The events landscape is evolving fast, and 2025 is shaping up to be a year of bold shifts and fresh ideas. At our latest Pulse event in New York, we brought together event professionals to connect, share insights, and discuss what’s shaping the future of our industry.
We asked them one simple question:
“What do you think will be the #1 trend for events in 2025?”
From cutting-edge tech to new approaches in sustainability, here’s what they had to say.

Francois Fournier
Head of events – DTN
“The biggest trend for us this year, is that it’s all about return on investment and event measurements – coming up with the right metrics to justify why we’re doing all these events in 2025.
It’s really important to talk about what the metrics are that we’re going to use. And I think with increasing costs in 2025, we will have to come up with robust reporting, showing strong return on investment, and event measurements. That’s really the key for us.”

Rachel Levy
Director of Global Strategic Partnerships – Convene
“I think the largest trend coming into 2025 is going to be the utilisation of non-hotel venues, not only to have a unique experience, something a little bit more experiential. We’ll have more productivity and more attendee engagement. So really leaning into non-traditional venues and looking at alternate options.”

Paul Tremonte
Principal – Paul Tremonte Events
“This is the year of evolution. I think in two big areas, both AI and generationally. With AI, more and more professionals are learning and understanding how to optimise the tools to impact our guest experiences. And generations are quickly moving. From Gen X and Baby Boomers and a higher percentage of Gen Y, Gen Z attendees at meetings, it impacts every aspect of how we manage our events–how they interact with data and experiential elements. Every day is evolving and I think 2025 will be a really busy year for change.”

Lee Jones
Account Director – emc3
“In terms of the biggest trends that I’m seeing this year, it would be around hyper-personalisation–cutting through the noise, making sure we can create unique, memorable experiences for attendees, ensuring that they get their own personalised agendas and events throughout the year.”

Matt Schechter
NYC Tourism + Conventions
“One thing that we’re seeing is the need and want for more campus-style programs. So, to encompass the logistics, the room block, the meeting etc, but how do you incorporate what’s around that property, around the hotel, with venues, with experiences, tying in aspects of the destination itself? We had a customer recently do something near Times Square where they pulled in the billboards and utilised two properties to pull together their meeting and event. We’re hopeful that we’ll see some more of these amazing, unique concepts and destinations, not only in New York but around the world.”

Alessandra Delmonte
Partner & VP – Arena Destination Marketing
“In terms of the sort of disruptor in the event industry, so aside from AI being incorporated more and more into our everyday experience at events, I think we’re going to see our new workforce. So, by the end of next year, 80% of our workforce will be either Gen Z or millennials. And with that, we’ll be forced to really address these event delegates and what’s important to them. How are they consuming information? How are they convening? And I think the amazing disruptor will be our new leaders coming into place and shaking up the norms of events. We’ll have this new energy, new faces, new leaders coming into those event spaces and what we’ve always done before will be no longer.”

Josh King
VP of Growth – emc3
“I think the number one trend that’s going to impact 2025 is an adoption of holistic sustainability across the events industry. Now, when we talk about sustainability, lots of people just think about the environment, but holistic sustainability is just as much about DEI, accessibility, and CSR as it is, of course, still about the massively important environmental aspects. We’ve already started to see a huge investment of time and resources from our incredible partners into holistic sustainability, and we’re definitely going to see the increase of this further into 2025 and beyond.”

Dave Goodison
Client Executive – SongDivision
“My number one trend for event industries in 2025. But what else? It’s going to be music! Incorporating music into all of the events.”

Ileana Cortessi
Events Associate – Arena Destination Marketing
“People are saying that now conferences are going to be starting from Tuesday, and the peak days are going to be Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, instead of starting on Monday. After COVID, people don’t want to travel on a Sunday and miss their family day, and they want to use that time to reorganise their week, and then head to the conference on Monday evening and be there Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. So I’m hoping this is something we’ll see more of in 2025.”

Arielle Hornedo
Director, Field Marketing – OfferFit
“The number one trend that I think is going to be impacting the events industry this year is personalisation. People want to attend events because they want to be treated like individuals, whether that’s building out custom agendas, letting them pick their own swag, or having any sort of activations that allow them to personalise their own experience. So I think that’s going to be a big trendsetter for this year.”

Robbie Siemon
Senior Account Manager – Brands at Work
“I think the number one trend that we’re going to see this year is the continued return to in-person events, seeing the back of the pandemic and really bringing people back together so that we’re meeting in-person again. I’m actually super hopeful that that’s the case. And then we’ll still see hybrid coming into its own.”

Max von Schmeling
Office Manager – The Schachmann Group
“There’s a push for sports. Everyone’s interested in sports and seeing a New York sports team. So I think in the future, it really will be about the experience and about what each destination can offer experientially for our clients.
Another event trend I’m seeing is a push towards health and wellness. People are really conscious about the food they’re putting into their body. So I think that going forward, we’re going to have to reevaluate the menus, snacks provided in between meetings and coffee breaks, as well as desserts, maybe opting for some healthier options.”

Laura Romaine
Founder & CEO – Experiences Remain
“People are craving community and human connection more, bringing it back to the people. In my 15+ years of working in the events, hospitality and tourism industry, where I’ve hosted thousand-person events and conventions and city-wides, lately I’ve been doing community events all around New York where it’s maybe 12 to 15 people, not even that, coming to the table, maybe at a local winery in the city, and we choose a topic that people don’t typically discuss at work.”
What’s next for events?
If one thing is clear, it’s that 2025 will be a year of bold moves and innovation. From cutting-edge tech to more immersive, purpose-driven experiences, the industry is evolving fast—and event professionals are leading the charge.
At emc3, we’re excited to be part of this transformation, pushing creative boundaries and designing events that don’t just follow trends but set them.
What do you think will define events in 2025? Let’s keep the conversation going—join the Pulse LinkedIn community or get in touch!
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