Business events technology

This chapter examines the use of technology in the business events industry by destinations, venues, planners, exhibitors, and by the participants themselves. It begins by reviewing the use of established technologies in the context of business events and considers their advantages and challenges: the social media (with links to content marketing), event apps, and virtual and hybrid meetings. Next, the use, by business events professionals, of emerging technologies is explored: face recognition, artificial intelligence and bots, and gamification. The specific uses of technology in the context of exhibitions are analysed, with emphasis on virtual reality and augmented reality by exhibitors and the harnessing of technology by exhibition organisers for the purpose of on-site data capture through the use of technology to track visitors' movements. Finally, the possible limitations of the use of AI in business events are explored.