AI in Event Management: What Should You Prioritise Right Now?

AI is everywhere, and event management is no exception. The promise? Smarter planning, effortless engagement, and data-driven decisions. The reality? Not all AI tools are worth your time. With an overwhelming number of solutions out there, how do you know what’s truly impactful and what’s just a fancy gimmick?

Rather than chasing trends, event professionals should focus on AI solutions that genuinely enhance efficiency and elevate the attendee experience. Based on insights from EventFlare, IMEX, Northstar Meetings Group, and Forbes, we’re breaking down what actually works, what’s worth your time and effort, and what you can certainly ignore. As a tech company and provider ourselves we still value human input above all else, but of course need to see the value in AI implementation where needed.

1. Want to Save Time and Simplify Event Planning?

AI Chatbots & Virtual Assistants

AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants can significantly enhance the attendee experience by providing real-time assistance with venue information, transportation options, and event logistics. These intelligent tools can answer attendee inquiries 24/7, offering details about event locations, nearby accommodations, travel routes, and transportation options. By automating these tasks, chatbots help reduce the need for support emails, freeing up event organizers to focus on more strategic responsibilities.

AI-Powered Content Ideas

AI tools like ChatGPT and Jasper can be the starting point of generating event descriptions, marketing emails, and social media posts. However, although these tools speed up content creation, human oversight is crucial for maintaining brand voice and authenticity. The value of the human voice has never been higher and people are getting better and better at recognising the one-dimensional AI tone that has no dimension or intrigue. So, you can definitely use AI as a starting point, but if you want a social media post that actually reaches and affects your audience – you will have to come up with the original messaging yourself.

Let AI go over your event schedule

AI can help streamline scheduling by analysing your event’s agenda, speakers, topics, and timing to identify potential conflicts or gaps. It can detect overlapping sessions, ensure even topic distribution, and suggest adjustments for a smoother flow. Additionally, AI can recommend better session placements based on audience interest, speaker availability, and content relevance, helping to avoid redundancies and optimise engagement.

Verdict: There are certain processes in event planning that can be automated or can benefit from the analysis provided by AI. Whether to assist attendees with recommendations and providing tips, to help you out with the first step in content creation, or to even provide ‘another eye’ to go over the technicalities of your schedule: use it to your benefit.

2. Want to Create a Standout Attendee Experience?

Personalised event recommendations

AI can recommend sessions and exhibitors based on attendee preferences and past behaviour. Events can often be overwhelming and complex to navigate, so an AI-based system can remove some of the difficulty in navigation and boost engagement. Furthermore, this can also be applied to event networking – using attendee interests and backgrounds. However, the AI-powered matchmaking should be there as a recommendation, rather than delivering the final say. We ourselves have attended too many events that have been overly eager to implement an AI matchmaking system which simply doesn’t get it right. It should serve as a tool of exploration, but ultimately the decision should be up to the individual.

Real-Time Transcription & Translation

AI-powered captioning and translation tools make sessions more accessible and inclusive. IMEX underlines how important it is to have tools like this that expand event reach and cater to international and multilingual audiences. People with hearing difficulties are now also able to follow along – all while cutting down on costs for hiring on-site translators.

Example: the Live Captions and Translation Tool of Floq is an extremely easy to set up feature for both organizers and attendees. Users can access live captions during a session and decide what language to have the captions in. The AI tool not only transcribes and translates a session on the spot, but steadily learns the language of the domain of the event and adapts the transcription.

AI-Enhanced Post-Event Insights and Content Summaries

After an event, AI can generate session recaps, key takeaways, and even highlight reels based on an attendee’s journey. If someone couldn’t attend a particular session, AI-powered tools can summarise the discussion, providing them with key insights in an easily digestible format. This ensures attendees don’t miss out on valuable knowledge and helps them retain and apply what they learned long after the event ends.

Verdict: An event is a grand and often overwhelming experience for an attendee. There are many moving parts and things to consider and plan. AI can greatly help with the information overload. Furthermore, it can be a very useful tool for accessibility and reach of event sessions. Post-event synopsis is also a great way that AI systems can benefit a user. Ensure that the AI tools are useful and add to the experience, rather than substituting.

3. What NOT to waste time on

❌ Your audience are people and not robots: don’t push AI in every aspect of your event.

AI is a powerful tool with a lot of potential, however it is easy to notice the rising frustration with companies and tools pushing their new and often underdeveloped AI tools on people. Figure out what very specific tasks can be made easier with AI and find a way to seamlessly integrate the system, so as not to overwhelm your attendees and for that matter, yourself. Focus on one or two tools at most. And be aware: people can recognise AI better than you think. Creating impact is a uniquely human quality and no computerised system can reproduce it. So, don’t use AI where creativity is needed because people will quickly catch on.

❌ AI Gimmicks do not look good at an event

Some AI applications, like AI-generated keynote speakers or fully automated event planning are still experimental and not widely adopted. The whole point of events is the human connection and the power of information exchange that goes beyond just a Google search. Don’t forget that – attendees want to know that they are going to an event that is carefully thought out and that caters to them. Organizers know their audience best – a machine learning system can only make a weak and likely inaccurate guess.

Final Thoughts on AI: Prioritise What Works for You

AI can greatly aid the experience of both organisers and attendees. But a key thing to remember is that it is there to add something useful. It should not be a substitute for what your attendees signed up. Remember: events are about human connection. Automating every step of the way is likely to create more dissatisfaction rather than satisfaction. AI isn’t a magic solution—choose tools that align with your event goals.

Do you want to know what the next steps for us are in terms of implementing AI in Floq. Get in contact to just have a simple chat about the future of event tech. We are so passionate about it!