Event Tech, the 'Tech' industry that few talk about

Event organizers are increasingly demanding more technology: to optimize their processes, improve experiences and stay ahead of the curve. This is where Event Tech comes in.

The very nature of events can make their existence as an industry diffuse or go unnoticed. Think of going to a concert, being invited to a corporate event, attending an academic event, sharing a networking event, or even accompanying a friend to his or her wedding.

All of these are events and their organization requires a number of processes, activities and objectives that are behind the curtains and that we normally do not notice. It is because in fact, the idea is precisely that these processes go unnoticed and as attendees we only worry about enjoying the content and the experience.

But as in any other industry, event management is demanding more and more technology to optimize processes, improve experiences and stay ahead of the curve. This technological field is where Event Tech comes in,

What is Event Tech?

Event Tech refers to any digital tool, hardware or software, used before, after or during an event. This ranges from the initial marketing and outreach of an event, including the ticketing and registration processes, to event apps and interactions. These can be used for everything from organizing the details of an event, facilitating attendee engagement or administrative issues such as logistics, budgeting, scheduling, reservations, etc.

What is the size of the EventTech market?

The events industry is quite diverse, and is influenced by other sectors such as entertainment, corporate, education and sports. All of which have seen strong economic growth in recent years.

According to Allied Market Research the events industry was valued at US $1,135.4 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach US $1,552.9 billion by 2028. Registering a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11.2% from 2021 to 2028.

However, the specific market for Virtual Events, which is just a part of EventTech, according to research by Straits Research projects that the size of this market will increase from US $110.21 billion (2021) to US $617.33 billion in 2030. With a CAGR of 21.1%.

As a comparison we can see some of the tech sectors with the highest digital penetration and popularity in investment and StartUps created:

FintechUS $112.5 billion in 2021, US $699.5 billion in 2030. CAGR of 20.5%
HealthTechUS $145.6 billion in 2021, US $ 576.9 billion in 2030. CAGR of 16.9%
PropTechUS $18.2 billion in 2022, US $ 86.5 billion in 2032. CAGR of 16.8%
EdTechUS $183.4 billion in 2021, US $ 410.2billion in 2026. CAGR 16.0%
EventTechUS $110.2 billion in 2021, US $617.3 billion in 2030. CAGR of 21.1%

What are the most demanded Technologies in the Events industry?

After the COVID-19 pandemic, the event industry underwent a change that drove the digital culturalization of organizers, participants and suppliers. For almost two years most of the events that were not cancelled were held virtually, completely changing the industry's view of technology, platforms and digitalization in general.

In a post-pandemic era, there is still much debate as to whether virtual events will continue to have a future in an environment where in-person events are once again relevant. Within the industry, there is almost unanimous opinion that virtual events will continue to have significant relevance due to their cost-efficiency and geographic reach.

But beyond virtual events, this digital culturalization has opened doors to technologies, products and services that were previously rather incipient and little welcomed by organizers. Some of these are:

1. Digital Registration and Accreditation with QR Codes

A registration landing page with elements that facilitate the user experience and increase the registration rate. Automatic virtual badge generation and QR codes. Agile print-free logins or on-site self-printing machines connected to the cloud to be synchronized with registrations. Platforms such as Bmotik manage all of this in an integrated way with streaming, networking and other parts of the event value chain.

2. Streaming Platforms

From the popular ZOOM, to platforms such as HopinThese platforms allow the transmission of live content with interactive participation of the audience, content on demand, networking options, certificate generation, etc. These platforms allow to make virtual or hybrid 100% events, making the reach of any event much greater and the generation of digital communities starts to be linked much more to the events.

3. Event App

A 'game-changer' for an event is to have a app or webapp where attendees can consult the agenda, interact with other attendees, participate in activities, find relevant content and information and/or access their login information, among other options.

4. Artificial Intelligence for content generation

The integration of systems such as CHAT GPT is also starting to gain relevance in EventTech, proving to be a very useful tool in the generation of content such as invitations, blog posts, chat bots, etc.

5. RFID and Wearables

RFID is a technology that allows information to be carried on objects such as door handles, badges, cards, etc. For example, at the Tomorrowland music festival in Belgium, RFID handles were used to allow participants to connect with each other. Attendees' social media accounts and names were uploaded to the cloud. When two people met, they could touch their handles and send an email 'on tap' to each other.

6. Virtual Reality and AR

A trend in all industries. But in events they have a special relevance as they allow attendees to expose ideas, launches, games, providing an entertaining and different experience.

7. Event Marketing Platforms

There are platforms such as ConstantContact focused on helping the organizer to generate diffusion, find leads and generate sales/registration funnels. In order to improve the ROI of the events.

8. NFTs in Events

Little explored but with a clear trend towards the future, NFTs can be a revolution in the events industry, because they can be used to offer exclusive content, generate more secure tickets, create unique gift cards, among others. other benefits.

Conclusion

EventTech is an industry that is little talked about - compared to other more popular 'Tech' industries. However, it is a large market size, diverse and constantly growing and innovating sector with a growing number of StartUps, Software and specialized professionals. What makes it more interesting is that every day the many opportunities are being exploited that are still in constant discovery, given the recent digital penetration in this industry.