A day to open the year
On 15 January 2026, senior leaders from the live-experience industry opened their year in the Al Multaqua Ballroom at Dubai World Trade Centre. The second Human2Human (H2H) Summit, following a first edition in 2024, brought together executives from exhibitions, large events, conferences and visitor attractions for a single day on the future of in-person engagement.
The timing mattered. Held at the very start of the year, the summit was framed as a moment of celebration and renewal for the industry. For us, that made it a natural point to take stock.
A format built for conversation
The day ran to nine sessions, combining keynotes, roundtables and networking. There was no exhibition: the day is built around content and conversation, not stands and footfall. Attendance was by registration or invitation, and people came for cross-industry insight, future-focused content, practical takeaways and focused time with peers.
What sets H2H apart is who shares the room. Exhibition organisers, venues, conference producers and visitor attractions rarely sit at the same table, yet they face the same questions about how audiences are changing and what people now expect from an in-person experience. In Dubai, they could compare notes directly.
What the keynotes covered
The keynote programme turned on three themes:
- Next-generation audiences
- The role of technology in human connection
- The future of live-engagement ecosystems
Each one points to a question this community keeps returning to. Who will fill our rooms in the years ahead, and why? When does technology bring people closer, and when does it simply get in the way? And as organisers, venues and partners grow more dependent on one another, who is responsible for the whole experience?
Around the tables
The roundtables and workshops took the conversation off the stage. Three threads ran through them: collaboration between stakeholders, the synergies between AI and people, and lessons shared across industries.
In our view, that last thread is the summit's signature. A theme-park operator and a trade-show organiser may have more in common than they think. A shared table is where that idea gets tested.
Four highlights from the day
Exhibitor sentiment, 2017 to 2024. Exhibitor satisfaction data spanning 2017 to 2024 showed sentiment improving after COVID, with in-person experience positioned as a premium product. From the community's perspective, that is a useful reframing: live is not the fallback option, it is the premium offer.
How ADIPEC grew. The growth story of ADIPEC, which became a show of 239,000 visitors by investing in content rather than margin, is a concrete case for any organiser. It leaves a fair question on the table: when the next budget decision comes, does it go to content or to margin?
AI in live experiences. Five principles for using AI in live experiences were summed up in a single line:
"AI cleans the path, humans walk it."
For us, the phrase captures the H2H position neatly. Our reading: technology should clear away friction, so that people can spend their time on what matters most. Each other.
Festivals at a human scale. The day also looked at the future of festivals at a human scale. We took it as a timely reminder that size is not the only measure of success in live events.
Who spoke
The 2026 speakers and their organisations:
| Speaker | Organisation |
|---|---|
| Enrico Gallorini | GRS Research & Strategy (CEO, host) |
| Geoff Dickinson | dmg events (CEO) |
| Prof. Gianluca Salviotti | SDA Bocconi School of Management |
| Sascha Triemer | Aquaventure World, Atlantis Dubai |
| Diego Cortese | Dubai World Trade Centre |
| Ted Bloom | Messe Frankfurt Middle East |
| Joe Drury | Festivals and live events |
What we took away
As we see it, the day made one argument from several directions. As AI spreads, face-to-face connection becomes more valuable, not less. The organisers call human connection "the ultimate currency", and we read the 2026 programme as treating it that way: as something to invest in, to understand and to protect.
The question for members is what that means in practice. If in-person really is the premium product, are we designing, pricing and staffing it like one?
Join the conversation
Were you in the ballroom on 15 January? Tell us which idea has stayed with you, and what you have done differently since. If you missed the day, start with the full summit recap and the day in pictures, or ask Amal anything about H2H.
- Find peers from other sectors and compare notes through Connect.
- Read more perspectives from the summit in Insights.
- See what's next for Dubai 2027 and H2H Italia, and how to get involved in shaping future editions.