The document summarizes a presentation given by Dan Berger, CEO of Social Tables, about the future of the meetings and events industry. Some of the key points discussed include: - The hospitality industry has evolved over the past two decades with hotels demanding higher profits, automated booking becoming more common, and supplier pricing power increasing. - The future of meetings and events is expected to include more virtual and hybrid events, automation impacting administrative planning work, and a culture shift in the industry as a new generation enters. - Strategies for managing changes include developing learning habits to stay professionally relevant, embracing new technologies, and gaining executive-level interactions to demonstrate the value meetings provide.

1. Dan Berger
CEO
Social Tables
June 2017
Meetings in Twenty Years
Our Industry’s Future...

2. ● Your time is valuable. You’re free to leave any time.
● No one knows everything. Questions welcome whenever.
● Spread the knowledge. Take as many photos and share.
Interact with me and the audience...
● me on twitter = @danberger
● hashtag = #WEC17
● Use glsr.it/dan to ask questions remotely
Presenter-Audience Agreement

4. 100 employees
Raised $22.6 million
Founded in 2011

5. Boost event sales overnight.
Sales Success Platform
Fuel demand.
Attract Fortune 500
planners with the space
search engine.
Grow bookings.
Engage qualified
planners with interactive
content marketing.
Win more.
Negotiate faster with
personalized proposals.
Deliver better.
Create accurate setups
that lead to repeat
business.
Destination Convert Propose Diagram→→ →

6. Free Planner Essential
● 100% accurate floorplans
● 181,000 unique event spaces
● Live collaboration
● 700+ custom objects
● Free diagramming capability
Plan for the unplannable with
collaborative event software
and accurate floorplans that
make it easy.

7. 4,350 customers creating
2 million events with
250 million participants

9. We envision a world where face-
to-face events achieve great things
Sample of the 40+ awards Social Tables and its leadership have received.

10. 1. Describe the way the hospitality industry has evolved
over the past 2 decades.
2. Discover what the future holds for meetings and
events.
3. Examine strategies to manage these changes.
Learning Objectives

11. 1. Describe the way the hospitality industry has evolved
over the past 2 decades.
2. Discover what the future holds for meetings and
events.
3. Examine strategies to manage these changes.
Learning Objectives

12. GROUP DISCUSSION
How has meeting planning
changed over the past two
decades?
@remote use glsr.it/dan

25. 1. Describe the way the hospitality industry has evolved
over the past 2 decades.
2. Discover what the future holds for meetings and
events.
3. Examine strategies to manage these changes.
Learning Objectives

26. GROUP DISCUSSION
What do you think meetings
will look like in 20 years?
@remote use glsr.it/dan

27. Current trends &
supporting data
This is the framework
A series of
mini-predictions
Mega prediction

28. TREND ALERT
Hotels are more cognizant
than ever of their cost
structure.

29. New JLL report examines global hotel investment trends

30. The way we book
● Owners will demand even higher profit margins.
● Most group business booking will be automated.
● Most group business will be booked direct thanks to
matching algorithms.
● Supplier pricing power will be even stronger due to
consolidation.

31. Commissions will decrease significantly.

32. TREND ALERT
Predictable physical work is
being replaced by machines.

33. Where machines could replace humans—and where they can’t (yet). McKinsey.

34. Deals To Robotics Startups Drop For Third-Straight Quarter

35. ● The best photographers will know how to fly.
● Robots will replace some security personnel.
● Robot will be used in to setup/teardown events.
● Interacting with robots will be socially acceptable.
● The price of robots will decrease below labor costs.
Our relationship with machines

36. Robots will be used in event operations.

37. TREND ALERT
New ways to travel are
changing our behavior.

38. ● Autonomous vehicles will unlock new destinations.
● Homesharing will add inventory everywhere.
● Events could happen anywhere.
The destinations we partner with

39. Remote destinations will compete with
traditional ones.

40. TREND ALERT
A new computing platform is
emerging.

41. What’s Next In Computing? Dixon, Chris. | Internet Trends 2017 Report. Meeker, Mary.

42. ● Site visits won’t be as common.
● Telepresence will be hyper-realistic.
● The way we experience events will change.
The technology we experience

43. Virtual and real events will become one.

44. TREND ALERT
We are entering a new
industrial revolution
centered around artificial
intelligence.

45. Sapiens. Hariri, Yuval Noah.

46. The fourth industrial revolution: a primer on Artificial Intelligence. Kelnar, David

47. The work we do
● Administrative planning work will be automated.
● Attendee preferences will follow them around.
● Events will have higher ROI because we will rely less
on serendipity.

48. AI will impact events in many ways.

49. TREND ALERT
A new generation is entering
our industry and bringing its
own set of principles.

50. ● Transparency will be one of our core values.
● Trust will be measured digitally.
● We will be more comfortable sharing information
with our industry partners.
● Hotel sales professionals will be measured by the
success of their meetings.
The way we do business

51. There will be a culture shift in our industry.

52. TREND ALERT
Events are getting a facelift
as face-to-face becomes
more coveted.

53. Internet Trends 2017 Report. Meeker, Mary.

54. ● User conferences will replace some traditional
meetings.
● Large meetings will warehouse smaller ones.
● Influencer marketing will play an important role in
driving attendance.
● Influencers will create popup events.
● Festivilized events (“experiences”) will be the norm.
The DNA of events

55. Attention will be a planner’s most
coveted commodity.

56. TREND ALERT
The meeting planning
profession is entering
primetime.

57. ● The value of meetings will be universally understood.
● The meeting planning profession will be more
respected.
● Meeting planners will interact with executives on a
regular basis.
The value we bring

58. The meetings industry will be taken
more seriously.

59. GROUP DISCUSSION
What did I miss? What are
predictions you anticipate?
@remote use glsr.it/dan

60. 1. Describe the way the hospitality industry has evolved
over the past 2 decades.
2. Discover what the future holds for meetings and
events.
3. Examine strategies to manage these changes.
Learning Objectives

61. GROUP DISCUSSION
What can you do to stay
ahead of the curve?
@remote use glsr.it/dan

62. How to futureproof your career
Adapted from Beyond Automation, HBR, 2015

64. We’re all born with a natural curiosity. We want to learn.
But the demands of work and personal life often
diminish our time and will to engage that natural
curiosity. Developing specific learning habits can be a
route to both continued professional relevance and
deep personal happiness.
- John Coleman, Passion & Purpose
“

65. Q&A

66. Free Planner Essential
● 100% accurate floorplans
● 181,000 unique event spaces
● Live collaboration
● 700+ custom objects
● Free diagramming capability
Plan for the unplannable with
collaborative event software
and accurate floorplans that
make it easy.

67. Staying in touch