from strategy to user experience - meeting design is everything

From Strategy to User Experience

Meeting Design is Everything

Dan Berger | CEO | Social Tables

@danberger | #ONEconfYYC

Rock,Paper,Scissors,Posse.

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Audience-Presenter Agreement

● Leave at any time. ⏳

● I’m @danberger. You are #ONEconfYYC.

● Steal everything.

● Participation encouraged. �

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I am a participant.

I am a planner.

I am a supplier.

4,000 customers

50 countries

3 languages

Over 1.5 billion sq. ft. of event space

Over 1 million events created

Over 100 million attendees impacted

125 employees

Raised $10 million

Founded in 2011

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I am a participant.

I am a planner.

I am a believer.

I am a supplier.

@danberger | #ONEconfYYC

@danberger | #ONEconfYYC

● Define meeting/event design and understand why it’s important to our profession.

● Adopt a framework for meeting/event design

● Apply new design concepts to transform experiences.

● #BONUS: Discover trends that will directly impact meeting/event design.

Learning Objectives

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Stage Setting

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Design tellsa story.

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Design sends a message.

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Design changes behavior.

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“If you don’t think about design,someone will think about design for you.”

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● The meaning of “meeting design” is not agreed upon.

● The term “meeting design” is not widely used.

● There is a lack of popularly accepted frameworks and tools.

The Problem with Meeting Design

Source: MPI report on Meeting Design, 2013

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Experience Design is Everything and Everywhere

● The design of the organization’s overall event strategy.

● The design of your meeting’s theme.

● The design of the experience.

● The design of the program.

● The design of each breakout room.

● The design of each tabletop.

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How do you define meeting design?

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“The purposeful shaping of both the form and the content of a meeting to deliver on crucial business objectives.”

Source: MPI report on Meeting Design, 2013

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Manage

Comm.

Plan

Source

Strategize

Data

Mission

Project Management

SchedulingTransportation Housing

Surveys

Badges, Check-in, etc

Marketing

Design

Reg Social

Reports

Measure

Logistics

The Meeting Planning Process Pyramid

(c) Social Tables, 2014-2016

Site Selection

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The Opportunity of Meeting Design

“[Meeting design presents] one of the

few opportunities to enable meeting

professionals to do more with less...

to reduce costs and increase value.”

Source: MPI report on Meeting Design, 2013

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The Urgency for Meeting Design

Automation Outsourcing Expectations Competition

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“The meetings manager is now far more than an event planner. She now plays a strategic role in the livelihood of the organization, bolstering its current conferences and other events while finding ways to innovate future ones.

Say hello to the new strategic meetings manager.”

2014

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The Framework

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Inte

ntio

nal M

eetin

g D

esig

n 1. Identify the stakeholder you’d like to improve the experience for.

Note: It can’t be everyone.

2. Identify the objective they’d like to achieve.

Note: Every stakeholder group has a different objective.

3. Create a design intervention.

4. Simulate your intervention.

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The Tools

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Inte

ntio

nal M

eetin

g D

esig

n 1. Identify the stakeholder you’d like to improve the experience for.

Note: It can’t be everyone.

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1. Identify your stakeholders.

2. Place them in the power vs. interest matrix.

Sta

keho

lder

Ana

lysi

s

Source: http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/participation/encouraging-involvement/identify-stakeholders/main

Staff

CustomersSponsors Prospects

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1. Identify the stakeholder you’d like to improve the experience for.

Note: It can’t be everyone.

2. Identify the objective they’d like to achieve.

Note: Every stakeholder group has a different objective.

Inte

ntio

nal M

eetin

g D

esig

n

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Pur

pose

Iden

tific

atio

n

Source: Marriott’s Meeting Imagined

Customers

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Pur

pose

Iden

tific

atio

n

Source: Marriott’s Meeting Imagined

Sponsors

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Inte

ntio

nal M

eetin

g D

esig

n 1. Identify the stakeholder you’d like to improve the experience for.

Note: It can’t be everyone.

2. Identify the objective they’d like to achieve.

Note: Every stakeholder group has a different objective.

3. Create a design intervention.

@danberger | #ONEconfYYC

Des

ign

Som

e E

pic

Sh*

t

@danberger | #ONEconfYYC

@danberger | #ONEconfYYC

1. Identify the stakeholder you’d like to improve the experience for.

Note: It can’t be everyone.

2. Identify the objective they’d like to achieve.

Note: Every stakeholder group has a different objective.

3. Create a design intervention.

4. Simulate your intervention.

Inte

ntio

nal M

eetin

g D

esig

n

@danberger | #ONEconfYYC

1. Identify stakeholder.

2. Simulate their experience from cradle to grave.

Extending

Exiting

Engaging

Experiencing

Entering

Arriving

Anticipating

Attracting

AnnouncingJo

urne

y M

appi

ng

Source: The 8 Phases of a Successful Event, Maritz

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Innovation in Design Sets

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“Room set is extremely important to the success of a meeting, and a serious responsibility for the meeting professional to manage.

- Convention Industry Council Manual

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The Form:The General Session

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The Ideal General Session

Source: Radde, Paul. Seating Matters.

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Change up the seating in your theatre sets.

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Create multiple stages to keep the audience’s attention.

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A mirrored theatre helps create community.

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The Form:Open Spaces

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“Spaces designed to promote engagement

increase the likelihood of

collisions...

more collisions create positive outcomes.”

C2 Montreal (Arsenal)

Source: Workspaces That Move People, Harvard Business Review

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The 3 E’s of Successful Interactions

Source: Workspaces That Move People, Harvard Business Review

● Engagement - Interacting with people within your social group.

● Exploration - Interacting with people in many other social groups.

● Energy - Interacting with more people overall.

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Build coworking spaces into your day-long programs.

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Popup office sets let participants create their own environment.

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A living room design helps participants get comfortable.

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PCMA Convening Leaders 2014 (Navy Pier, Chicago)

Inject art installations into your events to send a message.

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Design a club in your next event for both fun and exercise.

Daybreaker party at #STConf 2016, Social Tables HQ

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The Form:Trade Shows

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Innovation zones offer a condensed expo for smaller companies.

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The Campus design squeezes every element of an event together.

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Freeman booth at IAEE Expo! Expo! 2014

Rethink your trade show booth as art exhibits.

@danberger | #ONEconfYYCAmerican Express Global Business Travel booth at GBTA 2015

Rethink your trade show booth as an educational opportunity.

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The Form:The Breakout

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Mixed sets are all the rage.

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The Old Way:Banquet

The New Way:Family Style

Out-of-the-Box:Extended Banquet Table / Serpentine Banquet

Summit Outside

Social Tables Company Dinner, Newseum

Serpentines give you options.

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Use furniture to create event flow

The Old Way:Staggered Ballroom

The New Way:Mixed Seating

School for American Ballet, Winter Ball 2014

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The Old Way:Classroom

The New Way:Learning Pods

Use the layout to set expectations.

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The Old Way:Classroom

The New Way:Crescent Rounds

Use the room set to create outcomes.

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The Old Way:U-Shape

The New Way:U-Shape w/ details

Little changes go a long way.

@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015

LearningZone

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The Old Way:High Boys

The New Way:Parisian Cafe Style

Make people sit when they least expect it.

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Force a different room set.

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Who needs tables anyway?

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What does the future of meeting design look like?

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What are some trends in deisgn that you’re seeing?

Aligned incentives for event success between buyers and suppliers

On-site logistics will be handled by machines and robots.

Content will be crowdsourced or auto-generated.

There will be “smart” furniture in meetings and events

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Wrapping up...

Dan Bergerdan@socialtables.com

twitter: @danbergersnapchat: danjbeger

“If you don’t think about design,someone will think about design for you.”