The events industry has been behind some of the most innovative tech conferences in the past decade. Opening the doors for new business prospects, these conferences are places where the top professionals meet and showcase their innovative concepts and bold theories for the future. Needless to say, 2020 is set to be another bar-raising year for event management professionals. Here’s a complete round-up of the ten best event tech conferences that you should be excited for in 2020.
1. Event Planner Expo
Scheduled for October 13th-15th, 2020 in New York City, this is a must-not-miss for every event professional on the East coast. With three exhilarating days already planned, this year’s Event Planner Expo will focus on building industry relationships, allowing top influencers to network with professionals from the industry.
What to look forward to –
- Boost your commercial reach with valuable opinions from marketing and event technology experts.
- In the past, noted speakers like Barbara Corcoran and Gary Vaynerchuck have graced this event. Although the list of speakers hasn’t been finalized yet, expect to catch some of the leading entrepreneurs from various industries all three days of the event.
- Private gatherings and cocktail sessions to help attendees network with each other.
2. Experiential Marketing Summit
Even in this digital marketing age, nothing beats the power of face-to-face experiences. The Experiential Marketing Summit has become the event industry’s mega-show and brings together b2b and b2c brand-side marketers, executives from leading event agencies, meeting planners, tradeshow organizers, event strategists, experience designers, event technology gurus and more. Each year, our attendees hail from more than 32 countries—a great testament to the global growth of a booming experiential industry.
What to look forward to –
- Interactive sessions with an engaging group of global entrepreneurs including Jack Dorsey (CEO of Twitter), Fidji Somo (head of the Facebook app) and Margaret Atwood (renowned novelist).
- The event is set to host a range of emerging new talents from various industries
- Deeply explore important business and social challenges of the new decade.
- Learn pro-active methods for discovering inventive solutions to commercial problems
- Leave with practical ideas that you can implement on your own business.
3. C2 Montréal 2020
C2 is known for being one of the most progressive business events in the world. In its fifth year in 2020, the event plans to take greater strides by providing professionals from over 60 countries and 34 different industries with the latest industry trends via exclusive events for event organizers. The event is going to be held on May 27th–29th, 2020 and already has over 7500 registered attendees, 57% of whom are executives and senior managers.
What to look forward to –
- Interactive sessions with an engaging group of global entrepreneurs including Jack Dorsey (CEO of Twitter), Fidji Somo (head of the Facebook app) and Margaret Atwood (renowned novelist).
- The event is set to host a range of emerging new talents from various industries
- Deeply explore important business and social challenges of the new decade.
- Learn pro-active methods for discovering inventive solutions to commercial problems
- Leave with practical ideas that you can implement on your own business.
4. IMEX America
Set to be held this September 15th-17th, 2020 in Las Vegas, IMEX America plans to hold over 180 classroom-style educational and networking seminars that are guaranteed to give every attendee a clear insight on how to mix creativity with hard-work and technology.
What to look forward to –
- With trade experts from various industries lined up to hold interactive sessions, one on one debates, and roundtable discussions, this is the perfect opportunity for attendees to mix with corporate executives and industry leaders.
5. Wedding MBA
The most significant yearly conference for wedding industry specialists, this two and a half-day conference, set to be held on November 17th-19th, 2020 in Las Vegas is a must-not-miss. Wedding industry experts will be speaking on wedding trends, what technological advances to expect this year and more. The seminars will be entirely focused on helping new entrepreneurs elevate their business reach.
What to look forward to –
- Over 5,000 guaranteed attendees and potential networking leads
- 120 conferences with speakers from leading brands
- Parties planned by the famed event management company The Knot
6. MPI WEC
MPI WEC is one of America’s foremost guidance and networking conferences for event professionals. The theme of 2020 will be exploring the importance of authentic events and how authenticity is the new currency for up and coming professionals. Set to be held in Grapevine, Texas on June 6th-9th, 2020, here’s what you can look forward to at this event-
- Attend conferences dedicated to career-boosting education
- Amazing local food from Dallas-based caterers
- Musical guests
7. The Special Event and Catersource
March 9th-12th, 2020 will be three special days in Las Vegas as two of the finest event planners join forces – The Special Event and Catersource are set to hold a combined event which will have conferences, tradeshows for event and catering specialists and interactive sessions with some of the world’s leading event marketers, business owners, chefs, caterers, designers and event planners.
What to expect –
- Over 500 suppliers
- Over 8,500 professionals
- Fifteen educational sessions involving over 200 events industry leaders
- After parties in Vegas
8. EMS2020 & EVENTtech by Event Marketer
EVENTtech joined forces with the Experiential Marketing Summit (EMS) in 2019. In 2020, May 11th-13th this event will give attendees a chance to meet top marketing and event industry experts from across the world. The event will be held at the famous McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago.
What to look forward to –
- Learn from successful brands how to advance the industry
- Network with thousands of experts at the training conferences
- This event will also host new talent, encouraging them to climb up the ladders of marketing success.
9. HITEC by HFTP
Attendees always get to experience creative and educational conferences at Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC). This year, the event will be focused on finding new and more innovative hospitality solutions. It is set to be held in June 15th-18th, 2020, in San Antonio, Texas.
What to look forward to –
- A pitch competition for aspiring entrepreneurs
- Sessions focusing on improving the hospitality industry using new and advanced technology
- Experts from Europe interacting with American based businesses
10. NACE Evolve Leadership Conference
Historically, one of the most exciting event planning conferences, the NACE Evolve Leadership Conference in 2020 will be held in Dallas, Texas and will focus on bringing together some of the leading event professionals from across the country. The NACE Evolve community already has 3,500 professionals as members. The event will be held on January 24th–27th, 2020. It is known for providing first-rate educational tools and resources to attendees, and for hosting industry experts.
What to look forward to –
- Network with a large and vibrant community of event industry professionals
- Learn about National Awards and the resources every event expert needs to succeed
- A chance to become a member of the NACE Evolve community
Conclusion
There is simply too much to expect in 2020 for event professionals in the USA and Canada. Use this updated list of the top marketing and events technology conferences to plan out your calendar and boost your networking skills. It is time to explore new horizons of the events industry.
Another easy way to learn more about event management in 2020 is to get an all-in-one event management tool like Attendease. Attendease helps event managers create customized, branded and full-featured event websites while managing registration, passes, attendee communication, event analytics, and more. With a tool like Attendease, event managers can provide their attendees with a comprehensive one-stop-shop for all the event-related information that they need.