How Corporate Events Are Changing To Fit Business Needs

Forbes

6 days ago

In this uncertain time for business, a recent PwC survey found that more executives now have confidence in the effectiveness of their boards. That's good news—until you look at the percentage. Only 35% rate their boards' overall effectiveness as excellent or good, up from 30% in last year's study. And that's actually still more of an improvement: 29% gave that rating in 2021 and 2022.
In its survey, PwC spoke with 500 executives in different positions, ranging from CEO to chief legal officer and COO. CEOs had the best view of their boards, with 94% saying they were excellent or good. CFOs also viewed them favorably, with 72% ranking them in good esteem. PwC said this may reflect boards getting better in some ways—with members chosen to provide oversight and financial guidance. And the executives that interact the most with boards do tend to rank them the highest.
Board members still may be missing some critical expertise, however. Nearly four in five CIOs ranked their boards as fair or poor, which may reflect a lack of knowledge about technology, cybersecurity and AI among members. About 43% of executives said they wanted AI expertise added to their boards this year, but only 10% of board members expected that to happen. Executives and board members both felt that AI is a top priority for boards in the next 12 months.
Regardless, the majority of executives believe their boards can come through when needed. Seven in 10 said they believe their board can guide the company through a crisis, while 88% feel their boards can effectively engage with shareholders. And when changes are needed, six in 10 execs are confident that boards can assess their own performance and make needed shifts. Whether that faith in the boards is merited remains to be seen. As the year progresses into the unknown, the strengths of these boards—and executives' confidence in them—are likely to be put to the test.
Even though the shutdowns of the Covid-19 pandemic era are in the rearview mirror, corporate events and trade shows are becoming increasingly important to businesses. I spoke with Janet Dell, CEO of events company Freeman, about how events are changing to reflect today's workforce—both in attendees and goals. An excerpt from our conversation is later in this newsletter.
President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order imposing tariffs on imported goods at the 'Liberation Day' press conference.
The majority of President Donald Trump's new tariffs were struck down in two federal court cases last week, although it's certainly not the end of the issue. A three-judge panel at the Court of International Trade ruled that the so-called reciprocal tariffs announced as part of Trump's 'Liberation Day' press conference should be 'set aside.' The panel ruled that Trump did not have the authority to impose unlimited tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which gives presidents the power to impose sanctions during national emergencies. In a second lawsuit brought by a group of companies, Washington, D.C. District Judge Rudolph Contreras also found the tariffs to be illegal. But for now, the tariffs—or threat thereof—are still on. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit paused the order halting the tariffs while those judges rule on an appeal.
In the meantime, there is still action with new tariffs and existing negotiations. Trump announced a 50% tariff on imported steel and aluminum last week, which goes into effect this week, at an event at U.S. Steel. And negotiations continued last week with China, although progress remains unclear. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last Thursday that talks have stalled. Friday morning, Trump wrote on Truth Social that China 'HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US.' Monday morning, Chinese authorities shot back, accusing the U.S. of breaching the agreement that both countries came to last month, saying the U.S. introduced 'discriminatory restrictive measures against China' after the talks, including expanded export controls on AI chips and other chip-building technologies.
Regardless of the broader tariff fight, companies are now starting to reflect the impacts—or projected impacts—in their earnings reports. Forbes senior contributor Shelley E. Kohan analyzed how the nation's five largest retailers—Walmart, Amazon, Costco, Kroger and Home Depot—are handling tariffs. Companies with significant non-grocery sales have pulled forward inventory purchases before tariffs took effect, trying to stay ahead of the impacts on price. Home Depot executives said they can maintain competitive prices and don't expect broad increases, while Walmart executives indicated that they will not be able to completely mitigate tariff-related increases. Costco, Kroger and Walmart are all trying to keep their food prices down, especially since consumers have been paying more over the last several years—though popular products, including bananas, coffee, avocados and flowers, are almost always imported. Meanwhile, many of the companies are changing their supply strategies, not relying on any one country for goods or manufacturing.
Many businesses continued to lower their outlooks for the rest of the year, given tariff uncertainty. Last week, Best Buy, Macy's and Abercrombie & Fitch all reduced their sales and earnings projections for the year.
President Donald Trump walks with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in 2017.
Last week was another bumpy ride for the stock market, with ups and downs related to tariffs, government financial reports and Big Tech. April's inflation figures remained relatively mild, not yet showing the impact of President Donald Trump's tariff policies. Personal consumption expenditures increased 2.1% above April 2024, the lowest PCE inflation rate since last September, and getting close to the Federal Reserve's sweet spot of 2% inflation. However, economists at Bank of America and Goldman Sachs both forecast a jump in tariff-related inflation to 3.6% by December—though they say it is not expected to be as sharp of a jolt in price as the post-pandemic inflation of 2021 and 2022.
The lower inflation rate, however, doesn't mean that interest rate cuts are set to happen anytime soon. Minutes from the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee's early May meeting were released last week, and they indicated that the Fed is planning to continue to watch the impacts of Trump's planned policies—which to date have been sudden, jarring and unpredictable—before making any moves, writes Forbes senior contributor Charles Lloyd Bovaird II. Forbes senior contributor Erik Sherman writes it's unlikely there will be any changes to interest rates before the end of the year. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell met with Trump last week, and Powell reaffirmed that the Fed would continue to make policy decisions 'based solely on careful, objective, and non-political analysis.'
Regardless of the indicators last week, small businesses are feeling decidedly less optimistic, writes Forbes' Brandon Kochkodin. The April Small Business Optimism Index, published monthly by the National Federation of Independent Business, showed optimism down to 95.8, below the 51-year average of 98, and down 1.6% from March. Retail business owners had the lowest scores, with optimism of 93.7. More than three-quarters said supply chain issues were impacting their business, and 14% said their inventories were too low. But negative feelings are running high across all sectors; the most confident sector in April was construction, and that was down nearly 4 points from January.
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As federal government attitudes on diversity, equity and inclusion push the issue to the back of corporate priorities, companies are talking about it a whole lot less. According to an analysis by Gravity Research, references to DEI and associated terminology in Fortune 100 company reports dropped 72% between 2024 and 2025. The acronym DEI saw the largest drop in mentions—down 98%—while more neutral terms about diversifying, such as 'inclusion' and 'belonging' were down by more than a third. The only place where mentions of DEI increased was on earnings calls, where the term came up 390% more often—but usually because of more shareholder questions about it. Gravity Research Vice President of Thought Leadership Joanna Piacenza said the report 'speaks volumes to the current political environment,' which has made diversity initiatives a polarizing issue—as well as a legal one.
Freeman CEO Janet Dell.
Events have retained their popularity through the pandemic, but are changing based on attendees and preferences. I talked to Janet Dell, CEO of global event company Freeman, about why events are still so successful and vital for business. This conversation has been edited for length, clarity and continuity.
During the pandemic and soon afterwards, many Baby Boomers retired, and the workforce now has many more Millennials and Gen Zers. How have events changed to reflect the age of the attendees?
Dell: Each of the demographics has a different preference in general. The younger demographics—Gens Z and Alpha and Millennials—want that face-to-face engagement. They're looking for ways to get more professional development opportunities, connect with buyers, learn about what's cutting edge in their industry in particular, because there's a lot more hybrid working arrangements. Events are turning into 'bleisure' events, where you're going out for the event and staying a few days after.
People are looking at ways to make it easier because talking about the digital native versus a digital hybrid. We're helping support the events, partnering with someone with AI tools that can help you match-make. Or it can help you understand dwell times and engagement when you go through a booth. So our exhibitors know: Is this impactful content? Am I optimally set up?
[We also make] sure there's more time in the events for people to talk to one another. I would say one of the bigger changes pre- and post- pandemic is not overscheduling, and trying to give people more time to engage and immerse, and not just going back-to-back-to-back on things, straight into a happy hour, then a dinner, et cetera. There's more of a consumer slant versus B2B, where they're really thinking about the customized individual experience versus a blanket use-the-same-formulas-as-they-did-before.
We've got a lot of new, fresh ideas, married with a lot of long-tenured people that have been in events, experience and exhibits for a long time.
Looking at some of the recent research Freeman has done, people place a huge amount of trust in what they see, learn and experience at events. Has it always been that way?
It's always been the most powerful medium for building trust is face-to-face. You can't beat bringing someone together, having a conversation, reading the verbal and the nonverbal cues, and then interacting live. That's what people missed in the pandemic, and why there was this incredible pent up demand. We saw virtual events be adopted. They have a place, and it's much more inclusive. But then when people came back,[there was] just incredible demand, and it held up. Ninety-four percent say this is the biggest trust-building medium. It allows you to grow your interpersonal skills. You can gain professional confidence, and you stay on cutting edge in the industry.
It also helps close business, in terms of commerce and retain clients because you're showing them all the benefits of what you're doing. Once you leave that event, 87% of the people that have attended are more likely to go to your website. You've got that 365-day connection, which is what you want to see with your clients to make sure that they stay loyal to your brand.
What do executives need to know about events?
They need to be clear on what their objective is. We do thousands of events a year and we bring in 400,000 to 500,000 exhibitors. They have to be clear on what their objective is for the event. Why would you be attending? You can get matched up with the right event to be able to take advantage of that.
If you can do that, then you can start planning out how you're going to take advantage of it, whether it's through sessions, keynote speakers, the trade show floor, experiences or one-to-one special events like hosted-buyer-type scenarios. All those things can have a more personalized experience and therefore a better return on it.
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