It's the beginning of 2018, and with it brings reflection on goals and actions of the past year. Today we take a look back at our predictions for government events in 2017 to see how we did.[Tweet "Did We Get it Right? 2017 Government Events Year in Review. #GovEventsBlog"]

• Focus on Change - Going into 2017, we knew that we were no longer looking at business as usual with the new administration coming in. While we could not have predicted the numerous changes and events of the past year, we did know that everyone involved in government was going to need a refresher in change management. We predicted a larger number of events focused on the formal practice of change management as well as change being a theme in a number of events. This year we had 22 events specifically focused on change management versus 14 in 2016, so there was a slight uptick.
• Changes in Speaker Line-Ups - In anticipation of agency directors being replaced, we expected to see some new faces in the speaking line-ups for government events. We also thought some of the newly appointed agency heads would be speaking, leading to a fresh crop of speakers across the government event landscape. While this prediction did not necessarily come to pass, we did notice that more events were using big name speakers to draw attendees and to differentiate their shows. We saw speakers associated with interesting, high profile cases and news events. We also saw more government events using leaders from the commercial side of business to share the latest details on technologies and best practices that can be applied in government.[Tweet "GovEvents takes a look back at our predictions for government events in 2017. #GovEventsBlog"]
• Increased Use of Data - Working with our event partners, we are seeing this trend come to fruition. Organizations are interested in feedback from us on their GovEvents' campaigns. Specifically, they want to know where leads are coming from (email vs. ads), and want to track those leads once they get to their site. They are using this information to better tailor their marketing and outreach to grow their audience.
• More Video - The ubiquity of video on social media is making video a must-have as part of event promotion and marketing. In our recent survey we found that 31% of respondents have added streaming video to their events in the last two years. It's a trend that we're excited to see continue and evolve, as it livens up the content presented at events.

[Tweet "In a year of change, the event market for government has been a steadying force. #GovEventsBlog"]In a year of so much change and uncertainty, the event market for government has been a steadying force. Attendance at and availability of events has remained stable, proving that events provide a place for colleagues to come together and have meaningful discussions about challenges, successes, and concerns. Now more than ever, these venues are proving their worth in bringing the government community together to discuss the issues that impact their mission.