Future/Now is a brand new series exploring the wheres, whys and hows of AI in the event space.
With insights from Eventbrite experts as well as industry thought leaders, we’ll demystify AI for those event organisers who have yet to leverage the technology, whilst also keeping early adopters and our most tech-savvy creators one step ahead of the AI curve.
Staying ahead of the game in the fast-paced world of events is key to the success of any business that dares take part. As the leading platform in this industry, Eventbrite has long been helping organisers do just that, providing the tools needed to create and manage brand-bolstering events for almost 20 years.
More recently, we’ve worked to level up our offering so organisers can harness the power of cutting-edge innovation, with artificial intelligence (AI) taking the driver’s seat. In early 2023, we became the only ticketing platform to integrate AI-powered tools into our operations. This brought about a wave of intelligent features that are already beginning to revolutionise event creation and marketing – enabling better results while saving time.
While we’re providing unique AI tooling for event creation and promotion – and improving the experiences for communities and supercharging events like never before – it doesn’t stop there.
We speak to some of the talented people here at Eventbrite to uncover what you can expect next from us, and the game-changing role AI will have in the events space as we take our next leap forward.
AI tools for events
In what was a big moment for us, we incorporated OpenAI into our platform in 2023, delivering several AI-driven features that we believed could benefit event creators and marketers like never before.
Product manager Lucas Adrian – one of the few people responsible for developing AI technologies at Eventbrite – explains the impact of these innovations.
“We always strive to stay at the forefront of innovation,” Adrian says. “That’s why, as soon as the first ChatGPT beta was released, we started experimenting and understanding the possibilities this new technology could offer us.
“We conducted some proof of concept tests, and the best way to gauge the impact it could have was to put it into production and see the value it provided to our users.”
Before long, the benefits were obvious.
AI tools and techniques
For event creation, Eventbrite’s AI tools have simplified the process by automating summary and description generation. Designed to help marketers beat writer’s block and craft compelling messages quickly, the tool means creators can now generate a compelling event description with a simple click.
Simply input the event title, date, and location, and the AI tool generates a summary and description, reducing barriers and offering valuable starting points. On top of that, it can automatically add essential event details, such as type and category, significantly increasing event visibility across the platform.
It’s something that Duck Club, who produce music shows and festivals in Boise, Idaho, has used to their advantage. “When you’re announcing four or five shows a day, on top of promoting the shows happening that day, you need a break sometimes,” says Megan Stoll, Duck Club’s chief marketing officer. “AI has really helped us with that.”
Carlos Bastos, Eventbrite’s principal product engineer, explains that the driving force behind adding these tools, ultimately, came down to the value they could bring.
“We have clear goals, and what we use AI for is to streamline the achievement of those goals,” Bastos says.
“So, when deciding which feature to include AI in or creating a new feature with AI, the questions we always ask ourselves are: What value will it bring to our users? What value can it bring to our business? What metrics could we impact as a result?
“AI is an enabler to achieve an end, so we always use it as an extra superpower to help us reach our goal faster.”
Take, for instance, one of our standout features: “auto-create”, which we introduced in June. Primarily designed for new users, it allows organisers to create complete events in less than a minute by providing basic event information.
“AI is an enabler to achieve an end, so we always use it as an extra superpower to help us reach our goal faster.”
Carlos Bastos, Eventbrite principal product engineer
These AI-powered marketing tools also empower users to create compelling content for promoting their events on various platforms. For example, social media ads with AI-generated copy have shown a 17% better Cost Per Click (CPC) compared to campaigns without AI-powered content.
Bastos elaborates on this innovation: “The AI is following some rules that we specify explicitly to create these copies. These rules are based on our marketplace and business knowledge, data, and expertise.”
It’s hardly surprising that these AI-driven features have been well-received by Eventbrite’s users, enhancing efficiency, reducing effort, and adding a touch of quality and innovation to the platform, leading to some impressive results.
According to Adrian, automating summary and description generation alone has increased the publish rate for both new and existing creators to between 4-10% while reducing the time and effort for first users to create their first event by 30%.
“The software means creators can launch ad campaigns faster by taking the guesswork out of what sort of phrasing attendees find engaging, therefore boosting ticket sales,” he explains.
“We’ve received very positive feedback from users regarding this feature, stating that this has greatly helped them avoid starting from scratch.”
Personalisation and beyond
The journey of AI at Eventbrite has only just begun. While the current AI tools have made event creation and marketing more efficient, the future holds even more possibilities.
Offering a glimpse into what lies ahead, Adrian says personalisation will be at the heart of Eventbrite’s AI-driven future:
“Regarding the future, AI is an enabler that allows us to make a more rapid impact.
“It will serve as a means to help us achieve our goals. And in our platform, we will continue incorporating AI, primarily to provide a more personalised experience to our users.”
The goal, Adrian explains, is to make each creator feel unique – to tailor the platform experience to each individual and each type of event.
“AI could even allow us to create support systems that draw from our help pages to address queries like a human, both in terms of providing answers and engaging in conversational interactions.”
Carlos Bastos, Eventbrite principal product engineer
“This will assist in enhancing the quality of their events and streamline the promotion process and will benefit consumers by ensuring they always see what interests them.”
But personalisation is just one facet of Eventbrite’s AI roadmap. Adrian and Bastos envision the future of AI as a means to further reduce friction for organisers, so they can delegate repetitive tasks.
“AI could even allow us to create support systems that draw from our help pages to address queries like a human, both in terms of providing answers and engaging in conversational interactions,” adds Bastos.
These features could prove especially helpful for smaller events companies or businesses with limited events planning or promotion resources, says Stacey Worrell, Eventbrite’s campaign marketing manager.
“Time-saving is a huge thing for our users,” Worrel says. “Event organisers have so many different hats to wear and – since a lot of our creators are part of small teams and do their own marketing – anything that makes their life easier is a topic they’re very keen on.
“If you’ve got a small team with no marketing department, for instance, or you’re a bit of a one-man band, these features can really, really help.
Why AI matters to Eventbrite
While some of the tools are impressive in their own right, Adrian highlights that it’s never about employing this type of technology without a meaningful objective.
“The constant pursuit of delivering value to users through any technology is a differentiating factor for us,” he explains.
“It’s not about using something just for the sake of it; it’s about identifying how it can bring value to our users and making it a reality. We’re removing barriers and reducing effort while also assisting them in creating quality content.”
Eventbrite’s relationship with AI has been and will be driven by the desire to simplify complex tasks, provide value to users, and foster innovation. For organisers, this technology isn’t something that will ever take their jobs away. Using Bastos’ words, it’s merely an extra “superpower” that enables them to achieve their goals more efficiently, freeing them up to focus less on menial tasks and invest more energy into the important stuff, like decision-making.
Clearly, AI is not just a buzzword at Eventbrite; it’s a game-changer. You only have to look at the substantial impact our tools have made.
While the innovation on offer is currently more localised to the US, Adrian reveals the next step is to “open them up to the rest of the geos”, which could happen before the end of the year. So watch out: if you’re not already a user of our AI tools, you just might be very soon.
