In this UNSCRIPTED podcast episode, I had the pleasure of discussing the current and future state of data collection at in-person events with Adedamola Adeleke. Ade has a unique perspective. He worked in the B2B events and conferencing sector, where we met, and now exhibits at the events we used to organise as part of his marketing mix, giving him a very different perspective.
Our conversation quickly zeroed in on the stark contrast between his rich behavioural data in digital marketing and the relatively sparse data collected from live events. As Ade put it:
"Why aren't we connecting the feeds? Because that's the real point, because you create digital entities of the person, of the people, the subchannels or the various points on the show floor or whatever." - Listen from here on Spotify (12:48) or YouTube
Ade pointed out an interesting concept: a digital twin for in-person events. This idea involves capturing and analysing participant interactions to mirror the detailed data collection of digital environments - something we have postulated with the IAEK Framework™. By doing so, we can personalise and optimise event experiences for all participants.
The podcast demonstrates the need for the events industry to mature and adopt new technologies that bridge the gap between physical and digital experiences. We felt this advancement was crucial for proving the empirical value of in-person events through robust data analysis to exhibitors like Ade.
What followed was an exploration of the potential benefits of such integration, including improved event layouts, better targeting of participant interests and enhanced overall event engagement, and that was just the start.
Data-Driven Exhibiting: Harnessing Insights for Enhanced Engagement
When discussing data-driven exhibiting, Ade highlighted the intricate ways people interact with messages on the show floor. He noted the diversity in interests and how these preferences manifest in different formats—the main stage, sidebar round tables, or video screens.Â
He felt that understanding who attended and where they spent their time and what they engaged with the most was crucial. This granular level of insight, often missing from exhibitors' data, could transform how his team tailored and delivered messages.
I expanded on this by highlighting the limitations of structured data typically provided by event organisers. He agreed that while job titles and company names are valuable, they don't necessarily translate to real buyer intent in a digital context. Instead, behavioural data—such as time spent on specific blog posts or content pieces—provides a more nuanced understanding of what interests attendees.
He shared an analogy from the world of retail:
"So the retail stores collect certain information that they're able to then give this manufacturer information on where best to put their products on the shelf... as you were talking through that, you're thinking back from an event show floor thing, What do you call it? Footfall heat map. Therefore, everybody congregates here." - Listen from here on Spotify (31:19) or YouTube
Ade also mentioned the potential of lead scoring based on in-event behaviours. He argued that current lead scoring methods, which often rely on pre-event data, could be enriched by incorporating real-time engagement metrics from the show floor. Laying the basis of building a digital twin for each participant with richer information to allow for better personalisation and follow-up.
The Need for Creating The Digital Twin: A Comparison to Digital Marketing
Ade illustrated this point by noting that exhibitors might get a list of attendees who entered a room and, if lucky, how long they stayed. However, they rarely receive information on what specific messages or channels attendees engaged with the most.
"You look at what we're doing with digital marketing, capturing all the signals, filtering that all together, orchestrating, aggregating, orchestrating, and then synthesising that into some sort of insight. But then you look at what we're doing in person, and that really hasn't changed." - Listen from here on Spotify (12:07) or YouTube
Persisting with this data gap has real implications. We agreed that this gap in detailed event data represents a significant risk and opportunity for the events industry.
The risk lies in not being able to compete with the scientific and data-driven marketing investments provided by digital marketing, which makes events an easy budget cut. With every risk, there is also an opportunity, as we live in the attention economy. If we can empirically prove the level of attention events can deliver and the bottom-line impact of this, it could help put events back as an essential part of the audience acquisition pyramid.
As Ade pointed out in live events, the absence of detailed engagement data means that exhibitors miss out on valuable opportunities to better qualify and prioritise leads. This detailed data would transform how his team approaches lead generation.
Fundamentally the way data is collected at events has not changed as Ade says:
 "But then you look at what we're doing in person, and that really hasn't changed. Because I remember 10 years ago, people talking about beacons, and GFC, NFC tags, and being able to do heat maps, and we're still presenting heat maps like it's a new thing. So I think that's more the problem…” - Listen from here on Spotify (12:21) or YouTube
This lack of actionable data significantly hampers the ability to enhance the event experience and lead qualification. The conversation took an interesting turn when we touched upon the concept of 'digital twins' for events. This idea revolves around capturing and translating in-person interactions into valuable data points.
Crafting the Future: Digital Twins and Event Optimisation
Before you tune out, the digital twin we discussed was not some hokey avatar or other pointless digital gimmick but a data twin, which would contain information to help enhance experiences before, during and after the event. This data twin could also be made available to exhibitors and sponsors to better tune messaging per participants' wishes.
For instance, in the digital space, a CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) 's filled-out form is just the beginning. Digital workflows enable marketers to see how long this individual spent on various blog posts, offering a richer, more detailed picture of their interests and intent. This level of behavioural data allows for more precise triaging.
The same could be manifested for events by capturing and translating the participant's entire event experience into valuable data points. The data points could be categorised into the four areas of the IAEK Framework, creating a structured and documented data schema for everyone to use.Â
In Ade's view, despite the technological advancements, the industry remains anchored to basic logistics and lead scanning.
"I was going to say that the question for the industry is really start to think about the digital twin of your event... how are you capturing, translating that experience into data points, a la digital twin" - Listen from here on Spotify (32:28) or YouTube
What was clear is that the current state of data collection at live events is outdated, limited to basic metrics like attendance logs and session check-ins if you are lucky. Introducing digital twins could revolutionise this by providing a granular view of participant interactions and preferences. This could empower organisers to offer a more personalised and impactful event experience.
This would enhance the value proposition for exhibitors and sponsors and elevate the overall attendee experience. By leveraging data analytics and digital twins, the events industry can enter a new era of optimisation and personalisation, ensuring that every aspect of an event is finely tuned to meet the needs and expectations of its audience.
The Undeniable Value of In-Person Events
When discussing the value of in-person events, we reflected on the unique benefits that physical gatherings bring, including their rich human interactions, which are often missing in digital settings.
"I think with in-person events, I think there's an advantage beyond the digital event or digital experience in the sense that, if you had with the amount of Information you have about a person in person if you can map that into a digital experience, and collect those data points, imagine how much more personalised that experience could be." - Listen from here on Spotify (24:20) or YouTube
What the discussion in this podcast proposed is not new, as companies have empirically proven the impact of in-person events. You need to look no further than Salesforce’s Dreamforce, but the tight integration of an event, particularly a third-party event like a tradeshow, into the marketing mix is rare.
If we look at other industries, data from loyalty cards in retail are used not only by the company that offers the card but also by the broader partner ecosystem. In events, valuable onsite behavioural data rarely radiates out from the organiser.
"I love the in-person experience. I do. I detest the way we're orchestrating it at the moment." - Listen from here on Spotify (27:16) or YouTube
Perhaps, as with the advent of digital analytics, there is a question about the maturity of data skills in the industry before we can expect to take such a leap. Dan Loosemore pointed this out in my podcast with him, stating that it has taken time to change the perception that the data team is not there to clean data.
Bridging the Gap: Maturity and Technological Evolution in Events
We reflected on how digital marketing and retail have significantly advanced in data collection and analysis methods compared to in-person events. As Ade highlighted, websites have evolved from merely providing information to capturing intricate metadata, such as time spent on a page. Most importantly, over the years, we have learnt which signals have value and how to act on these to acquire and retain customers.
The question, then, is how long it will take for in-person events to reach a similar level of sophistication. While logistics and essential experiences are well-handled, Ade pointed out that there's still a gap in leveraging in-person data to enhance the event experience.
"[originally] A Website was just to get the information up there, and now we're getting into, metadata beyond, went from clicks and opens to time on page, whatnot. So perhaps it's just a maturity thing." - Listen from here on Spotify (23:54) or YouTube
I pointed out to Ade that he is a rare breed in demanding this resolution and that only with more exhibitors asking the same questions will organisers be motivated to change the narrative. Unless more exhibitors articulate what the data-driven exhibitor needs, I feel this conversation will be repeated for another few years.
