We examine three hot topics top of mind at the German Convention Bureau
1: Innovation Network ‘Future Meeting Space’
The Future Meeting Space innovation network was launched in 2015 by the German Convention Bureau (GCB) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO, with the key goal of boosting the role of business events as a driver of innovation and key instrument of corporate communication. Providing trends research, Future Meeting Space attempts to anticipate developments in the business event ecosystem and identify requirements for successful events as regards concepts, technology and event spaces. The innovation network develops distinct recommendations for individual stakeholder groups while validating them in a real-life lab with what is happening within the industry in practice. The GCB and Fraunhofer IAO and their research partners are really pursuing a role of catalysts for the future of business events ‘made in Germany’. Results are already in for the FMS 2022 first research phase ‘Redefining Event Attendance’, which asked the question: Why will people attend in-person events in the future? and, in 2023, the research effort has continued under the headline ‘Navigating business events in challenging times’. Analysis into the requirements and key components needed for successful business events reveals that factors such as seamless travel, micro mobility, safety and hygiene, as well as regional and cultural characteristics, can contribute significantly to increasing people’s motivation to travel to events. Ninety percent of respondents said that seamless travel is very important to them. This goes hand in hand with safety and hygiene standards, which are an absolute basic requirement for 60% of those surveyed to attend an event. The use of climate-friendly means of transport and offsetting the CO2 emissions generated by events are relevant for 75% of the FMS respondents. Micro mobility means and cultural experiences at the respective destination are particularly appealing to the 26-35 age bracket and international attendees. Opportunities to experience the local character is, therefore, one of the must-have components for getting international attendees to attend in-person events. Overall, the FMS research revealed three key findings, according to the GCB: Firstly, in-person events are mainly attractive because of their ability to inspire people and provide opportunities for face-to-face encounters. New ideas emerge mainly when we interact with other people. 
“Events continue to deliver when it comes to inspiring people and promoting innovation,” says GCB managing director Matthias Schultze (pictured left). “Diving into different, local cultures and creating shared experiences only works at live events.” Secondly, the research shows the importance of events for staff retention and employer attractiveness. Events and business travel also promote long-term loyalty to companies. Thirdly, the survey data reveal that sustainability plays a significant role in the decision-making process whether to attend in-person events or not. Factors taken into consideration include the possibility of climate-neutral travel, offsetting CO2 emissions as well as regional and seasonal catering. The ‘Redefining Event Attendance’ research 2023 confirms that in-person events are unique and irreplaceable. While face-to-face encounters may have temporarily decreased in recent years, they still have immense value. Nevertheless, business events are faced with multiple challenges, such as climate change, energy supply, international conflicts, the pandemic, staff and skills shortages. The continuing FMS research under the headline ‘Navigating Business Events in Challenging Times’ is now looking for the kind of solutions events offer in this context, explains Dr Stefan Rief, head of organisational development and Work Design Research Unit at Fraunhofer IAO. “Our FMS research shows that people will continue to seek out face-to-face meetings, attend business events, and again travel more in the future. However, they will make more deliberate decisions than before on whether they attend an event in person or not. The event ecosystem will therefore have to look at the question of what kind of solutions business events can offer in the context of multiple challenges.”
“Diving into different, local cultures and creating shared experiences only works at live events”
2: Open Data
‘A second key focus of the GCB is digital transformation and the bureau is sure it will be one of the most important drivers of destination marketing in the foreseeable future. ‘Open data’, i.e., free access to all data relevant to users, is becoming a key factor in international competition, the bureau believes, and says making full use of the associated potential for Germany as a meetings destination is the primary goal of its Open Data MICE project, pursued in co-operation with the German National Tourist Board. The goal of the project is to create a data basis for mapping German MICE offerings through open and machine-readable data. “Digital transformation is one of the megatrends shaping the transformation of business events,” says GCB chief Matthias Schultze, who says there is a corresponding necessity for systematic data management. Schultze says chatbots supporting the booking process, public transport routes adapted to passenger preferences or self-check-in at events – the use of artificial intelligence (AI) around business events is not a question of ‘if’ but of ‘when’ and ‘how’. And he sees a possible future scenario involving a Smart Meeting Assistant (SMA), powered by sophisticated AI, which could support event planners throughout the entire customer journey. Schultze adds that AI applications need data and lots of it, meaning it is key to break down data and application silos in order to be able to provide users, such as event planners or attendees, with the desired correct information quickly as well as in a structured, up-to-date and personalised way. Connected data is important, with the process of planning to attend an event usually consisting of a large number of individual steps, including booking train/plane tickets and accommodation as well as checking the weather, possibly researching onwards transport services, local restaurants, the event programme, safety and hygiene precautions and so on. Currently, this requires a large number of applications. A high-quality data infrastructure, including open data, can address this issue, Schultze notes. “For the products and services of German business event providers to be found and processed in the future at as many digital touch points as possible, they must be machine-readable and be available in a uniform manner,” he says. By linking data in a knowledge graph, the bureau shows how relationships between different data can also be displayed. Led by the GCB, the country’s MICE industry will be able to link up with this project to map its offers as comprehensively as possible. “AI is an opportunity to reach people even more quickly, to delve deeper into the reasons that drive their requirements, and to use mass-customised services to achieve a new level of customer satisfaction”, says Petra Hedorfer, chairwoman of the German National Tourist Board. 3: Sustainable meetings The challenges around climate change are huge, but the business events community has already identified important milestones and started the journey towards a sustainable future. Successful sustainability solutions can set the tone and encourage all kinds of business event stakeholders to join in to create a snowball effect. The GCB says it has identified strategic measures, including the best possible use of technology and combining travel for business events with other occasions such as holidays or other business meetings to make it more meaningful. The Sustainable Meetings Content Hub on the GCB’s website is a repository that offers a whole host of materials and advice on sustainability, including an online map visualising train travel distances in Europe, a CO2 calculator, and Siemens’ Green Stay Initiative which selects hotels according to sustainable criteria. www.gcb.de/en/sustainability/contenthub/.
