#WEC15
From Strategy to User Experience
Meeting Design is Everything
Dan Berger | CEO | Social Tables | August 2015
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
Audience-Presenter Contract
● Leave at any time.
● Join the conversation: #WEC15 or @danberger.
● Steal everything.
● Participate... or don’t.
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
I am a participant. I am a planner. I am a believer.
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
3,000 customers; 50,000 users
6 continents; 150 countries
3 languages: English, Spanish, French
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
1 billion sq ft of function space
500,000 events created
63 million attendees impacted
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
Learning Objectives
1. Define meeting design and identify the opportunity it presents.
2. Evaluate your current programs to maximize attendee opportunities and organizational goals.
3. Apply new concepts to transform your meetings.
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
Stage Setting
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
Design tellsa story.
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
Design sends a message.
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
Design changes behavior.
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
If you don’t think about design,someone will think about design for you.
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
● 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
MPI report on Meeting Design, 2013
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
Meeting Design is Everything and Everywhere
● The design of your organization’s overall meetings strategy.
● The design of your meeting’s theme.
● The design of the attendee experience.
● The design of the program.
● The design of each breakout room.
● The design of each tabletop.
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
How do you define meeting design?
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
“The purposeful shaping of both the form and the content of a meeting to deliver on crucial business objectives.”MPI report on Meeting Design, 2013
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
Manage
Comm.
Plan
Source
Strategize
Data
Mission
TechnologyTech
nolog
yProject
Management
SchedulingTransportation Housing
Surveys
Badges, Check-in, etc
Marketing
Design
Reg Social
Reports
Measure
Logistics
The Meeting Planning Process Pyramid
(c) Social Tables, 2014-2015
Site Selection
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
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.”
MPI report on Meeting Design, 2013
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
The Urgency for Meeting Design
Automation Outsourcing Expectations Competition
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
“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
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
Frameworks
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The Process of Meeting Design
1. Select a stakeholder [ participant | vendor | sponsor | owner ].2. Identify stakeholder’s needs.3. Define organization’s objectives.4. Select a phase [ before | during | after ].5. Select a classification.
a. Programmatic - Destination, agenda, time...b. Conceptual - Format, room layout...c. Human - Facilitators, entertainers, emcees, speakers...d. Artistic - Color, decor...e. Technical - A/V, staging, furniture...
6. Select an element.7. Develop design interventions.MPI report on Meeting Design, 2013; The Meeting Architect’s Manifesto; Social Tables
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
Attending a Board Meeting as a New Member
● Need○ Feel a sense of belonging and make a good first impression.
● Objective○ Onboard new member and make sure she adds value.
● Phase○ During
● Classification○ Programmatic
● Element○ New member introductions
● Intervention○ Reverse roast the new member
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
Stakeholder Identification is not Enough...
New Board Member A 28 year old millennial with 2 years of industry experience attending her first Board meeting.
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
Refresh Your Org’s Annual Executive Off-site
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
Refresh Your Org’s Annual Executive Off-site
1. Select a stakeholder [ participant | vendor | sponsor | owner ].
2. Identify stakeholder’s needs.
3. Define organization’s objectives.
4. Select a phase [ before | during | after ].
5. Select a classification [ programmatic | conceptual | human | artistic | technical ].
6. Select an element.
7. Develop design interventions.
MPI report on Meeting Design, 2013; The Meeting Architect’s Manifesto; Social Tables
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
1. Identify your stakeholders.
2. Map out their influence and interest.
Sta
keho
lder
Ana
lysi
s
Source: http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/participation/encouraging-involvement/identify-stakeholders/main
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
Identify and plot 4 of your meetings’ stakeholders
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
1. Identify stakeholder
2. Determine a question you have for that stakeholder. (e.g. why should I sponsor the annual sales conference?)
3. What are they thinking, feeling, saying, doing, hearing? The point is to truly understand and empathize with their situation so you can design.
4. Solicit feedback from others.Empa
thy
Map
ping
Source: Gamestorming
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
Create an empathy map for your key stakeholders
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
Pur
pose
Iden
tific
atio
n
Source: Marriott’s Meeting Imagined
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
Evaluation
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Create a stakeholder persona.
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
1. Identify attendee segment.
2. Simulate their experience from cradle to grave or survey them.
Extending
Exiting
Engaging
Experiencing
Entering
Arriving
Anticipating
Attracting
AnnouncingJo
urne
y M
appi
ng
Source: The 8 Phases of a Successful Event, Maritz
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
“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
Flar
ed A
isle
s
Access Lanes
Long Side Setup
Angled Seats
Curved Rows
45° Aisl
e
Source: Radde, Paul. Seating Matters.
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
TED Canada (Vancouver Convention Center)
Vancouver Convention Centre, TED
Custom Stadiums
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The Form:Open Spaces
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The Key Elements of Successful Communication
1. Exploration - Interacting with people in many other social groups.
2. Engagement - Interacting with people within your social group.
3. Energy - Interacting with more people overall.
Source: Workspaces That Move People, Harvard Business Review
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
PCMA Convening Leaders 2014 (Navy Pier, Chicago)
Functional Art Installations
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
“Spaces designed to promote
communication increase the likelihood of
collisions... more collisions create
positive outcomes.”
C2 Montreal (Arsenal)
Source: Workspaces That Move People, Harvard Business Review
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015Sapphire Now (Orange County Convention Center, Orlando)
The Downtown
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The Form:Trade Shows
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Innovation Zones
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The Campus
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Booths as Art Installations
Freeman booth at IAEE Expo! Expo! 2014
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015American Express Global Business Travel booth at GBTA 2015
Booths as Museum Exhibits
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
What are you doing different or what will you try?
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
The Form:The Breakout
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
The Old Way:Banquet
The New Way:Family Style
Out-of-the-Box:Extended Banquet Table / Serpentine Banquet
Small Dinners
Summit Outside
Social Tables Company Dinner, Newseum
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
School for American Ballet, Winter Ball 2014
The Old Way:Staggered Ballroom
The New Way:Mixed Seating
Large Dinners
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
The Old Way:Conference
The Old Way:U-Shape
The New Way:Hollow Rectangle
Board Meetings
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
LearningZone
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
The Old Way:High Boys
The New Way:Parisian Cafe Style
Cocktail Receptions
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Networking Reception Session
PTTOW Summit -- Plan To Take On The World (Classified)
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
Icebreakers
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Workshops
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
Breakouts
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
Pre-Cons
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The Future of Meeting Design
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
What will the future look like?
● Aligned incentives between buyer and supplier
● “Smart” meeting furniture
● Room setup and teardown at the press of a button
● Crowdsourced content
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
What You Can Do Now
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
Certificates
● MPI cert
● Event Design Certificate
● Meeting Architecture classes
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
● IDEO - Human Centered Design Toolkit
● Kumar, Vijay - 101 Design Methods
● Radder, Paul - Seating Matters
Books
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
Other Resources
● Gamestorming
● LEGO Serious Play
● Visit your convention center
● Meeting Design Generator by Social Tables
@danberger | #WEC15 | 2015
Final Thought and Contact Info
Dan [email protected]@danberger
“If you don’t think about design,someone will think about design for you.”
if you give me your card, I can send you the slides!