Please enable JavaScript to view this website.

This past month’s event tech headlines illustrate a broad spectrum of focus areas. The news covers real-time audience analytics updates, AI-assisted platforms and rebranded AI-centric strategies to name a few. These developments reflect both the maturation and ongoing innovation within the industry. The momentum is clearly toward integrating intelligent automation, enhancing user experiences, and consolidating capabilities across the event lifecycle. While these moves promise greater efficiency, they also point to a more competitive and data-driven future for event tech.

Download your copy of the Event Tech Almanac 2025, the most complete guide to event tech today.

Acquisitions

Event production management platform LASSO acquired Shoflo, a provider of run-of-show and teleprompter software, from event tech giant Cvent. Cvent had acquired Shoflo in August 2021 during its push to expand its offering around virtual event production. Acquiring Shoflo adds live show management capabilities to LASSO, including real-time collaboration and show calling. With the new integration it will focus on what it calls RFP to invoicing capabilities. The platform will offer support for planning, staffing, inventory, and financial management in a single solution.

Product Launches

Outernet London has launched PIAMS (Public Immersive Audience Measurement System), a real-time visitor analytics tool. The system was developed with spatial analytics specialist Meshh and Virgin Media O2. It uses mobile data and spatial sensors to captures detailed footfall, dwell time, and engagement patterns every five minutes. This enables event organizers and brand partners to measure ROI by aligning audience behavior with specific content and time slots.

PCMA has launched Destinaitor, an AI-powered destination and venue research platform developed with dFakto. Previewed at edUcon 2025, the platform uses data provided by Tempest and Simpleview. It covers a wide range of details about venues and destinations, including sustainability, safety, and infrastructure. Access is free for planners, while suppliers can pay to validate their profiles, add data and access analytics.

SpeakerStacks is a new platform designed for speakers to capture leads directly from their sessions, without relying on organizers for attendee data. It helps convert speaking engagements into an actionable sales pipeline. Launched in the UK, by industry veteran and co-founder of Event Tech Live Adam Parry, the platform offers branded landing pages accessed via QR codes, GDPR-compliant lead forms, AI-generated follow-ups, CRM integrations, and ROI reporting tools.

Visual Hive has launched Erleah, an AI-powered platform offering personalized session and networking recommendations, premium matchmaking placements, and real-time analytics. Delivered as a managed service, it supports year-round community engagement and integrates with existing tech stacks for unified attendee insights.

Product Updates

Cvent has introduced CventIQ™, a new AI-powered layer integrated across its event and hospitality platform. Announced at Cvent CONNECT 2025, CventIQ enhances workflows with tools like AI-generated proposals, real-time session sentiment analysis, personalized attendee dashboards, and automated content creation. The platform aims to streamline operations for planners, marketers, and venue professionals through smart automation and tailored insights.

Meeting and travel management platform Groupize has rebranded as Groupize.ai, to showcase a shift to an AI-first strategy. The platform now includes AI-powered modules like DSai for compliance-driven digital sign-in, Marketplace AI for venue sourcing, and Aime, a planning agent. Strategic partnerships with AMGiNE, Hivr.ai, and MeetingPackage expand its capabilities, including AI-driven air booking and real-time venue availability.

Meeting booking platform Hubli has launched EasyPay, a virtual card feature developed with payment provider Conferma. The tool allows corporate event planners to issue virtual cards for each hotel or venue booking, improving payment speed, compliance, and transparency. Integrated into the Hubli platform, EasyPay addresses key payment pain points with automated reconciliation and secure, auditable transactions tailored for meetings and group accommodation.

NoteAffect, a note-taking focused event tech tool, has launched event-engage, an AI-powered session engagement platform. The tool enables real-time attendee interaction using session room AV, accessed via QR codes or event apps. Features include AI-driven note-taking, live multilingual captioning, session recordings with summaries, and engagement analytics.

Other Event Tech News

Gartner’s June 2025 Magic Quadrant for Event Marketing and Management Platforms evaluated event management platforms for in-person and virtual B2B events. Gartner classified Bizzabo, Cvent, RainFocus, and vFairs as “Leaders,” SpotMe as a “Challenger,” and Swoogo, Stova and EventMobi as “Niche Players.” The list was considerably different to previous years due to two acquisitions: Brandlive acquired 6Connex and Cvent acquired Splash. Gartner also said it stopped focusing on virtual-first event management platforms (Brandlive, Cisco, Kaltura, RingCentral, Zoom) that featured in previous years. events.

Trade show management platform Map Your Show has partnered with NoteAffect to integrate AI-powered session engagement tools into its event management platform. This partnership brings features like interactive note-taking, multilingual captions, searchable recordings, and engagement analytics to trade show sessions.

Learn, connect, and get inspired — with the event industry’s who’s who.

September 15 – NEW YORK CITY

Microsoft is ending its nearly decade-long run of hosting the Build developer conference in Seattle, signaling a potential shift in the company’s event strategy and adding to a growing trend of tech events leaving traditional host cities.

The news of Microsoft moving its flagship conference came days before the company confirmed roughly 9,000 layoffs, including 830 in the Washington state, in a regulatory filing. Since May, the software company has shed more than 15,000 staff, over 3,000 of those in its home state.

The most recent Build conference was held May 19–22 at the Seattle Convention Center. It drew 3,200 in-person attendees and more than 100,000 participants online. Build, which launched in 2011, has taken place in Seattle since 2017 and has regularly attracted tens of thousands of developers, engineers, and technology partners.

“Our plans for Build 2026 have changed, our vision to empower builders and developers at a major event next year remains the same,” a Microsoft spokesperson said. “We thank the city and the community for their support over the years.”

Microsoft Build Conference Important to Seattle

Visit Seattle did not respond to a request for comment. According to industry estimates, the event has generated roughly 9,300 hotel room nights per year, an economic impact the city will now lose.

Seattle’s proximity to Microsoft’s Redmond headquarters made it a logistically convenient location for the company’s engineers and executives. While Microsoft has not disclosed the reason for the move, a spokesperson said it was not related to conditions or experiences during this year’s event.

In addition, the spokesperson said, “We do not have anything further to share about our plans for Build 2026.”

Shift in Tech Event Geography

Microsoft is not alone in changing the location of its flagship gathering. Across the tech industry, companies are re-evaluating how and where they host major events, driven by rising costs, shifting audience expectations, and strategic goals around reach and visibility.

HubSpot’s INBOUND conference, held in Boston since its launch in 2012, will move to San Francisco for a one-time edition. The event is scheduled for Sept. 3–5 at Moscone Center. HubSpot said the change reflects feedback from a growing global community and an effort to meet customers where they are. The plan is for the conference to return to Boston in 2026. 

The 2024 event at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, attracted approximately 12,000 attendees.

Other major tech conferences have made more permanent changes. Google Cloud Next relocated from San Francisco to Las Vegas in 2024, with events now confirmed at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center through at least 2026.

Oracle also moved its flagship CloudWorld conference from San Francisco to Las Vegas after its 2022 event. This year’s edition will take place Oct. 13–16 at The Venetian Conference and Expo Center.

Canva shifted its annual Canva Create conference from Sydney to Los Angeles in 2024. Held at Hollywood Park—home to SoFi Stadium and the YouTube Theater—the event drew more than 4,500 attendees, with 100 speakers and 60 sessions.

Apple, meanwhile, has transitioned its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) to a primarily digital format since 2020. While the event remains free and globally accessible online, Apple now includes a limited in-person experience at its Cupertino campus. Attendance is by invitation or lottery and capped at a small number of developers, students, and media.

What It Means

Microsoft’s departure from Seattle reflects a larger redefinition of how tech companies engage developer and partner communities. As event formats, audiences, and expectations evolve, even long-standing location ties are no longer guaranteed.

For destination marketers and convention centers, the message is clear: competition for major conferences is intensifying, and loyalty to place is giving way to flexibility, scale, and strategic alignment.

Learn, connect, and get inspired — with the event industry’s who’s who.

September 15 – NEW YORK CITY