Inbox overload is the silent time-thief of the events industry. Learn how AI productivity can automate email replies, manage scheduling, and handle multilingual communication with ease.Every conference organiser, venue manager and destination executive knows the feeling of dread when opening their inbox each morning, especially during the busy months. Hundreds of emails. Some urgent, some routine, some that require careful negotiation of meeting times. It’s the silent time-thief of our industry.
Now imagine this: you arrive at your desk, coffee in hand and instead of an inbox tsunami, you open a neatly prepared “morning digest.” Every unread email has already been read, categorised and drafted. Your replies are sitting there, ready for you to approve or tweak. Meeting requests already come with your availability attached cross-checked against your calendar and suggested in 2–3 tidy options.
That’s not a dream scenario. It’s something even your GPT can deliver today.
How It Works
- Inbox Review: AI reads through all new emails overnight, summarising key details like sender, subject, and urgency.
- Drafted Responses: Based on the content, it drafts a confident, professional reply signed off in your style waiting for you to edit or send.
- Calendar Sync: If a meeting is needed, the AI cross-references your calendar and proposes available time slots, saving the back-and-forth.
- Priority Highlights: Urgent or unusual requests are flagged separately, so you’re never blindsided.
- Multilingual Support: Emails written in Spanish, French, Arabic, Mandarin or any language can be automatically translated into your working language. Replies are drafted back in the sender’s language, maintaining professionalism and accuracy across borders.
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Our Industry
Conferences and global events thrive on communication. Between delegates, sponsors, venues, and partners, inboxes are the arteries of our sector. But they’re clogged daily with hundreds of small requests that, while individually simple, collectively drain hours. Add to this the complexity of operating in multiple languages where an organiser in Copenhagen may be juggling queries in English, Spanish, Mandarin, and Arabic and the pressure multiplies.
This is where AI becomes less about hype and more about human time. A system that drafts your emails but does so in the language of the sender, then translates the reply back into your working language for approval, removes an entire layer of friction. No more waiting for human translation, no more awkward misunderstandings just seamless multilingual productivity at scale.
Beyond the Inbox
This is only the beginning. The same approach can be applied to:
- Bid Preparation: Automating first drafts of proposals and supporting documents.
- Sponsor Communication: Pre-writing personalised updates based on CRM data and previous interactions.
- Delegate Queries: Auto-generating responses to common questions about accommodation, visas, and transport in multiple languages.
- On-site Support: Real-time translation of queries during events, allowing staff to serve international delegates without hesitation.
The productivity gains add up quickly. A single organiser saving an hour per day is impressive.
“An entire bureau or venue team saving hundreds of hours each month is transformative”
Real-World Momentum
We’re already seeing city governments trialling similar tools. San José in California has encouraged city workers to use AI for tasks like speechwriting and grant proposals, aiming for efficiency gains of up to 50%. Brisbane is experimenting with AI-powered traffic systems to cut commute times by 20%. If city administrations can harness these tools for civic efficiency, why shouldn’t the global events sector apply the same principles to its most critical asset communication?
The reality is that events and destinations operate in one of the most communication-intensive environments in the world. Every unanswered email risks an opportunity lost, a delegate frustrated, or a sponsor left waiting. By embedding AI directly into these workflows, we’re not just saving time we’re protecting relationships and strengthening reputations.
The Human Dividend
There’s a deeper point here. Productivity isn’t just about squeezing more output from fewer hours. It’s about freeing staff from the digital drudgery that stops them from doing their best work. Every organiser knows that the real magic of this industry is in the human connection the welcome handshake, the perfectly orchestrated gala dinner, the serendipitous meeting that sparks a partnership.
AI doesn’t replace that. It protects it. By automating what can be automated, we give ourselves more time to focus on creativity, strategy, and the deeply human art of hospitality. The hours reclaimed from the inbox are hours reinvested into making our events extraordinary.
The Big Shift
For years, AI in our sector has been talked about in terms of “future potential.” But this is already here, now and on your computer.
It’s simple and you probably already have GPT. The shift is no longer about whether AI will change how we work. The shift is about deciding which parts of our day we’re willing to let it fix first.
For conference professionals, our inbox feels like the right place to start.
About the author:
Julian Moore, Chief AI Officer, Strategic Membership Solutions
[email protected]
smsonline.net.au
Julian is well-known across Australasia for helping associations and other nonprofits boost their revenue through high-value partnership and sponsorship programs. As an unabashed technology geek, has a deep understanding of the AI world and how associations can use AI to improve their operational performance and make a greater impact on the sectors they represent.
Having worked extensively in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, Julian has a knack for making complex topics easy to grasp. He loves to showcase practical ideas through stories and examples that people can relate to. Julian can guide organisations in adopting simple yet impactful solutions via his coaching, consulting, or customised training services.