50 Years Meetings Made in Germany: The Case of Technology

In 1973, the GCB German Convention Bureau was founded. “50 Years Meetings Made in Germany” is a reason to celebrate, to look back and, more importantly, to look ahead. Cue this three-article series, discussing key aspects that have shaped our industry over the past decade and will continue in future. Topic number one: technology.

Fun fact: A look in our chronicles reveals that in 1996, the GCB launched its website, as one of the first organisations in the German meetings industry. Our initial audience stood at 30 users and I certainly like to think that we have a lot more nowadays, but over the last decades we have also grown our range of member online services year by year. This only reflects one of the defining megatrends of our times, i.e. the ongoing advance of technology and the digital transformation of business events.

Another quick look back in our chronicles shows that ten years ago, on the occasion of our 40th anniversary, we commissioned a study to investigate our industry’s future, envisaging the look of “Meetings and Conventions in 2030”. Back then, “Technology in work and life” was identified as one of eight megatrends. Not surprisingly, the influence and consequences of technology in event planning and implementation also features prominently in our Future Meeting Space (FMS) research, that aims at supporting and guiding our community in building successful business events.

We now see that many of the things that we anticipated technology-wise for 2030 are already very much on their way – or even a reality. Or how does a sentence like this sound to you: “In 2030, the majority of convention attendees will probably be digital natives who are very mindful of their digital appearance.” I think, in 2023, we can all relate to the sentiment expressed in this prediction. Our look ahead to 2030 from the perspective of 2013 also envisaged organisers adopting holographic 3D projectors, which would no longer require the physical presence of speakers for them to still fulfil their role in events. While we might not quite have reached the age of holography yet, digital technology enabling the delivery of remote content or, indeed, remote event attendance has – since Covid-19 – certainly become part of our new normal.

Let me also highlight a couple more technology-based event components that I consider to be crucial in future, an opinion that is not least backed by our FMS insights based on surveys of event attendees, organisers and venues: One is the important role of social networks and online communities that need to be built around events, extending one-off occasions to year-round knowledge hubs for professionals around a certain topics.

Another is data as the most valuable asset. It is not just needed as a basis for enabling personalised event offers but also of strategic importance for the success of our industry, which is why the GCB, in partnership with the German National Tourist Board, has initiated an Open Data project to ensure that all relevant MICE information, offers and services of destinations can be found at as many digital touchpoints as possible. Last but not least, there is the topic on everyone’s mind at the moment: AI will lead to an increasing automation of event processes, also increasing options to cater for the individual needs of attendees and to integrate cognitive environments in event spaces for the well-being of people. (And it feels appropriate to say at this point that this article was NOT written by ChatGPT.)

To finish off my thoughts on technology in the events business, let me conclude by saying that what our common sense knows, i.e., that it should and must never be about “technology for technology’s sake”, still holds as true today as 50 years ago. However, if used to enhance human experiences and create new networks, to make things easier or the previously impossible possible, technology is an indispensable tool for our industry to solve relevant issues and create a future-proof events business.

Stay tuned for the next article in this series!