News & Trends

What’s happening — or coming up next — in the meetings and events world and beyond.

How Many Who Register Actually Attend Virtual Events?

Great news: The number of registrants to your upcoming online event has surpassed expectations. But, how many can you expect to actually attend? And how long will they stick with your program? Several members of the PCMA Catalyst Community shared their experiences.

BY Convene Editors October 19, 2020

Taking a Leap of Faith After a Job Loss

How one event professional who lost her job channeled her anger and grief into a podcast project designed to uplift others in the hospitality and business events industry — and made a possible career pivot.

BY Curt Wagner October 16, 2020

Working From Home: What’s on Your ‘It’s Okay to…’ List?

How the pandemic has changed workplace culture — where the place most of us find ourselves working from is home — to be more emotionally intelligent

BY Michelle Russell October 15, 2020

2 Formats That Foster Connection at Virtual Events

Now that experience designers have discovered the power of digital to assemble large audiences, engineering personal connection is next, says Storycraft Lab’s Naomi Clare, who has experimented with two formats to accomplish that.

BY Barbara Palmer October 14, 2020

What the Inaugural Future of Cities Festival Can Tell Us About the Future of Events

The three-day hybrid event will not only explore areas relevant to the business events industry but offer a “living lab” for event organizers.

BY Jennifer N. Dienst October 14, 2020

What Do Health-Care Practitioners Want From Virtual Events?

A new study from Kenes Group finds that high-quality content rules, but engagement, duration, and accessibility are also key.

BY Jennifer N. Dienst October 12, 2020

3 Keys to Speaker Success at a Virtual Event

The founder of a speakers bureau recently shared with Convene what event organizers need to keep in mind when working with presenters at online events.

BY Casey Gale October 12, 2020

‘We Have Flown Away From Events and Landed Somewhere Else’

We have to stop thinking that we are creating online events, says event producer Heather Mason, and reimagine them as broadcasts. Having that mindset will not only change how the experience is delivered to an audience, it will make organizers far more valuable to their organizations.

BY Michelle Russell October 12, 2020

Why Did Four Times More Women Than Men Leave the Workforce in September?

Of the 1.1 million U.S. workers who dropped out of the labor force last month, 80 percent were women. Here are some recommendations from workplace experts on how to stop the coronavirus crisis from creating a backwards slide in gender diversity.

BY Michelle Russell October 8, 2020

4 Keys to Unlocking Digital Collaboration

Social connections, having the right tools, and mental and physical health all boost employees’ ability to work collaboratively. What could that mean for digital meetings?

BY Barbara Palmer October 7, 2020

How a Quick Switch to Hybrid Saved This Pharma Event in Vienna

A new round of travel restrictions announced days before an in-person pharmaceutical event in Vienna was held in September prevented half of the face-to-face registrants from attending, but a virtual platform proved to be the prescription for success.

BY Jennifer N. Dienst October 7, 2020

Polls Show What Attendees Find Challenging and What They Want at Virtual Events

At the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) digital Predict conference last month, Harris Poll CEO John Gerzema presented results of surveys taken of attendees in April and September — and some comparisons between the two results illustrate how quickly online events have evolved.

BY Michelle Russell October 5, 2020

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