Event Industry Global Market Research January 2013 Survey commissioned by IML Worldwide and conducted during November and December 2012. Survey questionnaire distributed to database of existing IML Worldwide clients and partners as well as to a number of relevant LinkedIn groups. Input from over 300 event companies and event stakeholders worldwide What are the key trends in the use of technology to harvest audience response and interaction globally and in local markets? How is the event industry adapting to accommodate the role of Interactive Event Technology? What value do event owners place on the gathering of data and information at events and meetings? What key features do event owners value most from Interactive Event Technology? Report copyright IML Worldwide
found on page 15 of this document. One thing is clear our industry continues to change at pace as do the opportunities represented by the new technologies available within it. This is a major opportunity for our industry, coming at a time when Return on Investment is becoming a prerequisite. INTRODUCTION Over recent years our industry has evolved as technology advancements occur and philosophies on shared intelligence develop. IML Worldwide s global reach and 20 years experience means we have a unique perspective on these changes; many of which we have led or significantly contributed to. We are always interested in listening to our clients and industry colleagues to understand their perspectives about the direction of our industry and gaining more insight about what is important to them; it is this ethos that led to the commissioning of the survey. There have been a number of interesting findings and a summary of the research can be Moving forward, the informed meeting stakeholder will need to recognize the merits of the different opportunities available; selecting and incorporating them into their events accordingly. Please enjoy the findings and if you would like to discuss any of them in more detail with either myself or my team please get in touch. Regards Richard Fisher CEO, IML Worldwide richard.fisher@imlworldwide.com IML WORLDWIDE Bohunt Manor Portsmouth Road Liphook, Hampshire, GU30 7DL Phone: +44 1428 721 000 1
ABOUT THE SURVEY Total number of responses Types of business and organizations taking part Event Industry Supplier 16.2% Charity & Not For Profit 15.7% Event Industry Agency 13.7% Other 12.5% Financial & Banking 11.6% Marketing 9.8% Public Sector 6.9% Healthcare 5.9% IT, Telecomms & Technology 4% Industry & Utilities 2% 336 Consumer Goods & Retail 1.7% Geographical split UK 25.5% ASIA 4.1% EUROPE 19.6% USA 16.6% AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND 22% SOUTH AFRICA 5.8% OTHER 6.4% Report copyright IML Worldwide 2
Job Title CEO 13.5% Marketing/Comms/Events Director 16.6% Marketing/Comms/Events Manager/Executive 29.5% Production/Technical Executive 5.2% PA, Training or HR Executive 5% Charity Director/Trustee/Fundraiser 2.4% Event Company Executive 15.4% Other 12.4% ABOUT THE EVENTS Types of event Conferences 41.3% Other 16% Fundraising Events 15.1% Staff/Employee Meetings 10.5% Training/Accreditation 6.4% AGMs 4.7% Launches 4.6% Elections 1.4% Report copyright IML Worldwide 3
Number of events hosted per year by each company/organization 23.3% Event Industry, Agencies and Suppliers 0% Other Companies & Organizations 5.8% 38.2% 8.8% 50% 3.4% 14.8% 23.3% 32.4% Less than 10 events 10 30 events 30 50 events Over 50 events Over 100 events Average number of people attending each event Under 20 6.7% 20 50 50 100 13% 14.7% 100 300 27.6% 300 500 17% 500 1,000 Over 1,000 8.5% 10.2% Over 5,000 2.3% Report copyright IML Worldwide 4
GATHERING INFORMATION AT EVENTS How important is it to gather information and insight from the audience at your events? Metrics and feedback show that the attendees understand the event content. PRODUCTION EXECUTIVE, HEALTHCARE 6.4% 33.7% 42.4% 17.5% Not important Quite important Very important Vitally Important KEY FINDING 59.9% OF THOSE SURVEYED BELIEVE IT IS EITHER VERY IMPORTANT OR VITALLY IMPORTANT TO GATHER INSIGHT FROM THEIR EVENT AUDIENCES We need to ensure we are presenting at the right level to the audience, to enable us to tailor the topics, ask questions and establish general patterns in the crowd. MARKETING EXECUTIVE, LAW FIRM IN RELATION TO LEGAL SEMINARS Report copyright IML Worldwide 5
What technologies do you use at events to gather audience insight? 0 5 10 15 20 Texting/Messaging 13.4% Wireless Microphone 16.4% Voting/Polling 19.1% Portable PA 7.8% Agenda 8.4% Social Media 10.8% Simultaneous Translation/Interpretation 8.6% Sponsorship/Branding 9.3% Data tracking 5.9% Have not used any 0.3% KEY FINDINGS It is becoming easier to get delegates using their own equipment (phones/tablets) to interact in-meeting tweeting is quite common and you need to be part of that conversation, not just an observer. MARKETING DIRECTOR, UTILITIES USING TECHNOLOGY AT EVENTS IS NOW THE NORM. ONLY 0.3% OF RESPONDENTS SAY THEY HAVE NEVER USED SOME FORM OF TECHNOLOGY. VOTING/POLLING REMAINS THE MOST COMMONLY USED FEATURE, BUT THE BREADTH OF RESPONSES DEMONSTRATED THE INCREASINGLY WIDE USE OF AUDIENCE INSIGHT TECHNOLOGY. Report copyright IML Worldwide 6
EVENT PLANNING EVENT PLANNING How important is considering return on investment when planning your events? CEOs Not important 17.4% Other roles Quite important 19% Very important 34.9% Vitally important 28.7% Not important 10.2% KEY FINDINGS Quite important 27% Very important 42.9% RETURN ON INVESTMENT MATTERS FOR THE EVENT STAKEHOLDER, ESPECIALLY THE CEOs OVER 60% BELIEVE THAT ROI IS EITHER VERY IMPORTANT OR VITALLY IMPORTANT Not important 3.4% Quite important 15.9% Very important 40.8% Vitally important 39.9% Vitally important 19.9% To maximize the success of an event, how important is it to plan early? Report copyright IML Worldwide 7
Ideal versus actual time taken to plan an event ACTUAL IDEAL 1-4 weeks 17% 9% 1 2 months 28% 15.8% IDEAL ACTUAL 3 4 months 27% 31.7% 5 6 months 11.9% 19.5% 6 12 months 12.2% 18.4% More than 12 months 3.9% 5.6% KEY FINDINGS THERE IS AN AVERAGE VARIANCE OF 40.7% BETWEEN THE IDEAL TIME EVENT STAKEHOLDERS REQUIRE TO PLAN AN EVENT AND THE ACTUAL TIME THEY GET TO PLAN AN EVENT. THIS COULD BE A DIFFERENCE OF UP TO 6 MONTHS! MOST EVENT STAKEHOLDERS 51.2% BELIEVE THEY NEED 3 6 MONTHS TO PLAN AN EVENT BUT 45% OF EVENTS ARE ACTUALLY PLANNED IN 1 WEEK 2 MONTHS INTERACTIVE EVENT TECHNOLOGY How important do you believe it is to obtain specialist advice prior to the event in order to maximize the insight gained through interactive event technology? Not important 9.0% Quite important 36.7% Very important 39.9% Vitally important 14.4% 9.0% 36.7% 39.9% 14.4% Report copyright IML Worldwide 8
How important can the use of interactive event technology be in maximizing an event s overall success? Not important 4.5% Quite important 36.0% Very important 48.5% Vitally important 11.0% 11.0% 48.5% 4.5% 36.0% In what particular areas of an event can interactive event technology prove most useful? 0 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% Audience engagement 41% Voting/Polling 28.5% Instant Feedback 14.5% Q&A 5% Reporting 4% Messaging 3% Quizzes 3% Entertainment 1% KEY FINDINGS AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT IS BY FAR THE MOST POPULAR USE OF INTERACTIVE EVENT TECHNOLOGY AT EVENTS EVENTS ARE VERY MUCH BUSINESS BIASED WITH ONLY 1% OF SURVEY RESPONDENTS USING TECHNOLOGY PRIMARILY TO ENTERTAIN AUDIENCES Report copyright IML Worldwide 9
To what extent do you agree with the following statement. Without interactive event technology a significant amount of insight and knowledge is not captured at an event. Strongly disagree 1.9% Disagree 18.6% Agree 62.8% Strongly Agree 16.7% What are the most important selection criteria when choosing interactive event technology? Ease of use 41.3% Looks/style 1.9% Reliability/Security 20.6% Functionality 22.3% Price 13.9% KEY FINDINGS 79% BELIEVE AUDIENCE INSIGHT IS LOST WITHOUT THE USE OF INTERACTIVE EVENT TECHNOLOGY. The events we do require capture of the rich content that is created during the sessions so it is important when doing these sorts of events to have the right medium to capture that richness on. EVENT MANAGER, EVENT INDUSTRY AGENCY Report copyright IML Worldwide 10
KEY FINDINGS WHILST PRICE IS A FACTOR, EASE OF USE IS THE KEY SELECTION CRITERIA WHEN IT COMES TO THE UTILIZATION OF INTERACTIVE EVENT TECHNOLOGY FOLLOWED BY RELIABILITY AND FUNCTIONALITY TECHNOLOGY MUST FIT THE EVENT NOT VICE VERSA What do you believe are the most important features of interactive event technology? 15.2% 9.6% 39.6% 1.9% 5.9% 4.3% 3.3% 3.6% 10.2% 6.4% Texting/Messaging 15.2% Wireless Microphone 9.6% Voting/Polling 39.6% Portable PA 1.9% Agenda 5.9% Social media 4.3% Simultaneous translation/interpretation 3.3% Sponsorship/Branding 3.6% Data tracking 10.2% Networking 6.4% The major problem is often getting the people running a conference to focus on an event far enough in advance to make full use of the features of technology features. MARKETING DIRECTOR, BANKING With the economy and limited budgets you want to make sure you re gleaning as much from meetings/events as possible including realtime feedback & insights from your audience. Get the most bang for the buck. EVENT MANAGER, EVENT AGENCY Report copyright IML Worldwide 11
How important is post event analysis and feedback on the data/insight captured at the event? Not important 4.3% Quite important 20.3% Very important 47.3% Vitally important 28.1% Is post event feedback becoming more or less important? More important 66.0% Much more important 22.6% Less important 8.9% Much less important 2.0% How important is the insight gathered with interactive event technology at events in driving business decisions/strategy? 33.3% 45.8% 16.7% 4.2% Very important 45.8% Quite important 33.3% Vitally important 16.7% Not important 4.2% We get feedback from delegates on the speakers, as well as the general organization of the event, amongst other things. We find it better to get the information onsite, instead of expecting the delegates to complete questionnaires afterwards, which they then don t do. EVENT MANAGER, EVENT INDUSTRY SUPPLIER Gathering insight ensures we are presenting at the right audience level and enables us to tailor the topics, ask questions and establish general patterns in the crowd. MARKETING MANAGER, LEGAL COMPANY Report copyright IML Worldwide 12
KEY FINDINGS 89.1% BELIEVE THEIR ORGANIZATIONS COULD DO MORE TO MAXIMIZE THEIR INSIGHT Do you believe that your organization could do more to maximize the insight gained via interactive event technology at events? Agree 71.4% Strongly Agree 17.7% Disagree 8.9% Strongly disagree 2% How important is interactive event technology in contributing to a measurable return on investment for an event? Very important 43.9% Quite important 36.9% Not important 11.7% Vitally important 7.5% THE FUTURE OF INTERACTIVE EVENT TECHNOLOGY Do you believe interactive event technology will become more important in the future of events? Yes, much more important 58.1% Yes, a bit more important 21.0% Yes, it will become one of the most important aspects of an event 18.8% No 2.1% Use of this technology to invite audience participation requires engaged and capable meeting facilitators/chairmen to make sure the interaction is being taken full advantage of. PUBLICATIONS DIRECTOR, COMMUNICATIONS AGENCY Report copyright IML Worldwide 13
Having attended events where interactive event technology is used, the benefits are almost self explanatory, such as instant reactions, gauging audience participation and a general sense of a slick well run event. CEO, NOT FOR PROFIT In what particular areas of events will it become more important? Level of audience engagement 56.3% Ability to measure Return on Investment 12.9% Level of entertainment 3.9% Level of data/insight gained 19.7% Driving business strategy 7.2% 56.3% 12.9% 3.9% 19.7% 7.2% How much of a difference has interactive event technology made to events in the past 5 years? No difference 4.5% Small difference 34.4% Major difference 53.3% It s made the biggest difference 7.8% Report copyright IML Worldwide 14
RESEARCH SUMMARY Data gathering from delegates at events and conferences is important for event stakeholders (over 90% agree). Event stakeholders already utilize a variety of technologies to gather audience insight (including texting, social media and data tracking) and over 60% believe that interactive event technology has made a major or the biggest difference to events in the past five years. What s more over 75% also believe that interactive event technology will become either much more or one of the most important components of events in the future. There are two main ways in which event stakeholders believe interactive event technology will become more important in the future to increase audience engagement at events (56%) and to facilitate data and insight gathering (20%) both these factors point to the stakeholder wishing to maximize the input of delegates - getting the most from each whilst they are a captive audience at an event. As for post event feedback, over 85% believe this is becoming more important. Whilst cost is a factor when selecting interactive event technology it is not the main factor more stakeholders are concerned with Ease of Use (41%), Functionality (22%) and Reliability and Stability (20%). However, return on investment is an important factor for 90% of survey respondents. With the increasing use of technology within events so grows the belief that it is important to obtain specialist advice to assist in the maximization of insight harvesting at events. 95% of survey respondents believe specialist advice is important and 95% believe interactive event technology is important in terms of maximizing an event s overall success. Given the wealth of technology options and delivery platforms available it is not surprising that event stakeholders believe they need specialist guidance and consultancy in this area of event management. The missed opportunity Currently nearly 90% of event stakeholders believe they could do more to maximize the insight they gather via technology at events. An important statistic considering 95% also believe the insight gathered at events is important in driving business decisions and strategy. For further information contact Richard Fisher CEO IML Worldwide via richard.fisher@imlworldwide.com www.imlworldwide.com Report copyright IML Worldwide 15