Trends for Festivals & Events – Fall 2017
Notes & Trends for Fall 2017 - from the International Festivals and Events Association Conference 2017
From the opening keynote through the last, conference attendees were gifted with amazing speakers and oodles of ideas. Attendees included innovative event vendors, festival planners, city officials, and more! The conference not only celebrated many industry professionals who have made a positive impact on our industry, but introduced attendees to many new ideas to move organizations forward and keep them fresh!
Let's explore some of the common themes and trends from the event!
1. DO GOOD
A large emphasis at the event started with keynote speaker, Lesa Ukman, as she discussed the importance of social impact moving forward. Her words not only ring true for events and sponsorships, but to business as a whole. New generations are demanding social progress.
"Don't strive to be the best in the world, strive to be the best for the world."
- Lesa Ukman
She discussed how more companies are partnering with charities and non-profits, and even weaving advocacy into their core values. In the event industry, many companies are incorporating cause-overlays to their event sponsorships to accomplish this. She also noted that events should incentivize purposeful activation and activate attendees socially throughout the year.
2. FORM UNIQUE PARTNERSHIPS
Another theme amongst the sponsorship speakers was to create partnerships based on solving mutual problems. This includes getting to know your potential partner's business goals and problems to create solutions that are mutually beneficial. The key factor to accomplishing this is incorporating relational sales into your culture. Tending to the relationships of your sponsors is a year-round commitment.
3. ACTIVATE AND CREATE EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING
Events need to create once in a lifetime experiences for their attendees, but they also need to create one in a lifetime opportunities for their sponsors to reach consumers. This includes weaving their goals into the activities of the event. Getting your sponsors involved is another way to create fun for attendees and value for sponsors.
4. CONVENIENCE & EFFICICIENCY
Modern times are all about convenience. Attendees expect convenience and convenience will help your sales. There are many new technologies out there that cater to the problems events experience. From volunteer management softwares, to sponsorship valuation companies, to POS wristband solutions, to attendance tracking, you can create more convenience for your attendees, while also creating more efficiency for your event. The other great thing about incorporating these new technologies is the data you will not have access to that will enable you to improve and optimize future events.
5. SAFETY
Worst case scenarios is never something people want to think about, but it is on the forefront of many attendee's minds. There are thousands of ways that an event can go sideways very quickly, but many planners don't even know where to begin. Many of the sessions focused on safety precautions and how to address them.
6. VIDEO IS CHANGING
Video is a huge asset to many events. You can read more about how to use new video tech for your events, and read even more about video marketing trends here.