2023 event trends!

As we get closer to the beginning of 2023, we find ourselves on the horizon of a new calendar full of exciting and impactful event opportunities for your business. If you’ve evaluated your event strategy for the coming year, you’ll know just how important it is to have an up to date understanding of the event trends taking over the industry. 

If you want to ensure that your event plans for 2023 are both on trend and up to date, keep reading to find out what we think the biggest corporate event trends are going to be in 2023.  

1. Celebrating company culture.

The power of a strong team culture should never be underestimated. Creating a sense of community and belonging within your organisation can be the difference between your people feeling apathetic about their responsibilities, or bringing that extra 20% to their role, making an impact across the entire organisation. 

In a report that emerged late in 2022, it was predicted that events designed to strengthen company culture will be a prominent trend across the coming year. Particularly for hybrid teams who have team members in multiple different countries, hosting incentive or team building events that bring people together are a vital ingredient when creating a weatherproof company culture. 

2. Sustainability for good. 

Whilst creating sustainable events isn’t a phase to be adopted and discarded with the next trend cycle, sustainability is something event planners need to be taking into account throughout their planning process. 

Creating a sustainable event can be achieved in a myriad of different ways. Whether through the selection of the venue, making digital or sustainable swaps in your branding and communications, or thinking more carefully about the catering options for your event, taking responsibility for the environmental impact of an event is the responsibility of event planners and agencies everywhere. 

True sustainability is about more than just protecting the planet. Did you know that you can create a sustainable event through greater protection of local economies? By working with trusted suppliers and vendors local to your venue of choice, you’ll not only be benefitting local supply chains, but protecting the sustainability of the local economy. 

3. Be more intentional about tracking your ROI. 

As we enter into a global recession, it’s more important than ever to ensure that your event strategy for 2023 is as financially robust as possible. Whilst there are ways to ensure that you keep costs down, such as booking venues as early as possible in order to avoid last minute booking fees, one of the most watertight methods of ensuring financial return on your event efforts is by recording key data. 

At all stages of your event planning process, you need an attendee communication strategy that records useful data, showing clearly where the biggest areas of return are from your event. Whether monitoring feedback, footfall, ticket sales or live engagement, having the data that allows you to track the impact of your event is a huge feature we predict we’ll see across the board of events in 2023.

4. Going hybrid. 

With covid restrictions all but entirely lifted, a recent report has revealed that 83% of event planners are expecting to host more in person events over the next year than they did before the pandemic. Whilst this indicates a strong return of the live event format, a significant trend for 2023 will be how planners keep online and remote audiences engaged with these experiences too. 

The answer? Hybrid events. 

In 2023, we predict that more and more events will have multiple methods of participation, whether in person or online. By making the same content accessible to these different audiences, hybrid events will become more than just the sustainable options, they’ll keep all attendees connected, regardless of their location. With the latest tools and practices, such as virtual reality, hybrid events can be designed to engage with a variety of different audiences.

Whether you need support with creating an event itinerary that celebrates your unique culture, designing a truly sustainable event, mapping out a communications plan or executing the perfect hybrid event, why not rely on the experts to make sure your 2023 event plans are bang on trend. Get in touch with the First Event team by heading over to our contact page.