Event Data Trends: Why Event Planners are the New Data Analysts

The meaning behind the job title "Event Planner" has changed dramatically in the past few years. Before COVID-19, event planners had one primary job: planning in-person events for their organization. They wore many hats and put out many fires in real-time. An event planner is a beast of a job, and it includes tackling roles that go behind their line of duty and often working long days up to and even after events. 

Obviously, event planners plan and execute their respective events, but what about the data gathering during and after the event? A smoothly run event is a success, but harnessing the patterns and trends within the event itself is the key to future events’ success. 

Therefore, event planners must now add another skill to their resume: Event Data Analyst.

Event planners have become event analysts

When the pandemic really started wreaking havoc on the events industry, event planners had to pivot quickly. Many companies changed their course and transitioned to virtual events, learning new tools and finding advantages previously unheard of. 

Now, as the world slowly transitions back to life with fewer cases of Covid, another shift is needed. Incorporating hybrid options will help event planners maintain the necessary data they’ve obtained from the virtual event world while enjoying aspects of in-person events again as well.  

In 2022, event planners, aka "Event Analysts," have become more critical than ever. With the advent of virtual and hybrid events, event planners have the luxury of an increased amount of data at their fingertips. 

With this additional data comes the task of becoming familiar with the different statistics produced by a virtual or hybrid event, and then interpreting and telling stories with this data. 

The type of data that comes from a virtual or hybrid event on what attendees did is invaluable for making future decisions about event content, pitching exhibitors based on event performance, and the ability to make real-time tweaks in the current event.

In today's climate, this data collection timeframe has shifted entirely. With the continual rise of events migrating toward the hybrid approach, event planners have taken on the role of analyzing engagement trends within their event while also assessing how the event is received by its attendees. 

Event data analysis on steroids

This isn't to say that event planners weren't already doing data analysis on their events. Lead generation, revenue growth, and brand development have always been items on an event planner’s to-do list. However, with the advent of virtual and hybrid events, these, in turn, have become even more crucial. For example, for an in-person event, you can’t time how long each attendee stays for a particular session or who participated in a 1:1 networking session!

Lead generation is the name of the game with virtual and hybrid events. With virtual and hybrid events, you can collect specific information on attendee activity. How long did they stay in a session, or did they just watch the recording? 

Do you have the right event management platform for this data analysis?

This is where good event management platforms come in. You need a platform that produces virtual and hybrid event metrics from exhibitor lead collection analytics to the average session attendance duration. 

While leading the pack with this innovative technology, Accelevents also integrates with Salesforce, Marketo, and Hubspot. These integrations can make the uploading and transferring attendee information process easier. 

This incorporation of data collection into the role of an event planner is priceless. Measuring trends within a company’s recurring events can determine which areas need tweaking. The additional data event planners have access to with virtual and hybrid events opens up a whole new opportunity to study and market to their attendees in exciting new ways. This first-party data becomes more valuable than ever, and savvy “event analysts” will always think of the hybrid approach with an eye toward critical insights.