Cvent opened day one of its flagship Cvent CONNECT conference with an expansive lineup of programming purpose-built for marketing leaders and brand professionals, reflecting a fundamental shift in how leading organizations think about events. A new Cvent study of nearly 1,000 marketers and event professionals puts data behind what many in the industry have long suspected: as AI-generated content proliferates and audience skepticism grows, live events have emerged as the channel buyers trust most.
85% say AI-generated content has made it harder to build audience trust.
98% say in-person and community-based events remain central to marketing strategy.
81% report audience trust increased following an in-person event.
80% of teams have event data that never fully connects to CRM or marketing automation.
34% of program budget goes to events.
Cvent serves 34,000+ customers with 5,500+ employees.
Amy Lucia, Chief Marketing Officer at Cvent, stated: "For too long, the market treated events as logistics or cost centers that were first on the chopping block when budgets tighten. That era is over. The marketing leaders attending CONNECT have stopped treating event technology as an operations tool and started running it as a core part of their marketing stack. Events are where the richest first-party data gets created and where buying intent is real. Event-Led Growth is how the best teams are closing that gap."
The research findings are clear: 85% of respondents say the rise of AI-generated content has made it harder to build audience trust, with generic or AI-generated content cited as the single greatest risk to audience credibility. 98% say in-person and community-based events remain central to their marketing strategy. 81% report that audience trust in their brand increased following an in-person event. The research shaped a robust marketer-first Cvent CONNECT agenda.
LinkedIn will host a session at CONNECT 2026 to showcase how its integration with Cvent is closing the loop between event activity and pipeline outcomes. Through the Cvent integration with LinkedIn, marketers can publish events directly to LinkedIn's professional network, sync invitee lists into LinkedIn Campaign Manager for precision targeting, and push registration data back into Cvent for full attribution. The integration between ON24, a Cvent company, and LinkedIn extends this model to webinars and virtual events.
Key marketer-focused sessions are open to both in-person and virtual attendees, built around questions including how to prove event ROI, how to capture and activate attendee intent, and how to run a connected event program that accelerates real outcomes. Sessions include "From Big Ideas to Business Impact," "How Modern Marketers Win Mindshare Across Buying Committees," and "How to Turn Attention into Pipeline."
About Cvent
Cvent is a leading meetings, events, and hospitality technology provider with 5,500+ employees and 34,000+ customers worldwide. Founded in 1999, the company delivers a comprehensive event marketing and management platform and offers a global marketplace where event professionals collaborate with venues to create engaging, impactful experiences. Cvent's suite of products automates and simplifies the event management lifecycle and maximizes the impact of in-person, virtual, and hybrid events.
