Meetings and Events Industry News

Roll up, roll up, roll up! No, that's not a lyric from a song by either The Struts or Fitz and the Tantrums. That's instead the call of Blackstone, which has bought events tech provider PSAV with a likely plan of creating more roll-up mergers with similar vendors.

There's a lot of buzz around emerging technologies like augmented reality and facial recognition. Realistically, though, it's too early for these things to really catch on, but companies like Cvent want to be ready to deploy new products when and if they do.

Cvent wants to be opportunistic about adding emerging technologies like augmented reality to its broad stable of products for event professionals. For the time being, the focus is on making its products easier to use and reducing the fragmentation that can make life more complicated for its customers.

Planners are figuring out ways to lessen the impact of commission cuts, while many hoteliers in competitive markets have explored other ways to incentivize planners to book at their property. Creativity is necessary for planners to avoid a major financial hit with the industry now stacked against them.

The third party commission cuts by a growing number of hotel companies are emerging as planners’ biggest challenge in 2018. That’s followed by the current sellers’ market but, somehow, the cuts feel personal.

During our recent webinar, we discussed disruptions within the meetings and events industry that are forcing hoteliers to rethink how they attract planners. Register to get the recording!

Where Cvent leads, the rest of the event technology sector follows. That said, no one has yet to win out when it comes to emerging technologies like augmented reality and better solutions for sourcing small events.

Cvent wants to make it easier for customers to use a variety of its tools, in order to leverage the wide spectrum of data it collects on attendee behavior. Owing to the complexity of its platform, this remains a work in progress.

Corporate confidence is high, so more meetings are taking place offsite. This is putting pressure on planners to source and plan events more efficiently, so many are turning to mobile tools to help.

PCMA CEO Sherrif Karamat is guiding the meetings and events industry toward a future where conventions are better leveraged as platforms for long-term economic development and inclusive social progress.