From Strategy to User Experience - Meeting Design is Everything

#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.

I am a participant. I am a planner. I am a believer.

3,000 customers; 50,000 users

6 continents; 150 countries

3 languages: English, Spanish, French

1 billion sq ft of function space

500,000 events created

63 million attendees impacted

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.

Stage Setting

Design tellsa story.

Design sends a message.

Design changes behavior.

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

● 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

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.

How do you define meeting design?

“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

Manage

Source

Strategize

Mission

TechnologyTech

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

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

The Urgency for Meeting Design

Automation Outsourcing Expectations Competition

“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.”

Frameworks

The Process of Meeting Design

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

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

Stakeholder Identification is not Enough...

New Board Member A 28 year old millennial with 2 years of industry experience attending her first Board meeting.

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

1. Identify your stakeholders.

2. Map out their influence and interest.

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

Identify and plot 4 of your meetings’ stakeholders

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

Source: Gamestorming

Create an empathy map for your key stakeholders

Source: Marriott’s Meeting Imagined

Evaluation

Create a stakeholder persona.

1. Identify attendee segment.

2. Simulate their experience from cradle to grave or survey them.

Extending

Exiting

Engaging

Experiencing

Entering

Arriving

Anticipating

Attracting

AnnouncingJo

Source: The 8 Phases of a Successful Event, Maritz

“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

The Form:The General Session

The Ideal General Session

Access Lanes

Long Side Setup

Angled Seats

Curved Rows

45° Aisl

Source: Radde, Paul. Seating Matters.

TED Canada (Vancouver Convention Center)

Vancouver Convention Centre, TED

Custom Stadiums

The Form:Open Spaces

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

PCMA Convening Leaders 2014 (Navy Pier, Chicago)

Functional Art Installations

“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

The Form:Trade Shows

Innovation Zones

The Campus

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

What are you doing different or what will you try?

The Form:The Breakout

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

School for American Ballet, Winter Ball 2014

The Old Way:Staggered Ballroom

The New Way:Mixed Seating

Large Dinners

The Old Way:Conference

The Old Way:U-Shape

The New Way:Hollow Rectangle

Board Meetings

LearningZone

The Old Way:High Boys

The New Way:Parisian Cafe Style

Cocktail Receptions

Networking Reception Session

PTTOW Summit -- Plan To Take On The World (Classified)

Icebreakers

Workshops

Breakouts

Pre-Cons

The Future of Meeting Design

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

What You Can Do Now

Certificates

● MPI cert

● Event Design Certificate

● Meeting Architecture classes

● IDEO - Human Centered Design Toolkit

● Kumar, Vijay - 101 Design Methods

● Radder, Paul - Seating Matters

Other Resources

● Gamestorming

● LEGO Serious Play

● Visit your convention center

● Meeting Design Generator by Social Tables

Final Thought and Contact Info

Dan Bergerdan@socialtables.com917-359-7757@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!

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