By Catherine Chaulet, President and CEO, Global DMC Partners
The pressure building across the global aviation ecosystem is no longer a future risk. It is a present constraint reshaping how industries operate, connect, and grow. At the center of this disruption is the soaring price of kerosene, now accounting for roughly 30 to 40 percent of airline operational costs. This sharp increase has triggered a cascade of consequences: reduced flight routes, higher ticket prices, and growing concerns around fuel availability that together have produced a significant contraction in global mobility.
While these challenges are most visible in travel and aviation, their ripple effects extend far beyond, touching nearly every sector that relies on international collaboration. Among the most impacted is the technology MICE industry, long regarded as both a bellwether and a catalyst for global business innovation.
The tech MICE sector thrives on the free flow of talent, ideas, and capital across borders. Conferences, developer summits, and innovation forums are designed to bring together highly specialized individuals, including engineers, product leaders, and decision-makers, often from across continents. Today’s environment is constraining that model from multiple angles:
- Budget constraints are tightening as travel and accommodation costs surge.
- Geopolitical tensions are influencing where companies are willing to send employees.
- Visa limitations are restricting access to key talent pools, particularly from emerging markets.
These factors are not acting independently. They are compounding one another, forcing organizations to rethink long-standing assumptions about how and where collaboration happens.
If there is one industry that consistently demonstrates resilience and adaptability, it is the technology sector. This was the central insight from the inaugural meeting of our GDP Tech Council, a new peer community we launched, co-chaired by Jason Escalante and Andrea Silarajs, to give corporate technology meeting and event planners a trusted space for honest conversation, practical learning, and shared problem-solving.
During the kick-off call, the conversation quickly evolved beyond identifying challenges. It pivoted toward actionable solutions, reflecting a mindset that is both pragmatic and forward-looking. Council members described the very real pressure of being asked to deliver stronger experiences on flat budgets, the difficulty of forecasting against rising airfare and inflation, and the growing importance of partnering closely with finance and procurement teams to advocate for event investment. They also discussed building skills in-house, including video editing and production, and using AI tools to track travel trends and strengthen budget conversations.
“Somehow it falls on tech planners to forecast the unforecastable. Flight costs, fuel volatility, geopolitical shifts, and we are still expected to land budgets within tight variance. Scale that across hundreds or thousands of attendees and the math creates a cascade of problems for future quarters. The GDP Tech Council is where we get to compare notes with peers facing the same pressure and figure out how to build more resilience into how we plan.”
— Jason Escalante, Director at Elastic and GDP Tech Council Co-Chair
Hybrid Returns as a Strategic Pillar
The most prominent theme to emerge was a renewed commitment to hybrid engagement models.
Hybrid events are not new. They surged during the pandemic out of necessity, but many organizations scaled them back as in-person gatherings resumed. Today, hybrid is returning not as a temporary fix, but as a strategic pillar.
The underlying logic is simple yet powerful: if engineers and key participants cannot travel to the event, the event must travel to them.
Constraints often fuel creativity, and the tech MICE industry is a prime example. Competition within the sector is accelerating innovation, pushing organizers to rethink not just logistics, but the very purpose and design of events. Rather than replicating physical experiences online, leading organizations are reimagining what engagement looks like in a fragmented world.
“Every tech planner is navigating the same balance right now, figuring out how to extend reach without cannibalizing the live experience. Hybrid decisions are far more nuanced than they were a few years ago, and getting them right takes real strategy. The insight we get from comparing approaches across the Council is exactly why this group exists.”
— Andrea Silarajs, Twilio and GDP Tech Council Co-Chair
What Tech Council Members Are Doing Differently
A few of the practical ideas shared during our Tech Council discussion stood out:
- Hybrid is expensive, so smart strategic decisions matter. Council members agreed that the entire conference does not need to be available in real time. Most breakout sessions do not warrant full streaming production. What matters is the content, and well-crafted summaries, transcripts, or short clips are often enough.
- Use FOMO to your advantage. Rather than streaming the presenter portions only, bring the outside audience inside the conference. Film moments from the broader event experience, the networking, the spontaneous conversations, the energy in the room, and share those highlights to drive future attendance.
- Choose the right platform for the job. There are many options on the market, and cost is a real determining factor. The Council is actively exchanging notes on which technology partners deliver the best value at scale.
- Protect the value of live. Face to face will always deliver the strongest ROI. Selective digital access creates a peek behind the curtain while preserving the unique value of attending in person.
While face to face engagement will always be best and its ROI unmatchable, a revised hybrid approach may well be what the MICE industry needs for the time being.
Join the GDP Tech Council
If you are a corporate technology meeting or event planner navigating these same pressures, we want you at the table. The GDP Tech Council exists to share strategies, swap solutions, and advocate for the strategic value of our profession. Members get access to ongoing peer calls, a private community forum, and insights from planners who are solving the same problems you are.
To learn more or recommend a colleague who would be a strong fit, reach out to your GDP representative or email info@globaldmcpartners.com. The future of tech events will be built by the planners willing to challenge old assumptions and design something better. We hope you will help us build it.
