Technology/Tools

Bishop-McCann Doubles Down on Event Tech

February 16, 2024

Prevue recently held a candid Q&A with Bishop-McCann’s New VP of Event Tech on how event technology is reshaping the meeting and events industry.

Full-service event management company Bishop-McCann doesn’t just believe that event technology will continue to be a major force in the meeting and events industry — it just created a new role of Vice President of Event Technology to ensure the company stays at the forefront. To fill that role, Bishop-McCann has hired Todd Moritz, who has more than 20 years of experience in event technology, as well as multichannel marketing and program management.

His mission is to navigate the rapidly changing event tech landscape to find new solutions that will meet the evolving needs of the company and its clients. Prevue recently caught up with Moritz to learn more.

Prevue: Why is now the right time for Bishop-McCann to double down on its commitment to event technology?

Moritz: 2023 was a period for getting back to some semblance of normalcy across the board for in-person events, but 2024 is the year for innovation to be at the forefront of everything we do. Last year we saw huge leaps in terms of AI, a great deal of M&A activity in the event tech and platform space, as well as a reality check with regard to clients’ event budgets. Efficient, forward-thinking uses of technology can help transform how we approach events across the board, but the opportunities are far more wide-ranging than platforms and audience activations.

At Bishop-McCann we’re looking at things truly holistically — how can we implement processes, systems and technology advances to make our internal teams more efficient in the planning cycle, leading up to that first attendee contact? How can we streamline what we do and how we do it to leverage those advances to make us all more efficient and effective in our day to day? AI planning and research tools are at the core of those efforts, freeing up valuable time and resources to be able to get even more out of our clients’ investments. Once we can streamline those internal efforts, we free ourselves up to do even more for our attendees, ensuring that every single touchpoint results in moments of JOY.

See also Finding the Joy at Meetings

Prevue: What will your new role entail?

Moritz: I will be overseeing technology in every aspect of the business — from ERP and project management systems to security and compliance, all the way up to and including platform partnerships, creative technology solutions and onsite activations. It’s a holistic approach to ensuring that all of the block and tackling is there for our associates in terms of operating efficiently and effectively so that we can stay focused on creating the very best attendee experiences possible on behalf of our clients.

Prevue: Are there specific types of event tech that you’re especially focusing on now?

Moritz: Outside of internal systems and process, data is really top of mind at the moment. For years we’ve been leveraging platforms to generate data related to our attendee journeys, but in many cases those platforms lack to reporting capabilities to provide deep insights that our clients can use outside of session engagement, content consumption and some other baseline data related to their event experience.

Leveraging things like AI tools, we now have the power to take that data and apply it in ways that we’ve never done before and in a fraction of the time it would otherwise take. While 2024 is the year for innovation, it’s data that’s going to drive many of those efforts going forward.

Prevue: With event tech evolving so rapidly, any thoughts on what the next big tech will be for meeting and event planners?

Moritz: Our point of view is that although there has been growth in event technology, it’s still minor when considering the innovation happening in the technology industry overall. There are some players out there who are doing some amazing things, but the event tech space as a whole could, and needs to, do so much more. Every day, you hear platforms talking about innovation, but M&A activity doesn’t necessarily equate to innovation. Last year we saw a few platforms touting AI integrations for doing things like marketing automation and generating session abstracts, but now that’s table stakes. At Bishop-McCann we’re taking an event-technology-first approach, which means getting back to basics and looking at how technology can play a role in every aspect of the event planning and execution process — that’s a real differentiator for us. It’s going to be a game changer for our clients and BMC.