Latest news with #eventstrategy
Skift
11-08-2025
- Business
- Skift
Can't-Miss Pre-Show at IMEX America: AI Innovation Lab Everyone is Buzzing About
Some of the smartest moves at IMEX America will happen before the expo even opens. One room, 100 insiders, and a playbook you'll wish you had sooner. If you're heading to IMEX America with serious plans to future-proof your event strategy, clear your calendar for October 6. Before the expo floor opens, a select group of top-tier planners will be gathering at Mandalay Bay for an AI experience that's as hands-on as it is high-level. Limited to just 100 participants, this pre-show session is built for planners who want to use AI now, not just theorize about it later. Just Practical AI Lab, Built for Events This is a working lab. Expect an agenda built around live demos, guided practice, and prompt engineering tailored to real-world event planning. You'll learn how to use AI to solve the headaches you're actually dealing with, like crafting personalized marketing at scale, streamlining venue research, optimizing budgets on the fly, and rapidly prototyping agendas. You'll walk out with usable prompts, sharper questions, and a clear sense of what AI can (and can't) do for your team next quarter. Collaborate Like a Pro, Compete Like a Champion One of the lab's standout features? The AI Prompt World Cup. It's exactly what it sounds like, a friendly but fiercely competitive showdown where small teams battle to create the most effective prompts for real event scenarios. Bragging rights are on the line. So is the chance to learn directly from peers who are already testing these tools at global events. Skift Meetings [AI] Innovation Lab is a room full of strategic thinkers rolling up their sleeves and working the tech with support from facilitators who understand both AI systems and event systems. Why You Want to Be in That Room AI for events is moving fast. But no one wants to be sold another shiny object. This lab is about applied knowledge, peer validation, and walking away with immediate next steps. It's also one of the only places during IMEX where you'll get concentrated time with fellow senior planners who are navigating the same terrain and asking the same sharp questions. The catch? Space is tight. With only 100 seats available, and most already spoken for, now's the time to raise your hand if you want in. Request Your Invite Now If you're a senior-level planner ready to take AI from theory to action, and you like the idea of beating your peers in a bracket-style prompt battle, this is your moment. Request your invite to the AI Innovation Lab at IMEX America. Join the event world's smartest minds in Las Vegas on October 6. Let's make the future less hypothetical.
Skift
07-08-2025
- Business
- Skift
What Past Attendees Say About Skift Meetings Forum
Event leaders keep coming back to Skift Meetings Forum for one reason: it delivers. Sharp strategy, real talk, and takeaways that actually work. Here's what past attendees have to say. 'It's the rare event where every conversation, on stage and off, shapes how I approach my job,' said one returning attendee. In just two years, Skift Meetings Forum has become the rare industry gathering where senior event leaders talk strategy, swap solutions, and leave with frameworks they can actually use. The 2025 edition promises to push those conversations even further, building on insights from the first two sold-out forums. Skift Meetings Forum Testimonials: What Attendees Say The feedback speaks volumes. A senior planner at a Fortune 500 brand called it 'the most efficient day I spend all year. Sharp content, zero filler, and real connections with peers who face the same high-stakes challenges.' Another attendee praised its networking depth: 'The intimacy makes it easy to connect with seniors you usually only see across a crowded convention hall.' Others emphasized its editorial edge. 'The speakers don't just inspire, they give frameworks you can apply Monday morning,' said a global events VP. 'It's the strategy you actually use.' From Launch to Industry Essential The inaugural 2023 forum set the tone: small by design, high on candor, and laser-focused on the future of business events. Topics ranged from AI-driven efficiencies to DEI strategies and the shifting workplace. In 2024, the forum scaled up without losing focus, taking over The Glasshouse in New York City, featuring high-profile names like Seth Godin and Monique Ruff-Bell. 'The single-stage format meant no FOMO,' shared one VP of global events. 'You knew you were in the room for the conversation that mattered most.' Sessions explored meetings as revenue drivers, destination risk planning, and future-proof sponsorships, while maintaining the forum's hallmark intimacy. The result? A program senior leaders trust as both a think tank and an action plan. Why Skift Meetings Forum 2025 Is Unmissable The 2025 edition (September 15 at City Winery, NYC) builds directly on that momentum. Expect 'Keynote Listeners,' a fresh format designed for real-time response, plus targeted AI deep dives and sessions that sharpen the business case for events amid global uncertainty. This year is built for executives overseeing complex portfolios and large-scale budgets who need data-driven strategy and peer-tested solutions. Seating remains limited by design to keep conversations senior-level and solution-focused. Secure Your Seat Among Industry Leaders For those shaping the future of business events, this is where strategies meet action. Join the executives who will define event leadership's next chapter. Reserve your seat now for September 15 in NYC and take your place among the industry's most influential leaders.
Skift
01-07-2025
- Business
- Skift
Microsoft Build Joins Wave of Tech Conferences Leaving Longtime Host Cities
Microsoft's decision to move its flagship developer event out of Seattle marks a significant shift for the company and the city's events economy. The new location for Build 2026 has yet to be announced. Microsoft is ending its nearly decade-long run of hosting the Build developer conference in Seattle, signaling a potential shift in the company's event strategy and adding to a growing trend of tech events leaving traditional host cities. The most recent Build conference was held May 19–22 at the Seattle Convention Center. It drew 3,200 in-person attendees and more than 100,000 participants online. Build, which launched in 2011, has taken place in Seattle since 2017 and has regularly attracted tens of thousands of developers, engineers, and technology partners. 'Our plans for Build 2026 have changed, our vision to empower builders and developers at a major event next year remains the same,' a Microsoft spokesperson said. 'We thank the city and the community for their support over the years.' Microsoft Build Conference Important to Seattle Visit Seattle did not respond to a request for comment. According to industry estimates, the event has generated roughly 9,300 hotel room nights per year, an economic impact the city will now lose. Seattle's proximity to Microsoft's Redmond headquarters made it a logistically convenient location for the company's engineers and executives. While Microsoft has not disclosed the reason for the move, a spokesperson said it was not related to conditions or experiences during this year's event. In addition, the spokesperson said, 'We do not have anything further to share about our plans for Build 2026.' Shift in Tech Event Geography Microsoft is not alone in changing the location of its flagship gathering. Across the tech industry, companies are re-evaluating how and where they host major events, driven by rising costs, shifting audience expectations, and strategic goals around reach and visibility. HubSpot's INBOUND conference, held in Boston since its launch in 2012, will move to San Francisco for a one-time edition. The event is scheduled for Sept. 3–5 at Moscone Center. HubSpot said the change reflects feedback from a growing global community and an effort to meet customers where they are. The plan is for the conference to return to Boston in 2026. The 2024 event at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, attracted approximately 12,000 attendees. Other major tech conferences have made more permanent changes. Google Cloud Next relocated from San Francisco to Las Vegas in 2024, with events now confirmed at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center through at least 2026. Oracle also moved its flagship CloudWorld conference from San Francisco to Las Vegas after its 2022 event. This year's edition will take place Oct. 13–16 at The Venetian Conference and Expo Center. Canva shifted its annual Canva Create conference from Sydney to Los Angeles in 2024. Held at Hollywood Park—home to SoFi Stadium and the YouTube Theater—the event drew more than 4,500 attendees, with 100 speakers and 60 sessions. Apple, meanwhile, has transitioned its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) to a primarily digital format since 2020. While the event remains free and globally accessible online, Apple now includes a limited in-person experience at its Cupertino campus. Attendance is by invitation or lottery and capped at a small number of developers, students, and media. What It Means Microsoft's departure from Seattle reflects a larger redefinition of how tech companies engage developer and partner communities. As event formats, audiences, and expectations evolve, even long-standing location ties are no longer guaranteed. For destination marketers and convention centers, the message is clear: competition for major conferences is intensifying, and loyalty to place is giving way to flexibility, scale, and strategic alignment.
