The past year has been one of turbulence and transformation.

Political shifts, technological leaps, and accelerating social and economic trends have reshaped the financial services landscape – and with this, the way we design and deliver events must adapt.

But what does this really mean? How can the sector deliver powerful events that meet the fast evolving expectations of clients, employees, and senior stakeholders?

Last week, EC hosted an exclusive event to address this question, exploring the strategies, insights, and innovations that will define financial services events through 2025 and beyond. With an expert speaker line-up, we covered how event leaders should approach everything from the latest technologies to sustainability, measurement, and personalisation.

Here’s your summary of the event’s key insights, which we hope will inspire you to challenge your perspectives, push boundaries, and deliver the exceptional experiences event-goers demand today.

1. Tech-enhanced experiences: innovation with purpose

Technology – from AI to immersive tools – is transforming event experiences. However, innovation should never be about tech for tech’s sake. EC’s Head of Production, Ben Krebs, explained that technology must serve clear strategic purposes and measurable outcomes.

He outlined six opportunities for technology to enhance financial services events:

Smart platforms:

Leverage advanced event platforms to boost registration and attendance, enhancing clarity through AI chatbots and targeted communications.

AI-enhanced networking:

Personalised matchmaking, smart badges, and tailored interactions to maximise meaningful connections.

Immersive engagement:

Interactive displays, AI-generated summaries and holistic content strategies to help audiences better engage with complex financial information at their own pace.

Compelling environments:

Create memorable experiences through bespoke content and dynamic technical design. Real-time audience contributions to steer content can immediately foster deeper connections.

Precise measurement:

Track delegate interactions and sentiment using advanced analytics to demonstrate event ROI clearly.

Cost-effective automation:

Strategically deploying AI to reduce resource strain without losing human connection, in order to focus technical spend on areas that amplify impact.

“Technology must be deployed strategically, supporting your event objectives – never the other way around. Always ask yourself, ‘why are we using this?”

Ben Krebs, Head of Production, EC

2. Sustainability rebooted: turning ambitions into actions

Sustainability remains an urgent priority, especially as financial organisations increasingly aim to minimise their carbon footprints in pursuit of net zero and deliver on ESG commitments. However, our audience identified myriad barriers preventing them from producing more sustainable events, ranging from cost to stakeholder engagement.

Harriet Palmer, EC’s Sustainability Lead, and Carina Jandt, co-founder of Event Cycle, explained how events professionals can overcome these barriers and practically integrate sustainability within experience design, advising:

Begin with benchmarks

Understand your current environmental and social impacts clearly. Align your event goals with your broader organisational sustainability ambitions.

Think holistically

Sustainability transcends event days; it spans planning, delivery, and post-event actions. Don’t limit yourself to the E of ESG; the events industry centres on people, so social impact should be baked in.

Embrace innovation

Consider technology solutions to reduce waste or pollution – like LED carpets and Clear Air nanotech – to minimise environmental impacts creatively and effectively.

Start small and focused:

If you’re early in your sustainability journey, select one or two tangible goals closely aligned with organisational objectives.

“Once you know where meetings and events sit within your organisation’s sustainability journey, you can pinpoint areas where climate-positive decisions will make the most impact.”

Harriet Palmer, Sustainability Lead, EC

3. Measuring success: proving impact and ROI

Events in financial services are under greater scrutiny than ever, with stakeholders demanding clear evidence of their value. While the industry has focused on measuring at-event metrics (such as attendance or interactions), EC Strategist Rob Sellers argued that to prove true ROI, event professionals need to embrace new measurement methodologies.

Ultimately, events deliver value by changing the actions and behaviours of the people that attend them. To make this truly effective, and also measurable, a more holistic approach to event planning and evaluation should be followed. This means working more strategically from the beginning, and engaging with a wider set of stakeholders from across your business.

Sellers outlined a structured approach:

Align event objectives with organisational objectives:

Event investment should be aligned with a wider set of objectives that the business is focusing on. These tend to be clear, measurable business objectives related to factors like commercial growth, talent or efficiency.

Map organisational objectives to audience behaviours:

Understand what actions you want the audience of a specific event to take which will positively affect the organisational objectives. Can a sales force make more calls? Can managers spend more time with their junior employees?

Apply behavioural science techniques:

If the objective is to change behaviours, then the correct application of behavioural science is a critical tool. By leaning into human nature, we can code subconscious changes and create long term memory structures to trigger more conscious behaviour change. At EC, these techniques are embedded within our four Experience Design Principles, which we use when crafting every event.

Set evaluation time frames:

Collect data pre-event (baseline), post-event (immediate impact), and at 3-6 months to track sustained change.

Leverage wider technology platforms:

Many of the behaviours we want to measure are already being measured by other business functions. So, the data you need probably already exists within your organisation. By working with a wider set of stakeholders from an early stage – from CRM and Talent Management to Marketing Measurement – you can unlock a whole new world of measurement possibilities.

Three key questions to ask:

What behaviours should my event influence?
Who can help track and analyse behaviour change?
How do I integrate measurement into planning from the start?

“We must shift from measuring attendance and interactions alone to demonstrating long-term behavioural impacts. We create events to drive lasting change.”

Rob Sellers, Strategist, EC

4. Personalisation at scale: connecting deeply, individually

Hyper-personalisation is no longer optional – it’s essential for financial services firms aiming to engage sophisticated audiences. Events offer a powerful opportunity to deliver experiences as tailored and relevant as individual consultations.

Behavioural expert Richard Shotton explained why personalisation works: our brains instinctively prioritise information we perceive as personally relevant. Known as the ‘cocktail party effect’, this explains our heightened attention to tailored content. Providing attendees with meaningful choices over their event experience significantly enhances engagement and retention of information.

Jonathan Dewe, Senior Director at financial services brand Moody’s, reinforced personalisation’s strategic value by outlining Moody’s journey from financial data provider to trusted adviser. Moody’s successfully personalises global events by balancing consistency with local relevance and deeply understanding individual attendee needs.

Key recommendations include:

Smart use of data:

Leverage attendee data to provide individually relevant content, personalised agendas, and tailored networking opportunities.

Global yet local:

Maintain global brand consistency but adapt events to reflect local market needs and cultures.

Integrated experiences:

Seamlessly connect events with other marketing touchpoints, creating continuous, personalised attendee journeys.

Flexible event design:

Offer adaptable content formats and attendee-driven sessions, empowering participants to shape their own experiences.

“Personalisation captures attention and ensures information sticks. Our subconscious continually scans information, but we consciously notice and remember only a small amount. Personally relevant details cut through.”

Richard Shotton, Behavioural Expert, Astroten

Carina Jandt

Director and Co-Founder
Event Cycle

Georgia Scott

Marketing Strategy & Operations Director
Monzo

Richard Shotton

Author of The Choice Factory and Behavioural Scientist
Astroten

Jonathan Dewe

Senior Director
Moody’s

Ben Krebs

Head of Production
EC

Harriet Palmer

Sustainability Lead
EC

Rob Sellers

Strategy Director
EC

Moderator:Adam Stanley

Managing Director
EC

Intrigued by these insights?

This overview offers just a glimpse of the valuable ideas shared at our event. If you’re interested in exploring how we can support your business, we’d love to talk.

From OMG to ROI

the Design Museum

The past year has been one of turbulence and transformation.