From ROI to ROE – discover the future of event engagement

By Claudia Stephenson, Managing Director, EMEA, INVNT

On 25 June at The Meetings Show, I’ll be taking to Stage One (14:40) alongside Peter Clarke to explore a defining industry shift: ‘Return on engagement, how AI-powered immersive tech delivers measurable impact’. Ahead of our session, event professionals must ask themselves a critical question: are we building static demos, or are we architecting emotion?

Today’s audiences expect to be co-creators of the narrative, not passive observers. Handing an attendee a branded pen is forgettable, but empowering them to generate a personalised AI music track on limited-edition vinyl creates a story they inherently own and organically amplify. To succeed in this era, we must pivot from traditional return on investment (ROI) to a more profound metric: return on engagement (ROE).

Transitioning to an ROE mindset means viewing technology not as the main attraction, but as a vehicle for human connection. At INVNT, our successful ROE framework follows three steps:

1. Start with emotion

Before writing code or rendering environments, we ask: what human feelings are we designing for? Whether it is pride, urgency or empathy, the emotional destination must dictate the technological journey.

2. Deploy intentional technology

Tools must serve the story. We prioritise meaningful AI curation over empty metaverse spectacle. This means using large language models to evolve a flat 2D brand into a living, responsive 3D ambassador like the ABB-e AI mascot. It means turning complex data into personalised, emotional pledges, much like COP28’s AI-powered "Mother Nature" tree.

3. Measure the impact

ROE is highly measurable. By building custom dashboards, we track sentiment analysis, dwell time, media reach, and revenue lift. When immersive tech is deployed with intentionality, such as bridging sustainability and purchase intent in interactive environments like PepsiCo's Barcelona IBC igloos, it delivers commercial substance that far outweighs fleeting spectacle.

We are shifting from measuring heads in seats to measuring stories in circulation. If you are ready to architect experiences that audiences amplify because they own the story, join Peter and me on 25 June. We’ll share the actionable blueprints to kickstart your next chapter of digital-physical storytelling.