Gen Z Events: How to Create Authentic, Immersive Events That Resonate

By 2030, Boomers will make up just 5% of the workforce, yet many events still cater to them. 

Meanwhile, Gen Z is no longer “next”; they are now. Freeman’s Event Organizer report says that they will capture about 35% of the workforce by 2030, making them an important part of any event out there.

And yet, event planners continue to design with the wrong audience in mind.

It’s time to stop treating Gen Z as an afterthought and start building events for them, with them. 

Why It’s Important to Align Your Event with Gen Z Trends

Freeman’s report revealed that while most organizers agree that great attendee experiences drive success, only 27% actually adapt their events to match audience needs. 

That gap creates a major disconnect—especially when it comes to Gen Z.

This generation values authenticity over perfection, experiences over stuff, and impact over tradition. If your event doesn’t align with what matters to them, they’ll simply tune out. 

And when attendees lose interest, so do sponsors, exhibitors, and stakeholders, snowballing all the success out of your way.

This is why it’s crucial to adapt to Gen Z’s preferences and design an experience tailored to them. 

This blog will guide you through the key trends shaping Gen Z events so you can create experiences they truly connect with.

1. Invest in Creating Experiences and Memories

A McKinsey research revealed Gen Z is willing to splurge on experiences rather than material possessions. These experiences can be anything that improves or adds an impact to their daily lives, such as wellness and self-care activities.

This trend suggests that for any event you are going to host, it is important that you intentionally incorporate various meaningful experiences in them. This will automatically grab attention and make people look forward to attending your event.

Here are some ways you can include meaningful experiences in your event that embody Generation Z characteristics and values:

Offer Immersive Experiences

Gen Z is obsessed with immersive experiences. Event organizers must move beyond passive formats and instead create multi-sensory, interactive experiences that spark curiosity and engagement.

To add immersive elements to your event, you can go for AR or VR experiences that allow the audience to visualize products or spaces in a personalized way. For example, you can enable testing a new product you’ve launched in a virtual environment.

AI-led Personalization

You cannot use a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to Gen Z. If you truly want to connect with them, personalization is the way forward.

While personalization at scale has been a challenge for event planners, thanks to AI, it is more doable than ever. You can use generative AI to offer personalized experiences at every stage of your event. 

For example, you can offer a personalized agenda for everyone at the event based on their interests and preferences. This way, people will attend the sessions that are truly important for them.

Other than that, you can also connect people through AI-led smart matchmaking. This is where attendees are matched with other attendees based on their interests and experiences. This can be game-changing when it comes to career or job fairs where meeting the right people is of the essence.

Gamification

Gen Z thrives on participation, and what can be a better way to engage someone than games? With gamification elements in your event, you can not only grab the attention of the active attendees but get the passive attendees involved as well.

Here are some ideas to gamify your event experience:

• Design event-wide quests in which attendees earn points for attending sessions, engaging with booths, or networking. Use an Event App to track participation and unlock rewards.
• Incorporate location-based AR scavenger hunts, where attendees can collect digital rewards by exploring different areas of your event.
• Host real-time audience challenges, allowing attendees to vote, predict outcomes, or compete in themed quizzes. Display leaderboards and reward top participants with exclusive access or swag.

Head over to this blog if you want to know some gamification ideas that can take your engagement to the next level: 7 Gamification Ideas Using Event Technology

2. Prioritize Authenticity and Inclusivity

Gen Z is by far one of the most socially aware generations. Their beliefs inspire not only words but actions as well.

According to the World Economic Forum, 84% of young Gen Z shoppers make purchases based on their beliefs, reflecting core Gen Z values. What’s more interesting is that 64% say they use their brand choices to take a stand for a cause.

For event planners, this means: If your event feels inauthentic, Gen Z won’t engage. If your event isn’t inclusive, Gen Z won’t attend. If your event doesn’t amplify diverse voices, Gen Z won’t share it.

So, how can you make sure your event is truly authentic and inclusive?

Showcase Real Voices and Stories

Instead of going after celebrities with polished corporate speeches, chase real stories. Invite speakers from diverse backgrounds, different perspectives, and various industries. Appreciate discourse, unscripted conversations, and raw, real stories.

It’s also a great idea to feature real attendees, small business owners, or grassroots organizers who are making an impact.

Create an Experience that Truly Feels Inclusive

The right time to consider how to make an event inclusive isn’t during the final moments but when you start designing it.

Here are some ideas to create inclusive experiences:

• Add various accessibility elements like ASL interpreters, captioning for sessions, wheelchair-accessible seating, and sensory-friendly spaces.
• You can also partner with an event tech provider like vFairs that enables you to deliver an inclusive experience, including multilingual websites, accessible virtual event spaces, live video transcription, etc.
• Set up wellness lounges, prayer/meditation rooms, and affinity meetups where underrepresented groups can connect.

Build an Inclusive Agenda

Building an event agenda that prioritizes inclusivity is essential. Collaborate with underrepresented communities and accessibility advocates to shape the agenda of your event. 

Ensure topics, themes, and entertainment reflect the diverse backgrounds of your audience.

Prioritize User-Generated Content Over AI-Generated Content

People have embraced ChatGPT like nothing else. So much so that you can easily detect if a certain post on LinkedIn is an AI-generated one. Interestingly, Gen Z isn’t buying into the hype.

According to a survey by InMobi, 61% of Gen Z highly prefers user-generated content (UGC) over any other form of content because it’s authentic and genuine.

Experts agree that UGC helps build trust with eventgoers right from the start. That’s what UGC expert Michael Kamleitner shared on the EpicEvents podcast.

UGC usually means authentic messages from your customers, your attendees, and your community. It’s much more powerful because it’s believable.

Michael Kamleitner

Founder of Walls.io

3. Arrange Micro-Events for Community Building

Gen Z craves real connections over anything. This is exactly why micro-events are gaining a lot of traction lately. 

Micro-events are a key part of Generation Z events. They are small, intimate experiences within a larger event. Their idea isn’t to wow everyone but to curate specific experiences that will attract a few to a deeper level. For instance, a conference can have both a morning meditation walk and a musical night. Whoever resonates more with each would attend it. 

Event expert Julius Solaris predicts, “Huge events will grow a satellite of smaller events to offer intimate opportunities to sponsors and attendees.”

Recently, DreamForce, one of the largest AI conferences, did a great job incorporating micro-events within their event. Here are a few examples of micro-events within the conference for people with varied interests.

• For people interested in hands-on AI learning, they hosted deep-dive sessions on building AI apps.
• For people interested in deeper networking, they set up one-on-one Braindates to exchange ideas.
• For competitive event goers, they ran challenges with prizes, including the Developer Grove, where participants solved AI puzzles and coding challenges. 

When you’re hosting a micro-event, your goal shouldn’t be to just host a one-time thing and get done with it. The idea is to build a community and foster long-term relationships.

A great way to do it is to create LinkedIn or Discord community groups and encourage people to join them once the micro-event ends. You can also host monthly or quarterly virtual AMAs, mentorship meetups, or peer-learning circles to keep engagement high.

This tactic works because it offers a more personalized experience, which leads to higher retention in the minds of people. 

 4. Add DIY components

Craft culture is a part of Gen Z culture. They love to gather around in groups to create DIY stuff. These activities are appreciated for their sustainable nature as they allow them to contribute to the environment. Plus, they find it to be endearing to create handmade personal items and share them with their loved ones.

So, how do you bring DIY elements into events?

Hands-on Creation Stations

Give attendees the chance to make something unique and take it home as a personalized event souvenir.

Some activities we’d recommend you to include are:

• Let attendees design and print their own t-shirts, tote bags, or posters on-site.
• Allow attendees to customize notebooks, water bottles, or stickers instead of giving generic event swag.
• Create an interactive graffiti or doodle wall where attendees leave their mark and co-create a collective art piece.

Interactive Digital DIY Experiences

For events that are hybrid or online, it’s a great idea to include interactive digital DIY experiences.

For example, you can incorporate a social media wall that automatically populates any social posts that attendees post about your event.

DIY Food and Beverage Experiences

Gen Z is crazy about food and customization. Bringing it together is the sweet path toward their hearts.

Offer DIY smoothie, boba, or taco stations where attendees can mix and match ingredients. You can go one step ahead and let attendees create their own signature drink, name it, and share it on social media.

5. Balancing Digital and In-Person Experiences

Gen Z are the digital natives. However, that does not mean that they want digital experiences only. On the contrary, they want in-person experiences augmented by digital tools. 

This is because, despite being digitally connected, Gen Z craves real connections. As an event planner, this insight suggests you create event experiences that offer a balance between digital and in-person interactions. 

An event app is a great way to augment an in-person experience with digital features. It serves as a constant companion that keeps attendees updated with the agenda, speakers, any quick announcements, and so forth.

If you’re opting for the vFairs Mobile App, there’s so much that you can offer attendees. For example, if the venue is complicated, you can add an interactive floor map to the app that guides people where to go. It’s almost like Google Maps but for your event.

Apart from that, the app is a great tool to engage the attendees. You can interact with them through pop-up quizzes, quick polls, and instant notifications. 

6. TikTok for Event Discovery

Short-form video content is a Gen Z favorite. This is why TikTok is one of the most famous platforms among them. They make up 60% of the app’s 1 billion+ users. 

This means that TikTok is a great opportunity to reach the Gen Z audience and boost ticket sales and revenue. 

However, don’t be too promotional or salesy.

The idea is to speak the language Gen Z speaks. Here are some hacks to resonate with them on TikTok:

• Create informal and engaging videos with a human element in them. This is a cost-efficient approach and has a potential for high reach.
• Partner with niche influencers who align with your audience. For example, if you are hosting an AI conference, then go for influencers who share tech-related content.

TikTok is high on trends and sounds. Based on our conversation with Tom McMahon, CEO of MCM, trends are the easiest way to amplify your reach on TikTok organically.

There’s a new trend every hour, every day, and it’s those ones that you can latch on to as they increase in popularity and could be really impactful.

Tom McMahon

CEO of MCM

Learn how you can create a winning strategy to boost your event on TikTok. 7 Actionable Strategies for Event Marketing on TikTok to Boost Event Reach

7. Tap into Niche Communities with Micro-Influencers

Gen Z is obsessed with micro-influencers. They are their source of information and inspiration. According to Mediatool, nearly three-quarters of Gen Z follows micro-influencers on different social media platforms. 

The followership of these influencers is quite different from that of celebrities. Micro-influencers work in niche domains, creating content on particular topics like fashion, tech, skincare, etc.

As an event planner, you can use these influencers to connect with your target audience. Gen Z trusts them, making it a more personal way to engage.

You can leverage micro-influencers during several stages of your event. For example, have them share sneak peeks, behind-the-scenes content, or countdowns before the event starts to build anticipation. Next, you can invite these influencers during the event to cover your event live and post real-time content. Finally, once the event ends, you can leverage their reviews, vlogs, or highlights to maintain buzz.

8. Sustainability at the Core

Sustainability is at the heart of Gen Z values. It’s not a trend for them, it’s a non-negotiable. 73% of Gen Z reported trying to purchase from companies they consider to be ethical.

The interesting bit is that they can tell when a brand is doing just lip service and not backing its sustainable practices claims. There are numerous instances when companies have been roasted on the internet for their fake claims.

This means that if you want to resonate with Gen Z, then sustainability should be at the core of your event strategy. Your intention to prioritize sustainability should not be to please Gen Z but because you genuinely believe in it.

Some ways you can go green at your event include:

• Ditch paper schedules, brochures, and tickets. Use event apps, QR codes, and e-tickets instead.
• Skip throwaway freebies and opt for recycled, upcycled, or plant-based giveaways.
• Encourage exhibitors to use recyclable or modular booths instead of single-use materials.
• Work with LEED-certified or carbon-neutral venues that use renewable energy.
• Implement water refill stations instead of single-use bottles, and use LED lighting for lower energy consumption.
• Partner with public transport providers and offer discounted shuttle options to reduce car travel.

Designing Events Gen Z Can’t Ignore

As Gen Z grows in impact, it has become important for event planners to adapt their strategy in a way that prioritizes them. Those who fail to adapt risk becoming irrelevant. 

The quick and proven way to connect with this audience is to:

• Craft interactive, hands-on experiences rather than passive sessions.
• Use AI-driven personalization to create tailored event journeys.
• Design inclusive, community-driven spaces that celebrate diverse voices.
• Leverage digital tools while preserving the power of in-person connection.
• Make sustainability a core value, not an afterthought.

The best way to engage Gen Z is to involve them. Listen to what excites them, co-create experiences with them, and build events that reflect Gen Z values. This will not only help you create events that attract attendees but also leave a long-lasting impact on them.