For decades, trade shows provided a cookie-cutter experience for every attendee, but the industry has realized that the one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work anymore. Today, personalization is the expectation because attendees want a say in the direction of their experiences.
“For 2025, we are going to see that personalization is not just a buzzword but a must-have for attendee experiences,” the Eventex 2025 Trends Report explains. “Audiences want events that feel custom-made for them.”
This shift means event professionals like you must design interactive, sensory-rich environments where attendees can shape their own journeys. It’s all about creating a customized experience that guests will remember because they had a hand in driving it.
In this article, we’ll explore some key insights on personalization from recent industry reports, and we’ll take a look at what personalization looks like in event design. We’ll also discover how CORT Events provides customizable solutions that can bring your trade show vision to life.
The leading event trend reports point out that personalization is growing in popularity as a trend in event planning. The demand for customized experience shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
“Personalization works best when it’s driven by real insights into attendee behavior, preferences, and engagement at every stage of the event,” notes the Cvent 2025 Meetings & Events Trends Report. This highlights the importance of using real-time attendee data to tailor event experiences effectively.
“Attendees expect to have their own personalized journey at events, rather than follow the same track as a group,” the Eventex 2025 Trends Report tells us. This is representative of a shift toward personalized experiences where attendees have control over their engagement.
Some common themes emerge across the two reports. The first is that attendees are avoiding cookie-cutter experiences and want to feel as if the event is curated specifically to them. The second is that data, including behavioral tracking and attendee preferences, gives you insights into event customization.
Next, two of the keys to immersive experiences are branding consistency and multisensory engagement. Finally, you can create lasting connections with personalized follow-up processes that extend attendee engagement beyond the event itself.
Let’s take a look at some specific ways that you can bring personalization into your event to enhance the attendee experience. Any combination of these factors can help you create customized engagement.
A customized experience is more than just personalized content. The physical environment is equally important. Be sure your event branding is consistent across furniture, signage, and décor for a seamless and immersive experience. For example, branded seating, custom signage, and color-coordinated furniture at a corporate event reinforces the message and theme of the event.
Knowing what your attendees are interested in allows you to curate activities that resonate with different audience segments. It takes a little legwork before the event to determine what will appeal to attendees.
Here are a couple of examples. At a tech conference, you might set up customized breakout sessions based on attendee pre-event survey selections to ensure content relevance. At a business event, you could offer interactive zones that meet the engagement needs of different attendees like networking lounges for extroverts and quiet work pods for introverts.
You can easily tailor sensory elements to establish the proper mood and engagement for various event spaces. Use LED-lit furniture and drapes to adjust visuals and lighting based on session themes and attendee preferences. Configurable seating areas create tactile engagement by giving guests the opportunity to rearrange spaces to suit their comfort and networking needs.
Personalize the audio environment with music, custom soundscapes, and sound absorption materials that set the tone for event zones and mitigate background noise. You can employ scent marketing and custom catering to add a multisensory dimension to event personalization.
Achieving this level of personalization for any event requires a professional partner who can make those plans a reality. CORT Events can help you bring personalized event experiences to life with hands-on service and an expansive catalog that includes customizable products. Here are some ways CORT supports your personalized event planning.
You can fill your trade show space with branded furniture, custom signage, and illuminated displays that perfectly and consistently fit your branding with CORT’s Personalization Collection. For example, you can outfit a custom lounge area with branded pillows, branded seating, and other furniture pieces that match along with personalized displays on pieces like bars, pedestals, dividers, and more that immerse attendees in your branding.
CORT’s vast furniture and accessory catalog helps you create flexible, attendee-centric environments for events and sensory needs of any type. Configurable layouts like those in the Endless Collection allow you and your attendees to reconfigure setups to fit engagement patterns and guest movement.
The team at CORT provides you with a seamless, personalized planning experience so that every solution is tailor-made to fit your needs from start to finish. Our account executives will partner with you to make suggestions that enhance your branding and engagement. Reliable, on-time delivery and seamless setup guarantee that the final event matches your vision.
Today’s event experiences are interactive, and they allow attendees to shape their journey through branding, engagement-driven design, and sensory personalization. With CORT Events, you have an impressive catalog, options for customization, and dedicated support that help you deliver truly personalized event experiences.
Connect with CORT Events today to bring personalization to your next event.