From Strategy to User Experience: Meeting Design is Everything

Audience/Presenter Agreement
Get Out of Jail Card...
●  You are free to jump out any time.
Join the Conversation...
●  Engage on social media @socialtables | @blaubrau
●  #MPICACNEXT
Steal Everything!
●  Take as many photos/notes as possible and share them
●  I am happy to send you the slides
Let’s be Friends!
Justin@socialtables.com

@socialtables | #MPI
I am a participant.
I am a planner.
I am a believer.
I am a supplier.

Here is what we will cover.
Define meeting design and explain why it’s important to our
profession.
Learn frameworks to evaluate your current programs.
Apply new design concepts to transform your experiences.

Stage Setting

Design tells
a 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

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 attendee journey.
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
c o n t e n t o f a
meeting to deliver
o n c r u c i a l
b u s i n e s s
objectives.”

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

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.”

The Urgency for Meeting Design
Automation Outsourcing Expectations Competition

“The meetings manager is
now far more than an event
planner. She now plays a
s t r a t e g i c r o l e i n t h e
l i v e l i h o o d o f t h e
organization, bolstering its
current conferences and other
events while finding ways to
innovate future ones.
Say hello to the new strategic
meetings manager.”
2014

The Tools

PurposeIdentification
Source: Marriott’s Meeting Imagined

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.
EmpathyMapping
Source: Gamestorming

1.  Identify attendee
persona.
2.  Simulate their
experience from
cradle to grave or
survey them.
Extending
Exiting
Engaging
Experiencing
Entering
Arriving
Anticipating
Attracting
Announcing
JourneyMapping
Source: The 8 Phases of a Successful Event, Maritz

The Framework

The Process of Meeting Design for an Event
1. Select a stakeholder (e.g. client).
2. Translate stakeholder’s needs into objectives (e.g.
connection => networking)
3. Select a phase (e.g. before, during, or after)
4. Select a classification and element...
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...
5. Develop design interventions.
MPI report on Meeting Design, 2013; The Meeting Architect’s Manifesto; Social Tables

Need: Reconnect with old friends.
Objective: Network
Phase: During
Classification: Programmatic
Element: Initial introductions
Intervention: Place old yearbooks at each table
Example: Attending a Wedding as a Childhood Friend

Example: Attending a Medical Conference 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

simulation
Let’s try it as a group

Refresh Your Org’s Annual Executive Off-site
1. Select a stakeholder
2. Translate stakeholder’s needs into objectives (connection =>
networking)
3. Select a phase (before, during, or after)
4. Select a classification and element...
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...
5. Develop design interventions.
MPI report on Meeting Design, 2013; The Meeting Architect’s Manifesto; Social Tables

Alternatives and Innovation in
Room Layouts

“
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
Flared Aisles
Access Lanes
Long Side Setup
Angled Seats
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

Sapphire 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

American Express Global Business Travel booth at GBTA 2015
Booths as Museum Exhibits

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

The Old Way:
High Boys
The New Way:
Parisian Cafe Style
Cocktail Receptions

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

Icebreakers

Workshops

Breakouts

What does the future of meeting
design look like?

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

Wrapping up… and contact info
Justin Blau
justin@socialtables.com
@socialtables
“If you don’t think about design,
someone will think about design
for you.”

1.  Identify your
stakeholders.
2.  Map out their
influence and
interest.
StakeholderAnalysis
Source: http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/participation/encouraging-involvement/identify-stakeholders/main

4,000+ customers; 100,000 users
100 countries
3 languages: English, Spanish, French

1 billion sq ft of function space
990,000 events created
63 million attendees impacted

3D walkthroughs of innovative
designs

From Strategy to User Experience: Meeting Design is Everything

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (20)

Similar to From Strategy to User Experience: Meeting Design is Everything

Similar to From Strategy to User Experience: Meeting Design is Everything (20)

More from Social Tables

More from Social Tables (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

From Strategy to User Experience: Meeting Design is Everything