From Strategy to User Experience: Meeting Design is Everything

From Strategy to
User Experience
Design is Everything
Dan Berger | CEO | Social Tables

Let’s agree to the following...
● Questions are welcome any time.
● Engage on social: @danberger #TSE2016
● Take as many photos and share as you please.
● You’re free to leave any time.

@danberger | #TSE2016
I am a participant.
I am a planner.
I am a believer.
I am a supplier.

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

1 billion sq ft of function space
500,000 events created
63 million attendees impacted

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
content of a
meeting to deliver
on crucial business
objectives.”

Manage
Comm.
Plan
Source
Strategize
Data
Mission
Technology
Technology
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
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

The Framework

The Process of Meeting Design
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

simulation
Let’s try it as a group

Refresh Your Org’s Annual Executive Off-site
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

The Tools

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

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

PurposeIdentification
Source: Marriott’s Meeting Imagined

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

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
FlaredAisles
Access Lanes
Long Side Setup
Angled Seats
Curved Rows
45°Aisle
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

Learning
Zone

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

3D walkthroughs of innovative
designs

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...
Dan Berger
dan@socialtables.com
@danberger
“If you don’t
think about
design,
someone will
think about
design for you.”

From Strategy to User Experience: Meeting Design is Everything

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