The Science of EVENT EXPERIENCE DESIGN · 2019. 7. 15. · THE SCIENCE OF EVENT EXPERIENCE DESIGN 16 THE EVENT ECOSYSTEM: CREATING COHESION IN THE EVENT EXPERIENCE Classical Classroom

1THE SCIENCE OF EVENT EXPERIENCE DESIGN

The Science ofEVENT

EXPERIENCEDESIGN

The Science ofEVENT

EXPERIENCEDESIGN

JULIUS SOLARISJEFF HURT


COPYRIGHT

All rights reserved. No part of this report may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever (including presentations, short summaries, blog posts, printed magazines, use of images in social media posts) without express written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations (50 words maximum and for a maximum of 2 quotations) embodied in critical articles and reviews, and with clear reference to the original source, including a link to the original source at https://www.eventmanagerblog.com/experience-design-research. Please refer all pertinent questions to the publisher.


https://www.eventmanagerblog.com/experience-design-research

https://www.eventmanagerblog.com/experience-design-research

AD

www.evenium.com

https://eventmb.com/2KEswpN


INTRODUCTION 5

PART 1. EVENT DESIGN FOR THE HUMAN MIND 7

Metacognition: Thinking About Thinking 11

The Event Ecosystem: Creating Cohesion in the Event Experience 16

Targeting Higher Level Thinking 22

PART 2. RESEARCH ANALYSIS: WHAT IS “EXPERIENCE DESIGN”? 33

Experience Design: Does Anybody Know What They’re Talking About? 34

What Exactly Does “Experience Design” Mean Anyway? 35

The Key Ingredients: How to Ensure an Engaging, Memorable Experience at Your Event 38

How Do Event Professionals Measure the Success of an Event Experience? 42

PART 3. EXPERIENCE DESIGN TRENDS 44

What Event Industry Suppliers Say: The Trends Defining Experiences In 2019 45

10 Trends Shaping Event Experiences 56

IN CONCLUSION 67

ABOUT THE AUTHORS 68

CMP CREDITS 71

DISCLAIMER 71

CONTENTS


INTRODUCTION

Why do you need to read The Science of Event Experience Design?

Since the rise of experiences two years ago, the event industry has been flooded with imperatives to elevate events to experiences. One clear outcome of this rush to talk about experiences has been confusion.

In a vastly fragmented event industry, the meaning of “experience” has become a bit nebulous. Everything and everyone is right, which is simpatico more than it is actionable.

That is why EventMB decided to take on the strenuous task of identifying what “experiences” really are for the purpose of events. The aim of this groundbreaking

report is to give you unprecedented insight into what designing experiences really means so that you can focus your planning on the elements that will deliver.

We tackled this mammoth task by focusing on

¡ An applied understanding of core principles in pedagogy, neuroscience, engagement and change development

¡ An 1100 participant research study aimed at defining what designing experiences means for event professionals today

¡ An observation of over 1500 events since July 2018 as part of our ongoing research for EventMB’s editorial activities

We also asked one of the most recognized experts

in our industry, Jeff Hurt, to help make this report a landmark for all event professionals who want that wants to elevate their profession and become strategists, directors, and event owners.

So sit tight and enjoy the ride: this is undoubtedly one report you will save for years to come.

Julius SolarisEditor and Founder, EventMB.com

AD

https://eventmb.com/31p8mGc


PART 1.EVENT DESIGN FOR THE HUMAN MIND by Jeff Hurt


EVENT DESIGN FOR THE HUMAN MIND

This section is more than your traditional expository essay on the logistics of planning events. It’s more than a step-by-step ‘color by the numbers’ blueprint for the do-it-yourself women and men of the events industry.

It’s an ongoing exploration of the science, art and human perception of experiences–specifically those found in conferences, events and meetings. It’s an invitation for you to see yourself differently than the traditional event planner concerned with coordinating all the logistics of the event. It’s an opportunity to explore a new event planning adventure as you embrace the artist inside you–the sculptor of your participants’ experience.

How do we embark on this exploration?

We focus on designing an event experience for our customers. One that helps them alleviate their pain points and challenges them to reach new goals.

The world of design embraces a systems and relationship view.

This requires event professionals to transition to new practices that often involve orchestration: the collaborative co-creation and cooperation of many across traditional borders of roles and departments, both within and outside of the organization.

We have to move away from being order takers, schedule makers and menu creators.

Planning event details is easy. Designing experiences for humans is hard.And that’s why event logistics are easy and planning conference experiences for human dynamics are hard. Meeting details—f/b, room sets, registration, room assignments, etc.–are linear and actually easy to do. Designing brain-friendly, inspirational, motivational, peer-connected, business-improving, transformational, effective learning experiences is hard.

AD

https://eventmb.com/2WBdIzu


Your future event success rests in designing and facilitating better participant experiences.

Excelling in designing the customer event experience is a strategic differentiator that delivers customer loyalty and advocacy.

Many of us and those on our planning teams may resist these ideas. Why? Because trying new things and shifting thinking is work and requires taking some risks. Shifting the way we do things is uncomfortable as it’s not how we’ve done it in the past.

We want to transition from the design and delivery of disparate parts to intentionally crafting end-to-end customer journeys that unfold through time, space and human behavior.

This new world needs event professionals that see themselves as multidisciplinary bridge builders. It’s

incumbent upon us to take lessons from the fields of neuroscience, cognitive psychology, sociology, and anthropology and incorporate them into fresh event experiences that align with the biology of our brains.

With an informed understanding of how we experience events, planners can begin to design event experiences that inspire the change and action attendees rely on to get real value from meetings and events. Creating transformative experiences is about giving your participants an opportunity to connect with content, experts, and learnings that transform their thinking and work practices.


METACOGNITION: THINKING ABOUT THINKING

As event professionals, it’s time for us to think about our thinking. We should regularly practice metacognitive skills of observation, strategic attention, and evaluation.

In the events and hospitality industries, metacognition refers to how we plan, implement, and assess event experiences, both in terms of our customers’ experience and our ability to help them reach their goals.

It’s time for us to reflect on our event participants’ thinking as they experience our events.

The more we think and reflect on how our brains and our participants’ brains process experiences and information, the more we can intentionally design event experiences that move beyond simple ‘wow’ moments to those that shift our thinking and are meaningful, participatory and transformative.

AD

https://eventmb.com/2wT5d3H


STOP NEGLECTING METACOGNITION

When was the last time you thought about your brain? When was the last time you thought about your event participants’ brains?

The truth is that we don’t usually think about how people think or how our event experiences affect our participants’ thinking.

Admit it. We rarely, if ever, think about our brains (apart from occasionally lamenting their limitations when we can’t remember something, or when we’ve misplaced our keys or wallet).

Most of us don’t really know how our brains receive and process information. We don’t think about exercising our brains to keep them healthy and operating at their peak performance. It’s no wonder that we don’t usually discuss our brains or how to design events that align with their natural operating processes.

But that’s starting to change.

New studies emerge daily with research findings on a number of day-to-day and business concerns that can influence our event ecosystems, environments and experiences. We have moved from the decade of the brain to the century of the brain.


APPLYING METACOGNITION IN PLANNING AND EXPERIENCING EVENTS

Thinking about metacognition leads to better events.

Metacognition refers to the reflective analysis of how we think and how our brains experience that thought. Think about how your attendees think, how their brains work, and how best to facilitate the outcomes you want them to achieve.

Start by asking yourself some basic questions about your content and content delivery:

Is our event conducive to the way human brains naturally function?

¡ Does it take the path of least resistance?

¡ Does it inspire our participants’ curiosity?

¡ Does it motivate forward movement, action, and change?

¡ Does it foster relationship building and deep learning?

Does our event experience go against how our brains naturally operate and create unnecessary resistance?

¡ Does it over-stimulate our attendees’ brains, creating information overload?

¡ Does it decrease our participants’ ability to focus, leading to surface learning?

¡ Does it cause stress and feelings of exhaustion?

Applying knowledge of brain functionality allows us to leverage our participants’ natural modes of thinking to create more successful events. These events will be engaging rather than just entertaining, active rather than just for passive consumption, and transformative rather than just transactional.

Understanding the science will help us to empower sponsors and exhibitors to create defining moments at the event as well.

Metacognition is good for mental health.

When we engage in metacognition, we exercise the prefrontal lobes of our brains. As we exercise and use our executive functions, we increase blood flow and oxygen to the brain, making our brains healthier. We also create a cognitive reserve to help us keep at bay early dementia and Alzheimers, says Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman, neuroscientist and founder of both the University of Texas Center for BrainHealth and the Brain Performance Institute.

The more we invite our audiences to think about their thinking and use our events to facilitate that, the healthier we all become. That’s the brain bonus of designing brain-friendly events.

AD

https://eventmb.com/2FadKDP


THE EVENT ECOSYSTEM: CREATING COHESION IN THE EVENT EXPERIENCE

Classical Classroom Learning is Outdated

The problem is that we transported the classroom into our events. It didn’t work then, and it doesn’t work now. People want interactive, social experiences.

The majority of conferences, events, and meetings are modeled after traditional education.

The goal is the efficient delivery of information to orderly, controlled audiences. Every person is expected to passively listen, agree with the expert’s thinking, consume as much information as fast as they can, then reproduce the same set of thoughts and actions.

As a designer of event experiences, you need to view the entire event ecosystem through the lens of your primary target market as you design and manage their experience.


Embracing a Holistic, People-centric View that Focuses on Relationships

Ecosystems make for a useful analogy because they’re a familiar concept that communicates connectedness and evolution.

Scientists have been studying living systems since the classical era. They have examined the behavior and nature of all ecosystems and analyzed the biological and environmental features necessary for life, growth, survival, and community.

An ecosystem needs more than a set of environmental conditions or features. It relies on connections. Look at the relationships within the dynamic network of individual parts we’ve created. Ever-evolving, alive, and growing connections shape an ecosystem’s future. Changes in any link in the chain can impact the whole, so it must be observed holistically.

Thinking of an event as a microcosmic ecosystem allows us to look at our relationships at events in a more natural, humanistic way.

Relationship building is one of the most important skills an event planner can cultivate. Participants, staff and leaders are not unrelated, are not commodities. They are connected in a unique network within the event ecosystem, and their interests must be respected accordingly.

LOOKING AT RELATIONSHIPS LEADS TO A MORE PEOPLE-CENTERED APPROACH.

Events are started by people, planned by people, led by people, implemented by people, improved by people, and dissolved by people. People create and add value to other people attending these events. People are the lifeblood of the event ecosystem.

When you rely on a system run by a diverse range of people to create something useful for a diverse range of people, it becomes clear that one of the most important factors in the success of the whole endeavor is understanding human behavior. Your understanding of the way people think directly corresponds to how successful you’ll be at building relationships with them, collaborating with them, and delivering value to them.

How does this affect our event design?


Our experiences are a bigger part of ourselves than our material goods. You can really like your stuff. You can even think that part of your identity is connected to those things. But nonetheless, they remain separate from you. In contrast, your experiences really are part of you. We are the sum total of our experiences.

Dr. Thomas Gilovich*

Designing Holistic Experiences

You’ll want to view the entire event as a whole experience and not one divided into loosely stitched together moments. The stitching should be tight and intentional. You need to see how the various components of your event are woven together to create one seamless experience.

As event designers, we should intentionally consider the synergistic effects of our various event components, the arrangement and flow of our micro-events within the larger event ecosystem and the dynamic connections our participants can have with each other, the experts, the content and their environmental conditions.

PEOPLE CRAVE EXPERIENCES.

As The Experience Economy authors Joseph Pine and James Gilmore originally wrote, we now live, work and play in the experience economy.

We crave meaningful, purpose-driven, relevant and transformational experiences. We prefer to spend our money on experiences than physical stuff.

In a study published by the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57 percent of participants were happier after spending money on an experience compared to 34 percent who chose material goods.

WE’RE MADE UP OF OUR EXPERIENCES.

To paraphrase author, educator, researcher, and professor Cathy N Davidson, “almost nothing about the way we learn in school or conferences is natural.” If we wanted to learn something outside of school, we would use a discovery and play model, not the traditional classroom. We can thank the internet for highlighting our need for active participatory experiences. We morphed from passively listening to lectures and reading textbooks to jumping from web page to web page with the click of a mouse and the touch of our thumb. We now drive our own learning.

We truly own our experiences. While stuff can become burdensome, outdated or broken, experiences don’t become outdated, says Gilovich. As the experience turns into memories, we tend to appreciate them more. Likewise, the more we talk about and share that experience with others, the more we strengthen our connection and appreciation for that experience.

*Happiness Comes from Experiences - Not Possessions, Says Thomas Gilovich. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://socialsciences.cornell.edu/buy-ex-periences-not-things-says-thomas-gilovich/

http://socialsciences.cornell.edu/buy-experiences-not-things-says-thomas-gilovich/

http://socialsciences.cornell.edu/buy-experiences-not-things-says-thomas-gilovich/


The value of experiences extends beyond the experienced event itself.

The anticipation of an experience plays a critical role in increasing that experience’s value. People reported being happy before they bought an experience as compared to feeling frustrated before they purchased a physical thing, says psychologists Amit Kumar, Thomas Gilovich and Matthew Killingsworth.

The upshot? We need to find a way to deliver experiences.

We can’t continue to create transactional event experiences where audiences give us their money in exchange for the delivery content for mass consumption. Our events are modeled after traditional educational institutions where audiences passively listen to industry experts dispensing information through their spoken word.

Instead, we have to focus on designing event experiences and learning opportunities that align with the biology of our brains. We have to facilitate collaborative experiences that guide our audiences through the steps of processing new information as they uncover what the curated content means to them and their job, learning new things that shift their thinking.

Events with a strategically-aligned purpose bigger than money and revenue outperform their competition by over 350%1.

Designing scientifically-grounded event experiences that customers anticipate, remember, and appreciate is a way to create lasting value. And the potential to spread that value as they recount their experiences with others is the way to build event loyalty, for sure.

So how do we elevate our events to meaningful event experiences?


1

"The Purpose-Driven Business." Lisa McLeod. Accessed June 10, 2019. https://www.mcleodandmore.com/purpose-driven-business/.

https://www.mcleodandmore.com/purpose-driven-business/


Event Stewardship: Taking Ownership of Journey and Experience

As we shift from event planning to designing event experiences, we need to build a bridge between scientific research findings and improving our participants’ event experiences with their brains in mind.

Science author, neuroscience curator and public education specialist David DiSalvo describes a ‘science-help’ approach (as opposed to a self-help approach). We should adopt a scholar-practitioner role to become event experience designers that study how people respond to events and apply the latest findings from research.

We want to leverage current neuroscience findings to create inquiry-based event experiences that transform thinking, shift mental models, engage intentional connections to each other and the content, and employ active deep-learning strategies.

We want to give our event participants more opportunities to collaborate, co-create, discuss, ideate and converse about new ways of doing work. This requires less delivery of information and more design of facilitated exploratory conversations.


START WITH THE WAY YOUR TEAM PLANS EVENTS.

Share your vision with your planning team. Planning with a unified vision/intention allows us to design a cohesive experience from start to finish that is more than the sum of its parts.

Traditional event planning is often hierarchical. We assign the planning of various event components to different departments based on the expertise and labor involved. Each siloed department is responsible for planning its event segment. They develop their own rules, policies, and procedures for their part of the event.

The event planner then has to reconcile each event component into a schedule, which often happens without much thought of how the participants’ brains will respond to the overall event experience. Thus, the event often feels disjointed, like a collage of unconnected parts. It lacks the overall focus required to lead participants to advance their profession.

When we plan events in the same way we’ve always done it, we default to designing average status quo experiences for our participants. Today, our competition

rests on designing purpose-driven, meaningful, relevant, transformative event experiences that lead to changes in our attitude, behavior and skills.

Plan with your goals in mind.

¡ What do you want your customers to walk away with and apply?

¡ What big issue is your event trying to solve, and how can you bring participants into the discussion?

¡ What do you want them to do during your event?

¡ What type of experience do you want them to have?


TARGETING HIGHER LEVEL THINKING

The Cerebral Ecosystem

Using the analogy of an ecosystem can help us to understand our brain as well. Think of your brain as a rainforest ecosystem with dense vegetation, diverse life, and abundant resources.

Your brain is full of neurons that communicate with each other. They distribute neurotransmitters (electrical impulses, hormones, etc.) as they talk to each other. As you learn new things, you strengthen some of your connected neurons, creating dendrites similar to the dense vegetation found in a rainforest.

When you’re designing experiences for your brain, you need to set things up correctly:

¡ Set up the right context by understanding the brain’s tendency to move us toward rewards and away from danger and difficulty

¡ Set up the right content and delivery with an understanding of the brain’s anatomy and how to target the areas responsible for the responses you want

¡ Set up the right connections by understanding the effects of social bonding on the brain and reinforcing the activities we bond through

The Mental Mindscape Model: Creating Headspace for a Successful Event

The more we understand how our brain works, our cerebral ecosystem and its mindscape, the better we can leverage it to help us design more effective and transformative event experiences.

First, let’s look at where our minds are headed.

Our brains have a tendency to organize information in order to efficiently minimize threats and maximize rewards. We unconsciously behave with a mental state of away or towards that corresponds to mitigating threats and accelerating rewards, respectively, says human and organization development expert, educator and neuroleadership graduate Dr. Erika Garms.


In the away state, the brain is defensive, fearful and closed. Imagine it clenching its fists, ready to fight, or crossing its arms to signify that we will not engage.

In the away state, our perceptions narrow, constricting our possibilities and limiting our forward movement. We are positioned to defend the past, resist change and carry on with business as it has always been done.

In the towards state, we are curious, wanting to explore and discover. We are open and motivated to receive and make sense of new information. We have an increased self-awareness of our own thinking and feelings as we reflect on and apply new ideas.

In this state, our minds have outstretched arms, welcoming all and everything. It’s defined by positive energy and a willingness to try new things.

Set the event up to make people receptive to your content.

As we design our participants’ event experiences, we want their brains to be in the toward state as much as possible. How can we do that?

Safe spaces.We want to design spaces and environments that feel safe and amplify their focus.

Pacing.We can structure our event agenda to respect typical attention spans by respecting the brain’s limits—avoiding too much information and the over-stimulation of participants’ senses..

Sharing and bonding.We want to leverage our social nature by creating networking opportunities and learning exercises that encourage collaboration and the co-creation of new solutions as participants dream together.

We can plan for and facilitate interactive learning activities that revolve around curated content where our participants work together to uncover multiple ways to apply the information to their challenges and aspirations.


Designing a Brain-friendly Content Experience

COMBAT THE NEURAL NOVELTY ADDICTION.

As event professionals, we have become very skilled at creating unique and novel ‘wow’ experiences that surprise our participants. We have perfected the art and science of planning and producing the ‘wow’ of an event.

Our customers tell us they are looking for the next shiny object, the latest trend in their profession or anything unique and different, and we aim to deliver it.

UNDERSTAND GRATIFICATION, DOPAMINE, AND THE LIMBIC SYSTEM.

When we plan ‘wow’ type micro-experiences within our event ecosystem, we engage specific systems of our participants’ brains. Our event experiences cause the brain to release neurotransmitters and hormones that affect our brains, our thinking, our emotions, and our responses.

A foundational operating principle regarding your participants’ brains is that they feel before they think. It’s part of our lizard brain, which is found in the limbic system.

The limbic system is the instinctive novelty-seeking part of your brain that connects with emotions. It’s always looking for the next ‘wow’. It wants to be entertained, inspired andsurprised, and to avoidthinking at all costs.

The limbic system contains your amygdala, a small almond-shaped part of your brain that controls your feelings and bodily reactions.

Your amygdala wants to conserve your body’s resources so it can respond appropriately in the event of a perceived threat. It holds your body’s resources captive, refusing to allow you to think, because thinking is work and thinking uses the

body’s resources. It’s only when the amygdala understands the benefit of thinking that it will release the resources required to think efficiently.

When our experiences connect to the limbic system and amygdala, which seek emotionally-driven, novel, unique ‘wow’ experiences, we receive a small dose ofthe pleasure hormone dopamine. The rush feels good but is short-lived. Then, your body wants another dose.

Dopamine is used to help motivate us to learn something new. It can help us focus temporarily on critical unknown content. It gives us a sense of accomplishing something.

Dopamine is like our internal reward or threat, connecting to the appropriate emotion at that time.

Depending upon how the amygdala responds to the stimuli received through our five senses, our emotions may take the lead.

Remember, we feel before we think.

The challenge is with our love affair with the pleasure rush of dopamine. We get that dopamine rush from so many different actions today.


We get a drip of dopamine when we receive a text or phone call.

We receive a rush of dopamine when we check off items on our to-do list.

We experience the pleasure of dopamine when someone likes our Facebook or Instagram post or retweets us.

We feel that dopamine rush when our boss, professor, or parent compliments us.

For events, our brains have been trained to seek out the unique ‘wow’ experience, so we can feel that pleasure rush of dopamine. Unfortunately, too many of us have become addicted to our own brain’s reward incentive.

We expect each event experience to top the previous one and level up that novelty. We are so good at providing those moments of surprise that we’ve created a neurally addicted audience wanting the next great idea, the next shiny trend, the next takeaway, or the next fleeting ‘wow’.

USE BRAIN PLASTICITY TO CREATING POSITIVE CHANGE.

If your goal is to create a transformative event experience (and it should be), it’s important to know how changes in the brain occur, and what kinds are longer-lasting.

One of the most critical event design core concepts to know, understand, and apply effectively is the tension between engaging the limbic system versus the prefrontal cortex of our participants’ brains.

To create transformational event experiences that shift our participants’ mental models and give them strategies to do new work, we must engage the executive functions of our brain located in the frontal lobes.

If we want to create novel, aesthetically pleasing, polished, entertaining event experiences that receive high satisfaction ratings with incremental surface changes, then we want to engage the amygdala and limbic system of our attendees’ brains.


Your brain is constantly growing and changing as you try new experiences, learn new things, and become sensitized/desensitized to new stimuli. This is thanks to a feature of your brain called “brain plasticity.”

The core idea is that actions, experiences, and behaviors can reinforce certain synaptic connections and change the way your brain develops. It’s through brain plasticity that you can train yourself to think in different ways and develop positive habits around learning, coping, and processing information.

When you have a change in your thinking, you have a change in your attitudes, behaviors and skills. And you have a physical change to your brain as well. Changing your thinking actually changes your life. The upshot is that you need experiences and emotions for learning and thinking to occur.

DESIGN EVENTS FOR THE FRONTAL LOBE.

Transformation occurs when your event invites your attendees to engage in higher-level thinking that uses the executive functions of their brains, which are located in their frontal lobes.

Design event experiences that require participants to employ problem solving, decision making, sense making, creative thinking, innovative ideation, and the situational application of new information. Participants should spend a considerable portion of the event processing information, making sense of it, and considering ways to apply it.

Similarly, when we use science to design effective event experiences, we employ the emotions of empathy and understanding. We consider walking in our participants’ shoes and fully grasping what makes them tick.

We think about alleviating their pain points and helping them reach their aspirations. We facilitate the development of connections, both to each other and to the content, so that they can collaboratively learn from each other. In so doing, we can create experiences that provide a journey through your event’s critical curated content as you design moments to engage their frontal lobes.


The Science of Social Event Experiences

WE’RE SOCIAL CREATURES.

You probably recall learning about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a theory ofmotivation and self-actualization in psychology. Abraham Maslow proposed a five-level pyramid model of human needs with food, water, and shelter at the bottom.

Maslow believed that our basic needs had to be met before we could advance to the higher levels of psychological and self-fulling needs: love, belonging and self-fulfillment.

Well, Maslow got it wrong, says renowned psychologist, UCLA professor, and neuroscience researcher Dr. Matthew Lieberman.

Our need to connect with other people is even more fundamental, more basic, than our need for food, water or shelter.

“Our lifelong passion is being socially connected to others,” says Lieberman. “It’s been baked into our operating system for tens of millions of years.”

In his book, Social: Why Are Brains Are Hardwired To Connect, Lieberman cites more than 1,000 studies on how our survival and success is directly related to our becoming more socially connected.

DO THIS To be more successful, we have to put developing authentic relationships and fostering inclusivity and belonging first–before learning experiences, trade shows, receptions and parties.

Maslow did accurately theorize that we could not learn new things if we didn’t feel like we were in a safe place. Our fears of failing in front of the audience or being rejected by attendees have to be addressed, or we shut down our ability to think. Safety, belonging, and social connection with others are primary needs of our brains that must be met before we can learn, network and share.

Our drive to process, connect and make sense of new information releases a host of neurochemistry in our brains. Similarly, our desire to test out new ideas results in positive neurochemistry. This chemistry can ultimately help us bond with one another and bond with the new content.


WE SHOULD DESIGN FOR OUR SOCIAL NATURE, NOT LEAVE IT TO CHANCE.

With the exception of traditional opening receptions and closing parties, most event experiences tend to downplay and turn off our social brains. We don’t focus on creating effective connecting experiences. We leave it to organically occur.

But that doesn’t work. One of the loneliest places I’ve experienced is sitting in an opening general session in a sea of hundreds or thousands and not knowing anyone.

No one reaches out. No one calls you by name. We feel excluded and as if we don’t belong.

Regrettably, most events plan a one-size-fits-all delivery of info through one-way monologues from chosen experts.

Our audience may be present physically, but absent mentally. These subject matter authorities spend most of their time covering content as audiences sit quietly listening.

Rarely do these thought leaders dedicate time in their presentations for participants to share their thoughts and experiences regarding the information. While the audience may be sitting in the same room together, that’s the extent of their shared experience. Since they never process it together, they miss the benefits of an authentic social shared experience.

Our event participants would be better served if we designed event experiences that were guided by the principles of the social brain, says Lieberman.

DO THIS

Our information recall and application also improves when taken in and processed socially, so we need to study and experiment with creating safe, inviting, inclusive spaces that enable social connections.


We need more event experiences that encourage and facilitate social connections as participants discuss and process information together through paired-share, table topics, or small group interactions. Learning, networking, and shifting mental models are connected at the hip with social engagement.

Sharing experiences with another person–even if we do it in silence with someone we just met–intensifies that experience, good or bad. At least that’s what researchers Boothby, Clark, and Bargh discovered. During a shared experience, we focus our attention, making us more attuned to what we are sensing and perceiving.

Designing pleasant, reflective event experiences that go unshared is a missed opportunity for our participants to focus on their new learning with others. And this sharing of event experiences releases oxytocin, the bonding hormone. We bond with each other, our learning and our content.

DESIGN A SOCIAL LEARNING EXPERIENCE.

This has critical implications for designing our event experiences. Our participants would flourish and thrive if our event experiences were structured with an understanding of our drive to connect, belong, and be social.

We must focus on designing event experiences that give participants a sense of belonging to a community of like-minded professionals. We have to help them find and engage with their tribe.

Our large tent experiences, whether registration, general sessions, meals, or receptions, should feel like a homecoming for each person.

Engaging in these types of activities aligns with Lieberman’s research of our need to connect to others and connect to something bigger than ourselves.


CONSIDER THE CONVERSATIONAL COCKTAIL

Talking through a concept works, and there’s a science behind it. Problem-solving and discourse engage our frontal lobes in higher level thinking and reinforces that thinking with the effects of social bonding.

The mechanisms? Serotonin and oxytocin.

When we make social bonds, we release feel-good chemicals that reinforce the practice.

As you explore designing more facilitated peer conversations, ask yourself these questions:

2

Glaser, Judith E. Conversational Intelligence: How Great Leaders Build Trust and Get Extraordinary Results. Brookline, MA: Bibliomotion, 2016.

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’re dishing out the wrong brain chemistry for your participants, says Judith E. Glaser, organizational anthropologist, researcher, and author of Conversational Intelligence: How Leaders Build Trust and Get Extraordinary Results

2.

Your goal in designing event experiences should be planning and facilitating experiences where people explore new ideas, dialogue about their futures, and dream together. This requires us to secure facilitators that are skilled at asking questions that lead to level three conversations.

1. What type of conversational cocktail are you serving your event participants?

2. Are you designing event experiences that leverage receiving information?

3. Do you plan and promote the entertainment of opposing sides during a debate?


Level One Conversations: INFORMATIONAL/TRANSACTIONAL

Delivering and receiving information is a level one conversation that is transactional in nature. These one-way show-and-tell conversationscreate a closed space with low trust, high emotions and lots of skepticism. They oftenlead to the tell/sell/yell syndrome, which resultsin the release of cortisol and dopamine. Thiscreates a fight, flight, flee the situation response. Participants shut-down and clam up, fearing rejection during any conversation.

Level Two Conversations: POSITIONAL

If you enjoy showcasing debates at your events, you are promoting level two positional conversations. In positional conversations, each person argues their fixed opinion, determined to convince others that they are right. Neither is open to the other’s influence, and both fail to listen or connect. In positional conversations, there is an exchange of power leading to a winner and a loser, although all listeners are ultimately losers. When we engage in level two conversations, our brains release cortisol, a hormone that shuts down the thinking center of our brains and activates conflict aversion and protection behaviors. It also releases dopamine. Cortisol and dopamine cause us to become hypersensitive to comments, rejection, and fear.

Level Three Conversations: TRANSFORMATIONAL

Level Three Conversations are all about exchanging energy / ideas, dreaming, and discovering together. Participants engage in behaviors like asking questions for which you have no answers, listening to the collective, collaboratively discovering that we don’t know we don’t know, and sharing innovative insights. Level Three Conversations release oxytocin, a neurochemical released by our prefrontal cortex that creates a sense of connection, calm, and pleasure. Oxytocin creates a feeling of belonging, of being accepted for who we are and valued for what we can share. The more oxytocin that is flowing through our veins, the less we are stressed and anxious, and the better we can relax and connect with others.


DESIGN FOR THE SOCIAL MIND: A FEW MORE THINGS YOU CAN DO.

Engage social leaders to get the ball rollingOne of the best ways to create more socially connected event experiences is to involve your leadership, board of directors, advisory boards, and committee volunteers.

DO THIS Ask all leaders and volunteers to serve as the welcoming brigade, standing near entrances, in hallways, in the registration area, and at the entrance and exit of all of the micro-events. Assign leaders specific breakouts and big ballroom experiences to serve as greeters and connectors.

We can practice specific welcoming techniques with them, such as firm outstretched hands to shake, when to hug and when not to hug, and leading questions like “What brings you here today?” or “What’s one thing you hope to accomplish with this session?”

Facilitate socializing through networking eventsWe can also encourage every education session to start with a small networking activity. Dedicate 10-15 minutes to participants finding someone they don’t know, sharing an introduction, and then answering a unique question given to the entire audience.

Create and respect dedicated times for bondingWe can also consider all meal functions as time dedicated to bonding as participants break bread together, share their own insights, and reflect on the day’s experiences. Refrain from scheduling any speakers, awards, or other front-of-the-room activities during meal functions so that participants can connect with each other and build relationships.


PART 2.RESEARCH ANALYSIS: WHAT IS“EXPERIENCE DESIGN”?


Experience Design: Does Anybody Know What They’re Talking About?

Judging from our survey results, most event professionals have confidence in their ability to define an “event experience.” Still, a full third of respondents rated their ability below the “accurate” level.

33,5%

4. Basic/accurate definition

33,5% 21%

5. Clear and actionable definition

3. Loose definition

ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 5, RATE YOUR ABILITY TO DEFINE TERMS LIKE “EVENT EXPERIENCE” AND “EXPERIENCE DESIGN.”

11%

2. Educated guess

1%

1. No clue, wouldn’t try

The good news is that only about 1% of survey respondents rated their grasp of experience design at 1, the lowest level (“No clue, wouldn’t try”).

A full 32% put themselves in the next two categories up (11% at “2 - Educated guess,” and 21% at “3 - Loose definition”).

Roughly two-thirds of respondents felt confident enough to rate themselves in the top two levels, with an even split between them: 33% being confident that they could provide a “Basic / accurate definition,” and another 33% could offer a “Clear and actionable definition.”

Despite less-than-perfect confidence in what “event experience” and “experience design” mean, every respondent went on to answer questions about what defines this growing trend.

RESEARCH ANALYSIS: WHAT IS “EXPERIENCE DESIGN”?

The notion of “experience design” has been generating a lot of buzz in the events industry, but does anyone have a clear definition of what it means?

To answer this question, we surveyed over 1200 event professionals. While over 80% of respondents identified as event planners, the survey also gathered responses from venues, suppliers and academics.

The results are in: delve a little deeper, and you can find out what event planners mean when they talk about “experience design.”


What Exactly Does “Experience Design” Mean Anyway?

Many of the questions allowed respondents to select multiple responses simultaneously, but some questions required respondents to choose only one option. “Experience design” can mean many things; the survey was designed to narrow down the definition as much as possible, even if that sometimes meant limiting answers.

Respondents had to choose the single most important element of planning a live experience. They were given six options, but could select only one.

See the chart below for results by percentage.

WHAT IS THE MOST CRUCIAL ELEMENT OF PLANNING LIVE EXPERIENCES?

39%

23%

14%

9%

9%

6%

Engaging attendees

Creating memories

Fostering change/transformation in participants

Involving the 5 senses

A cohesive event story

Having a shared purpose

Although there was a fairly good spread across the top three choices, “engaging attendees” was a clear winner.

Arguably, this popularity might be partly because “engaging attendees” is a catch-all phrase in much the same way that “experience” is. It explains what the ultimate objective is, but it doesn’t give much insight into how we get there.


DOES THE POPULAR VOTE DECIDE WHAT “EXPERIENCE DESIGN” MEANS? If we look a little more closely at the figures, it paints an interesting picture. Because we asked attendees to rank their level of expertise on experience design, we can cross-reference their confidence ratings with the answers they provided to the question above.

Among the small number of respondents who ranked their understanding of experience design at the lowest rating (the “no clue” contingent), almost half (46%) identified “engaging attendees” as the most crucial element.

Although the sample pool for this group may be too small to draw any firm conclusions, it does suggest that “engaging attendees” is the safe answer for someone who is unsure about how to pinpoint the most important element of experience design.

If we look at all the respondents who chose “engaging attendees” as their answer, 62% ranked themselves in the 4-5 range of confidence (“Basic / accurate definition” and “Clear and actionable definition”

respectively). While 62% may not seem like a low percentage of high-confidence respondents, it is still below the average of 66% across everyone who participated in the survey.

These trends don’t mean that “engaging attendees” is the wrong answer. They simply suggest that the high score for “engaging attendees” doesn’t necessarily indicate a definitive answer.

The highest confidence rating was actually among the respondents who chose “a cohesive event story” as the most crucial element–77% of these respondents had ranked themselves in the top two levels of experience-design savvy.

While “a cohesive event story” and “involving the 5 senses” may at first seem to have roughly equal support at 9% each, only 53% of those who chose the “5 senses” gave themselves a confidence rating

of 4 or 5. This was the lowest confidence level of any group.

With that said, it’s easy to see how multi-sensory elements can play a crucial role in creating an immersive event experience. On the opposite end of the spectrum from “engaging attendees,” the issue with this answer may be that it is too specific. Stimulating the five senses may give an experience greater impact, but it is not necessarily the defining feature of experience design.

How, then, do we decide that an event’s activities qualify as an “experience”?


Experience Design vs. Traditional Event Planning: What’s the Deciding Factor?

There is enough difference of opinion among our respondents to give us pause. How do we tie all of these answers together if we want to explain what really differentiates experience design from other approaches to event planning?

Well, let’s look at the second-most popular answer, which makes a somewhat stronger statement than “engaging attendees,” but is less specific than “involving the 5 senses”: it was “creating memories.” Of those who chose this answer, 69% rated themselves in the top two levels of confidence.

Thinking about experiences in terms of memorability may help to create a framework that puts all 6 answers in context. How do we create memories?

Memories are tied to the senses, but they are also deeply connected to our emotions. And they are strongest for events that expose us to different types of thinking and new ways of seeing the world.

With this in mind, the third-most popular answer also makes sense: “fostering change / transformation in participants.” If an event changes us in some fundamental way, it is meeting one of the key criteria for creating a memorable experience.

The concepts of memorability and transformation also shed new light on the least popular answer; “having a shared purpose” might have scored the lowest votes because experience design isn’t really about bringing together people who are already like-minded (unless, perhaps, those people don’t normally have access to each other–a hard argument to make in the age of social media).

Instead, it’s about bringing people into a like-minded state of being through the transformative power of a shared experience.

The emphasis is more on transforming than it is on consolidating. And this kind of transformative experience is one way to create memories.

Further, if all the elements of an event fit together to form a cohesive story, the event will also communicate a message that’s more memorable.

Of course, you have to engage your audience before you can even hope to leave a lasting impression, so it’s not hard to understand why this answer attracted the most votes.

Each answer brings a different piece to the puzzle, and their rankings provide insight into the various ways that event professionals are using the term “experience design.” Start by thinking about what makes an experience engaging and memorable, and then work backward from there.


The Key Ingredients: How to Ensure an Engaging, Memorable Experience at Your Event

In the contemporary world of global interconnectivity and instant gratification, event professionals need to work harder than ever to demonstrate the irreplaceability of a live event. It needs to be a unique experience that will continue to influence your attendees long after the event is over–these are the goals that define experience design.

DO THIS For experience design to be successful, you have to demonstrate the value of “being there.” To borrow from street lingo, you want to generate “FOMO,” or the fear of missing out.

Unsurprisingly, a majority of our survey respondents felt that a higher budget would help them meet the demand for increasingly engaging experiences. Nevertheless, almost a quarter (24%) believed that the budget was not a factor.

DOES THE RECENT TREND TO DELIVER EVENT EXPERIENCES REQUIRE:

More budget

Budget is not a factor

Same budget

Less budget

57%

24%

16%

2%


Why would so many respondents consider the budget to be irrelevant? Perhaps counterintuitively, a planner’s existing operating budget didn’t seem to affect whether they thought they would need more of it to create an event experience.

Respondents who answered that budget is not a factor were fairly evenly spread across the different budget categories. 7% in the top tier gave this answer, and they represent 6% of the total number of planners. The most disproportionate group was the 500K to 1 million group (21% of them said budget was not a factor, whereas they represent 17% of the total).

This affirms that, while a cash injection can never hurt, it’s possible that a clever idea is more crucial than a flashy spectacle with all the bells and whistles.

If you want to grab and hold the full attention of your audience, innovation and novelty may be just as important as a high spend.

Beyond budgetary questions, the survey also asked respondents to identify the key ingredients of a live experience. For this question, respondents were able to select multiple answers.

WHAT ARE THE KEY INGREDIENTS OF A LIVE EXPERIENCE?

83% Content / program

72% Venue

68% Performers / speakers

65% Technology

62% Food and beverage

62% Decor / theme

55% Live entertainment / talent

53% Staff / volunteers

38% Social program

Although the two farthest outliers have a significant margin between them–with the “content / program” highlighted as a key ingredient by 83% of respondents, and the “social program” by only 53%–most of the votes are fairly evenly spread across the middle 7 categories.

The unpopularity of the “live entertainment / talent” category lends weight to the claim that experience design isn’t just about keeping people entertained. Stimulating the 5 senses can do wonders, as long as it serves to keep the audience focused on a thematic message.

Similarly, keeping your audience “engaged” means more than simply entertaining them. To engage an audience isn’t just to hold their attention, but to hold their attention for a thoughtful purpose.


Does an event planner’s budget affect their understanding of experience design?

A quarter of respondents believed that budget is irrelevant to experience design. When we isolate the responses from event planners and break these down by budget, however, it becomes clear that some answers are in fact influenced by how much money is available.

L

ESS

THA

N 1

00K

1

00-5

00K

5

00K

- 1

MIL

LIO

N

1

- 5

MIL

LIO

N

5

MIL

LIO

N +

Venue 71% 71% 79% 76% 85%

Performers / speakers 72% 66% 68% 79% 65%

Live entertainment / talent 57% 53% 52% 62% 63%

Food and beverage 64% 62% 67% 60% 69%

Decor / theme 68% 59% 59% 69% 63%

Technology 59% 66% 63% 72% 73%

Staff / volunteers 54% 55% 43% 50% 67%

Content / program 85% 85% 81% 87% 87%

Social program 43% 37% 34% 42% 52%

THE KEY INGREDIENTS OF A LIVE EXPERIENCE ORGANIZED BY BUDGET(IN USD)

Although the trend isn’t perfectly linear, it does seem like bigger budgets make event planners more likely to identify venues as a key ingredient of a live experience.

85% of event planners with a budget of over $5 million listed venues as an important element for experience design, compared with only 71% of those with a budget of under $500,000.

It may simply be a question of having more money to invest in innovative venues. Especially if the event draws a very large crowd, event planners have to be careful about choosing venues that have the capacity to generate a large-scale live experience.

A similar trend can be seen with attitudes toward technology. In general, bigger budgets translate to more emphasis on technology as a key ingredient in planning event experiences.

Event planners with higher budgets have the resources needed to invest in groundbreaking technology. And if an “event experience” is defined by how transformative and memorable it is, then it stands to reason that


only the latest and greatest technology will make the grade. If people are already used to the technology, it probably won’t count as part of the “experience.”

The lowest-ranked ingredient, the social program, was highlighted by less than 50% of respondents at every level of budget except the very highest. When they have access to budgets of over $5 million, event planners may have more opportunities to integrate unique experiences and innovative technologies into their networking programs.

Those with lower budgets may rely more heavily on creative programming than other groups, but all categories rated “content / program” very highly. In fact, it was the only “ingredient” to score consistently above 80%.

If you don’t have the budget for a technology-enhanced experience, don’t despair: good programming is still king.


How Do Event Professionals Measure the Success of an Event Experience?

The most well-developed concepts are usually refined through some form of measurement. To develop a clear idea of what makes an event experience work, there needs to be some system for measuring its successes.

Despite that, a full 17% of respondents said that they do not measure the success of their live experiences at all.

And the majority of event professionals–a whopping 55%–believe that they could be doing a better job of measuring the success of their live experiences.

DO YOU ACTIVELY MEASURE THE SUCCESS OF LIVE EXPERIENCES?

I try, but could do better

Yes, I measure it accurately

No, I don’t measure it

Yes, I measure it in great detail

55%

18%

17%

10%

The Event MB survey also asked respondents to identify the best ways to gauge the success of a live event experience. For this question, respondents had to choose only 3 methods from a list of 8 options.

Feedback surveys were the most popular method with 59% of respondents favoring them. Feedback from clients or management was a close second at 55%.

Technology-enabled analytics and revenue/sales were also close contenders, finishing at 44% and 41% respectively, though this might change as event success metrics continue to shift towards the same accountability standards as digital marketing success metrics.

THE 3 MOST IMPORTANT WAYS TO MEASURE THE SUCCESS OF A LIVE EVENT EXPERIENCE ARE:

59% Feedback survey

55% Feedback from client or management

44%Technology(real-time analytics, app interactions/downloads, etc.)

41% Revenue / sales generated

37% Social media exposure

27% Number of registrants

14% Sponsor signups

8% Footfall


ANSWERS FROM EVENT PLANNERS, ORGANIZED BY BUDGET(IN USD)

L

ESS

THA

N 1

00K

1

00-5

00K

5

00K

- 1

MIL

LIO

N

1

- 5

MIL

LIO

N

5

MIL

LIO

N +

Feedback survey 56% 62% 65% 60% 69%

Feedback from client or management 62% 52% 51% 52% 54%

Social media exposure 36% 40% 37% 36% 35%

Technology (real-time analytics, app interactions/downloads, etc.)

33% 45% 43% 48% 63%

Footfall 8% 9% 8% 5% 13%

Number of registrants 35% 26% 22% 24% 21%

Sponsor signups 18% 11% 15% 15% 6%

Revenue / sales generated 43% 39% 39% 43% 29%

The 3 most important ways to measure the success of a live event experience.

Does budget influence the way that event planners measure the success of their event experiences?

When the responses from event planners are isolated and broken down by budget, it once again shows that budget is a significant factor in specific areas. Again, even though the trend isn’t perfectly linear, those with a higher budget are

generally more likely to identify technology as an important tool for measuring the success of a live event.

While only 33% of those with a budget under $100,000 highlighted technology as key to gauging success, a full 63% of those with a budget of over $5 million made the same claim. And it is probably almost entirely a question of access. The higher the budget, the better the technology available.

The same logic probably accounts for the spike in “footfall” as a key measurement tool for the highest budget bracket. Only the very biggest events can afford to install footfall-tracking technology.

Nevertheless, a “feedback survey” and “feedback from client or management” were considered the two most important tools for measuring success across all budgets.

It turns out that asking for feedback is still the best way to know if you’ve done a

good job.


PART 3.EXPERIENCE DESIGN TRENDS

45THE SCIENCE OF EVENT EXPERIENCE DESIGN 45THE SCIENCE OF EVENT EXPERIENCE DESIGN

WHAT EVENT INDUSTRY SUPPLIERS SAY: THE TRENDS DEFINING EXPERIENCES IN 2019

We asked the suppliers supporting this report to define event experiences, as opposed to events, and to share their top experience design tips and trends for 2019. These companies help event professionals to create successful experiences on a daily basis, so their input is vital to reconcile the market demand with our research. There is definitely consensus on the overarching market driven trends.

Disclosure: While the suppliers in this section of the report are sponsors, we asked them to share unbiased advice that leverages their day-to-day customer-facing experience to help the reader. Some of the advice below has been edited for concision.


Eric AmramFounder and CEO, Evenium

Q. How would you define an ‘event experience’, rather than just an event?

Event experience means that the presence of every participant counts, that every participant can have an impact on what happens on stage. Event experience is what creates a memorable and engaging event.

Q. What are your top event experience design tips and trends for 2019?

Top 3 trends shaping event experience design in 2019 ¡ Innovative and structured group interaction via apps.

¡ Visual Collaboration where participants contribute visually, using the main screen as a collaborative board.

¡ The experience must relate to the raison d’être of the event businesswise.

Eric Amram, a strong advocate of interactive in-person meetings, is the founder and CEO of Evenium, a tech company at the frontier of live,

interactive collaboration and learning with the intent of fundamentally transforming the event experience.

An Ecole Polytechnique and M.I.T. graduate, he co-founded Evenium with business partner Avner Cohen Solal in 2000.

After establishing Evenium as the reference technology platform for professional meetings in Europe, Eric moved to Silicon Valley in 2013 to

expand Evenium Inc. in the North American and LATAM markets.



Top 3 tips for event professionals designing event experiences in 2019

¡ Be strategic: design experiences with business impact in mind.

¡ Use technology to create interactivity and new types of group interaction.

¡ Use these interactions to facilitate relationships between participants.

Eric AmramFounder and CEO, Evenium

Eric Amram, a strong advocate of interactive in-person meetings, is the founder and CEO of Evenium, a tech company at the frontier of live,

interactive collaboration and learning with the intent of fundamentally transforming the event experience.

An Ecole Polytechnique and M.I.T. graduate, he co-founded Evenium with business partner Avner Cohen Solal in 2000.

After establishing Evenium as the reference technology platform for professional meetings in Europe, Eric moved to Silicon Valley in 2013 to

expand Evenium Inc. in the North American and LATAM markets.



Trevor LynnSenior Director, Product Management and Marketing, Cvent | Social Tables


While event ‘experience’ can mean many things to different event professionals, at its core, I think an event experience is the kind of event that makes an attendee feel as though it were tailor-made just for them—a moment they will remember even years later. Specificity is how the best planners pull this off.

In other words, attention to the little details: ensuring attendee sightlines are optimized, crafting seamless check-in flows, perfecting meal distribution and seating arrangements, and sourcing entertainment options that exceed expectations.


Venue sourcing will continue to evolve (online). According to our research, as few as 16% of planners know where their event will be when they begin planning it, and 67% of the sourcing process takes place online.

Unable to lean as heavily on existing relationships, suppliers are going to have to adapt to a market that forms its first impressions online before ever reaching out to a salesperson. This may mean devoting extra marketing resources to optimizing online search listings and availing of emergent technology to provide planners with better insight into spaces and locations.

Trevor Lynn is the Senior Director of Product Management and Marketing at Cvent | Social Tables. At Social Tables, he helped lead the company from

0 to 5,500 customers, scale the workforce from 5 to 110 employees, and guide it through a major acquisition by Cvent in October, 2018. At present,

he is overseeing the development and go-to-market initiatives for Social Tables’ core suite of products, as well as a series of new and exciting

releases.



Invest in unique event experiences. Crafty planners will incorporate the very best of local culture in their meetings (mobile meetings that tour notable landmarks, catering provided by legendary area restaurants, and other regionally-specific perks) to drive attendance in any city.

Personalize to the extreme.This indomitable trend is defining the expectations of contemporary attendees, and it’s only gaining momentum. The recent innovation in silent conferencing, where attendees are outfitted in headphones that allow them to toggle between speakers, is a perfect example of this. Just imagine the personalization potential that VR and AR will bring to the table in coming years.

Festivals and bleisure travel. In the U.S. alone, 800+ festivals attract more than 32 million attendees annually, most of whom are young, successful professionals looking to test out experimental networking opportunities. Resorts, golf courses, and other venues with an excess of outdoor space are catching on and offering unique booking packages that draw even the most discerning attendees.

This gives you the power to piggyback on another growing trend: bleisure travel. Mix business and leisure by hosting panels that bring together creatives from disparate industries; or punctuate the schedule of strictly professional meetings with experiences that allow attendees to unwind (think yoga classes, a quick concert from a famous local musician, or even group workouts).

Trevor LynnSenior Director, Product Management and Marketing, Cvent | Social Tables

Trevor Lynn is the Senior Director of Product Management and Marketing at Cvent | Social Tables. At Social Tables, he helped lead the company from

0 to 5,500 customers, scale the workforce from 5 to 110 employees, and guide it through a major acquisition by Cvent in October, 2018. At present,

he is overseeing the development and go-to-market initiatives for Social Tables’ core suite of products, as well as a series of new and exciting

releases.



Greg BogueChief Experience Architect, Maritz Global Events


I always use the definition from Jim Gilmore, co-author of the Experience Economy. He says, “An experience is a memorable event that engages a guest in an inherently personal way, but unlike a service that is rendered on demand, an experience unfolds over time.”

I love the idea that it’s memorable, inherently personal and unfolds over time.


Individual values. Spend way more time understanding your guests attitudes, behaviors and motivations. People are looking for the activation of their personal values in all aspects of their personal and professional lives. Personal preferences are now openly expressed in professional settings.

For more than 30 years, Greg Bogue has been dedicated to creating messages and experiences that move people and has

received numerous awards including PCMA’s Visionary Awards as Supplier of the Year 2019.

As Chief Experience Architect for Maritz Global Events, Bogue focuses on improving the guest journey and overall experience in meetings, events, and incentive travel programs to create greater

impact for both organizations and their guests.

https://www.maritzglobalevents.com/


This also applies to professional development. People want to enrich their personal value as well as their value to the organization.

Create a full experience from start to finish.Understand your guest’s journey, and completely design the journey, not just what happens onsite.

Learn observation skills and watch what is going on at your event. Learn from those observations and make design changes appropriately to keep things consistent and valuable.

Concentrate on event business outcomes. What are you hoping to gain from your investment in the event. Identify at least five outcomes. If you don’t know what you want to get out of your event, you won’t ever get it.

Greg BogueChief Experience Architect, Maritz Global Events

For more than 30 years, Greg Bogue has been dedicated to creating messages and experiences that move people and has

received numerous awards including PCMA’s Visionary Awards as Supplier of the Year 2019.

As Chief Experience Architect for Maritz Global Events, Bogue focuses on improving the guest journey and overall experience in meetings, events, and incentive travel programs to create greater

impact for both organizations and their guests.

https://www.maritzglobalevents.com/


Ravi ChalakaCMO, Jifflenow


Event experiences are about creating superior value with many touch points that address the attendees’ interests while also achieving your company’s objectives. It’s not just about the meetings and demos at the exhibit, but the whole nine yards of sessions, dinner meetings, receptions, executive 1-on-1s, etc.


Focus on qualified customers and prospects.Organizations understand that the majority of their revenue comes from a small number of them. Events are opportune for providing a rich experience, and these companies are rolling out the red carpet with executive and expert meetings, private dinners or receptions, confidential demos, private tours, and special sessions with personalization across all engagements.

Marketing teams are making event experiences more data-driven. Events require a considerable investment of time and money if they’re to drive new opportunities, advance sales cycles, and grow revenue. With more metrics than ever before, more companies are making investment decisions based on the measurable impact on their revenue growth objectives.

Ravi Chalaka is the Chief Marketing Officer at Jifflenow. He has MBA degrees in marketing and finance, and frequently speaks at

industry forums.

Ravi’s accomplishments are many. With over 25 years of marketing and sales experience, his overall focus is to transform enterprises

that use legacy tools, manual workflows, and low meeting ROI into digital enterprises that use SaaS-based Meeting Automation

Platforms at events, conferences, briefing centers, and executive or expert engagements.



Metrics like booth utilization, the number of walk-ins converted to qualified leads, performance comparison to industry benchmarks, and sales leaderboards are a stronger indicator of ROI than a random badge scan or macro data, such as the number of event attendees.

Provide a rich, educational experience. Scanning badges and brief interactions aren’t cutting it anymore. Many enterprises are even building large experiential booths and restricting these for invited audiences only. In these spaces, the experiences can include meals, refreshments, booth tours, hands-on experiential exhibits, and product demos.

These initiatives are designed to extend the engagement experience for as long as possible; depending on the level and type of business opportunity, it’s the key to building a sustainable customer base.

Get full support from sales, SMEs and executive teams early. Executives, subject matter experts, influencers, and decision-makers must be involved to meet qualified prospects, customers, partners, press, analytics, suppliers, etc.

Event managers should engage early with these stakeholders to understand their objectives and expectations and get their commitment to participate.

Plan an end-to-end experience.Attendees are there to learn as much as possible in just a few days, and companies that can provide a total experience can gain the most advantage.

Full-scope engagement before, during, and after the event requires an entire workflow involving meeting requestors, internal SMEs and executives, as well as logistics, approvals, agendas, opportunity data, etc.

Ravi ChalakaCMO, Jifflenow

Ravi Chalaka is the Chief Marketing Officer at Jifflenow. He has MBA degrees in marketing and finance, and frequently speaks at

industry forums.

Ravi’s accomplishments are many. With over 25 years of marketing and sales experience, his overall focus is to transform enterprises

that use legacy tools, manual workflows, and low meeting ROI into digital enterprises that use SaaS-based Meeting Automation

Platforms at events, conferences, briefing centers, and executive or expert engagements..



Simon St-GermainMarketing Director, PixMob and klik


What defines event experiences is that they put attendees through something memorable and valuable. Whether it’s the location, the catering, or more interactive elements, offering something different will get attendees talking to each other. They’ll ask what else is in store, and they’ll want more!

At C2 Montreal, for example, they created an experience with ‘labs’ wherein groups of attendees were challenged to change their state of mind on a defined subject and learn how it can be applied to their daily lives.

Putting on an event is already hard. Creating an event experience is even harder. But at the end of the day, an event experience will demonstrate a better return on any investment.


Creativity everywhere.Creativity isn’t reserved for industries like advertising or television/cinema production. It can and must be applied to all industries, including things like medical and pharmaceutical.

An HEC Montreal graduate, Simon spent most of his career in advertising, where he experienced the industry’s transition to

digital. Now at PixMob, he drives the marketing department for PixMob and sister brand klik—both currently spearheading

live event engagement in different ways. Through his role at PixMob, Simon is at the forefront of the digital revolution of

the event industry.



The goal shouldn’t necessarily be to shock attendees, but to take a creative approach to generating memorable experiences. There are always ways to infuse creativity into your event through catering, the venue, your tech stack, etc.

If you don’t feel inspired, consider a consultant. Also, you don’t have to review your whole event at once. Test the waters with a single element, see how attendees react, and then start to think of a full-fledged roll-out.

Data fuels better experiences.Marketers and event organizers need to better understand what their investment generates. Traditional event success metrics are simply not on par with digital marketing data collection. The precision of results tracking in digital marketing must be applied to event marketing.

Event organizers should use a 100% adoption rate technique to track the event, and go into it with well defined KPIs. Track real attendee behavior with passive monitoring to better understand your event flow. If you want to measure engagement, don’t look at social media posts, look at real interactions between humans at the event.

Whether you collect it live, during the event, or after, the data is there to inform better decisions. Make use of it.

TechnologyChoosing technology that’s functional and purpose-driven will motivate attendees to learn to use it. It should help them achieve something at the event and enhance the attendee experience in addition to generating good data.

Challenge suppliers to push the envelope. Although they often ‘do it all’, older solutions have been lacking innovation, openness, and flexibility. Choose technology partners that are willing to work together, integrate, and create a flawless experience for the attendees. If you select the right partner, they will even manage multiple vendors.

Simon St-GermainMarketing Director, PixMob and Klik

An HEC Montreal graduate, Simon spent most of his career in advertising, where he experienced the industry’s transition to

digital. Now at PixMob, he drives the marketing department for PixMob and sister brand klik—both currently spearheading

live event engagement in different ways. Through his role at PixMob, Simon is at the forefront of the digital revolution of

the event industry.



10 TRENDS SHAPING EVENT EXPERIENCES

The previous sections of this report have highlighted some important aspect of experiences as opposed to events: the need for cohesive stories, the prominence of connection and social experiences, the relevance of technology and venues.

These elements suggested by science are widely present in our ongoing event analysis. Since July 2018, we have analyzed over 1500 events as part of our ongoing editorial effort to bring you the freshest analysis on the trends defining our industry.

Our trends sum up the most recurring items in our analysis that are directly reconcilable to the science of designing event experiences.

Without further ado, here they are.



10. HUMAN-CENTRIC EVENTS

When we plan, we forget that humans will interact on the show floor. Experiences are different from events in that they consider the whole attendees’ persona, catering to their needs accordingly.

Engaging attendees means taking care of them, making them feel that their needs have been catered to. Cognitive dissonance will result when elements of our personal lives are not taken care of at events.

These ‘energy drops’ are terrible for pulling us out of immersive experiences.

¡ Human-centric considerations ¡ Lactation rooms ¡ Human-friendly breakouts ¡ Meditation rooms ¡ Work stations ¡ Recycling facilities ¡ Special diets ¡ Panic button for harassment


9. OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Execution is a basic requirement for a successful experience; there is no room for error. When immersing your attendees in the environments you thoughtfully constructed, a presentation not loading will spoil the party.

Flawless execution also means being nimble and lean, using resources effectively. In most cases, this results in event professionals cutting costs to save on budget. This was the case during the past two Super Bowls, where they employed drones shows that were able to create meaningful themes for the event by means of spectacularly executed operations.

Operational excellence is also obtained by eliminating the traditional barriers to a safe environment, like long lines at registration, busy restrooms at large events, lack of seating areas at trade shows, etc. These are common examples of nuisances that impact the fruition of experiences.


8. CUT THROUGH THE NOISE

In an information-overloaded world, we resort to events to give us clarity on what matters to us, whether we are business people or teenagers. Too much informationis no information, and events have the new role of giving only the information thatmatters to attendees looking for clarity.

Therefore, the most meaningful experiences will deliver highlycurated information that matters to attendees in a way that enables them todiscuss, apply and interact with it later.

Many events are cutting extra sessions, activations, and speakers so as to onlyfocus on the activities that matter and deliver on the objectives of the business, the attendees, the sponsors, and all major stakeholders.


7. TECH WITH A PURPOSE

Long gone are the days when technology was purchased in bulk with the hope that attendees would adopt it. Our research in the Event App Bible indicates that the sections that attendees almost exclusively use are agenda and engagement tools. Offering 20 sections in a mobile app does not help to deliver the desired event experience. It just overloads attendees with unnecessary information.

When designing experiences, technology has to serve a clear purpose in connecting participants or informing attendees about what’s next.

As a result, only the technology that ultimately helps in achieving the shared purpose of the event needs to be prioritized. An increased focus specifically in technology aimed at connecting attendees should be preferred.

https://www.eventmanagerblog.com/event-app-bible


6. STORYTELLING

In order to deliver content and programming in a way that evokes real change, some of the most groundbreaking events are adopting the basic conceptsof storytelling to deliver activations, trade show exhibits, and conference programs.

In our Storytelling Playbook, we have dissected how to apply the concepts of storytelling to events. Transferring concepts such as the conflict betweenprotagonists and antagonists and the ‘beginning, middle, and end’ plot arch to event design better conveys to audiences a sense of participation and an understanding of the event’s ultimate goal.

In fact, our findings suggest that applying storytelling frameworks to experience design puts attendees in a state of mind where they are able to anticipate where the event will go, allowing them to get into the right mindframe for the opportunities for long lasting transformation.

https://www.eventmanagerblog.com/event-storytelling


5. MEETING WITH MEANING

A feeling of ‘been there, done that’ pervades the industry. This is thanks to (or better yet, because of) the insistence in stimulating attendees’ limbic brains. We have created an audience that’s addicted to stunts instead agents of change.

Meaning is one of the most powerful weapons event professionals have to instill a sense of shared purpose in participants.

In our report The Power of Events, we highlighted how the Christchurch city center, which had been destroyed by the recent earthquake, was at the center of Festa 2012, a festival of transformational architecture. The event helped to reconnect citizens to their lost city, eventually gaining incredible consensus.

The importance of meaning is reflected in the venue and destination choice of our event, which our research says is of incredible importance to the overall success of the event experience delivery. This is the case with venues such as the Keep Memory Alive Centre in Las Vegas, where proceeds support the Keep Memory Alive Foundation for brain health.

https://www.eventmanagerblog.com/power-of-events


4. THE NEED FOR ADVENTURE

Connecting attendees is just the beginning. Powerful bonding experiences are tied to accomplishment, to overcoming obstacles and building something together.

Adventure is one of the most effective tactics for meaningful connections. Creating adventures that push the boundaries, almost forcing participants to go outside of their comfort zone, is a common element of those events that are called experiences.

We are referring to the practice of designing activations or activities during the event that are aimed at helping attendees redefine their comfort zone and connect with a world beyond it. Whether it is a session of log splitting with colleagues, rafting on a river, interacting with animals or even painting together (as IMEX Frankfurt did cleverly outside of the seminar rooms), we are looking for the unexpected, for the surprise, for the unknown.

Successful event experiences keep the element of connection at the center of their activations; this is one of the ways in which stunts can become meaningful mingling opportunities.


3. HYPERCURATION

Very close to the need to cut through the noise is the concept of hypercuration.

The ability to trim the fat when designing agendas forbusiness events is essential to a positive participant experience. As the Internet gives us a fast way to access information on very specific topics when we need it, we want events to reflect such verticality.

This is why we notice the flourishing of very vertical events on topics, such as blockchain, marijuana business, and the emancipation of women for example. These are all poignant topics in need of clarity in which the one-to-one connection is incredibly important for the attendee.

The experienced consumer cannot afford to be lost in a sea of irrelevant information. They will call an event an experience when it’s hypercurated and to the point. The same will be the case for sponsors supporting that experience, as they will welcome a more selected audience than just thousands of irrelevant contacts.


2. FROM PERFORMERS TO ENABLERS

Events are usually designed around an expert delivering a speech. Experiences are centered around a facilitator connecting to the audience. The industry is characterized by a growing emphasis on choosing better speakers or performers. We’re talking about technology savvy performers who are able to use all the available tools to spark conversations, incite discussion, and prompt problem-solving activities.

The era of frontal lectures is over. As information is more accessible than ever, we don’t need to purchase a costly event ticket or sacrifice days of traveling just to listen to a speech–we have Youtube for that.

The differentiating opportunity that experiences promise is to allow attendees to connect over what is being presented, to make it matter of discussion, and to have the speakers as enablers of that discussion.

As a result, event programs with a roaster of speakers from famous companies have a great ‘wow’ factor but a low change potential for attendees. That is why a skilled moderator or a speaker with strong group work skills should always be preferred or at least considered as MC of the main sessions.


Niching is an active element of more meaningful experiences. Having a selected and committed audience graduates events to experiences. That is why we are witnessing the rise of invite-only or ‘by application only’ events where attendees are skimmed to make sure there is a common purpose before entering the room.

Adding barriers to entry that are not exclusively monetary ensures a more committed room of people willing to make the change happen. If you picture a room of 20, 200 or 2000 attendees all eager to learn a specific skill, you can immediately understand how much more powerful it is than a room of 40, 400 or 4000 attendees that kind of want to learn a new skill.

1. HIGHER BARRIERS TO ENTRY

DO THIS Aligning the purpose can be achieved in many ways, especially by clear pre-event communication and marketing, but erecting the barriers to entry constantly delivers for everybody involved: participants, sponsors and performers.

67THE SCIENCE OF EVENT EXPERIENCE DESIGN 67THE SCIENCE OF EVENT EXPERIENCE DESIGN 67THE SCIENCE OF EVENT EXPERIENCE DESIGN

IN CONCLUSION

Science tells us that planning experiences, as opposed to planning events, is a completely different matter.

Experiences are co-created: they engage with the planning side of the brain and lead to change and transformation. As event professionals wake up to a new iteration of their job, we have presented you all the data and science needed to elevate your job to that of an experience designer.

While there is still definitely some room to further define what experiences really are and how to measure them, we managed to bust some myths: entertainment does not equal experience, memorable experiences that resonate long after the event are not made with flashy appeals to the limbic brain, and the power to change is not limited to the upper-tier

event budgets because content and connection are still the two main ingredients of a successful event experience.

The push to change the way we plan events is at an all-time high. Technology companies are rebranding as experience design tools and marketing budgets are flocking the industry, hoping to connect consumers to brands in a more meaningful way.

Whether you work with activations, conferences, trade shows or incentives, the pressure is on to deliver more than a simple event. We believe the future is brighter for those event professionals who will be able to embrace such change and deliver more fulfilling and transformational experiences to their customers.


Julius Solaris is the editor of Event Manager Blog. Started in 2007, EventMB is the number one blog worldwide for event professionals. He is the founder of the Event Innovation Lab, an immersive training program for Fortune 500 companies and high-growth event teams.

He has been named one of the 25 most influential individuals in the Meeting Industry.

He is the author of over 10 books on event technology and innovation (The Eventtech Bible, The Good Event Management Software Guide, The Event App Bible, Meeting Design, The Future of Event Marketing, The Art of Venue Negotiation, the annual Event Trends Report, Social Media for Events, Engaging Events and The Venue of the Future).

Julius SolarisEditor and Founder, EventMB.com

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

https://www.eventmanagerblog.com/

https://www.juliussolaris.com/event-innovation-lab/


Noted education, engagement, strategic and governance consultant for associationsand meetings, Jeff Hurt is an expert in applying human behavior and neuroscienceto the event experience. After nine years as executive vice president of educationand engagement at Velvet Chainsaw Consulting and more than 20+ years planningconferences, events and meetings from small to large, Hurt is now “empoweringepiphanies” around the industry.

Jeff HurtChief Epiphany Officer, Empowered Epiphanies


EventMB Studio Team

This report is brought to you by EventMB Studio.

EventMB Studio is a boutique content marketing service that produces top quality digital content assets for market leaders in the event and hospitality industry.

Get in touch ([email protected]) for a free consultation.

EventMB Studio is powered by EventMB.com, the most influential website in the meeting and event industry. Founded in 2007, EventMB has been widely referenced as the go-to resource for innovative event professionals wanting to learn more about trends in the event planning industry.

EventMB releases industry reports and intelligence about event technology, social media, and engagement at events.

Thousands of event professionals have downloaded EventMB’s free reports at http://www.eventmanagerblog.com.

Noted education, engagement, strategic and governance consultant for associations

mailto:contact%40eventmanagerblog.com?subject=

http://www.eventmanagerblog.com


CMP CREDITS

EventMB is a CMP Preferred Provider accredited by the Events Industry Council and provides Continuing Education credits for learning activities.

This report is worth 2 CE credits.

To acquire CE credits through this or other reports, webinars and reading material from EventMB, please refer to http://www.eventmanagerblog.com/cmp.

For more information about the CMP credential or Preferred Provider Program, please visit http://www.eventscouncil.org/.

DISCLAIMER

This report is based on research carried out between April and June 2019.

While this report has been sponsored, the analysis is completely unbiased.

If you wish to sponsor our future publications or receive sponsorship opportunity notifications, get in touch with carmen at [email protected]

mailto:http://www.eventmanagerblog.com/cmp?subject=

mailto:http://www.eventscouncil.org/?subject=

mailto:carmen%40eventmanagerblog.com?subject=


Documents

The Science of EVENT EXPERIENCE DESIGN · 2019. 7. 15. · THE SCIENCE OF EVENT EXPERIENCE DESIGN 16 THE EVENT ECOSYSTEM: CREATING COHESION IN THE EVENT EXPERIENCE Classical Classroom