Meetings in 2025: Predictions for the Future

Meetings in 2025:
Predictions for
the Future
Dan Berger
Founder, VP, and GM
Cvent | Social Tables
@danberger @socialtables | #WEC19

I’m a believer.
I’m a supplier.
I’m a participant.
I’m a planner.

To connect the world through group
business software that creates successful
face-to-face events.

About Social Tables
Founded in 2011
Over 2,500 hotel customers worldwide
94% annual hotel retention rate
Over 100,000 events per month
2% increase in F&B proﬁts among customers
Acquired by Cvent
18k planners submit RFIs annually
through Event Sales Solution

About Cvent
Founded in 1999
4,000+ Employees in 4 Continents
300,000 Users in 100+ Countries
260,000+ Hotels & Venues Listed in Cvent Supplier Network
2.6M+ total RFPs submitted through
the CSN in 2018
$16B+ sourced in 2018 through
The Hospitality Cloud
Acquired Social Tables

New Products From Social Tables
Next Generation
Event Diagramming
Photo-Realistic
3D Diagramming
Cvent Supplier
Network Integration
Sales & Catering Customer
Relationship Manager

Learning Objectives
1. Develop insight into the current
state of the global meetings and
events market.
2. Review predictions for how
forecasted trends will impact the
market within the coming decade.
3. Apply these trends to ensure you
and your organization stay ahead
of the competition.

The Industry is Changing in Front
of Our Eyes
1. Commission rates have been “corrected”
2. Consolidation continues in every corner of the industry
a. Supply-side: Focusing on niche brands: Hyatt <> Two Roads; IHG <> Regent
b. Buy-side: TMCs getting into technology: AmEx <> Resy
c. Vendor-side: PSAV has acquired Freeman’s Encore (pending regulation)
d. Tech-side: Cvent <> WeddingSpot, DoubleDutch; Airbnb <> Gaest, HotelTonight; Infor
<> ReServe Interactive
3. We’re still in a sell-side market... but for how long?

The Rules of the Road
1. Trends, backed by data.
2. Micro-predictions built off of those trends.
3. Predictions are generally sorted by ‘happening
now’ to ‘will happen later.’
4. Macro-predictions at the end of each section.
5. This is meant to expand your thinking, not to
scare you.

100 Studies
52 Slides
41 Trends
10 Predictions

Global hotel investment
volumes are holding steady in
2019

Convention hotels are a thing of
the past

Limited and select service is the
name of the game

● Owners will continue to be hands-on and
involved.
● Chains will become more interested in smaller
groups.
● Chains will pay more attention to limited & select
service hotels.
● 2019 will be the last of our current growth cycle.
Owners are focusing on every
aspect of their hotels

We are about to enter a
buyer’s market

US meat consumption has
shifted towards chicken

The US is an outlier in terms of
beef consumption

Alternative meats are picking up
steam
Beyond Meat (BYND) stock; May-June 2019

Beer accounts for less than 50%
of alcohol consumption

● Local fast-casual concepts will take the place of
unique restaurants in hotels.
● CBD-infused drinks will appear on beverage
menus.
● Lab-grown meats will replace more traditional
options.
● Some events will be alcohol-free to cater to
sober-curious attendees.
Every aspect of F&B is being
challenged

Events will be meatless and
alcohol-free

Consumers are more concerned
about their personal data

There is increased pressure to
regulate big tech

We are spending more time on
digital media than ever before

● GDPR-inspired regulation will be the global
norm.
● Some attendees will go badgeless.
● Attendees may prefer to be marked as “do not
scan.”
● Device-free events will be welcomed and
enforced.
Privacy standards are set to
increase

Attendees will have the option
of being anonymous

Employers are embracing
remote work

Freelancers are a growing part of
the economy

● Pop-up coworking events will appear.
● Airbnb will enter the coworking space.
● Hotels will offer coworking amenities as they
transform to lifestyle products.
Coworking is the new normal

Coworking will be a key
component of events

Community events are growing
as people seek connectedness
Total Meetup.com Group joins per week

Employee engagement is the key
to positive business outcomes

HR is going to devote more
resources for employee events
● Internal events are going to be more important
than external events.
● Employers will provide event planning training
for their employees.
● New meeting formats will be created to better
include a remote workforce.
● Events will be viewed as perks that win in the war
for talent.

Internal events will be seen as a
key employee retention tool

● Successful events will subcontract content from
specialized frenemies.
● Unconventional organizations will enter the
event planning business.
● Most activations will be roaming, making
experiences less sequential and more ﬂuid.
Staying relevant will be more
difﬁcult

Event organizers will need to be
more ﬂexible than ever

Creating a digital supply channel
has become easy

● There will be new specialized digital distribution
channels for sourcing groups and meetings.
● Suppliers will proactively reach out to well-suited
planners.
● Hotels will introduce direct booking for groups.
● Hotel sales reps focused on new business will
move into different roles.
● Non-traditional hospitality brands will become
more vertically integrated.
Hotel sales and marketing for
groups is becoming more
complex

There will be more ways to
source groups & meetings

Predictable physical work can be
replaced by machines

● Automation will give planners more time to be
creative.
● Simple proposals will be automated while more
robust ones will start costing money.
● Hotels and meeting planners will choose
consolidated event management platforms.
● Virtual site visits will augment in-person sites.
● Itineraries will be automated thanks to
recommendation engines.
● Floor plans will be more unique thanks to machine
learning.
● Robots will replace staff that attendees don’t want
to interact with.
Technology is upgrading every
step in event planning

Technology will augment the
way we plan for the better

The middle class is growing
globally

● The growing global middle class means more
prospective attendees.
● Home-sharing will add new inventory in areas
with limited hotel supply.
● Driverless vehicles will unlock new destinations.
● “Last mile” commutes will ease clogged arteries
during events.
● Secondary markets will compete with traditional
ones.
New ways to travel will open up
new possibilities

Events will be more accessible
both in terms of attendance
and location

There is a gap between what
businesses say and what
millennials believe

New voices are entering the
industry
● Every event will consider diversity & inclusion
from the planning committee to the program
itself.
● Organizations will take a strong stand on social
justice issues, impacting meetings and events.

The next generation’s values will
be reﬂected in the way we plan

Reminder: Hand me your card and I’ll send you the slides!
(It will include last year’s slides.)
Visit socialtables.com to learn more about the
world’s most popular diagramming solution.
Dan Berger
Founder, VP & GM
Cvent | Social Tables
@
danberger @
socialtables | #W
EC19

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