Starting Your AI Journey

There’s no escaping it: AI is here. Even if you haven’t taken the leap and experimented with it yet, you’ve likely found yourself amid several conversations on the subject. 

With so much information out there, it can be confusing to know where to start. But not to worry—we're here to help! Welcome to the Special Events crash course in using AI in the events industry.

With the sheer volume of information available, this will not be a comprehensive guide. There will always be new pieces of the conversation (register for Catersource + The Special Event 2025 in Fort Lauderdale, FL from February 24-27 to hear the latest on the subject). Instead, this overview will acquaint you with what is available and how to get started.

Let’s begin!

This year’s annual VOK DAMS TrendLab focused on how AI is becoming a game-changer in the event sector. Photo courtesy VOK DAMS

AI: What is it?

Artificial Intelligence (AI), in the simplest terms, is technology that allows computers to process information similarly to the human brain. There are several main types of AI which falls into one of two categories: traditional verses generative AI. Examples of traditional AI include predictive text, voice assistants, and recommendation engines, whereas generative AI includes chatbots, language translation, and content creation.

Pros & cons

There are several pros to using AI in events and event companies. According to Eventscase, these include enhanced personalization, optimization of logistics, improved attendee experience, and predictive analytics. 6Connex adds to that list with improved efficiency, dynamic content creation and delivery, enhanced sponsorship and partnership opportunities, better accessibility and inclusivity, and post-event analysis and feedback.

“AI can go through data to look for trends much faster than a human,” says Doug Baird, President of event software company RainFocus. “This allows for real-time analysis during hybrid events to immediately enact changes that boost engagement.”

Having faster processing, Baird points out, ultimately saves event pros loads of time. “AI is going to save event marketers an incredible amount of time as they begin to implement it into more and more processes. For example, precious time spent crunching data, pulling trends, writing personalized messages, answering questions, etc. will be minimized. This time can instead be put into tasks that require more strategic thinking and in-person action.”

Of course, nothing is perfect, and there are valid reasons some pros feel a sense of hesitation around incorporating this technology. Beside the vague sense of dystopian doom, there are concerns around data privacy, misinformation, even fake or misleading events—who can forget the Wonka Experience disaster back in March? Then of course there are copyright concerns, worries about unrealistic expectations from clients, lack of originality, and even apprehension around the possibility of AI reinforcing social biases with algorithm-generated sessions, speaker suggestions, and other event factors.

Not to worry, however.

“Events are one of the lowest risk industries because they are about bringing people together and facilitating human interactions,” explained Panos Moutafis, CEO of Zenus, in an article for DAHLIA+Agency. “The nature of the applications in general are less disposed to ethical issues.” Moutafis also noted that the events industry “tends to adopt technology reservedly and with a lot of supervision, which also reduces the potential for things to go wrong.”

AI is already at play in catering spaces: Miso Robotics offers a software product that delivers AI-powered cooking with its Flippy robot. The CookRight platform uses cameras mounted above a grill along with a tablet computer. The cameras look down at the food being prepared and use a combination of computer vision, thermal detection, and AI to identify a cut of meat, its thickness, and cooking progress. Photo courtesy Miso Robotics

The options are endless

When it comes to incorporating AI into events and events businesses, the options truly seem endless. There are countless ways to implement the ever-increasing number of AI tools, which—while exciting—can be overwhelming, especially for an event pro with a lot on their plate.

Of course, the first step to any change is being aware, so it can be helpful to know just what AI is capable of in the event realm.

From beginning to end, there are opportunities to implement AI into the life of an event. 

Registration and ticketing processes can be automated, for starters, and real-time support in the form of chatboxes can improve the attendee experience. AI can help craft speaker bios and intros, form panel questions, create event 

agendas, and recommend sessions for attendees using data from registration.

Event names and imagery can be inspired by AI, and the design and decor can be influenced by AI generated photos. Venue layouts can be simulated ahead of an event; Prismm (formerly AllSeated), for example, optimizes seating using data about guest relationships. AI can even craft sponsorship letters and scripts for event teasers. 

Regarding virtual events, AI can smooth over small streaming glitches, like intelligent framing on a webcast, making speakers appear still when they may be moving around; likewise, AI can work big magic, transcribing videos and providing real-time translations on screen. Trent Waterhouse, CMO of GlobalMeet, says that, along with offering those AI features, the company is close to producing AI technology that can translate languages spoken in real-time, so that an attendee listening to an English speaker could hear the audio in French, for instance. 

Post-event, AI can help gather event feedback and even create reports.

On the office side of things, AI is already becoming popular for the use of marketing and generating sales leads, and it can craft email templates and create promotional social posts. 

Waterhouse told Special Events that GlobalMeet is also working on AI that can search through transcriptions of videos, so that, instead of searching only documents and spreadsheets for information, event pros will soon be able to search through video content as well. “If we’ve transcribed the video, and as you build up your library of recorded events overtime...business intelligence now takes your video library as a feed...the video becomes another kind of content.”

Currently, the available AI tools can automate, optimize, and streamline event management and office work, giving event pros more time to work on the creative and relational parts of events.

Attendees at Catersource + The Special Event 2024 experienced AI with SpotMyPhotos, an AI-powered photo delivery platform that allows attendees to receive photos of themselves directly to their phones as photographers make the rounds throughout the event. Photo courtesy Ivan Piedra Photography/AGNYC Productions

Making it a reality

With all these tools and functions available, where should you begin? An article from MeetingsNet details seven tips for getting started:

In an article for Catersource, Footers Catering (Denver, CO) owner Anthony Lambatos recommends asking yourself three questions: Does it improve the guest experience? Does it improve the employee experience? What resources are necessary? The answers can help you decide what is necessary and how to focus on real solutions when taking the first steps with AI.

What are you waiting for?

AI is already taking hold of the events industry, so it’s time to begin working it into your event business. Take this advice from Forbes: “With people returning to conferences and summits en masse, it’s no longer a wise business decision to opt out. At the same time, it’s more important to choose events wisely. AI-equipped technology makes it easy to make smarter decisions backed by data.”

A report from consulting company McKinsey & Company verifies the technology’s place in the world: “Organizations are already seeing material benefits from generative AI use, reporting both cost decreases and revenue jumps in the business units deploying the technology.... The biggest increase from 2023 is found in marketing and sales, where reported adoption has more than doubled.”

Baird does encourage event pros to use caution when getting started. “Planners need to be incredibly cautious when it comes to using AI for hybrid events. Consumers are smart and can tell when content is not human-generated. While there are benefits and it is a time-saving tool, it is vital that event planners don’t just take the easy way out. Rather, they should spend time checking AI’s work and applying human strategy and thought to it.”

It is this human relation with AI that will allow event pros to optimize their efforts. In other words: let AI help with the logistics, not the creativity or relational sides of events.

As Colja Dams, CEO of VOK DAMS (Frankfurt, Germany), said in his session How Will AI Transform Events? at Catersource + The Special Event 2024: “AI is not going to kill the job of an event manager, but event managers using AI will be the ones being successful in the future.”

Don’t let overwhelm or hesitation keep you behind your competitors. Now that you know a little bit more about this new technology, choose a tool you’re comfortable with and start experimenting. AI is here and it’s all around us—heck, I used ChatGPT to help create this article title (but my human editor changed it slightly)! 

Want to learn more about AI? Here are some more articles to continue your journey: