Meeting planners not only follow the trends closely, but they also have a trendsetter mentality and practically refuse to ever play catch up! Here is what is hot in meetings for 2014.
According to IMEX, our attention spans are shorter than ever; your meetings are to be content driven and done so in a quick manner, but with added entertainment and pizzazz. A noteworthy consideration is that social media will continue to rise as it “will start to receive its own budget, and begin to play a meaningful and measurable part in marketing and communications strategies across the meetings and events industry.” For more trends from IMEX, click here.
Corbin Ball has shared his Technology Trends for 2014. According to Corbin, conference guide apps for your meetings have crossed from a cool addition to a necessity. Mobile social networking will continue to blossom, crowd sourcing gains greater footing and we will soon see a lot more wearable computers thanks to the gains made in items like Google Glass and Smartwatches. For more of Corbin’s tech watch, click here.
PCMA shares 4 big trends for this coming year. Their trends include a drop in meeting spend and attendees sticking to meetings offered closer to home. They too talk about the importance of utilizing social media in your meeting planning. One trend they share, and that I hesitate to share . . . are you ready – meeting planners will need to work more quickly as lead times are getting even shorter. I have said it before and I will say it again, you are miracle workers! Your ability to create miracles will continue to set you apart from many other people and career paths : ) For more from PCMA, click here.
Successful Meetings expects meeting spending to actually increase this year with location as a top priority in meeting planning. They also talk about how “meetings will have more of a technological footprint than in the past,” so be sure to read through the Corbin Ball blog mentioned above! For more on their trend take, click here.
Successful Meetings also gives us a taste of the food trends we can expect to enjoy this coming year. Chicken will go upscale, anchovies will be showing up in more than your standard Caesar Salad, and the flavors to savor are Asian and Middle Eastern. Forget the butter, creative spreads like vanilla tapenade, tomato jam, and rosemary hummus are expected to grace the tables. Also, anticipate Eatertainment to be on the menu; which includes the possibility of “high-def projectors, smell diffusers, speakers and LED lights” to entertain you as you dine. For more food updates, click here.
As always, I love to hear from you. What are your meeting predictions for this coming year? Share with me on my Facebook page!
* Thanks to PCMA for the image!
Jill,
Thanks for your fun post today. In our industry we are always looking/anticipating what the future holds so I found you info. to be very interesting! Happy 2014 to you.