B2B customer demands and expectations in corporate event industry

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TOPIAS MYLLYNEN

B2B customer demands and expectations in corporate event

industry

Case: Events Tampere

DEGREE PROGRAMME IN

INTERNATIONAL TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

2021

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Author

Myllynen Topias

Type of Publication Bachelor’s thesis

Date

September 2021 Number of pages

44+6

Language of publication:

English Title of publication

B2B customer demands and expectations in corporate event industry Degree programme

International Tourism Development Abstract

This thesis was created to offer insights considering business to business customer demands and expectations in corporate event industry. Furthermore, this thesis was created to help the case company, Events Tampere in exploring different views from their B2B customer base and to build an understanding of what those B2B customers want, need, and expect in the future considering events. As a fresh operator, getting out and having discussions with different companies is seen as highly beneficial to keeping the business actions competitive.

During the process theories of event management, corporate event industry and customer demands and expectations were studied. The theoretical framework was brought even further with two topical industry studies in 2020–2021. Ten semi- structured interviews offered a base for deliberating real commentaries from various company representatives of national and international companies as well as event industry professionals. The interview results were later compared with the theoretical base of the thesis and conclusions were made based on the findings during the

thematical analysis phase.

With the end results the author created a theoretical framework of his own, W.I.C.K.E.D., that incorporated and summarized the future of B2B customer demands and expectations in 2021 regarding the corporate event industry. The framework is openly thorough in nature and could offer insights for other industry professionals as well.

It was found that in the future as B2B customers’ understanding of corporate events grow, their expectations and demand towards event professionals’ actions will also grow.

Already during this thesis process, a shift in the mindset of B2B customers was visible.

Many companies had started to evaluate their corporative event behaviors or were thinking of doing so in the near future of 2021. While doing so, they seem to expect the same evaluation of self from event professionals every step of the way.

Key words

Event management, event industry, B2B, customer demands, customer expectations

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1 INTRODUCTION

From the first months of 2020 a lot changed during the year in our everyday lives and corporate events and events in general have been among strongly affected areas. New ways of having interactions have been offered to the market and the way in which companies interact, internally as well as with their customers and other companies, has seen some developments and changes. As live events and working physically side by side quickly became the irregular, methods to work and interact have been taken online. This has been a hectic learning curve to many professionals; virtuality has, at least momentarily, taken over the event industry and companies were forced to find suitable ways to connect and create online. (Kauppila & Riddestråle n.d., 4-6.)

This is something that Events Tampere has also struggled with. Therefore, answers to weighing questions of the event industry as well as building an image of the future of business to business, also known as B2B, customers’ demands are sought out.

Delivering high end services and experiences to customers is evidently connected to knowing what corporate event industry will look like in the future and what B2B customers expect (Kauppila & Riddestråle n.d., 4-6; Website of Salesfoce n.d.). Events Tampere is a fairly new team of professionals and has not had the resources to explore the field of possible customers before.

During the author´s internship with Events Tampere throughout the autumn of 2020, these issues were clear topics around the office. To tackle upcoming changes and shifts in B2B customer expectations and demands in the corporate event industry, studying the field was seen as a great first step to keeping up with the development. When the opportunity of helping the team to achieve a better understanding of the future arose, taking the chance seemed like a perfect learning opportunity and would hopefully offer interesting, new viewpoints on the way.

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2 CASE COMPANY AND RESEARCH DESIGN

Launched in 2019, the case company Events Tampere is Tampere Hall Oy´s business division on a mission to bring corporate focused event services and congress and conference services more strongly as a part of Tampere Hall Oy´s actions in the field of culture and events. The need to creation of Events Tampere started from a will of Tampere Hall Oy broadening their services also outside the walls of physical Tampere Hall, the largest conference and concert hall in the Nordic countries. (Website of Events Tampere 2021; Website of Tampere Hall 2019.)

Today, Events Tampere composes of two teams, one team of professionals working with corporate events and a team of congress and conference professionals. The congress and conference team used to operate as an individual company, Tavicon Oy, before Tampere Hall Oy bought Tavicon Oy´s business also in 2019 and then united their actions under the Events Tampere division when it was created. However, Tavicon team kept their operational name and public sees the team working under the name. The creation of a new corporate event team together with Tavicon formed a strong and skilful combination of professionals functioning as Events Tampere, a business division dedicated for making B2B customer´s event experiences outstanding. (Website of Events Tampere 2021; Website of Tampere Hall 2019.)

2.1 Purpose and objectives

The objective for this thesis is to help Events Tampere explore different views from their B2B customer base and to build an understanding of what those B2B customers want, need, and expect in the future considering events. As a fresh operator, getting out and having discussions with different companies was seen as highly beneficial to keeping the business actions competitive. Therefore, it is highly logical to make connections with the B2B customers for the purpose of assembling that picture of what, and how, the customers think about events and their future use. That is exactly what this thesis and the process as a whole is destined to research.

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During this thesis process, entering the B2B customer´s imagination to find answers to questions was necessary and suitable. As discussed with the Events Tampere team, determining and forecasting changes in B2B customer behaviours would give beneficial insight to act upon. So, at first hand, the aim of this thesis is to answers the following research questions:

How will the value of corporate events be visible in the future of B2B customer demands and expectations?

- What are future B2B customer demands and expectations in corporate event industry?

- How will B2B customers use corporate events in the future?

- What is the value of corporate events for B2B customers?

At last, the questions, read from down to up, are a tool to achieving a grater picture of the event industry´s future. The findings of this thesis hopefully help to focus business actions and through that improve the overall productivity of the Events Tampere division as well.

2.2 Usability and delimitations

Working with corporate events from Events Tampere´s perspective, the industry has proved to be a competitive business with a lot of individual small and midsized companies offering services that are often very well customized or customizable. As Events Tampere reaches to become an envoy of creating high quality events also outside Tampere Hall, keeping the services and ideas timely and easily available is essential for acquiring customers. For that exact reason this type of research feels important, and it also awakened the author´s own interest to do his part in researching the field.

As a new business division and a small group of industry professionals, Events Tampere has most often acted with Finnish companies, even though some act nationally and internationally. Therefore, customers connected to this research were also of that style, Finnish nationally and internationally working companies. This

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shows as a difficulty to make assumptions that would be true with all possible B2B customer´s ideas about the future of corporate event industry. There are also as many company policies and cultures as there are companies, thus the research will have a limited reach and produce hypothetical beliefs about the corporate event future based on the findings.

Theoretically this thesis focuses on corporate events industry, often declared as MICE industry meaning meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions. As Tavicon, the congress and conference team of Events Tampere well knows their established customers and their industry section, it was decided that during this thesis process focus should be on looking into companies that most often organize internal events for their own personnel or events for their associates, partners and customers. This limits the studied field and leaves companies that may have differentiating views and needs considering events outside the research. The limitations made also affect the studied theory and what sources were used as the subject was limited to corporate events.

3 METHODOLOGY

Because of the features and goals of this thesis research, gathering information through qualitative methodology was chosen. Interviewing as a qualitative method offers conversational interaction between the researcher and the respondent, therefore giving the opportunity for increasing understanding and providing in-depth views from the B2B customers thoughts about the studied subject (O’Gorman & MacIntosh 2015, 118-120). This is an important factor as during this thesis process foresights and especially those views are in a major role. The interviews will be semi structured, allowing a free flow of conversation but still having a structure to keep the topic on track. To keep all interviews equal, the questions and arrangement will remain the same for all interviews, creating as little change in the style of interaction as possible.

This is to maintain and to ensure a similar level of contact with all interviewees.

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After the interviews, all recordings will be carefully transcribed to make the next phase of analysing clearer. The analysing will continue with thematic analysis. Thematic analysis can be described as a qualitative data analysis method that involves reading through a data set, such as interview or focus group transcriptions, and identifying patterns across the data. (Grant 2019, 48; O’Gorman & MacIntosh 2015 144-146.) This type of analysis was chosen, as the aim for this research is not to find new theories but rather to recognise, examine and then report projections withing the gathered data to make conclusions, and thematic analysis has the freedom to support this aim.

In the end of the analysis, at least six simple but important steps will have been taken to draw conclusions. The process of thematic analysis begins with reading through the transcriptions and really becoming aware of the whole data through vibrantly exploring and marking first. The second step is to configurate preliminary coding across the data. This will make the analysing easier and will also help in the next steps when the process goes further. Third step will be going through the data the second time, now focusing on finding united themes from the coding. (Grant 2019, 48-49;

O’Gorman & MacIntosh 2015, 145.)

Examining the selected themes in relation to one other and the coding’s to further focus themes is the fourth step. In this stage some themes may be more noticeable forming main themes as other would form subthemes. This then allows developing a thematic

“map” to visually express the analysis. Fifth step will be to further define the themes and locating the general narrative for the conclusions. This step, considering the situation, can be done more than once to clarify and form a solid analysis. The sixth, and last, step will be writing the analysis´ conclusions with transparency into a comprehensive report with clear commentary aspects. (Grant 2019, 49; O’Gorman &

MacIntosh 2015, 145.)

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4 MANAGING CORPORATE EVENTS

Without a doubt, the event management business has expanded over time. This is because of a rising demand for organizing business meetings, gatherings, conferences, and other related events to facilitate successful group interaction. Because of the regular get-togethers, event trends are significantly greater in active markets.

Nowadays it is almost rare to find a business organization that is not interested in facilitating formal or informal events. As a result, event industry resources are pursued to make personal and professional events a triumph. (Morgan n.d.)

Time, money, staff, skills and other resources may be in limited supply for most organisations considering events, and the ultimate event outcomes can be hard to reach. Current organizational structures, such as a business management hierarchy, that serve an organization effectively on a regular basis may not be appropriate for the non-routine function of planning and operating a unique event.

Professionally, and for those organizations involved in the production of events, there is a need to utilize tactics that will assure an efficient, pleasurable, and safe result.

Often this necessitates a more organized and structured approach than an informal family and friends gathering. (Shone & Parry 2010, 71.)

4.1 Definition and purpose of events

An event is generally defined as something that happens and holds important or unusual value or as a planned activity involving people, the latter being a description this thesis will use (Cambridge Dictionary n.d.). Events are often used to promote a high sense of mutual understanding and create and maintain relationships between people. There are events occurring all over the world – even online, and every day we learn more. Furthermore, we have all been a part of an event at some point. We cannot avoid them because they affect almost every part of our social and economic lives.

(Fang 2020, 239-240; Stephens 2017, 3; Website of Sustain Europe n.d.)

After realising this, the importance of events and happenings in human life cannot be

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overstated. Looking at events from the corporate viewpoint, in the 21^st century world, the significance of MICE industry (short for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) for business economics is clear as it promotes unity between working cultures and businesses locally and internationally, leading to learning, sharing ideas and development of new ways for cooperation and possible economic growth. (Fang 2020, 239-240; Stephens 2017, 3; Website of Sustain Europe, n.d.) Driving purposes mentioned in Figure 1 offer additional understanding on the issue.

Figure 1 Driving purposes for events (Catani 2017, chapter 1; Fang 2020, 242) As seen in Figure 1, corporations have some general driving purposes for organising events and they are becoming widely recognized throughout the world of business.

According to Catani (2017, chapter 1) and Fang (2020, 242) driving purposes for corporate events include the ones mentioned in Figure 1 and much more than seen in the Figure 1.

4.2 Event management and the characteristics of events

Some professionals say that event management is arguably one of the most hands-on types of marketing and advertising, and therefore makes it an exciting and fascinating industry. It allows one to reach their full creativity and necessitates a great deal of diligent work and commitment while offering a lot of room to grow. The process of

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planning a successful and oriented event for a specific target audience is known as event management. Event management entails interpreting ideas to reality, financial planning, arranging, coordinating, and conducting activities. (Stephen 2017, 3-5.) That being said, a brief examination of the past of event management reveals that event planners were employed already in ancient times to guarantee a successful delivery of entertainment features, luxurious food and associated amenities as in the beginning events were held by the extremely wealthy (Morgan n.d.). The first meetings and events aimed to foster unity and peace among clans and tribes and are said to happen under Cleopatra´s reign (Website of LocalHop Software 2020). Then the Industrial Revolution boosted the growth and expansion of gatherings and events outside the realm of the wealthy and royal (Morgan n.d.). People needed to schedule meetings and activities to cooperate and expand their enterprises and this need only continues to grow (Website of LocalHop Software 2020).

Based on Stephen´s explanation (2017, 4-5) events are situations intended to relay direct information or experience to a group of people. He states that events may also be described as anything notable that occurs according to a predetermined schedule and includes the networking of a multi-media package, thus achieving the client's goal and explaining their demand to be connecting with events. Upcoming Figure 2 based on Stephen´s (2017, 4-5) descriptions dives deeper into clear characteristics of events.

Figure 2 Event characteristics (Stephen 2017, 5)

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Stephen´s (2017, 5) explanation put into a table helps to understand the characteristics further yet giving events specific characteristics can be hard for the great variety of them. Most have their own opinion about the characteristics of events but conferring Stephen (2017, 5) some of the most basic ones can be laid down as seen previously in Figure 2.

4.3 Corporate events as an industry: MICE

Corporate events industry, often referred as MICE, is still a rather young subject, even though it has been around for a long time and is reflected to be a part of travel and tourism industry as the events often require at least some type of traveling from the participants (Fang 2020, 239.). Before 2020, it was considered to be one of the fastest developing areas of tourism, being tremendously sizable in growth over the past years in 20^th and 21^st century (Fang 2020, 239). The acronym MICE has a few translations but to refresh memory it simply laid means Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (Website of Sustain Europe, n.d.). Therefore, when MICE in business context is mentioned, there is absolutely no need to call pest control as it has nothing to do with animals but everything to do with business.

During the years, the corporate event industry has grown to be a worldwide phenomenon that embraces a diverse field of events, all focusing on individual goals and intentions (Fang 2020, 242). Generally, fundamentals of MICE may be tracked as far as the recorded history of humans goes to when people first started to arrange meetings in the ancient eras for hunting and later for sporting and religious or political purposes (Hamid et al. 2013, 2). Meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions are all aspects of the modern travel, tourism and event industries that have evolved from those ancient gatherings (Fang 2020, 242). Going through the four, niche type of events considered to create the MICE concept individually should help to understand the versatility of the industry better:

Meetings

Meetings are described by various experts and researchers as an amassing of individuals for the intent of resolving a common concern among the participants, a

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targeted audience, or the public in general. The number of people taking part could be anywhere from two to a larger number. Meetings have been gathered for the purpose of reaching a common goal in the form of verbal communication, such as the distribution of knowledge. Meetings are held in a variety of ways, including meeting in person and via the use of modern technological tools such as video conference through Teams, Skype, Zoom, and mobile phones. (Fang 2020, 240; Fenich 2016, 19.)

Incentives

Incentives, considering the event industry, are often stimulating, and rewarding affairs offered to an organisation's employees for reaching a particular goal or for maintaining a high level or excellence. Incentives are often based on the organization´s success, appearance, customer satisfaction, and general commitment and work and effort. (Fang 2020, 240; Fenich 2016, 35.)

Conferences

Based on the sort of subject to be discussed the word conference has a wide interpretation. However, conferences are gatherings of people who come together to discuss particular topics in larger scale from meetings. Various conferences are held to discuss government, trade, academic, business, security and other related topics.

Conferences vary in size and they can be both national and international. (Fang 2020, 241; Fenich 2016, 19.)

Exhibitions

Exhibitions are a normal occurrence in the 21^st century. They bring audiences together for arrangement of shows, where people can see a variety of commercial, artistic, and other pieces or services on display. Exhibitions are most often held in museums, galleries, and exhibition halls as well as at fair, expo, and convention centers. (Fang 2020, 241; Fenich 2016, 19.)

4.4 Key participants in the event process

Making events is not easy and it often involves a lot of different people from the event manager to security, hospitality and sometimes even media professionals. As a client

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approaches the event producing company with their request to organize an event, the client often has preconceived notions. The event company has event managers overseeing that the event process will run smoothly and their decision-making skill stems from the premise that they interact with the client to determine the event's goals and objectives. The event managers can then schedule the event process appropriately together with other important details. (Fenich 2016, 30; Stephen 2017, 12.)

Then the process of making the event a reality really kicks off. A venue will be chosen and the venue´s managers contacted to see availability. Catering possibilities will be discussed with the client, and caterers compared to obtain prices and menu options.

Security of the event is an important part and often required in laws. Major judgments are often based on possible instability encountered at previous events and are a crucial factor to consider when making security plans. Provisions for dealing with any emergencies that may arise during the event should be investigated and plans for action developed. (Fenich 2016, 30; Stephen 2017, 13.)

In some events the government has a role in planning them. Governments, local or national, guide the restrictions and obtaining permissions is in some case needed. With the venue, catering and possible restrictions under control, the event manager can start contacting other service providers such as performers, decoration providers, hospitality personnel and other service and product delivering parties needed. (Fenich 2016, 30; Stephen 2017, 13.) Mostly, every event is individual and therefore have different needs. This also makes the participators a unique shuffle every time but that is just one of the things that keep event management so interesting.

4.5 Event managers and their role

For a variety of organisations, societies, associations, and individuals, event managers are vitally helpful with planning, scheduling, coordinating, promoting events. They are in charge of ensuring that the activities go without a fail. The events are created in accordance with the specifications defined by clients and event managers use their expertise to plan and implement events on behalf of clients – transforming ideas into action and reality. From settling on a theme to organizing practical specifics and

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running the operations on the event day, events managers are in charge of each and every pixel of the event picture. (Beech, Kaiser & Kaspar 2014, 28; Stephen 2017, 14.) Event management entails interpreting ideas to reality, financial planning, arranging, coordinating, and conducting activities. Event managers as professionals often get to do many types of events such as fashion shows, concerts, corporate events, exhibits, social events, and product launches, among others. It can be a successful career path that does not cost need a lot of initial investments and provides a lot of freedom and versatility. One can build an excellent career in this field if they enjoy planning activities, have good organizational skills, and are occasionally willing to work long hours. (Beech, Kaiser & Kaspar 2014, 58-59; Stephen 2017.)

Events managers can work for a company or charitable organization, for a professional events management company, or as a freelancer for a range of customers. Events managers can also concentrate in a single type of event, such as wedding planning, fund-raising events, or conferences. An event planner is supposed to have excellent management skills as well as unlimited enthusiasm. Furthermore, since any event is basically a team effort, an event manager has to be a people person who knows how to get things done on time, from the internal team to multiple service providers needed.

(Website of Social Tables n.d.; Stephen 2017, 14.)

Long hours, late nights and carrying lot of pressure are all part of the job. In addition, great crisis management is required. The capacity to create fast decisions and act on them, as well as thorough preparation, are important for preventing any possible problems. Although people with a variety of academic qualifications are welcome in the event management industry, those with a marketing or communications degree have an advantage. As long as they have an enthusiasm for events activities and creativity, individuals from all disciplines can enter event management. (Website of Social Tables n.d.; Stephen 2017, 14.)

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5 CUSTOMER DEMANDS AND EXPECTATIONS

Customer expectations can be described as any collection of attitudes or actions that people expect from an organization when they communicate with it. Customers have traditionally anticipated simple things like excellent service and reasonable pricing, but today's customers have far great aspirations, such as responsive service, customized engagement, and interactive consumer insights. Customer demands are then the elements that consumers want from a product or service when they buy it.

(Website of BBC Bitesize n.d; Website of Salesforce n.d.)

To be competitive, enterprises must learn a lot regarding their customers' needs and expectations (Website of BBC Bitesize n.d.; Website of Salesforce n.d.). Maintaining a good level of service and therefore meeting the demands and expectations can be a turning point in making business (Website of BBC Bitesize n.d.; Website of Salesforce n.d.). This makes customer demands and expectations so relevant also for this thesis topic.

To further understand customer demands and needs considering corporate events, one should first understand the weight of corporate environment for the topic. The style and atmosphere of corporate events and immediate needs and expectations of the organizing customer companies derive strongly from company cultures (Jaimangal- Jones, Fry & Haven-Tang 2018, 6; O’toole & Mikolaitis 2002, 2). Company cultures are very different and unique in their own way, even when sharing some similarities with others. (Jaimangal-Jones, Fry & Haven-Tang 2018, 6; O’toole & Mikolaitis 2002, 2). Company culture, simply put, refers to a combination of shared customs, practices, expected professional behaviors and well considered values that are driven throughout a company (O’toole & Mikolaitis 2002, 2). These are some named factors that affect the expectations and needs companies have for their events.

Through realizing the value of understanding companies and their cultures, event managers are able to connect their ideas and offer desirable, well-fitted outcomes for their customers. O´toole and Mikolaitis (2002, 4) have explained that consideration and incorporation of important cultural elements connects and commits the event

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participants already from the beginning. This can create a bond that will ensure even better understanding and later lead to a strong, long lasting customer relationship between the event managers and their customer.

According to O´toole and Mikolaitis (2002, 6), events are an important manner of communication in the corporate world as they are a powerful way to connect to employees. The role and extent of events vary, going from a single event to an event cluster with a unified theme. Corporate event customers have many demands, some more straightforward than others. This means that events often possess either visible or invisible meaning and goals that need to be reached. However, most common demands of corporate events are very natural: to provide recognition on different issues, to educate, offer incentives, enhance public relations, note important occasions or milestones to launching and celebrating new products and services. (Fell, Renton &

McCrindle 2021, 5; O´toole & Mikolaitis 2002, 6-9.)

There are some rising topics in customer demands and expectations that are seen true also in the corporate environment when making business. In Salesforce´s 2020 research “State of the Connected Customer”, with more than 15 000 participants, they have come to a conclusion that B2B and B2C expectations are not that different after all, and similar aspects are valued in both worlds. Firstly, the research discovered that from customers, around 80 percent perceive the presented experiences with companies as crucial as their services and products (Website of Salesforce 2020). This tells that surpassing customer expectations as well as demands with a product or service is not sufficient anymore, but the level must be set right from the beginning and even before.

Secondly, according to the findings of the “State of the Connected Customer” (Website of Salesforce 2020) research, firms must understand their customers' demands — and surpass their expectations — in order to stay competitive. The research mentioned above (Website of Salesforce 2020) highlights four expectations that are reshaping the business landscape:

1. Customers expect unified experiences within companies. Therefore, each interaction between customers and a company should be dealt with a similar level, no matter who the customer is in contact with.

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2. Personalization is growing as a key in great customer experiences. It is becoming increasingly important for the customers to receive entirely personalized service and according to the study 52% of customers even expect it.

3. Customers demand innovation and pushing the limits. Safe and sound is not the way to go anymore, but customers rather want to see companies taking chances and coming up with new ideas.

4. Transparency and data protection is rising as a priority. A rapidly increasing number of customers, 86% to be exact, want to have transparent, meaningful, and trustworthy connections and interactions.

Products and services that are top of the chain one day can be outdated the next in this era of continuously revolutionising business environments. In this scenario, a company's ability to differentiate itself is becoming extremely relevant. However, the range of customer experience is evolving as well. Companies should not only execute outstanding sales, marketing, ecommerce, and service experiences to win both hearts and wallets, but also demonstrate that they put the customers' best interests at core of their actions. (Fell, Renton & McCrindle 2021, 11; Website of Salesforce 2020.) Customers have high expectations of businesses, and those expectations are rising as they connect with diverse industries. As a result, firms must look also beyond just their own market to grasp the full standards against which they are being judged. This said, customer expectations and demands for B2B interactions are found very similar to those of B2C customers. Customers' demands and expectations for sympathetic, personalized, and transparent engagement do not cease when they return to the office.

Still, business customers, like individuals, find a discrepancy between the expectations that have been set and the reality that they are confronted with. (Website of Salesforce 2020.)

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6 LOOKING TOWARDS THE FUTURE OF EVENTS INDUSTRY

The global Covid-19 pandemic that started in the late 2019, has been a driver for rapid development in practically every industry. There is no going back once that old methods of practicing business are being supplanted by dynamic innovations.

Although understandably face-to-face events will reappear in the future, there is more than enough indication that they will appear and operate in a very different way. A systematic change in how customers and providers cooperate with one another to give true quality to all participants, guests, and stakeholders is required for the industry to flourish again in the coming. (Ouimet et al. 2020, 4.)

As discovered, the events industry is a big player in bringing people altogether. People enjoy going to a variety of events to engage in common experience, learning about new things, or being encouraged. Despite the fact that covid-19 dealt a severe blow to a much-loved industry, the events industry has reacted to a shifting environment with creativity and technological reinvention, which will determine the industry's future in the post-covid-19 age. (Fell, Renton & McCrindle 2021, 5.)

6.1 Rising trends in events industry

Fell, Renton and McCrindle (2021, 5) have compassed a report “The Future of Events”

including some global and consumer trends that are likely to determine the events of the future, as people anticipate the return of large-scale, national, and worldwide events. In total the report lists eight trends that event professionals should take into consideration in the future: Integration of virtual and physical, Power of human connection, Professional speakers, Demographic shifts and diversity, Generational change, Augmented reality for augmented events, Sustainability and Health and wellbeing (Fell, Renton & McCrindle 2021, 5).

Although virtual events would never completely displace the personal contact that in- person events offer, they will most likely remain an element of the quickly modernized event industry. The evolution of events will most likely be characterized by a mix of

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in-person and virtual elements. Discovering how to combine these elements can expand audience reach, increase engagement, and provide chances for long-term learning. Further opportunities to attend local and regional events to encourage local businesses and reinvest in the local economy may arise. Considering the future hybrid events, the virtuality included must be something greater than just a livestream of the physical event. On the other hand, the live events must be imaginatively designed to provide a reason for attending, a one-of-a-kind experience that can only be had in person, and to maximize real life connections and networking opportunities. (Fell, Renton & McCrindle 2021, 7; Website of Entrepreneur 2021.)

Veteran event professional Allie Magyar, the CEO of Hubb, had an interesting and true point when discussing hybrid events in a GeekWire podcast hosted by Todd Bishop, about the future of events. Magyar (Bishop 2021) challenges the idea of a hybrid meaning that all happens at the exact same time. It is true that when hybrid events are discussed often people say they want the audiences to connect and engage and therefore the event should happen all at once. According to Magyar (Bishop 2021) it is quite an unrealistic expectation and even unwanted that people would travel for events only to interact through a screen. So, when considering events there is an actual opportunity to rethink what hybrid means. It could, as a great real-life example from Magyar (Bishop 2021), mean opening a virtual platform before the event where people could consume information, learn, and engage in group discussions. That could make the experience of the in-person event even more valuable. Therefore, hybrid event could be about different experiences rather than a streamed live event with everything at the same time. (Bishop 2021.)

Efficiency, convenience, and scalability are all advantages of digital connectivity.

People are, nonetheless, sociable at core, with universal demands for physical connection and face-to-face engagement. People will seek gathering more than ever before as the digital progressively supersedes the tangible, and events will play a major role in facilitating live engagement. The time apart during covid-19 has brought alive the significance of connectedness and communities in a manner that is healthy and sustainable for our happiness and success. (Fell, Renton & McCrindle 2021, 9;

Website of Entrepreneur 2021.)

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In our increasingly separated society, the workplace and professional life provide a critical social connecting point. Remembering that business events, like professional life, functions best when they are well-balanced, so making sure the program has a good rhythm for learning, connecting, and having fun is important. Considering how the event may serve to foster social interaction, networking, moments, and shared experiences, whether it's an online or in-person event, may break or make a future event concept. (Fell, Renton & McCrindle 2021, 9; Shein 2021.)

Event planners had to satisfy increasing expectations of event attendees even before covid-19, and now that virtual events are taking place, visitors demand interesting and useful information to be presented. Engaging a professional speaker is a terrific method to ensure this happens. Skilled speakers provide the three elements that corporate audiences expect: they grasp the context, convey pertinent knowledge, and do it in a compelling and time-efficient manner. Professional speakers integrate the skill of presentation with appropriate information to cut through the clutter to enlighten, advise, and inspire audiences in a world of information explosion and message overload. A professional speaker is a great way to create discussion later on and if topics are well chosen, the speaker could lift up the atmosphere and overall interest even further. (Fell, Renton & McCrindle 2021, 11; Website of Speakersforum n.d.)

Demographic shifts and diversity are something that happens everywhere as people are becoming more and more international and move around. It is not a bad thing, vice versa. It brings cultures together and educates people about each other. People from all walks of life will increasingly frequent in events where they wish to hear and observe creative ‘out-of-the-box' ideas that they can use to their job and personal lives.

Inviting in a presenter from beyond the B2B customers line of business, for example, might offer a fresh viewpoint and challenge preconceptions. (Fell, Renton &

McCrindle 2021, 13.) It is true that when events reflect the cultural, gender, and age diversity of the people, they are at their finest.

Newer generations have a different perspective than their elders, and they are defined by a modern way of looking at life, that is heavily affected by technology and the digital age. Generation Y (people born between 1981-1996) and generation Z (people

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born between 1997-2012) are the most digitally engaged and ubiquitous generation in history. They value their lifestyles and adventures over their possession. Their viewpoints are also very similar globally, and they are more likely to be aware of global events than their immediate neighbor generations. They live in a visual world, which is mirrored in their web search behaviors, with YouTube being preferred over Google since why read when you can watch? Shortly, the new generations are visual, digital, and social and to stay on top of event development make sure the attendees can see things, interact with them as well as each other, and share it. (Fell, Renton &

McCrindle 2021, 11.)

Virtual and augmented reality are currently being used by a lot of event planners. The defining feature of the twenty-first century is ‘The Great Screenage,' which has an impact on how we live and work. Time spent on electronic media now far outnumbers time spent communicating with people in person and there is no stopping in sight. This is significantly altering the everyday experiences and, as a result, diminishing many possibilities to connect. But it's even more obvious among generation Z, who spend a huge part of their time looking at a screen, whether at school or at work or at free time.

As much of the day-to-day lives is spent looking at a screen, the near future generations sought for live experiences as a method to engage face to face. To connect and interact with attendees, using technology that is natural and familiar to them is recommended.

Today's new workforce have a global mindset, not just a local one. As a result, bringing a wider perspective and international ideas to the table can far outstand events in near future. (Fell, Renton & McCrindle 2021, 17.)

Sustainability is becoming more than just a term; it is quickly becoming a way of life and marketing as various companies are going with sustainability ahead. More and more B2B customers choose to connect with and align themselves with companies that practice corporate social responsibility, shortly CSR. Consumer decisions are not solely based on pricing anymore as many are willing to pay more for environmentally friendly items and services. Incorporating sustainability and environmentally friendly products and services into event planning benefits not only the ecosystems but the business as well. Incorporations might range from using environmentally friendly food cartons to partnering with companies who have a great CSR and value positioning.

Choosing environmentally friendly venues, being trash conscious, emphasizing online

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information delivery instead of paper, and using water stations rather than refillable bottles are just a few examples of how to design an environmentally friendly event.

Sustainability also includes thinking financially, not just environmentally. Less is generally more when it comes to junky handouts and low-value bag fillers and attendees will most likely appreciate the effort. (Fell, Renton & McCrindle 2021, 19.) Wellbeing has come to the top of the priority list in recent years. It is one of our society's most significant challenges and opportunities. The largest hurdles to many people's well-being today are mental, not physical. Toxic feedback, stress, excessive work deadlines, managing many objectives, rising expectations, and individuals who need to produce more with less are just a few examples. These have the potential to be both mentally and physically hazardous. The term "wellbeing" refers to a state of health that encompasses social, relational, psychological, financial, professional, and spiritual dimensions as well as physical health. Individual, team, organizational, and societal well-being are all goals that people strive towards. As a result, events that concentrate on and promote the health and well-being of guests will be sought after.

Programming, networking opportunities, activities, and insights that improve and add to people's well-being should all be included. The main aim should be creating an event that promotes flourishing, from the catering to the ergonomics, from the program to the content. Added to this, all the health safety issues the covid-19 has brough over the event industry, one can easily say that it is not easy bringing successful experiences to the crowds. (Fell, Renton & McCrindle 2021, 21.)

6.2 Responding to the future with a strategic recovery framework: The Kaohsiung protocol

The Kaohsiung Protocol is a strategic recovery framework for the global events industry and considers the future of events after hard times during Covid-19 pandemic.

The Kaohsiung Protocol process by International Congress and Convention Association, ICCA, was finalized into a report that aims to guide organizations and companies into clear waters after the Covid-19 crisis. Based on the work done during the autumn of 2020, it was possible to identify micro- and macro-level trends that affect both users and service providers in the event industry. The report also recorded

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key actions for different sectors as well as updated indicators. Participating industry players were gathered during the project, and the resulting Kaohsiung Protocol - Strategic Recovery Framework for the Global Events Industry was published in early December 2020. (Website of Business Finland 2021; Ouimet et al. 2020, 6.)

The Covid-19 epidemic has been a catalyst for rapid development in practically every industry. There is no turning back once the old ways of creating business have been transformed by swift innovation. While it is certain that face-to-face activities will reappear in the future, there is plenty of proof that they will be, and operate in a very divergent way. A systematic shift in how clients and suppliers cooperate with one another to give true value to all customers, participants, and stakeholders is required for the industry to prosper again in the future. (Ouimet et al. 2020, 6.)

Throughout the construction of the Kaohsiung Protocol framework's strategies, it was seen that four distinct elements emerged: engagement, technology, risk, and business.

Based on the findings, in the upcoming and seemingly more dynamic future, these four themes together include the most fundamental prospects and concerns across the whole event industry environment. Each of the elements must be treated as pieces of a larger whole by event professionals and their partners. Each strategy adds to the performance of others and supports building the entity. (Ouimet et al. 2020, 4.)

The study argues that it is not a question of face-to-face versus virtuality in the future of the events industry. Rather, it is all about forming networks and optimizing relationships to encourage professional and personal change, which supports socioeconomic advancement - independent of formats or platforms. People's preferences for gathering and growing together are evolving, and as an industry, embracing this change completely is needed. As a result, the Kaohsiung Protocol serves as a beginning point for adjusting to the new realities and benefiting from the changes. (Ouimet et al. 2020, 4.)

As mentioned, the report addresses four key themes that emerged from discussions with various actors. The definition of the themes has been influenced by customers, national and urban convention bureaus, meeting venue representatives and other conference service providers such as congress service offices and transport companies.

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The four themes are Enhanced Engagement & Value, Digital Restructure & Hybrid Events, Shared Risk Management, and Innovative Business Models. (Ouimet et al.

2020, 4.)

Throughout the preceding decade of unprecedented expansion, the event industry has lost sight of its true purpose. If the events industry again wishes to frame itself as a channel for providing genuine worth to enterprises and the individuals who attend those enterprises' events, the excellence of the value transferred should again become a primary objective. This in short is what the first theme, Enhanced Engagement &

Value is about. The how, when, where, and which manner events are created become subordinate considerations. This is the most crucial mindset change necessary for the success in the future in the international events industry. Consumer centeredness, described as providing specific demands of consumers by tailoring the value interaction depending on subjective preferences, is a cornerstone for corporate development in the twenty-first century. (Ouimet et al. 2020, 16-17.)

The theme, Enhanced Engagement & Value, also mentions face-to-face events as only one of many ways to involve people to connect. The difficulty for B2B customers going forwards is to plan and coordinate all their events in a comprehensive perspective, such that live and virtual encounters support one another continuously, expanding reach and increasing commercial potential throughout the event ecosystem.

Similarly, the future potential for venues will be determined by how they rethink their identities outside tangible spaces. Several venues are already substantially investing in new infrastructures and communication relating to hybrid-virtual information exchange. (Ouimet et al. 2020, 16-17.)

The theme, Digital Restructure & Hybrid Events, expresses that for many businesses their largest issue as they build long-term strategies, is their culture. All degrees of management throughout industries must incorporate a digital mentality to thrive properly looking forward. The Kaohsiung Protocol project´s results have found this is true especially in the event industry, yet there seems to be significant resistance from the industry. For a long time, the event industry has considered technology as something that will replace face-to-face events. It is true that technology will substitute some in-person connection, particularly after Covid-19, but great possibilities for

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event industry´s growth and better yet further achieving quality customer relations are centered on a digital future. (Ouimet et al. 2020, 18-19.)

As a virtual level of content and interaction is added to a face-to-face event via hybrid events, the experience of these events can be quite different. However, when done well, a hybrid or fully virtual event may attract spectators from all over the world and many of them may never have participated in person. Furthermore, the virtual events serve as advertising platforms for upcoming face-to-face events. (Ouimet et al.

2020, 18-19.)

Moving onto the theme Shared Risk Management the Kaohsiung Protocol suggests that contracts will have to represent even further realism and clearer objectives and obligations as events resurface and develop. Corporate boards and managers should place a higher emphasis on risk management than before. Based on the results of the study, customers want more transparency and cooperation in risk sharing in the future.

Therefore, the risk of organizing an event should be communal in some way to all parties so that no one carries the risk alone in a crisis. Event companies, venues and service providers that comprehend and respond to this successfully will prosper.

(Ouimet et al. 2020, 20-21.)

Similarly, much like with terrorism, we are witnessing a patchy response to health and safety issues across nations and companies. There is a need to properly organize, incorporate and communicate solutions as health and safety will most likely continue to be one of the top concerns of participants and consequently potential B2B customers. Again, the providers that do this best will win the race on customer acquisition. (Ouimet et al. 2020, 20-21.)

Finally, the Kaohsiung Protocol discusses a theme Innovative Business Models. Most of the proposals in this theme could be seen directed towards venues, destinations and other service providers that have put together products a customer can customize and purchase themselves. There are, however, some valid points that can be incorporated into a mindset in event management companies as well. Using digital resources to increase client, audience, and stakeholder networks, increasing, and clarifying the offering of add-ons as well as enhancing e-commerce abilities through for example

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building an online presence onto a website, with easily customizable package choices could all lead to selling more content and products. (Ouimet et al. 2020, 22- 23.) These actions mentioned are mearly scratching the surface on a path to better and more effective business in the events sector.

7 INTERVIEW RESULTS AND FINDINGS

In total ten semi-structured interviews were held, all individually, and data collected through coding transcriptions in a thematic manner as mentioned in chapter three. The interviews gave insights into usually quite hidden behaviors and thinking, visible only to the inside circle of companies. Six people that work closely with organizing events within their companies, as well as three event professionals were interviewed.

Identities of the people as well as companies will not be published as anonymity was requested from multiple interviewees or their higher management. However, to bring up some individual comments and to discuss them further all interviewees have been assigned designated letters from A to J.

To challenge the mentioned delimitations in chapter 2.2 and to provide data and knowledge from various viewpoints, different style companies were chosen to be interviewed. Three of the chosen companies were nationally operating and three have both national and international customers as well as business strategies from both fields. The remaining four companies were of larger scale, globally operating Finnish companies with offices and personnel around the world.

All interviews were similar in length and all participants had the same question content asked in the same order, see Appendix 1. The only separation with the questions was that the interviewees working in companies with events had questions asked from their perspective and the event professionals answered the questions from their perspective.

Together with the questions and their order, in a semi-structured manner free speaking was allowed for collecting deeper, broader information.

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The interviews focused on internal events that companies hold and all interviewees had mostly arranged events ranging from 20 to 50 to hundreds of attendees. After the interviews transcriptions were made as planned and the transcriptions coded to achieve an easily understandable summary. In the end, results from the interviews could be summarized into six main themes that were significantly visible and signal B2B customer expectations and demands in the future.

The interview process was, what some could call, a lengthy procedure. In total over seven steps were taken from coming up with questions to the results. The whole interview process started with choosing interviewees as widely as possible. As mentioned, the interviewees represented a wide variety of business fields, offering maximized coverage and leading to more trustworthy results. The second step was to contact interviewees and to agree on interview dates.

During the second step, a third step was under way. It included estimating what subjects the interviews should focus on and what should be discussed. Based on the decisions, interview questions were designed. Opposed to the consideration in chapter 2.3, the questions in the end processed rather a diverse and open viewpoint from both local and multinational perspective than singularly from a local viewpoint. This was made possible by including both local and international companies as interviewees.

The semi-structured interviews were then the fourth step in the process. The fifth step came alive as transcribing the interviews started. During this step the whole of the data was heeded, and first thoughts gathered. The sixth step took things further, with creating preliminary coding to piece things together as themes. Then collecting themes from the preliminary coding, comparing them, and uniting them as larger entirety was done. This could be called the seventh step.

Step eight included opening the found themes and findings into a comprehendible text.

This allows the reader to make their own resolutions and use the results from this thesis to their benefit as they see fit.

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7.1 Wellbeing and Health

Starting from the first theme discovered, Wellbeing and health, the comments are clear and understandable when exposed to long periods of harder times, like the Covid-19 pandemic has brought upon everyone. Wellbeing has now become even more significant as an element to consider as many have been working from home, tucked away from the social in-real-life situations. All interviewees have noticed different levels of straining that come from missing a vital part of human connection.

Interviewee C emphasized with a heavy voice that some of their new workers have never even met the team they work in face-to-face, and that there is a huge amount of stress being build up, even though people may not always show that openly.

Not only did the mental effects of being isolated and under stress arise, seven of the interviewees were sure that many health safety precautions in use during 2020-2021 would stay in the event world at least in some extent, some even permanently. Three interviewees did recognize the need for upkeeping the precautions for a while in the future but hoped for a return to the normal situation before Covid-19. However, all interviewees did see that to some extent these health safety precautions are even a welcome addition to event arrangements. A good example of this would be the tightened hygiene precautions and interviewees A, B, D, F and G mentioned, all in their own way, that they believe people could feel more comfortable when events return, and long into the future, knowing the hygiene precautions in an event are well taken care of.

Wellbeing and health was described by many as a vast subject that intakes a lot from mental to physical and social dimensions. The fast pace of living in 21st century and the everlasting achievement-oriented culture came up in over half of the interviews and many commented that it surely does not work best for supporting creativity and overall wellbeing in the long run. Non-surprisingly all interviewees distressed in some way that future event should consider health and wellbeing at least in some way, straightforwardly or behind the scenes.

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This said, the subject was clearly visible in the results of the interviews and have been discussed to some extent in almost all material gathered for this research. In addition, for both the Kaohsiung Protocol and “The Future of Events” report to lift it as a separate element, Wellbeing and health is something to consider in future events. And somehow it feels like the B2B customers will become even more requiring of this.

7.2 Innovativeness

Innovativeness was something all interviewees felt needed a boost in some extent.

Even though a few, in their own words, mentioned that events they have witnessed and attended were great in quality, the tone of their voices while talking about traditional face-to-face events made it seem like they would be rather unsurprised as most events do have similar flow. Interviewees A, C, D and F straightforwardly mentioned quite correspondingly that they crave and would expect new ideas and implementations from event professionals in the future.

An interesting and important point of view to say out loud was gotten from interviewees K and J. According to both K and J, not every event has to be a game changer, but a more traditional event in some cases is actually the best choice. Still, innovativeness was a visible talking point and built up from many things. One of the strongest was focus on innovative venues and creating a killer atmosphere. It kind of goes without saying that people tend to enjoy more if they feel immersed by an experience, this was a popular opinion that rose especially from interviewees B, C, E, G and H. Interviewee F said they hope innovativeness especially in the “theme department” as many themes have been overused. There is no data to evidently back up if others feel the same way, but it is a valid viewpoint and considering the event field. This “over usage” could be a result of “why change something if it is not broken”

attitude but to keep development in a good phase out of the box thinking is needed.

Using technology in new way was also rising as an expectation from many interviewees. Mostly the interviewees felt like the strong digital development experienced during Covid-19 should also somehow be a part of the events as a supporting element in the future. Interviewees D and I did oppose a little bit even when

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agreeing for the most part. According to D and I, as all work has pretty much happened online for the past year and a half, an event should, in the first place, be for unwinding from technology. However, both did recognize the good things technological advances could bring such as wider reachability and flexibility in possibilities. All participants had been a part of some type of virtual event, and it clearly divided the group. Six had had very pleasant experiences and were open for events being delivered virtually in some cases in the future as well. Four mentioned they had on the other hand experienced some difficulties and issues when participating in a virtual event and would therefore be more considerate of attending.

The use of technology divides opinions, and everyone had something to say about it.

Overall, however, it seems that new ideas and a cleverly indicated use of technology does, at least in these companies, seem like an attractive new aspect. Interviewees B, E and G implied that using technology in a smart way could potentially even create further equality between employees. B, E and G all mentioned that as events normally would require some attendants to travel from smaller offices close to the main office, with virtual opportunities this need could be reduced to ease everyone´s experience.

Therefore, using technology could support employee’s overall wellness and wellbeing, as people working in different places and situations would have the same opportunities and access to events or parts of them.

Now it really is in the corner of event professionals to come up with those new ideas and go beyond the norms. It seems like the ones who get the hang of bringing and pushing innovativeness in all corners of their actions, will have a great head start on others when looking into the future.

7.3 Customer-oriented approach

Customer-oriented approach seems simple but as seen and heard, in real life is everything but. This also came up during the interviews, although in some stronger than others, and was heavily connected to innovativity and a holistic view of events. It is commonly known that most people, not necessarily in a bad way, often enjoy talking about their own passions and want to bring their own views seen and words heard. It

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is also important for companies to be heard and listened, to feel like they are understood. Based on the results in the Kaohsiung protocol and from the interviews this seems to be true.

Interviewee I emphasized that hearing and even further understanding what the B2B customers need and expects from an event is crucial for working customer relationships. They stressed that customer-oriented approach in all aspects while doing business has been for a long time, and continues to be, the future key for success.

According to interviewee H the connection between event professionals and customer is important and the event professionals should get to know the customers values, culture, and other significant information to create the right kind of ensemble.

Interviewees H, I and J stated closely to each other that every event professional should always operate with the customer in front of everything. Interviewees E, F and G disclaimed the same, no matter if doing business happens in the event field or in a factory, the customer should always be kept in mind as they are the ones paying for all the work. This is definitely true, but to create an exemplary customer experience, it also goes even deeper than that. Interviewee I went to say that sometimes when an event is considered it is the event professionals’ job to examine and evaluate the best way for implementation. Based on the interviews and the data from the two reports this is a real need that should be taken into consideration.

All six interviewees from the companies said that they had used event professionals’

services in some form before, some more than others. Most said they will keep using event services in the future and even redirect more of the work for event professionals.

Even the interviewees that disclosed they mostly do events “in-house” without taking big productions into account said, orchestrating the offers correctly and showing that the company has been heard and understood by the event professionals would significantly increase the chances of the companies using the event services.

Showcasing the understanding is not only beneficial for keeping things short and clear but also respects the B2B companies’ efforts of marketing and communicating their work to the outside world. Feeling to be heard makes a real impact and therefore customer-oriented event professional will most likely succeed in creating long lasting customer relationships.

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7.4 Keeping things authentic

As discovered in the last chapter, to enhance business relations, listening and reacting should be given great value. Debating on whether to call this theme keeping things authentic, or not went on for a while. In the end however, it is in the authors mind a clear way to describe a theme that rose from each interview in some shape. And even though some may think this is clear to all people, sometimes it is exactly those clear things people tend to forget. Hence this chapter is born.

Being true to oneself - following the chosen path, communicating focus points, goals and values to customers and inside businesses is essential according to interviewee J.

Interviewee H mentioned that how a company takes this into consideration, or not, is significantly visible and may have huge effects on business performance and connections. This can be argued to be true especially in the events industry, when companies have a need to gather people, no matter are they customers, employees, partners or of other value, and obviously the event should communicate the customer company´s message in every way. Choices of venue, program, catering, beverages, and décor, to mention a few, should all communicate and be connected to the spirit of a corporation.

While listening and communicating, the event professionals are able to bring all necessary aspects under consideration, and then make the best decisions together with the customer, was a clear objective from the interviewed event professionals. In short, all the interviewees from the B2B customer companies in some way brought up that they expect their events to look the part they are supposed to play. The interviewed event professionals then again stressed that events are planned and should look like the customer, bringing their best qualities forward.

A huge bonus to all this, mentioned by interviewees H and I, is that authenticity helps forming and strengthening reputation, customer/employee satisfaction and through personalized events the customer companies are able to bring their voices heard. This action together with creating unique ensembles, will most often create those unforgettable moments of joy and proudness that then also penetrates the event

B2B customer demands and expectations in corporate event industry

TOPIAS MYLLYNEN