To understand how to improve event experiences, sometimes you do not need another satisfaction survey. You need to close the door, switch on a microphone and let people speak as though no one were listening.
That is exactly what we did on 9 July at Grupo Eventoplus’s BED (Barcelona Event Day) 2026.
Eventscase turned a portable loo into ‘The Bathroom of Truth’, a confession booth for the events industry. Inside, there were no one-to-five scales, closed questions or marketing managers taking notes. Just a phone, WhatsApp and EVA, our AI assistant.
The format was simple: step inside, close the door and record a voice note sharing one truth about working in events. What frustrates you, what should change and what keeps us in love with this industry despite everything.
An activation designed to truly listen
The aim was not simply to place an eye-catching feature at the event and wait for people to take photos, although plenty did. We wanted to show that the best event experiences can also generate useful knowledge.
Every voice note sent via WhatsApp was anonymous. EVA received the message, thanked the participant and processed the content, sorting it by theme in a real-time dashboard.
Over the course of the day, we collected 136 confessions. Candid views on budgets, briefs, stress, clients, technology, networking, wellbeing, catering and relationships between the industry’s different stakeholders.
What began as a graffiti-style booth ended up becoming a remarkably accurate snapshot of the industry.
What the events industry confessed
The responses made one thing clear: we still want to create outstanding event experiences, but the conditions needed to make them happen do not always measure up.
Professionals describe a purpose-driven, creative and deeply human industry. One that can bring people together, turn ideas into real experiences and make something that seemed impossible work just in time.
But they also talk about frozen budgets alongside ever-higher expectations, confusing briefs, disrespectful pitches, emergencies becoming routine and working days when resting or eating can feel almost optional.
Technology and artificial intelligence emerge as tools that can save time and improve processes. Yet the confessions also remind us that the value of events still lies in human connection: a conversation, a glance, a coffee shared or that moment when everything works and someone smiles without knowing what happened behind the scenes.
From an activation to a report featuring 12 truths
We analysed the confessions to identify the most significant patterns and turned them into a report featuring 12 major truths about the industry.
The document captures both the main frustrations and what professionals want to protect. Improving event experiences is not simply about adding technology, creating an impressive set or filling the agenda with content. It also means looking after the processes, teams and conditions in which every experience is built.
‘The Bathroom of Truth’ confirmed something many people probably already suspected: the industry is not tired because it has stopped loving events. It is tired because it loves them too much.
Download the full ‘The Bathroom of Truth’ report and discover what the industry confessed when it thought no one else was listening.