Event Success

CHAPTER 13Experience Design

The event organizer's job has always centered on attendee experience, and that will remain the industry's North Star moving forward, even as we change platforms and experiment with new technologies. In fact, much of the innovation we're anticipating—and to some extent, are already seeing—in the events space is focused on improving the attendee experience as part of the larger movement around experience-first design.

Providing a quality experience in an in-person-only format was already enough of a challenge. As organizers know, experience isn't just one thing, but the sum of many parts. Those parts can range from the event content to layout and design, networking opportunities, registration and check-in, and even the venue itself.

Experience encompasses an attendee's first moments clicking through to an event website, their first moments stepping in the virtual or in-person venue, and the way that the content and community facilitated by the event continue to serve as a touch point for attendees after the event concludes. In a virtual context, many of those real-world experiential design elements need to be transported into a digital platform or be replaced with an alternative that better suits the medium.

In the years ahead, event planners will have their work cut out for them, because providing a memorable experience will only become more challenging on a computer, tablet, or phone screen. Furthermore, organizers will need to continue providing ...