The Exhibition Services & Contractors Association (ESCA) Summer Educational Conference continued Tuesday, June 30, at Fairmont Banff Springs in Banff, Canada, with a day built around economic uncertainty, mergers and acquisitions, artificial intelligence, and deeper breakout discussions designed to move attendees from broad trends into practical application.
Basu opens with economic outlook
Anirban Basu, chairman and chief executive officer of Sage Policy Group, opened Tuesday’s education program with “First Brood,” a fast-moving economic outlook that mixed data, film references, and humor with a more serious message about uncertainty in the U.S. economy.
Basu told attendees the economy remains stronger than many headlines suggest, but that strength is uneven. He pointed to persistent inflation, high prices, elevated interest rates, and weaker consumer sentiment as reasons many households and businesses still feel pressure.
At the same time, Basu noted that several parts of the economy continue to perform well. Stock market gains, artificial intelligence (AI) investment, upper-income spending, travel, hospitality, and some business sectors continue to support growth. However, he said that strength is narrow and tied heavily to wealthier consumers, corporate earnings, and AI-related investment.
For the exhibitions industry, Basu’s message landed in practical terms. Higher travel costs, pricing pressure, labor challenges, and uncertainty can affect attendance, exhibitor spending, and event planning. As a result, attendees and exhibitors are likely to look for clearer value, stronger business outcomes, and experiences they cannot get elsewhere.
Basu also pointed to a softer labor market outside health services and rising financial stress for some consumers. While he did not frame a recession as the base case, he said recession risk remains higher than normal because the economy’s foundation has narrowed.
The session gave ESCA attendees a broad economic frame for the day ahead: growth is still happening, but it is uneven, expensive, and more fragile than headline numbers may suggest.
Easdale outlines investor interest in events
Alexander Easdale, director of Plural Strategy, followed Basu with a session on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the events sector and what investors look for when evaluating event businesses.
Easdale said investor interest in events has grown because the sector has shown resilience since COVID-19. Virtual events and digital channels had a chance to replace in-person gatherings during the pandemic, but attendees, buyers, and marketers continued to show the value of meeting face to face.
He also pointed to AI as another factor shaping investor thinking. While AI has created uncertainty around some software and media business models, Easdale said it has reinforced the value of trusted in-person experiences, human connection, and live business interactions.
The session focused less on headline deals and more on what makes an event business attractive to buyers. Easdale said investors look for companies with clear specialization, differentiation, room to grow, strong customer retention, pricing power, healthy margins, and the ability to fund growth.
For event service providers, that means buyers want to see more than revenue. They want proof that a company has a strong market position, repeat customers, measurable value, and a clear path to expand through new services, markets, or geographies.
Easdale told attendees that tracking those proof points can help owners prepare for future investment or sale discussions. However, he also framed the process as good business practice, because the same metrics that attract investors can help companies build stronger operations.
Borelli focuses on practical AI use for event teams
Nick Borelli, director of marketing at Zenus, led Tuesday’s third education session with a practical look at how event professionals can use AI without treating it as a replacement for expertise.
Borelli said event teams are asked to shift between strategy, logistics, sales, marketing, design, budgeting, and client service, often in the same day. For that reason, he framed AI as a tool for added capacity, perspective, and preparation, not just speed.
He encouraged attendees to use AI as a thinking partner before meetings, proposals, and planning sessions. For example, teams can use it to surface budgeting questions, compare possible revenue ideas, review meeting transcripts, repurpose long-form content, or pressure-test assumptions before entering a room.
Borelli also warned that AI often produces average work when users give it average prompts. In his view, the difference will come from the person guiding the tool. Event professionals still need experience, judgment, taste, context, and the ability to know when an answer is not good enough.
The session also touched on AI applications already emerging in events, including content repurposing, destination research, matchmaking, lead follow-up, booth analytics, attendee insights, and real-time summaries of education sessions.
Borelli’s closing message connected with the room: as AI makes basic information and average outputs easier for everyone to access, personality, expertise, creativity, and trust will matter more. He said in-person events may become even more valuable because they offer something digital spaces increasingly struggle to provide, real connection and confidence that what people are experiencing is authentic.
