Skift Take
This special episode features two sessions recorded live at the Skift Meetings Event Design Summit. In this episode you will hear from Jesse Gainer of C2 International, Megan Henshall of Google, Naomi Clare Crellin of Storycraft Lab and Liz Lathan of The Community Factory.
The Skift Meetings Event Design Summit featured a host of industry leaders discussing a variety of topics around event design. Two of these sessions focused specifically on designing for connection and designing with humans in mind, not their job titles. The event is currently available to view in full, on demand via this link.
Subscribe to the Skift Meetings Podcast: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Overcast | Pocket Casts | Google Podcasts | Amazon | RSS
Designing Events for Connection
The first conversation featured in this episode is a panel discussion with Liz Lathan, co-founder at The Community Factory, Megan Henshall, global events strategic solutions lead at Google, and Naomi Clare Crellin, CEO and founder at Storycraft Lab. Their discussion centres around the ways in which designing events for connection and belongings can and should drive transformation, which is the ultimate goal for events. However, it is also true that connection can mean different things to different people, both as individuals and as stakeholders. Therefore, how do we create an event that is able to find the necessary balance for event owners and sponsored, whilst also ensuring that the participant experience is excellent? The key is focusing on strategy.
Crellin also discusses the role of orchestrated serendipity, whilst Lathan touches on the 5 C’s user journey, which includes: care, co-creation, collaboration, conversation, and connection. Thinking about the future of events and experience design led to the creation of Google’s Experience Institute (Xi), created during the pandemic and headed by Henshall. Crellin and Lathan are also part of this initiative, which is internal/external, and you can hear all three discuss its importance in the episode. Google will soon be announcing another new internal/external project at IMEX America in October, focusing on neuro-inclusion, which Henshall touches on during this discussion.
Designing Events for Humans, Not Their Job Titles
Jesse Gainer, Director of Growth Strategy at C2 International believes the interplay of connecting people, immersion and content in creating meaningful experiences has been key to C2 International’s success, and you will hear why he believes this is the case and why it is so important.
For Gainer the most important key performance indicator (KPI) for any business event professional to look at, and the real litmus test of their event, is the quality of connections created. He believes that this is what we should be measuring above all else as it is the best way to track the overall business impact.
Authenticity and intentional design are key to Gainer, who notes that if you design with these two elements in mind you will be able to create an event which is impactful to your audience and their needs, regardless of your event budget.
You will also hear why Gainer believes it is important to dive deep into the discover phase with clients and what results this process can produce.
As always, you can hear the full discussion with these four industry leaders via your favorite podcast app.
Want to hear more from this Summit? The recording is available in full on demand. recording of the entire Click here to register and gain access at no cost.
