‘To me, the future is personalization’- Marissa Mayer
Personalization is one of the hottest trends in every industry right now.
Our streaming platforms know what we like to watch and hear. Our delivery aggregators know what we like to eat and drink. Online retailers suggest books we’ll like because they know our favorite authors. Brands email us like old friends, calling us by name. Creepy… but also incredibly useful no?
The concept of personalization is changing marketing, retail and the general digital landscape beyond all recognition but it’s also making its way offline and into every part of life - this includes the meetings and events sector.
In days gone by, the customers hosting events at your venue would be more than happy to buy into a standard package including a pre-set menu and décor. But no more.
For large events with different categories of attendees, personalizing the experience before, during and after is likely to be important to your customer because it’s important to their guests- they might customize agendas, develop bespoke event pathways, implement AI, provide networking tools or even build entire apps to guarantee a personalized experience.
Whilst these elements are not necessarily down to you as the venue, it does give you some idea as to how crucial personalization is to the modern meeting and events industry. This is nothing new for the Middle East and Africa who’ve been leading the charge for a while already but as Europe starts to catch up, what are some elements you can expect personalization requests about?
The Layout
Conference rooms are not really known for comfort and in some respects, there is little you can do to combat this.
To counter this, your guests might well be interested in creating breakout spaces or lounges, designed not only to give attendees a break from the chair and intense focus but also to facilitate networking. They may like a device-free zone or as many power points as possible. Tech integration will likely play a huge part, particularly for hybrid events and meetings. They may want a more informal feel to the usual set-up. Wellbeing is a huge trend in M+E so aspects of this will likely be on the table too.
But offering this complete control of personalized layout can also just be as simple as providing moveable furniture so the guest can easily create the space that they envision.
The Look
Décor personalization is likely to follow wider trends in event design that your guests may have seen in trade publications. In 2022, it’s likely you’ll see a lot of requests for nostalgic flourishes, bold colors and tech integration
Floral décor will likely focus on dried and sustainably sourced but make sure to manage guest expectations- with disruptions in supply and labor chains, it is likely that timelines may be off and they may have to get creative with what they use.
The Drinks
People care a lot more about making responsible consumer choices than ever before and you can almost certainly plan on seeing more say exercised over the food and drinks on offer. We can expect requests over 2022 to closely mirror wider consumer trends, even down to the reusable water bottles replacing their plastic predecessors.
When it comes to the drinks menu, we can expect to see more requests for low and no alcohol choices, carefully selected coffee beans, craft beers and fresh juices whilst the old-school wine choice of ‘red or white’ may well soon become Chianti Colline Pisane DOCG or Orange 2019 Abbazia San Giorgio as we see a shift to requests for specific producers or even biodynamic bottles.
The Food
Food is the most exciting part of any event for most people and you can definitely expect that the planners will want a hand in the menu planning.
Set menus will be a less acceptable option with guests requiring vegan choices, hyperlocal produce and a concerted effort to produce less waste. Quality over quantity and conscious choices.
Having close links with responsible and trusted local suppliers is an absolute must in this new world where people want to know the origin story for every part of their plate.
Have you seen a shift in the requirements for meetings and events at your hotel? Let us know how you’ve stepped up your personalization game over at @wiredfnd
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