In our annual Events Industry Forecast, Convene’s editors take a look at the top trends and new ideas shaping the meetings industry — and what’s on the horizon.

Technology is already creating disruption and new opportunities in the events industry, but what should you be paying attention to next? Convene editors share what’s happening now and what’s coming.

Event professionals in Europe and the U.S. are feeling uncertain about the global economic outlook, as well as how social and political changes will impact their events, according to research conducted by the Strategic Alliance of the National Convention Bureaux of Europe.

At PCMA’s Convening Leaders 2019, the Virtual Reality Empathy Experience, designed by researchers at Stanford University, gave participants a chance to experience the power of VR for themselves and to evaluate its potential use for their own events.

Event organizers often face competing needs: Suppliers rely on booth traffic while attendees want to pack in as many sessions as possible. Velvet Chainsaw’s Dave Lutz outlines strategies to please them both.

Organizers spend a lot of time putting together their conference’s education sessions. Models vary, but most include a 15- to 20-person conference committee (slotters) and an army of reviewers (graders). It’s time to rethink the traditional model for creating your conference’s education program.

Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how Freeman developed its award-winning AI-powered event chatbot service with smart tools including — of course — Alexa.

David Ryan Polgar, who started the initiative to help create a more thoughtful future towards technology, talks about how to approach event tech from an ethical standpoint.

Research shows Southeast Asians spend more time online than any other region, meaning social media influencers may be a key way to reach your audience.

For large conventions, logistics will hugely benefit from AI. Anything from people flow, food distribution, layout and power, security, and hospitality can all be supported with AI, says TEDxMelbourne’s Jon Yeo.