Most of us have become used to some level of choice in how we learn, what we watch, and how we engage with almost anything. Events are catching up with that expectation and audiences are starting to notice when they don't.
The research found that personalisation ranks second only to measurable ROI in what event professionals expect to matter by 2030. Two-thirds already rate it as essential or very important. It's not a fringe expectation - it's becoming the norm.
And the great news is the most effective approaches the research describes aren't especially complicated. Asking attendees one meaningful question before the event. Using that to shape how sessions are grouped or framed. Giving people permission to engage at different depths across the day. The principle is giving people some agency, not necessarily drowning them in options.
Because more choice isn't always better. Too many options can overwhelm rather than empower. What the interviewees described working well was enough flexibility to feel personal, with enough guidance to feel confident. That balance matters.
There's also a generational shift coming and it applies beyond Gen Z. The non-alcoholic shift, the demand for shorter formats, the expectation that you can shape your own schedule: these aren't generational quirks. They're the direction the whole market is moving. Younger audiences are just getting there first.
In my role, I'm privileged to attend events of all scales regularly, and I see personalisation happening more and more - audiences respond well to being able to choose sessions that suit them. Naturally, I gravitate toward how speakers do this well, and a few standouts I've seen recently: speakers who send a personalised video to the event organiser before they're even booked, signalling just how tailored the session would be - this very often gets a booking over the line. Pre-event videos from the speaker for organisers to use with their audience help people feel like they already know the speaker, creating a connection before the day even starts. At one international conference I attended, the speaker used live polling on stage to direct where they took the content - it was incredibly smart, and the audience felt both involved and the content was 100% relevant to them. But the best example of intelligence-gathering I've ever seen was from one of the best speakers I've worked with, the late Dr Tom Mulholland, who used to arrange a survey for delegates before his presentation. It meant he knew exactly where the audience was at and what they needed and it worked brilliantly – personalisation at its finest!
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