Expectations are shifting. Gen Z employees want greater work-life flexibility, hard-pressed clients want more for less. Inclusivity and sustainability are pushed to the top of the agenda while the search continues for that quirky, unusual venue to deliver an immersive experience.

There is a restlessness and uncertainty about what the future holds, as highlighted by a C&IT roundtable discussion, produced in partnership with Meet Boston, at the recent Festival of Forums in Bristol where more than a dozen industry figures discussed their hopes and fears, using the key results from C&IT’s 2024 State of the Industry (SOTI) Report as a jumping-off point. 

Why talent ID is getting harder

More than half (60%) of the SOTI respondents expect recruitment to be challenging in the next 12 months and those concerns were echoed. “The younger generation would like more of a work-life balance,” said Aleksandra Nowak, senior project manager at HeadBox. That flexibility isn’t always simple to achieve in the events industry that does require intense periods away from home (and the office).

Danni Gunn, agency account director at Wakefield-based C2events, crystallised a more tangible recruitment issue, explaining that the events management degree course in her local area, which used to have more than 300 students, now had only 80. 

Stephanie Pappas, Meet Boston’s VP of international and sports sales, highlighted her company’s outreach programmes. “In the US, we're going into high schools so people can learn about our industry at a younger age,” she explained.

Catia Rocha, project manager at Activate Event Management, also said her company goes into schools but sounded a note of caution, saying: “There is a responsibility to be transparent about what you’re letting yourself in for because there are probably easier jobs and it’s not always as glamorous as advertised!”

Budgets: the waiting game

Cat Poulton, account director at Outsourced Events, bemoaned “every client budget is frozen or shrinking”, exacerbated by redundancies or restructures, causing a “refocusing on how they’re spending their budget and maybe being more prudent”.

Nowak saw it as being on “standby”, with clients waiting to see how the global economic situation played out. “This is really challenging because the budgets are coming really late and making lead times really short,” she added. The issue of shrinking lead times was familiar to many of the panellists.  

The long (haul) and short of it

One of the more surprising strands of discussion was about the choice of destinations from a sustainability perspective. Nowak revealed what seemed to others to be a counter-intuitive notion: “Clients are changing their mind about CSR and sustainability. I used to have clients who would only fly seven or eight hours maximum. But now they are keen to fly further if they can support a local community, or perhaps choose a less popular destination, because they want to make an impact on the local area.”

Respondents in the SOTI report highlighted North America as important destinations for 2024. “USA is back on the agenda – because of the improved exchange rate and better

Infrastructure,” said one, while another cited Canada as an “inexpensive” option. Denver and Boston were both mentioned because they’re “very well connected with great facilities.

Having direct flights is a significant help when clients are tight on time”.

Eastern Europe is also back on the agenda after losing its appeal following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Leigh Bacon, venues and projects manager for the We Are MEaT event agency, said both Montenegro and Georgia were both “geared up for MICE”. 

“We get mixed messages from clients about sustainability,” added Alex Palmer, managing director of Kina Events. “They want to travel by train to be more sustainable until it's really inconvenient.”

Tim Collett, managing partner at The Events Desk, talked of a former client who had “carbon budgets”, which were considered more important than traditional performance targets. He added: “Clients are increasingly wanting good access by train.” 

Mike Mahoney, managing director of FC Sport Experiences, agreed: “We’re trying to encourage train travel and most people we talk to would prefer a four or five hour train ride rather than flying because the time spent is almost the same and is much more comfortable.” 

The carbon calculation

The discussion about travel led into a wider conversation about sustainability. Choosing a venue with sustainable credentials (82.2%) and encouraging the use of public transport (64.4%) were the two most popular sustainability measures taken by our respondents. 

Eleanor Young, events manager at The Smarty Train, talked about “carbon calculation” but “it needs the whole company to be on board, because it’s not just a little extra added thing”.

Young added: “It needs to be incentivised for people to really get on board with it. In other words, slightly gamified.” 

Poulton explained: “We’re at the start of our journey but, interestingly, two of our clients have now mandated that we be on carbon neutral programmes and if we don’t take part then we have to give part of the profits or our fees back to them.”

For Collett, it’s about a shift in attitude to the supply chain. “Our first priority is using local suppliers rather than shipping stuff around, which is a big change.”

DE&I: still a work in progress

The SOTI report’s responses prioritised accessibility needs, dietary requirements and a more diverse range of speakers. 

But Collett admitted: “There’s a lot of work to be done. From a corporate point of view there’s still a toxic masculinity, particularly around neurodiversity.” Bacon wants better signage, adding: “I don't actually think that we are on board with neurodiversity.”

Palmer believes that diversity and inclusion is still an “afterthought” for too many event producers while Holly Strout, global accounts manager at Helmsbriscoe, highlighted the “unseen disabilities” that are not accounted for or understood.

Young hopes that there is a generational shift in thinking and expectation who “expect better standards”. She added: “A lot of us maybe haven’t been brought up to attend even to our own needs. The more the spectrum of different experience is broadened and what we perceive as normal changes, the more it benefits everybody.”

Tech and surprises

Young urged event producers to look at gamifying their offering. “We’re seeing a massive appetite from newer, early-career workers who are keen for gamified self-led, personalised agendas and moving away from sitting, listening to presentations. There are so many ways to involve new tech in live events.”

Mahoney, whose company specialises in sporting venue experiences, said that using “unusual and different venues can elevate a meeting and engage people”. He cited an example of an event that took place in a basketball academy where the court was used for meetings, the scoreboard as a timer and basketballs were brought on to the court during breaks. “So people had coffee in one hand and free throws in the other,” joked Mahoney.

Mahoney also suggests “integrating memorable elements” into the more mundane aspects of an event such as airport transfers. “I was at an event in Latvia and our transfer at the end was by a fleet of Harleys.”

Transporting delegates by iconic American motorcycles might not be to the taste – or budget – of every event organiser, it does highlight the need to stay agile and be ready to adapt to changing times and expectations. Just like those Harleys, the event industry is on a journey.