Andrea Doyle

A deepening talent and knowledge gap is widely viewed as one of the events industry’s most existential challenges. Intentional investment in talent pipelines, mentorship, and alternative workforce models may help.

As demographics shift, budgets tighten, and attendee expectations rise, micro events are emerging as a strategic tool for delivering more intentional, outcome-driven experiences.

Carrie Davenport isn’t just producing major programs for Altria. She’s also pushing the events industry to confront its own structural gaps through her work with the Association for Women in Events and the Events Industry Sexual Harassment Task Force. 

Cvent’s latest acquisition focuses on extending event content beyond the live experience through branded videos.

ITA Group is expanding its European footprint with the acquisitions of two companies. The deals highlight a surge in year-end M&A activity as agencies seek scale and local expertise to serve global clients more effectively.

Vancouver’s loss is undeniably San Diego’s gain. After 12 years hosting TED, Vancouver will hand the baton to a city with a growing life sciences community and cross-border innovation that gives it room to grow. 

Eventbrite’s sale to Bending Spoons removes a long-struggling ticketing platform from Wall Street pressure. Could the Italian tech company, known for overhauling tech companies, revive this event tech pioneer?

Encore’s second acquisition in less than two weeks expands its international reach, but this time focuses on event planning services. It sees FIRST’s embedded corporate campus model as complementary to its own strong hotel partnerships.

The merger underscores how mid-size agencies are joining forces to build global footprints.

Easyfairs, one of Europe’s largest privately-owned event companies, has made its first North American acquisition: the fast-growing Energy Projects Conference & Expo (EPC). With AI driving the need for energy-intensive data centers, this strategic move puts Easyfairs directly into a rapidly growing sector that could spur more deal-making.