AI in Events Webinar Series: Key Takeaways

Chances are you’ve heard of generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Bard, Jasper, and other alternatives by now. What you might not have done yet is use AI for event planning and event marketing.

According to a report from five years ago — long before “generative AI” entered our vocabulary and tools like ChatGPT became household names — 60% of marketers planned to use AI to drive marketing strategies. Another report from Juniper Research in 2020 suggested that there would be 8.4 billion AI-powered digital assistants by 2024. 

Today, we’re on the precipice of a massive disruption thanks to the AI revolution. It’s no surprise, then, that the global artificial intelligence market is expected to bring in a staggering $190.61 billion by 2025. But how exactly can you use artificial intelligence in event management? 

To help you answer that question and stay ahead of the curve, we recently hosted a two-part webinar series that explored the ins and outs of using AI in events. In this post, we’ll provide a high-level overview of those conversations so you can better understand what to expect when you tune in and watch the webinars on-demand.

Part 1: Revolutionizing event planning with AI

In the first webinar, Bizzabo’s Event Experience Lab Head Oren Berkovich sat down with two members of the Jasper team: VP of Marketing Meghan Keaney Anderson and Head of Events Lillian Chiou. If you haven’t heard of Jasper, it’s one of the most popular alternatives to ChatGPT. 

The way Keaney Anderson sees it, AI isn’t something that will destroy humanity or decimate jobs; it’s just a tool, and it’s up to marketers to make sure they use it the right way. Already, Keaney Anderson has used AI chatbots like ChatGPT for events in a couple of different ways. More specifically, she believes that AI can help event professionals with the following:

1. Ideation: Using AI, event teams can figure out how to select a name for an event, what sessions to have at an event, and which speakers to invite.
2. Acceleration: AI can also help event professionals accelerate their content creation efforts. Thanks to AI, event marketers don’t have to spend as much time writing email nurture campaigns, for example, because the tools can give them a head start.
3. Adaptation: Using AI, event teams can ask an AI assistant to adapt content for a different audience. For example, you might write an email announcing your event intended for executives. You can then ask the AI to rewrite it for marketers. At the same time, you can also use AI to make your event more accessible by using the tool to localize content into different languages.

“How do you take a single piece of content and repackage and turn it into a full-fledged campaign that speeds up your event? You take an event brief, and you can use AI to turn it into a landing page, an event invitation email, and help you get content out faster.”

Meghan Keaney Anderson

VP of Marketing, Jasper

Of course, AI is not without its limitations. For example, you can’t ask AI to create a bio for a relatively unknown speaker or ask ChatGPT for current event venues without getting some shuttered options.

This is one reason Chiou emphasizes that event professionals need to think of AI tools as assistants. They’ll never replace event professionals because they lack the emotion and creativity to give an event a unique feel. 

If there was a button that I could click and create an event, I’d sign up immediately. But there is always a human element to every event. I think of AI as my buddy, taking ideas from the entire universe and giving me ideas to open up my event’s potential beyond what I can imagine.

Lillian Chiou

Head of Events, Jasper

Get more valuable insights from industry experts by watching Revolutionizing event planning with AI — on-demand now.

Part 2: Prepare for the AI revolution: Tips, trends, and strategies for event profs

In the second webinar, Berkovich was joined by Tech Evangelist + Idea Igniteur at DAHLIA+Agency Dahlia El Gazzar and CEO of techsytalk Inc. Liz King Caruso.

For El Gazzar, artificial intelligence has been hidden behind common technologies like Alexa and Google Search for years. But it’s finally reached the mainstream and generated a ton of buzz, which is exciting. In her experience, El Gazzar sees event professionals bringing a sense of urgency to AI and trying to determine how to use it to be more efficient.

To her, AI can be used either as a copilot — a tool that might help you improve your project management process — or a muse — a tool that can help you brainstorm more effectively. Event marketers no longer have the “I’m too busy” excuse to explain why they couldn’t create social media posts.

Though Caruso has seen early adopted companies using AI for several years, adoption is now rapidly accelerating. She attributes this growth to tools like ChatGPT making the technology personal — think, “Write me an essay on how to market my next event more effectively.” 

AI only helps us further personalize attendee experiences. Yes, we’ve had personalized recommendations for years, but now we can take it to the next level. We’re really at the tip of the iceberg with what’s possible here.

Liz King Caruso

CEO, techsytalk Inc.

That said, when new technology grows in popularity, said Caruso, people panic. Event marketers must realize that these tools are designed to make life easier. To get started, focus on the most significant pain points in your day-to-day. For example, if you’re spending hours every week editing headshots or creating content for social media, this could be a great place to start seeing how AI might help.

There’s a sense of urgency, in which event organizers are trying to understand how they can implement ChatGPT or other AI tools on their own. But you don’t have to do this on your own. You have to lean hard on those who can help you create the solutions and processes so you can be more efficient and better professionals. We wished for innovation, and the universe has responded.

Dahlia El Gazzar

Tech Evangelist + Idea Igniteur, DAHLIA+Agency

Of course, you can’t just type into a generative AI chatbot and cut and paste what it produces. The best event marketers understand that AI is a starting point and optimize the outputs accordingly.

Get more valuable insights from industry experts by watching Prepare for the AI revolution: Tips, trends, and strategies for event profs — on-demand now.

Unlock Event Potential With Artificial Intelligence

To learn more about how you can use AI to accelerate your event planning and event marketing efforts and cover more ground in less time, download our new guide featuring tips on how to write the best prompts to get the outputs you need, plus 100+ prompt examples to take your event marketing, strategy, and more to the next level.