Here are just some of the ways AI meeting and event professionals are using AI to streamline processes, enhance attendee experiences and drive better event outcomes:

Personalize the attendee experience. AI can help take some of the guesswork out of customizing experiences by:
– Analyzing attendee surveys and registration data to determine schedules, sessions and networking opportunities that will appeal specifically to individual attendees.

– Crunching that same data to produce rough drafts of emails, notifications and other event communications tailored to each attendee’s interests and experiences.

– Providing insights into various attendees segments by creating personas for different attendee types.

– Brainstorming fun extras, such as ideas for ribbons based on attendee data.

– Using facial recognition to sift through event photos to find images featuring specific attendees, which the planner can use to personalize follow-up communications.

Automate Customer Support. Who wouldn’t want an AI chatbot to provide answers to those FAQs no one actually reads ahead of time, saving effort and aggravation for staffers who would otherwise have to respond to the same questions repeatedly — with a smile, no less? AI chatbots can do more than answer FAQs; they handle routine tasks such as registration and troubleshooting assistance in real time, enabling staff to handle more complex issues as they crop up.

Find ways to make the event more accessible. Planners are finding AI tools to be a godsend when it comes to ensuring all attendees can participate fully in the event, providing key services such as:

– Automatic transcription

– Simultaneous translation

– Live captioning

Find ways to make the event more sustainable. AI can help planners reduce their events’ carbon footprints and be overall more eco-friendly. A few examples include:

– Analyzing food and beverage data to identify ways to reduce waste.

– Sourcing smarter by matching planners with suppliers who meet their sustainability needs, making the procurement process more eco-friendly and reducing the event’s overall carbon footprint.

– Reducing the need to provide printed products by automating the creation and distribution of digital agendas, badges and communications.

– Analyzing attendee data to suggest public transportation options, including ride-sharing and electric vehicles. AI can even help to cluster scheduled events to minimize the need to travel from venue to venue.

– Automatically collecting and analyzing data on energy use, waste and travel-related emissions, then churning out detailed reports and ideas on how to improve the event’s sustainability in the future.

– Providing tailored messaging to attendees about recycling, using public transportation, proper waste disposal, reducing single-use plastic, and other sustainability practices.

Create marketing, social media and other content. While they do require human review and tweaking, meeting professionals who use AI platforms such as ChatGPT can save a lot of time when it comes to generating content such as:

– Event descriptions

– Speaker bios

– Social media posts

– Follow-up emails

– Marketing materials

AI tools such as Grammer.ly can provide a final copyedit and proofread for communications so meeting professionals can ensure every “t” is crossed and every “i” is dotted.

Automate event management and operational tasks. AI can help take some of the drudgery out of planning by:

– Shortening and speeding up the registration line — and likely reducing errors — by automating payment processing, badge printing and other basic attendee registration tasks.

– Optimizing seating arrangements

– Suggesting speakers

– Optimizing scheduling

– Finding interesting local activities for incentive programs and conference off-sites

– Identifying potential areas of concern in the production schedule, such as not building in enough time for staff meals (not that that ever happens!)

– Forecasting the optimal time to send marketing messages for maximum impact

Provide real-time engagement and feedback. AI systems can power a wide range of interactive features to capture attendee sentiment and boost engagement, including live polls and Q&A sessions. Planners also are using AI to analyze post-event surveys and engagement data to identify what worked well and what needs to be rethought before the next event.

Manage risk and provide extra layers of security. Some AI platforms can use facial recognition to control event access, which ensures only those who are authorized can get through to the show floor and identifies potential security risks. Planners also can use AI to monitor social media channels to ensure no one shares something they shouldn’t, giving organizers time to flag and address any potential issues in real time.

Spur creativity. Generative AI is probably most used for brainstorming. Just a few of the areas AI can be useful for brainstorming:

– Event themes

– Off-site activities

– New marketing strategies

– Agenda topics and speakers

– Room sets and floor plans

– Ways to add cultural and local flavor, from table designs to cuisines

While not every meeting professional is gung-ho on adopting AI for their work, those who are say that it makes them more efficient, reduces the need to do time-consuming and mind-numbing drudge work, improves attendee satisfaction and helps them make more data-driven decisions. And we’re just getting started.