January 1st approaches. It’s time to reflect on where we’ve been and where we’re headed. Here’s what I see in store for the meetings and events industry in 2011:
1. Meetings and exhibitions return to growth in 2011, as corporate travel restrictions ease and organizations seek additional education and training opportunities for staff.
2. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media will continue to grow in importance for meeting, trade show and event marketers. While it’s unlikely that social networks ever attain the lofty levels of their often over-hyped promise, they will prove to be valuable tools for marketing to prospect, communicating with members and creating community among participants.
3. The use of mobile apps created specifically for meetings, trade shows and events explodes as dozens of new programs emerge for attendee registration, personalized itineraries and maps, lead tracking and reporting.
4. Hybrid Meetings gain traction among marketers looking to rein in costs and reach remote participants. Growth comes slowly, however, as marketers choose to apply limited resources to support existing face-to-face programs.
5. “Aggressive Indecision” places greater pressure on both client-side and agency-side professionals. Organizations continue to delay, procrastinate, and put off decision making until the last possible minute. Meanwhile work loads increase as lead times decrease. Expectations grow as resources shrink. Time becomes just as scarce as money. Wait a minute…isn’t that just what we have now?
6. The iPad takes over exhibit marketing, becoming a ubiquitous registration device, mobile demo station, survey device, lead retrieval platform and more.
What developments do you see in the year ahead? Any trends that didn’t make my list? Share the vision and let us know what you see on the horizon for 2011.