AI is everywhere, and it seems everyone is talking about it. But how are event professionals actually using it? Which tools are proving most useful? And do we really need to understand all of it?
To get a clearer picture, I spoke to a number of event professionals about the tools they’re using day to day, and what those tools are good for.
General assistants: Claude and ChatGPT
First up are the general assistants, with Claude and ChatGPT the clear front runners.
These tools do the heavy lifting on first drafts: event briefs, content plans, sponsorship pitches, speaker invitations and post-event reports. The blank page that used to take an hour to get going now takes seconds, and you edit from there instead of starting from nothing.
The one thing that came out loud and clear, was that whatever content was produced through these tools, event pros are spending the time to check, verify and edit. So, it’s a great place to get started but it doesn’t produce the final result.
Meetings: Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai
For meetings, of which there are always plenty, Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai are proving useful.
Both tools transcribe planning calls and pull out action items automatically. So many stakeholder conversations, meetings and client calls sit behind every event. Having something that captures decisions and follow-ups automatically, rather than relying on someone’s notes, tends to pay for itself quickly. They’re also quick and easy to set up.
Research: Perplexity
For research, Perplexity seems to be the favourite.
It’s a research tool rather than a writing tool, and it’s useful for benchmarking venues, pulling industry statistics for a sponsorship deck, or getting up to speed on a topic fast. Because it gives you answers with sources attached instead of a plain list of search results, it’s easier to trust.
Design: Canva
When it comes to creating design assets, Canva seems to be used by everyone.
Canva’s AI features sit under what it calls Magic Studio. It’s a suite of tools rather than a single feature, and quite a few of them fit neatly onto the fiddly, repetitive design work that eats into an events team’s time. Here are three worth knowing about:
- Magic Design turns a text prompt, or an uploaded photo or logo, into a finished design in seconds.
- Magic Switch resizes one design for different platforms in a click, so a sponsor’s social graphic becomes an Instagram story. It can also translate your content into other languages.
- Magic Media generates images and short video clips from a text prompt. It’s handy for placeholder or supporting visuals when you don’t have (or can’t afford) a shoot.
Your Brand Kit sits underneath all of these. Whoever on the team is creating assets, junior or senior, pulls from the same fonts, colours and logos automatically, rather than everyone freelancing their own version of “on brand”.
My conclusion
Not every AI tool is being used across the sector, and we don’t need to use them all. The right ones can fill that blank page and spark some initial ideas.
Everyone I spoke to has (or are in the process of) creating their own AI processes and policies to outline their team’s approved AI tools, data rules and the human review process. The latter was prominent because it was clear that regardless of their AI maturity, everyone had already built in checks at every single touchpoint, reviewing tone and authenticity.
The biggest impact? These tools are giving event teams hours back. What I didn’t expect was how that time was being used. These event pros aren’t necessarily planning and delivering more events. They’re using the extra hours to elevate the events they already run focusing on the finer details, strengthening stakeholder relationships and delivering a better guest experience.