21 Years in Events. Here’s What I Think Comes Next.

By Danielle Servold, Founder of Avently

Today, my events career turns 21. 

And after thousands of events, more venues than I could possibly count, and a career that has taken me across cities, countries and continents, I’ve been thinking a lot about how much this industry has changed.

But mostly, I’ve been thinking about what comes next.

I started in events in 2005. Back then, gathering in person wasn’t something companies had to justify. Meetings happened in meeting rooms. Conferences happened in conference centers. Teams worked in offices. Business travel was simply part of doing business.

Twenty-one years later, nearly everything about how we work has changed.

We can run companies from laptops. Teams can collaborate across continents without ever occupying the same room. Meetings can happen literally anywhere. AI can summarize the call you missed, organize the notes, build the presentation and probably draft the follow-up email before you’ve had time to finish your latte.

Technology has made it easier than ever not to be in the same place.

And strangely, I think that has made being in the same place more valuable than ever.

The meeting isn’t dying. The meeting that could have been an email is.

For years, the events industry has talked about whether virtual meetings would replace in-person events.

I think we were asking the wrong question.

The question isn’t whether people will continue to meet in person.

They will.

The question is:

What is worth meeting in person for?

Twenty-one years ago, meetings were simply how business got done.

Today, we can accomplish an extraordinary amount without ever leaving home.

The logistics of working apart have never been easier.

Which means gathering together should have a much higher bar.

If you're asking someone to block their calendar, leave their family, get on a plane, and spend three or four days with the company, “because we do this every year” isn't a particularly compelling reason anymore.

That time should be worth something.

The conversation should be better.

The connection should be stronger.

And the experience should accomplish something that wasn't going to happen on Teams.

The destination is no longer the backdrop.

For a long time, destinations were treated as logistics.

How many direct flights are there?

How many guestrooms does the hotel have?

How much meeting space?

How far is the airport?

Those things still matter. A lot.

But I believe the next generation of corporate gatherings will ask another question much earlier in the planning process:

What are we actually trying to accomplish?

If the goal is deep strategic thinking, perhaps the team needs somewhere quiet enough to think differently.

If the goal is rewarding top performers, the destination should genuinely feel like something they earned.

If the goal is rebuilding culture across a distributed team, putting everyone in a ballroom for eight hours probably isn't going to do it.

And if the goal is creativity, connection or inspiration, environment matters.

A vineyard in Tuscany creates a different conversation than a conference room in Dallas.

A dinner overlooking the Mediterranean feels different from room service between meetings.

A morning sailing together creates a different relationship than another scheduled networking break.

That's not because one is inherently better.

It's because where people gather influences how they gather.

The destination should be part of the strategy.

Experiences are becoming business tools.

This may be the biggest shift I've watched happen.

For years, experiences could be treated as the fun part of the agenda.

The dinner.

The excursion.

The thing everyone did after the “real work” was finished.

I don't think that distinction makes as much sense anymore.

Some of the most valuable moments at an event happen nowhere near a stage.

They happen during the dinner when two colleagues finally have time to talk.

On the boat when titles disappear for an afternoon.

Over coffee when someone mentions an idea that never would have made it onto the formal agenda.

During the activity everyone is terrible at and suddenly the executive team is laughing together.

Those moments can build trust, relationships and shared memories.

And those things affect how people work together long after everyone flies home.

The experience isn't necessarily what happens around the business objective.

Sometimes, the experience helps accomplish the business objective.

The boardroom isn't disappearing, but its monopoly is.

There will always be meetings that belong around a conference table.

There should be.

But after twenty-one years in this business, I think we're entering an era where companies will become much more intentional about which conversations deserve a boardroom, and which deserve somewhere entirely different.

Routine information can increasingly be distributed digitally.

Updates can happen asynchronously.

AI will continue eliminating some of the administrative reasons we once needed everyone in the same room.

But technology can't completely replicate what happens when people share a place, a meal, an adventure or a moment.

And as those routine reasons for gathering disappear, the remaining reasons become more human.

Trust.

Culture.

Recognition.

Belonging.

Creativity.

Celebration.

Connection.

Those aren't particularly easy things to manufacture through a screen.

I think the future belongs to better reasons to meet.

Twenty-one years ago, I fell into an industry built around bringing people together.

Since then, I've opened venues, sold events, produced events, hosted celebrations, worked alongside incredible hospitality teams, traveled extensively, and watched the definition of “the workplace” change completely.

And somehow, after all of that, I believe in gathering more than I did when I started.

Just not gathering for gathering's sake.

I believe the next era of corporate events will be less about filling ballrooms and more about creating environments where something meaningful can happen.

Smaller when smaller makes sense.

Farther away when the destination serves the purpose.

More experiential.

More intentional.

More human.

And much harder to justify with, “Well, this is what we did last year.”

That belief is a big part of why I created Avently.

Not simply to plan events around the world, but to help companies think differently about why they're bringing people together in the first place, and then create an experience worthy of that reason.

After twenty-one years, I don't think the future of this industry is more meetings.

I think it's better reasons to meet.

And personally?

I can't wait to see where we meet next.