A new Freeman Trend Report on how to drive attendance at trade shows and conferences.
Results from the Freeman Trend Report: Pre-Event Edition, show that attendees go through a lengthy evaluation process before deciding to attend a trade show or conference. The study surveyed 2,272 attendees and 1,187 exhibitors in September 2026 and released the report at IMEX America. Research examined how participants discover events, what drives them to attend or exhibit and what they need to prepare. According to the report, word of mouth is still the primary way people find events, with 84 percent of attendees deciding to attend at least four weeks before they register. Fifty-four percent of attendees start planning what they’ll do onsite three or more weeks out. Flexible policies can influence when they commit, with 7 in 10 attendees saying a strict cancellation policy would push their registration closer to the event.
While attendees most often turn to trusted colleagues and professional associations when considering events, AI also plays a role. Among the 21 percent of attendees who have used AI to find relevant events, 53 percent said it changed which events they consider worth attending.
Among the action items for meeting planners based on the report’s attendee responses:
• Begin promotion months ahead instead of focusing on the final weeks.
• Reward potential attendees with VIP experiences instead of discounts. Only a quarter of attendees surveyed paid their own way to attend an event, so discounts would not motivate them. On the other hand, 25 percent of attendees said VIP or early-access perks would get them to register earlier.
• Use speaker announcements, exhibitor lists, personalized invitations and ready-to-share content to inform potential attendees. This will also help them to show the return on investment from their attendance.
• Make event data, schedules and exhibitor rosters structured and easy to understand both for potential attendees doing research and for AI discovery tools.
• Loosen event cancellation penalties to encourage potential attendees to register.
