation by recommending content , sessions , products and connections based on registration data and behavioural analysis . This increases attendee engagement and conversion rates . Automated activation
Right : Tanya Pinchuk via tailored email marketing further boosts engagement . 4 . Customer support Generative AI powers chatbots for instant customer support . Additionally , it automates session annotation and summarisation , extracting key insights from sessions for enhanced attendee experiences . These customer care interactions – where up to 50 % can be automated – could increase productivity between 30-45 %, while improving visitor experiences and customer satisfaction scores . 5 . Predictive analytics Analytics enhanced with ML algorithms are mostly used in combined source data analysis , recognising different inputs then bringing them together . But the most sophisticated is a predictive analytics element , where organisers analyse different patterns of behaviour before and during the event to predict how likely people will be to go to events after registration and how likely they will return to the next edition .
This means we will hopefully see many more partnerships between organisers and technology vendors to build AI implementation roadmaps and accelerate the timeline .
ExpoPlatform research predicts about 70 % of total impact will be in pre-event engagement / personalisation and customer support , meaning it will bring the biggest monetary value for organisers . n
32 / CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD / ISSUE 130