North America

Direct spending on services related to the entire Event Industry, including meetings, conventions, expositions and incentive travel exceeds $400 billion (North America). The Canadian estimate is approximately $71 billion.

A recent survey by MPI (Meeting Planners International) finds:

• Event marketing delivers more return on investment than any other marketing discipline
• Respondents spend 25% of their company's total marketing budget on Event Marketing
• 81% of those interviewed believe face-to-face contact is the main reason for event marketing success
• Event marketing is the overwhelming choice for accelerating and deepening business relationships with target audiences

Event Industry Characteristics

• More than 1 million corporate, association and conventions held annually
• Over 1,000,000 charity golf tournaments each year
• Trade Shows are the #1 business-to-business marketing spend to support sales

Customers' needs present an attractive niche for Global Interactive Events to fill. The Event Industry is looking for innovative ways to attract attendees, keep them interested, entertained, informed and educated.

• Attendees/planners want more active participation
• There is a demand for more active learning and experiential programs that allow direct engagement
• More meetings turn to graphic facilitators to capture key themes and ideas in a visual manner
• Technologies support greater interactivity; and digital production tools are used in innovative ways to capture and present business and educational programs
• A future trend in 'gaming' expects increased demand for multi-player experiences ...interactive entertainment will become the norm