I remember walking into a large conference a few months ago, coffee in hand, slightly rushed, scanning through an agenda that looked great on paper. Multiple tracks, big-name speakers, plenty to choose from. But fifteen minutes in, I was doing what most attendees end up doing. Scrolling, opening tabs, closing them, trying to figure out what was actually worth my time. At some point, it hit me. There were too many options, and none of them were helping me decide. And that’s when it clicked. Everyone in that room was probably having their own version of this. A founder, a…

5 sponsorship myths that are killing renewals  At Confex this year, we hosted a roundtable with ten event leaders running exhibitions, conferences, and awards portfolios.  The conversation quickly converged on a problem that many organisers experience: Sponsor renewals are becoming harder to secure, but not because events are failing to attract audiences or sponsors. Most organisers in the room reported strong attendance, solid sponsor demand, and healthy commercial pipelines. I believe the real challenge lies somewhere else. Proving sponsor ROI in a way that protects renewals has become increasingly difficult. Sponsors often leave events feeling positive about the experience. They…

There’s a (painful) moment every event marketer recognises: You’ve got a decent-looking website, a solid speaker lineup, and a well-structured agenda; people are flocking in. They’re browsing sessions, clicking on speakers, checking pass prices. And then, they do what you loathe from the bottom of your heart, they leave. So what do you do? You send another email, run another retargeting ad, add a countdown timer, lower the early bird price, and all that (desperate) jazz.  Here’s the thing: the problem is the gap between interest and decision. Visitors often leave because something in the evaluation process didn’t quite resolve…

If you run events, this scenario will likely feel very familiar. Traffic appears healthy across your key acquisition channels, campaigns are consistently driving visitors to the website, agenda pages are attracting meaningful views, sponsor brochures are being downloaded, and registrations are coming through at a steady pace that suggests momentum is building. And yet, when you sit down for a commercial performance review, there is an uncomfortable gap between activity and outcome. Sponsor pipelines feel thinner than they should, given the visibility you’ve generated. Sales teams comment that the leads require additional qualification before they can meaningfully progress conversations. Your…

I have yet to meet an awards producer who says, “We have too much spare time during awards season.” Awards programmes are intense… think of a spin session in a sauna. They are also cyclical (that’s why I said “spin”… get it?) and high-stakes for entrants, sponsors, judges, and internal teams. And every season, the same friction appears. Before the deadline, the ops inbox fills with repeat questions. During judging, submissions vary wildly in quality. Sponsors want clear proof of value and ROI. And after the ceremony, reporting often feels rushed and incomplete. Then planning for the next cycle begins,…

There is a noticeable shift happening across B2B events in 2026, and while I’m not framing it as a ‘dramatic revolution’ of the industry… It’s something that’s changing things (in a good way). I’d say it’s more of a structural change in this sense: community and partnership leaders are rethinking how they allocate budgets, measure success, and protect the quality of connection in an environment saturated with digital noise. Over the past two years, AI-generated content has flooded feeds, inboxes, and marketing workflows. What initially felt novel and exciting now feels draggy and sloppy.  Reports across media and marketing have…

Sponsor renewals are becoming harder, even when events perform well. Most event formats in 2025 delivered strong attendance. Sessions were full, booth traffic looked healthy, and post-event reports showed high engagement. On the surface, everything appears to be working. Yet renewal conversations tell a completely different story. Sponsors hesitate, budgets are questioned, finance teams ask for more justification, and, of course, commercial teams are pushed to explain value rather than reinforce it. This tension is becoming common in 2026: sponsor ROI stories break because they lean on vague engagement and non-attributable inventory that finance teams don’t trust. Most sponsor ROI…

Event operations teams don’t hate technology; they push back when technology takes decisions out of their hands without making responsibility disappear. When something goes wrong during a live event, the accountability still sits with the ops team, even if the decision was made by a system they cannot see into, pause, or override. That distinction makes a huge difference, especially now, when events are no longer treated as discretionary marketing line items. They’re under sharper scrutiny from finance, procurement, and leadership, with ROI, risk, and operational discipline firmly in the spotlight So when AI assistants enter the conversation, the resistance…

(And why strong engagement metrics still don’t secure approval or renewal) By the time the budget review meeting reaches the events section, most of the room is already mentally moving on. Marketing has walked through pipeline impact, sales has spoken about deal velocity, and operations has flagged the growing pressure on headcount. The conversation has shifted, almost imperceptibly, from ideas to numbers. Then the events team gets their slot. The slides are strong. Engagement is clearly up, sponsors interacted more than they did last year, attendees stayed longer in sessions, and post-event feedback suggests the experience landed exactly as intended.…

For a few years, trade shows lived in an awkward middle ground. They were back on the calendar, but not fully back in the strategy. Budgets were approved cautiously. Expectations stayed fuzzy. Success was often explained after the show rather than defined upfront. That phase is ending. In 2026, trade shows are no longer being treated as legacy channels or discretionary spends. They are being funded with intent, reviewed with seriousness, and discussed alongside other core growth investments. One clear signal of this shift: 82% of B2B trade show marketers plan to increase their event spending in 2026. With that…

AI customer support for events is no longer a nice-to-have—it is the only realistic way to stop support teams from drowning in repetitive questions while still improving NPS. Your support team can deal with complexity. That has never been the problem. But what wears them down is the constant stream of identical questions that circle in from every direction. Email. WhatsApp. Social media. Helpdesks. Hallway interruptions. Booth-side escalations. Ahhh, it’s all too much even to list down. Every time someone asks, “Where do I pick up my badge?”, your team’s attention shifts away from the moments that actually shape customer…

Most events quietly face the same problem. You invest time, money, design hours, and internal pressure into building an app. You promote it everywhere. You push it through reminders, QR codes, and pre-event emails. And still, the majority of attendees walk into your venue without downloading it. Across the industry, event app adoption hovers around 25 percent. That means three out of four attendees start the day without the one tool meant to guide them. The impact is real: weaker sponsor ROI, lower session turnout, frustrated attendees wandering lost, and your team stuck answering the same questions all day. Without…