Attendees Want More Event Learning Outside the Session Room

Freeman, a global events leader, recently released the second installment of its Learning Report series, revealing that attendees increasingly view the entire event environment as a learning experience, not just conference rooms and keynote stages.

The new Freeman Trends Report, “Unpacking XLNC: The Future of Adult Learning at Conferences and Trade Shows, Part Two,” found that attendees would ideally spend 54% of their learning time outside traditional session rooms. At trade shows, that number rises to 64%.

While organizers continue to invest heavily in conference sessions and keynote programming, attendees increasingly value learning that happens through peer conversations, exhibitor interactions, hands-on demonstrations and informal exchanges throughout the event.

“Learning doesn’t begin when attendees sit down in a session and it doesn’t end when they walk out of one,” says Ken Holsinger, senior vice president of strategy at Freeman. “Attendees are learning on the expo floor, in conversations with peers, through demonstrations and through interactions with subject matter experts. The opportunity for organizers is to intentionally design those experiences.”

Key findings from the report include:

• The classroom has expanded beyond the conference room. Attendees say they would ideally spend more than half of their learning time outside traditional sessions, with trade show attendees preferring nearly two-thirds of their learning to happen elsewhere.
• Peer conversations and exhibitor interactions rival formal sessions. Attendees rate learning from networking and exhibitor engagement as slightly more valuable than traditional conference sessions, signaling that the most meaningful insights often come through discussion, demonstration and shared experiences.
• Attendees are open to sponsored learning when it is transparent and delivers value. Approximately 84% of attendees view sponsored sessions neutrally or positively when sponsorship is clearly disclosed, while only 16% view them negatively. Topic relevance matters far more than who sponsors the session.
• Younger audiences are accelerating the shift. Two-thirds of emerging generations say they want more learning opportunities outside traditional conference rooms, reinforcing the need for more flexible, interactive and experiential learning environments.

The report also reinforces findings from Freeman’s previous Commerce research, with attendees continuing to place greater value on hands-on demonstrations, access to subject matter experts and practical takeaways than short-form content or passive presentations. Only 19% of attendees cite continuing education credits as a primary reason for attending events.

The findings suggest that event organizers, education leaders and exhibitors have an opportunity to rethink how learning is delivered by treating expo floors, exhibitor activations, peer exchanges and sponsored sessions as intentional learning environments.

The report surveyed more than 3,300 attendees and exhibitors across conferences and trade shows to better understand how professional learning is evolving at in-person events.

Download the full report here.