9 Expert-Backed Event Trends & Predictions For 2025

New year, new event trends! 

The world keeps changing how it hosts events and it can be hard to catch up. Event technology is evolving, budgets are tighter than ever, attendees expect more from each event, and AI keeps throwing us off our game with new use cases. 

In this blog, we’ll rewind to explore the key event trends that transformed last year and fast forward to predict current trends in the event industry that we will see more of in 2025.

Our next year’s predictions are based on the opinions of subject matter experts like Muhammad Younas, Julius Solaris, and Miguel Neves. They also consider all the current issues in the event industry and everything we believe that event technology can make better. 

Read ahead to see what’s in store for event professionals in 2025.

Event Trends: Quick 2024 Recap

2024 saw some remarkable event technology trends with AI taking the lead. Here’s a quick rundown of everything that happened in the past year:

• AI took the events industry by storm, revolutionizing how we plan and promote events. This wave of innovation primarily focused on enhancing productivity and efficiency. vFairs also introduced some AI-powered tools to analyze and promote events like:
  • vFairs AI Assistant to write the copy for event collateral in just a few minutes.
  • vFairs Webinar Summary tool for a quick and efficient way to re-purpose webinar content to blogs, newsletters, social posts, etc.
  • vFairs AI Reporting Chatbot to quickly analyze complicated event reports and get meaningful insights.

• Onsite event tech empowered organizations to craft unparalleled onsite experiences through innovative tools like badge printing, check-in software, and mobile apps.
• Innovative tools for event lead capture for onsite events like the vFairs lead capture app that scans QR codes or business cards to capture leads.
• One of the standout event trends of 2024 was the remarkable rise of virtual events as a driving force behind people operations. vFairs CEO Muhammad Younas noted the growing role of virtual career fairs and job fairs as they surged global recruitment, virtual onboarding fairs to incorporate this global workforce, and benefits fairs to keep teams connected. These digital gatherings went beyond traditional boundaries, expanding their influence and impact across various facets of HR. 
• There was a huge shift towards creating better attendee experiences through increased flexibility and customization. Younas adds, “Event organizers with a nationwide or global audience are giving different options to attendees so that they can pick what works best for them.” 
• There was a dynamic new synergy between virtual events and content marketing in the shape of webinars, speaker thought leadership, and precursor virtual events that served as a driving force for generating interest in onsite gatherings.  
• Event design and experience were optimized for boosting registrations. Organizers recognized the importance of flexibility in pricing structures. They adopted a strategic approach by offering a-la-carte pricing options alongside traditional package deals.
• Exceptional speakers weren’t just a component of events; they became the focal point, transforming ordinary sessions into captivating journeys of knowledge and inspiration. An example of this is the vFairs User Conference 2024, where we handpicked some of our oldest customers to present case studies. The sessions transformed from coming off as boring and sales-y pitches to success stories that got people hooked.

Event Trends to Look Out for in 2025 and Beyond

Event trends in 2024 were an absolute blast, but it’s time to look ahead. In 2025, the events landscape is gearing up for some exciting shifts, all aimed at enhancing attendee experiences and event outcomes.

Here are some trends in events that are most likely to takeover the industry in the coming year and beyond:

1. Expansion of AI Use Cases

If you were somehow still living under a rock, the time to start using AI for event planning was yesterday. Calling AI a ‘trend’ at this point will be doing it a disservice. It’s here and it’s here to stay. 

“We work with 2000 plus customers and around 10,000 event planners. I have rarely come across an event planner who is not using AI in one way or another. AI helps you save days if not months of effort.” Muhammad Younas, CEO of vFairs

We will be seeing a continued expansion of AI and its capabilities into new and more innovative use cases. The capabilities will go beyond generating content and making event marketing simpler for all. The new wave of AI will focus on automation, decision assistance, data management and analysis, and content repurposing.

Some new use cases to look forward to include:

• AI matchmaking for advanced networking: Attendees will be asked some questions through registration forms or in-event surveys, and then event organizers will use AI to take those answers to match them with other attendees that answered similarly. This way, attendees will know who to connect with at events, making stronger relationships and better conversations.  
• Curated event experiences for attendees: Use AI to give personalized recommendations for various things happening at the event. These could include   sessions to attend at a conference or jobs to apply at a career fair. 

“We are seeing AI being used to better match people with each other. Whether it’s in-person or virtual, you want to make sure that attendees are able to network with each other and AI helps out in finding the most relevant audience you can interact with, the most relevant session that you can attend, or the most relevant exhibitor that you can meet.” Muhammad Younas, CEO of vFairs

• Simplified Event Analytics: Event reporting will be easier with AI, as advanced AI-powered chatbots take over the analysis and provide accurate insights with charts and graphs.

• Agile Event Setups: AI prompts will streamline event setups, ensuring faster and more efficient preparations, and leaving organizers with more time to focus on the event’s core elements.
• Fast and Secure Entry: Using AI for facial recognition for check-in and badge printing at onsite events, removing the need for attendees to bring QR codes or stand in long queues. It also adds an extra layer of security for organizers, ensuring no unauthorized person enters the venue.

2. Consolidation of Event Tech Stacks

If you’re tired of juggling between a bunch of different tools for your event planning, marketing, and execution, you’re going to love how 2025 is transforming corporate event trends! 

Event organizers can look forward to consolidated tech stacks and rely on all-in-one platforms that make event planning simpler. Only the event platforms that offer integrations to CRMs, martech solutions, ATS, etc, and don’t affect the end users’ experience are going to survive this new era. 

Moreover, event organizers are also more likely to choose event platforms that have built-in features so they can further reduce back and forth. Native features will also ensure a better user experience when using multiple products from the same tech vendor. 

More and more enterprise customers are trying to consolidate their suppliers. They prefer a vendor that offers a lot of what they’re looking for instead of dealing with multiple vendors. We’re seeing that more customers every year are using vFairs not just as a point solution, but as an all-in-one solution.

Muhammad Younas

CEO, vFairs

3. Events as a Source of First-Party Data

Events will be the number one source of first-party data because they give you information directly from the source. Moreover, you get data that is truly unique to you and your audience is interested in your product or service already, that’s why they’re at your event! This gives you a better chance of converting them into buying customers by analyzing user behaviors.

“With events, you get so much data from the audience themselves. They will tell you which company they work with, what’s their job title, and what they’re interested in just by the registration form. Once you have all that data, you can offer a far better ROI to your sponsors and exhibitors.” Muhammad Younas, CEO of vFairs.    

With events, you can get important data points like the number of booths visited, webinars that got the most attention, where your attendees spent the most time, and what they did.

4. Higher Demand for Self-Serve Event Platforms

In 2025, autonomy in event setup will be a sought after event trend.

Event professionals are tired of the constant back and forth with their tech vendors for small changes such as a tweak in the landing page copy or adding a new field to the registration form. Trends in the event industry are catching up to these problems. 

There’s a rising interest in opting for event technology that gives organizers control over the event set up and design. As a response, event tech vendors have introduced self-serve modules within the product offering.  

These platforms will allow organizers to create event websites, set up mobile apps, and manage badge printing software all on their own. 

No need for complicated setups and continuous emails to change that one typo on your event website.

5. Content Strategy Will Make or Break Events

Trends in event planning also include those in event marketing, which means we have to talk about content!

Events that don’t tell a brand story or have a content strategy are no longer an option. There needs to be some method to the madness.

The event management trends for 2025 will see event organizers focusing on much more than the day of the event. To create real impact, there will be increased focus on pre and post event activities. These could be pre-cursor events like a webinar or a popup or post-event thank you dinners, etc.

There's a deluge of content. There's a lot of content out there. So standing out is hard. We only have 24 hours in a day. Again, and we're all fighting for that attention from these audiences.

Miguel Neves

Editor-in-Chief, Skift Meetings

Meaningless content that doesn’t resonate with the target audience will be the death of your desires in the coming year. People are already wary of AI producing boring and monotonous content that doesn’t move the needle for anyone. 

Instead, the latest trends in event marketing encourage creating focused content that solves real problems for audiences. 

We will also see a move from standalone events to creating what we like to call ‘event brands’. These are more than just your average event, they will tell a story and reach your core ICPs by showcasing what your brand stands for. Think of them as episodes of your company’s very own TV series! 

We anticipate this’ll be a popular conference trend in the IT and corporate sector.

‘We’ve worked with clients that have created event brands for their companies, and then every single year customers look forward to that event! Whether it’s Hubspot Inbound or Salesforce Dreamforce, every single company is trying to create that brand for their events.” Muhammad Younas, CEO of vFairs

6. Early Birds Are Losing the Charm

We promised non-obvious event planning trends so this one might come as a surprise.

In a recent LinkedIn post, Julius Solaris talked about event marketing trends. He believes that early bird discounts are not as lucrative as they once were. He suggests that event organizers should backload their event announcements to the final four weeks and then make a run for it. 

Post-COVID, registrations and when people buy tickets has changed a lot. More than 50% of all ticket sales happen in the last month before the event.

Muhammad Younas,

CEO, vFairs

One major reason for this change is that budgets are tighter than before. Most attendees don’t have the luxury to commit to the event months in advance or have pre-approved budgets like before. In such a situation, organizers need to ramp up event promos in the last few weeks leading up to the event.

7. On-Demand Badge Printing Will Get More Popular

For event industry trends in the coming year, Julius Solaris believes that we will see more and more attendees signing up for events at the last minute. This means that your event technology also has to adapt to cater to last-minute audiences. 

While it may not make a big difference for online events but for onsite events, check-in and badge printing software should be able to print badges on-demand and adapt to last minute registrations.

Miguel Neves also adds to this last-minute craze, “People are consuming things last minute… we have to be quick and sort of say things, reach conclusions very quickly.”  

Moreover, Julius also talks about sustainability being an important factor when considering bulk badge printing for your events in a LinkedIn post. More companies and attendees are focusing towards digital badges and sustainable practices at events. However, printed badges are much more than just a piece of paper and cutting them out completely may not be ideal. 

Therefore, on-demand badge printing is one of the key event planning industry trends and can help you strike the perfect balance and minimize waste as much as possible.

8. Smart Lead Capture Tools Are a Must-Have

Lead capture tools are getting better and in the next year, we will see them being indispensable for events like trade shows. Julius Solaris, in his event marketing trends post that we mention earlier, also suggests that business cards and manual data collection is pretty much a thing of the past as innovative lead retrieval tools become immensely popular.

Tools like the vFairs lead capture app will be front and center at tradeshows and exhibitions. Event organizers will look for more innovative ways to capture leads such as QR code scans and business card scans for quicker and more accurate data collection. Efficient data management and syncing with CRMs of choice will be must-have features for all event tech platforms.

9. Attendee Feedback Can’t be Ignored

Trends in the event planning industry might change a lot, but improving attendee experience is at the heart of everything event planners do.

According to the Freeman 2024 Event Organizer Trends Report, a whopping 74% of event organizers said they look at attendee feedback for their most important event decisions. This is a strong suggestion that you cannot and should not ignore attendee feedback for your most important events. What your attendees liked or disliked might be the key to hosting your next successful event.

Moreover, events are turning into experiential marketing tools for many organizations. This makes attendee experience and feedback even more important for event profs because in the end, who are you doing it all for? Your audience! Listening to them and acting according to their feedback is more important than ever now.

Want a quick summary? Watch this video.

Wrapping Up

The future of event planning holds exciting possibilities as technology continues to advance and attendee expectations evolve.

Event industry trends for 2025 and beyond focus on your audiences and creating better experiences for attendees. Events now need to respect attendees’ time and provide them with enough value. 

Moreover, most event industry trends will also aim to make event organizers’ lives easier. Things like consolidated event tech stacks and AI-powered tools will do just that. 

Embracing these event trends is not merely about staying ahead of the curve; it’s about setting the stage for success and creating lasting memories that will shape the future of event planning. All these event industry trends are important to consider when creating your next event. So, what do you think will be the next big trend in the event industry?