The Event is dead

Not only do you not want to attend or exhibit, but you have no idea why you’re even going in the first place. Is it the motivational speaker who has nothing to do with your industry? The bad entertainment? The educational tracks that are really just vendor sales pitches? Nothing worth your time as usual.

If you’re lucky, you meet up with an old acquaintance and catch up on the status of your industry. About one hour of actual useful time over a 2 day event.

What if you could take that one valuable hour and extend it across the entire three days?

You can.

Long live the experience

There is a better way. A method that creates an environment of authenticity. A place where every single moment is rife with opportunities for stimulating conversation and innovative dialogue. A process that helps you architect a strategy that sparks creative, engaging actions that will transform your event into an authentic experience that is not only tremendously rewarding, but memorable.

An Experiential Fuse.

The Experiential Fuse

Why

How

What

DesiredOutcome

Core Principles

Methods to Action

The Experiential Fuse is an inside out approach starting in the center and moving outward, it moves from Why-How-What. The initial step is gaining a deep understanding of what is your desired outcome of your event (Why). Moving outward a strategy is designed using the 11 core principles (How), finishing with specific methods to action (what) ,that supportthe desired outcome.

The Experiential Fuse is a simple process that uses frontline trends in communication, behavioral psychology,sociology and instructional design to create an authentic

environment where real learning and connections are able to be made.

Unlike a typical event, the Experiential Fuse creates an experience.

The Experiential Fuse

Supporting experiences & engagements are

implemented .

Set a strategy of engagements and

experiences utilizing the core principles .

Organization leadership determines the desired

outcome.

The Experiential Fuse Method

Determine Desired

Outcome

StrategizeCore

Principles

DevelopMethods to

Action

1 2 3

WhatHowWhy

The first step is getting your leadership team together and deciding on what is your event’s desired outcome.

Sound overly simple? it is. It’s mind boggling how many organizations participate in events with no real reasoning why.

This critical step forces your leadership to take a fresh look at why you are doing this event in the first place, and forces you to make impactful decisions. The why should be 100% clear before moving outside to the next step.

WhyThe president of a company with a yearly presence at a major trade show vented frustration at the entire process. When provoked to why go through all the trouble, he explained, “You know, I really don’t know why we do this, I guess because everyone else does?”

Provoking a deeper look into the desired outcome, the leadership re-evaluated the show and determined that the new specific focus would be on re-connecting with their clients.

This small change had tremendous impact on their planning process, resulting in many different decisions being made to fulfill the outcome, vs. doing things the same way as previous years.

The trade show would continue, but with a new approach that takes advantage of the new vision, with all facets of the business on board.

Desired Outcome

Determine the Desired Outcome

“I really don’t know…”

How CorePrinciples

Core Principles

The 11 core principles are concepts that have significant impact on developing your desired outcomes into a relevant action items.

The principles are designed to remove typical barriers to learning, communicating and forming human connections.

SignalingIdea ArchitectureActive EngagementEngagement BehaviorCognitive InfluenceDesign DecisionBrain StateEmotional JourneyPhysical StateThe “Understanding Demand”Metric FluidityIt’s Still a Show

The first four are explained in more detail in the following pages.

participant…”In signaling content, a signaling word is the use of “participant” vs. “attendee”. As the word participant is used throughout the content, the reader will be receiving “signals” that they are in fact a “participant”, a much more engaging term then an “attendee”,’ this drives a point that the reader is an active part of the process, vs. a passive one.

SignalingSignaling is a process throughout the framework that uses subtle hints or clues to help guide the participant towards a desired behavior. Signaling encompasses every facet of your event. Although not exclusive, signaling is fairly common in content engineering. Simple words can be redefined with a much more powerful impact.

Signaling is not limited to content, but can include:

• Emotion • Environment• Visuals• Auditory

CorePrinciples

it’s the idea…”Typical speakers are stuck in the old model of speaking, they talk of motivating people with their stories of trials and tribulations, and talk of the “You can be like me!” approach. Idea architecture tears down the old model with personal, authentic experiences with the audience; the speaker is no longer the focus, but the idea is. One way to think of idea architecture, is the extreme opposite of “corporate speak.”

Idea Architecture

A specific and deliberate process of finding someone's “idea”, and shaping it into a unique presentable format, usually in a presentation under 20 minutes in length. This concept of re-thinking how ideas are shared was pioneered by the TED organization with the well known “TED Talks.”

Idea architecture is a deeply involved process of communication. It revolves around making concepts extremely concise, understandable, and blended with captivating stories. It includes new models on supporting visuals, unlike the typical unengaging PowerPoint presentations that accompany most presentations.

Often the idea architecture is the main focus of your event, and the quality of your speaker content should reflect that. Idea Architecture is not only critical in your speaker development, but in all facets of your communication, including sponsor messaging, vendor dialogues, and staff interactions.

CorePrinciples

a visual anchor for conversation…”A recent event had an artist draw visual representations of the event speakers ideas (scribing). During the breaks, the artwork was positioned in the mingling area and was an immediate draw. Participants were able to socialize around the posters, and strike up conversations about the speakers talks, and have a physical and visual reference to the key components.

Active Engagement

Every facet of your strategy should be looking for opportunities to actively engage participants. This can be through small group exercises, hands on activities, or interactive discussions, to name a few. The more people are engaged in parts of the strategy, the more ownership they will have. They will be more empowered because they are part of the process, and knowledge retention will be the greatest. The most powerful, active engagements are ones that not only engage the participants, engaged, but make the activity “their own”, bringing that knowledge back to their peers and architecting their own knowledge sharing.

Too often people at events watch a presentation, take a break to check their phones, and completely forget about the content by the next day. Active engagement reverses that model.

CorePrinciples

“different ways to engage…”A common mistake is event managers, (normally extroverted) managing an event from an extroverted perspective; many outgoing activities may exist, but if there are not options for the introverted groups, you are alienating a good portion of your participants.

Engagement Behavior

Different people learn and engage in different ways. It’s easy to assume people learn the same way that you do. Care must be given so that the desired outcomes are expressed in a variety of methods to reach your entire audience in your overall strategy.

Methods Include:

• Communication Style 55/38/7 Rule (visual/tonality/written)

• Introvert/Extrovert • Learning Behavior. Visual/Auditory/Kinetic

CorePrinciples

The final step is designing specific engagements and activities that stem from the desired outcome, and are shaped by the core principles.

By using the principles, you can be sure that you will be designing experiences from new perspectives that push your event towards full engagement by facilitating authentic connections between your participants and your desired outcome.

These activities will all also be born out of the desired outcome of the event, with your results being true to the origin.

What

A large scale event discovered that everything was geared towards extroverts. Using the Experiential Fuse, a method into action resulted in setting up an internal “bookstore”, where books recommended by the speakers and event leaders were available for perusal and purchase. The store was designed as a library with ample room to browse and quiet conversation space available.

The bookstore became a perfect place for introverts to still be engaged with the event, yet have the availability of a place to congregate.

Methods into action

“Event Bookstore…”Develop

Methods toAction

Your experience now begins

Author Note:This framework is a living document and constantly evolving. If you have comments or suggestions I am always willing to have a conversation.

Long Live the Experience

Even the simple fact of looking at your next event from the inside out can be transformational. Try this the next time you start planning a trade show exhibit, or hosting a half-day company event. Dig deep into the “why” of your event, don’t stop digging until the reason is crystal clear.

Often the real reason is nothing like your original thoughts. But don’t stop there, strategize outward using the core principles, create your methods to action and see the transformation of your event, into an experience.

The Experiential Fuse

WhyHow

What

DesiredOutcome

Core Principles

Methods to Action

Contact Mobile: 312.600.7992

arthurzards

Arthur Zards| Founder

zards@experientialfuse.com

twitter.com/expfuse

www.experientialfuse.com

Please contact me if you would like to learn more about:

• Details on the remaining 8 core principles.• Anchoring strategies of the Experiential Fuse within

your organization resulting in:• A culture of innovative dialogue• Organizational organic acceptance and growth• Localized to global corporate acceptance

• More successful examples of Methods to Action.• How this model has transformed the entire culture

of a Fortune 50 company.

Arthur Zards

Who Experience

• Over 22 years experience in digital marketing, online networks, social community building, event production, entrepreneurship.

• Produced numerous TEDx events, roles including leadership, creative direction, content design, engagement best practices and TED style experiential designed activities.

• Idea architected content of over 60 speakers, including Olympic medalists, a United States astronaut, numerous business and community leaders and a former United States Secretary of Commerce.

• Creator of numerous best practices for the TED/TEDx community including Partnership and Speaker publications, a Sponsorship Ebook, and a dynamic website dedicated to sharing engagement ideas for event organizers.

• Speaker at a TED conference workshop, Palm Springs, on name badge best practices for events.

• Speaker at TEDxBeaconStreet, Boston. • Founder and Host of TEDxNaperville• Conference session leader in Doha, Qatar on event engagement strategies for

TED.• Regularly hosts global video conferences for TEDx organizers mentoring and

education.

The Event is Dead…

Long Live the Experience