How Todd got his start: Moritz says he's been building digital experiences since the earliest days of the internet. "Since those early wild west days, I've led teams for advertising agencies, at website and app development firms, and owned a digital creative agency," he says. "In 2018, I joined Opus Agency as the general manager of a newly incubated event tech startup. Our startup blended the in-person keynote experience with social media and became the precursor to many innovations we have since delivered for our clients."

At the onset of the pandemic, Moritz shifted into his current role, where he leads the agency's virtual event efforts. "Since I have come into events from the digital experience world and lived through those early days of the internet, the pandemic pivots were a natural fit for my passions and skills," he explains. "I was doing what I've always done—thriving on ambiguity while building high-profile, complex online experiences that engage digital-first global participants. Collectively across the agency and our clients, we were able to thrive in the virtual event space quickly. In all, it was the 'right place, right time' scenario."

What innovation means to him: To Moritz, innovation is key to progress—and he's blown away by how far the tech industry has come. "A big part of my job is staying on top of what's new and next in the industry. We're coming out of a period where things were very reactive, and, as we have a clear focus on the future, I know we are only just touching the very tip of what's possible," he says. "There is so much opportunity to connect people on a truly global scale, and it's going to be up to the innovators to find interesting ways to bring people together—online, in-person, and everywhere in between."

Moritz always challenges his partners, peers, teams, and clients to focus on improving the attendee experience. "Everything is wide open now—we're at the beginning of what comes next," he says.

Career highlights: Moritz finds himself lucky to be where he is today. "Looking back through my career, I couldn't think of a better time and place to have been than where I was in March 2020 and how everything has only grown stronger and more compelling since then," he recalls. "Having had the opportunity to step in and help our teams and our clients manage through the past couple of years has been one of the most challenging and rewarding things I've ever had the opportunity to do. For every event we had to pivot to virtual on the fly, and every event we've had to do as hybrid, and now every event we do that's touched by that collective experience—it all just keeps building up better and better."

Vision for the future: "I want attendees to have better experiences while leveraging their unprecedented access to content. I expect platforms will continue to build the tools that elevate the in-person attendee experience, and I want things to get easier for event professionals across the board," he says.

As the industry emerges from the pandemic, Moritz predicts there will be more consolidation, mergers, and acquisitions—and that the platforms that have set themselves up as single-source suppliers—offering everything from registration to check-in to mobile apps to post-event analytics—will be the ones that survive.

"Plus, with entirely new remote production tools and methodologies, everyone has learned to be more adaptive, more agile, and more open to change," he points out. "And the change will keep coming. We're going to be seeing more from wearable technologies, holographic projection, VR and AR technology integrations, touchless and haptic technologies, robotics, and a lot more."

He continues, "All in all, I'm filled with hope for the entire industry. We're in good company and in good hands."

Read the full list of Industry Innovators here.

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