From the lighting to the music, the catering to the social programme, a successful conference or event takes an immense amount of planning. But today's organisers have a more fundamental question to consider before they choose a soundtrack; is their event inclusive and welcoming to people of all abilities, cultures and backgrounds?

Gone are the days when all-male panels were de rigueur, when venue wheelchair access was tokenistic at best and when the term ‘diversity’ was just a box to be ticked. Today’s speakers and delegates demand more and with social media a central part of any MICE activities, events that are not inclusive can be named and shamed online.

But the events industry still has work to do when it comes to championing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I), even while research shows that diverse teams obtain better business results. Research carried out by Bizzabo confirms a global lack of DE&I: “Nearly two-thirds of professional event speakers are male. This may be because, traditionally, speakers often travel from one event to the next, which makes being an event speaker exclusionary toward caregivers, who are more likely to be female.”

So how can you ensure that your meeting, incentive, conference or event is as welcoming and accessible to all as it should be? From the start, consider elements like:

1. showcasing a range of voices and opinions and featuring diverse participants within event programmes

2. building WCAG compliant event websites to ensure accessibility and equal access for people of all abilities

3. setting up diversity panels that represent a wide variety of people

4. designing events that accommodate people of all abilities through thoughtful event design (and by booking venues that are 100% accessible)

5. allowing for all religious or cultural dietary requirements in menus (and providing non-alcoholic options at social evenings)

6. choosing destinations that welcome minorities and marginalised groups and avoiding destinations that discriminate

A responsive visual content strategy is also a crucial part of your DE&I approach, explains Bizzabo. “If your speaker lineup isn’t diverse, site visitors might turn away in favour of a competing event that features a more varied group of people. If your site graphics don’t embrace different religions, cultures, abilities, and ethnicities, you might lose potential attendees who don’t see themselves as part of your ideal participant mix.”