event planners

Articles tagged 'event planners'

Julie Austin

Speaking Industry Forecast 2020

By | January 21, 2020 | 9:59 am

Every year American Express puts together a global meetings and events forecast. This year over 550 meeting and event specialists from 5 continents and 33 countries took part in the study. The great news for speakers is that there is optimism across the board that the meeting and event industry is still in a growth phase. The speaking industry forecast 2020 is bright!

Speaking industry forecast 2020

Spending is up in North America, Europe, Central/South America and Asia. Meetings are going to be longer, meaning more opportunities for more speakers. I’m already hearing about meetings and conferences that are looking for several keynote or general speakers. 70% of meeting and event leaders have said they are very optimistic about the future of meetings.

Face to face meetings are still one of the best ROI for businesses. Virtual meetings will be up slightly as well, but nothing beats face to face meetings for serious networking.

Good news for those speakers who have their own sponsors is that there will be more people attending meetings and conferences in 2020. The bigger the audience, the more money you can get from your sponsors.

More money for speakers

Spending is also up across the board, but that doesn’t always translate into more money for speakers, since the costs of everything they have to pay for is also going up and they have to factor that into their budgets. So event planners may still be dealing with having to do more with less, which is still fine if you have you own sponsors.

Since prices will be going up and demand will exceed supply, planners will probably start planning events further in advance.

Just like last year, interactive technology is playing a bigger role. Over half of planners want their attendees to have a great experience and are devoting more time to making that happen. Engagement is going to continue to be a huge part of events, both during the event and afterwards through polling, etc.

Most planners also agree that this is the year to have fully integrated technology at events, as long as it’s integrated successfully. Are you a technology speaker who can address this issue?

Wellness will play an important role in meetings in 2020. Are you a wellness or work life balance speaker who can help?

And events will also become more and more personalized, with feedback from attendees.

The good news for speakers is that the meeting and event industry will continue to be strong in 2020. Figure out how you fit into the picture and how you can help planners shine.

Julie Austin

Speaking Industry Forecast 2019

By | February 19, 2019 | 7:34 pm

The speaking industry in 2018 showed an increase in the number of meetings that would require speakers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently posted that between 2016-2026 the meeting and event industry would grow an average of 11%. The fastest growth in meetings and events is in the 101-500 attendee range.  More bureau statistics show that 85% of meeting and event planners are optimistic about the future.

Speaking industry forecast 2019

But that doesn’t mean meeting planners don’t have challenges. The number one challenge on their list, according to Event Manager Blog, is budgets. The meeting industry continues to grow, and the economy remains strong, That also means their prices are going up and they have to deal with rising costs of venues, etc. It’s expected to increase an average of 2.2% globally.

More jobs for speakers

The great news for you as a speaker is that there are simply more jobs out there, paid ones and free ones. But even as the number of meetings increases, unfortunately meeting planners’ budgets will remain relatively flat. According to American Express Meetings and Events North American, the change from 2018 to 2019 is only +0.8%.

Local or regional events

Also, according to American Express Meetings, airfares are increasing 2.11% in North America and an average of 2.63% globally. As a speaker your odds of booking a local or regional event are much better. As a speaker, if you must travel, try and book more than one event in a location to save on those expenses or use frequent flyer miles or get sponsorship to help out if the expenses aren’t covered by a job. More than once I’ve booked a job because I was able to get creative with travel and sponsorship.

Because of rising venue costs, meeting planners are having to book further out than before when hotels were struggling. Now many hotels don’t even respond to requests for proposals. So as a speaker, be prepared for meeting planners to also book talent further in advance.

Emotional connection to the audience

Here’s more good news for speakers. According to CWT Meetings and Events, “Booking a speaker based on their celebrity status will be a thing of the past in 2019, as the importance, business insight, and emotional connection to the audience comes first.”

Technology use will continue to increase for meeting planners as events become more and more interactive and experiential. Event management tools like multi-use apps will become more popular. Meeting planners are looking for ways to increase productivity and decrease costs.

More experience creation

According to the International Association of Conference Centers, “80% of event planners say that their jobs involve more experience creation than they did 2-5 years ago.” Their audiences want fresh concepts and purposeful meetings.

Mindfulness and wellness continue to play a big part in the design of meetings, and that includes speakers who can tap into that area of work/life balance.

With unemployment rates at historically low records, employees are having a hard time finding and retaining good talent, so the topic of employee retention will continue to be needed for the near future.

If you happened to take the Speaker Sponsorship 101 webinar you know that trade shows are a good way to break in as a speaker with sponsorship. The Center for Exhibition Industry research noted that the trade show industry is also growing, but not as fast. I’m sure they would love to have good, qualified speakers, but probably can’t pay them, so they would be open to them having their own sponsorship. This is a good way to get into an area where other speakers haven’t thought of going and carving out a niche for yourself with sponsorship.

This is all good news for speakers who can bring value and expertise to the table in 2019. It’s good news for the speaking industry forecast 2019.