The rise of the event technologist

There’s no doubt technology has changed the event industry in profound ways. It’s fundamentally changed the roles of the professionals who work in this great industry of ours. 

The good news? As a whole, event planners really love their work. According to Event Manager Blog research from last year, a whopping 89% of you said you love your career choice: 

Yet beyond the love, we have to acknowledge the unease among many event and meeting pros, as technology becomes more important to their success. Are we witnessing the rise of a new type of technically-savvy event professional?

What  meeting professionals are saying about event tech

“Most meeting planners didn’t get into the job for the joys of data analytics,” writes Sue Hatch of MeetingsNet. “But, as many will tell you, technology has become critical to success. “From registration software, event apps, and marketing automation tools to live streaming, data security, and social media, planners need to know their way around applications and the Internet,” Sue continues.

I don’t think many of us around here would argue that point. Yet as Sue points out, a recent survey from U.K.-based Eventsforce reveals what she calls a “technology skills gap in the meeting planning profession.”

In the daily life of a meeting professional, there’s a growing call for fluency with data analytics and insights, understanding security and privacy compliance, and evaluating possible integrations of attendee engagement apps, facial recognition, AR, VR and new technology we haven’t dreamed up  yet into your event tech stack.  

Tech is undeniably an important aspect of the job, as the Eventsforce data results show:

Clearly, if a good grasp of event tech is important to your current job, it’s critical for career advancement; less than one in 10 event professionals feel that a good understanding of event tech isn’t important for career advancement:

What meeting professionals are feeling about event tech

In spite of knowing how important solid tech skills are to their jobs, fewer than half the survey respondents would call themselves “tech savvy,” while three out of four say they “struggle to keep up with new event tech trends and offerings.”

Top challenges noted by the survey include the time it takes to procure and integrate new tech process; managing tech adoption across teams; and managing migration from one platform to another. In addition, almost half (47%) said their limited tech skills make them less confident in making informed decisions about the event tech selection process.

The rise of the event technologists

In many ways, modern event tech is mirroring the evolution of the MarTech stack, as organizations back away from giant one-stop-shops that meet a common denominator of needs. More brands are instead opting for a bespoke built stack of need-specific tech solutions. As this happens, there’s a growing need for event professionals with the right blend of event and tech knowledge to bridge the skills gaps on the event team. As so, we see the predicted emergence of the event technologist:

This role will become, I believe, even more critical given the swing toward niche integrations in event tech. We’ve all watched the past few years as smaller event tech companies were snapped up by a few big names, as the massive end-to-end platforms expanded to deliver the ever-elusive Holy Grail — the all-in-one stop for event planners. 

Yet as Corbin Ball, of Corbin Ball Associates, pointed out in a Hello Endless interview, we are also seeing a trend toward small, nimble companies pulling in best-in-class providers to build event-specific solutions based on exact requirements.

For maybe 80-85% of the meetings being planned today, the one-stop-shop is still a good solution. Yet we are seeing a growing number of brands committed to truly elevating the attendee experience at the same time they are committed to moving the needle on bottom line business objectives through their events. For these brands I believe the more bespoke solution is the answer. And in this intersection where functionality meets business goals is where the new event technologist will shine.

At the heart of this industry, we must never lose sight of our humanity in the search for better, faster technology. It’s why I love our team here at Stova; the people on our team are rock solid when it comes to event tech innovation and trends; at the same time they are passionate about the people who will be using our technology. If you’re struggling and looking for the right solution, talk to us. Even if we aren’t the right solution for you, we’re happy to have that first conversation.