The future of business events in the "phygital" age: development of a generative tool: A qualitative research project combining Design Research and foresight principles to co-design and develop a futures matrix for potential implementation by...

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the future of business events in the "phygital" age from the viewpoint of purposes and formats, delivering a generative tool for adoption. The approach is based on constructivist epistemology. The topic was approached from the viewpoint of foresight and Design Research, firstly by designing and performing three cycles of qualitative interviews with (a) thought leaders and senior industry experts (setting the drivers for matrix tool development), for a total of 10 respondents within a gender-balanced panel (50% female, 50% male), covering Western, Asian, Arab, and North American regions. A Machine Learning-enabled scan was performed for triangulation purposes. Secondly, a generative matrix tool was designed and tested by (b) senior to midweight Design Thinkers and (c) junior to midweight emerging talents, for a total of 22 respondents. Key findings pertain to current trends and future developments in business event design and management from a "phygital" perspective, transferred into a generative matrix tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]