Insight: Issue 170| Wed 14 Feb

There’s love (and events news) in the air…

Well, the smoke has cleared, the dust has settled, and The Kansas City Chiefs are champions again for the 3rd time in 5 years! Congrats to Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and of course MVP Taylor Swift!

For this week’s Valentine’s events news round up, we have; Super Bowl halftime shows ranked; How planners are handling the shift to lower carbon travel; 9 most common event app issues and how to avoid them; Exhibition Industry Expects Further Growth in 2024: and Team Love releases Love Saves The Day sustainability report.

Super Bowl halftime shows ranked

First up, in honour of the greatest show in the world, and as a tip of the cap to Usher’s fine performance on Sunday, Rolling Stone magazine has kindly listed all Superbowl halftime shows from best to worst (spoiler alert – the worst is The Black Eyed Peas by some considerable distance).

From Prince’s historic blast of Purple Rain during a Miami thunderstorm, to Beyonce’s R&B and hip-hop masterclass, they’re all there  – as Rolling Stone aptly puts it,“THERE IS NO gig in music like the Super Bowl halftime show. You have 15 minutes to justify your legend. You have 150 million people watching”.

No pressure then.

How planners are handling the shift to lower carbon travel

As environmental concerns within the events industry grow, transporting delegates by train has been on the rise for the past year and continues to increase for 2024.

In a poll conducted by C&IT, almost 75% of planners said they would travel to events more by train in 2024. Surprisingly, over 25% of event professionals said they’d still look to drive or fly, stating time and efficiency as their reasons for taking top priority.

Trainline’s B2B arm, Trainline Partner Solutions, has recently revealed that British SMBs hope to strengthen their support in 2024 for lower carbon travel by implementing changes to corporate travel policies and budgets. This includes increasing rail usage.

Find out more here (login to C&IT magazine required)

9 most common event app issues and how to avoid them

It’s impossible to imagine even a mid-sized event without the support of an event management platform or app. However, the tools designed to enhance customer experience can sometimes lead to headaches for event organisers and overall dissatisfaction by exhibitors and attendees.

From poor networking to long signing up processes, the good people at Corporate Event News have compiled the 9 most common event app issues and (most importantly) how to avoid them.

Find out more here.

Exhibition Industry Expects Further Growth in 2024

Hurrah and huzzah – after weathering the storm of the 2020 pandemic, looks like the global exhibition industry is back to being in good health. In fact, UFI’s 32nd Global Exhibition Barometer spells out a dazzling future for the industry.

In 2024, revenues are set to smash pre-pandemic records, reaching 115% on average globally of the pre-pandemic level. However, as UFI President and CEO of DMG Events Geoff Dickinson states, securing sustainable growth for the sector is key:

“While our industry is doing very well as well, we need to learn a lot for it to stay that way, and we can learn the most from looking at how other industries are tackling problems that are similar to the ones we are facing.”

Of course (gratuitous plug alert), it would be remiss of us at this juncture not to mention that Cameron Events has a whole brand spanking new Exhibitions offering and online booking system!

Check it out here and get in touch for more info…..

Team Love releases Love Saves The Day sustainability report

And finally, Team Love, the organiser of Love Saves The Day, has published a sustainability report, detailing the festival’s findings and challenges. Plus, it outlines the organiser’s sustainability goals for the 2024 event.

Having signed the Vision: 2025 Pledge, Team Love has incorporated promoting fairer and greener events, transparency and clear communication with stakeholders into its company ethos.

As part of the Drastic on Plastic campaign, Love Saves The Day banned single-use plastic on site in 2022, which included glitter, and encouraged attendees to bring their own reusable water bottles to the festival. Last year saw Love Saves continue their efforts to reduce single-use plastic on site wherever possible.

It’s time for us to split…

As the curtain draws on another week’s news, we’ll leave it to Usher and Alicia to say bye bye – and Happy Valentine’s to all you lovers and smoochers out there…