Omnipress recently released the 2020 State of the Conference Industry Report, discovering common trends and opinions that will influence how corporate and associations annual conferences are coordinated this year. The 125 planner respondents who answered Omnipress’ online survey illustrated how many new creative strategies will need to be implemented in order to grow and retain conference attendees in 2020.
What is your average conference attendance?
The average attendance for corporate and association conferences lingered in the lower brackets. The majority of the 125 conference planners claimed their conferences had 500 or fewer attendees, and 10% less conference planners averaged their attendance in the 500-1,000 and the 1,000-5,000 brackets.
How has your conference attendance changed over the past year?
Of the 125 conference planners who responded, the conference attendance for 82% experienced very modest or almost no growth over the last year. Only a small percentage of respondents reported that their conference significantly increased or decreased.
What is your #1 goal for your annual conference in 2020?
The most important goal for the 125 annual conference planners in 2020 is to attract a new audience(s) and decrease costs. Between 2019 and 2020, there were several decreases, ranging from increasing attendance, sponsorship or exhibitor revenue, and expanding the scope of the conference. The goals that saw an increase were attracting a new audience(s), increasing attendee retention, and decreasing costs.
To read the full report, click here.
