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Amber Coupe, our Founder and Creative Director, recently sat down with micenet magazine to share what she's seeing at the forefront of the corporate events industry.
The picture she paints is one of real change, where corporate clients are moving away from financially-driven event decisions toward something more meaningful. After a year dominated by budget anxiety and cancellations, 2025 brought a renewed focus on people, culture, and real human connection.
"At the moment [for] our clients especially, it's all about their people. It doesn't really seem to be financially led as much as it was. [Now] we're finding again that we're in this blissful space of, 'we want to do so many great things for our people.’"
That shift is showing up directly in how events are being designed. Multi-track conference formats are making way for more immersive, connected experiences, and clients are more often coming to that conclusion on their own.
"[Clients are] very experience focused, even with a conference plenary, they're losing the tracks. They want to do something just more immersive. It's been heading that way for a long time. It's fusing that experience with the plenary. And they come to us sometimes without us even pushing them."
There's also a notable reallocation of spend happening. Rather than external speakers and high-cost AV, budgets are being redirected toward live artists, bespoke entertainment, and sustainable builds, all pointing to a deeper shift Amber sees playing out across the industry.
"This year it's been about this emotional pillar…retaining staff, putting back into their people, back into their brand and back into the centre of their universe, the centre of their world."
micenet is one of Australia's leading publications for the meetings, incentives, conferences, and events industry – a trusted voice covering trends, venues, and the people shaping the sector.
Read the full feature in micenet's February 2026 edition.
Phoenix is an award-winning event agency creating unforgettable experiences across APAC and beyond. We blend strategy with showmanship to design and deliver events that inspire, connect and move people to action, from incentives and conferences to destination events and brand activations.