It's no longer about booking hotels, venues and rooms, or ordering food and flowers. Break through your checklist of event planning tasks by designing an event experience.

1. Event planning is dead,
long live experience design
Bob Vaez
CEO EventMobi
IMEX 2017
bob@eventmobi.com
Twitter: @bobvaez

2. Maple PopCake Goes to NYC
A Fictional Event Story
Event Goal:
Need to increase direct sales in NYC
Audience:
Coffeeshop owners
Parameters:
High Margin
Unique
Cake to Go
Perfect for winter , can eat with gloves
* Meeting at Aug 14, 2017

3. The Event Planner Journey
The Critical Path &
The Event Life Cycle
Planning
[August]
Marketing
[Sep-Nov]
Management
[Oct-Dec]
On-Site
[Saturday Dec 4]
Reporting [ Jan ]

4. Planning
August 2018
•Name
•Date
•Location
•Theme
•Budget

5. Marketing
Sep-Nov 2018
•Social Ads
•Email Marketing
•Call Down
•Mailers
•Find Celebrity

6. Management
Oct-Dec 2018
•Registration Site
•Pre-Event Comms
•Logistics
•Speaker Management

7. On-Site
Dec 4th 2018
•Checkin and Welcome
•Drinks and Catering
•AV
•Décor, Music and Staging
•Testing the products

8. Reporting
Jan 6, 2019
•Distribute Order Form in Swag Bags
•Send Post Event Survey to Attendees
•Consolidate Final Report for Client

9. Where do we naturally
focus to build the event
experience?
Where is the
attendee
experience &
engagement?

10. The Attendee Journey
Awareness [sep]
Reserach [Sep]
Set Expectation
[Sep]
Commitment
[Nov]
Travel [ Dec ]
The Event [Dec
4th]
Evaluate [Dec
5th]

11. Awareness
•Gets a Call
•Sees an Ad
•Gets an Email
•Gets a Post Card

12. Research
•Asks Friends on Facebook
•Checks Your Website
•Checks Your Social-Feeds
•Asks You a Question

13. Set Expectation
•Tries to Justify Value
•Envisions a Fun Experience
•Hopes for Productive Outcome

14. Commitment
•Checks Availability
•Considers the Cost
•Fills Out the Forms to Register
•Receive Confirmation

15. Travel
•Plans for Travel
•Lots of Unknown to Navigate

16. The Event
•Checkin
•People
•Learning New Things
•The Vibe, Music, Food

17. Evaluate
•Tells Family and Coworkers
•Goes Through Notes and Business Cards
•Answers Your Survey, Calls and Emails

18. The Attendee Journey
Awareness [sep]
Reserach [Sep]
Set Expectation
[Sep]
Commitment
[Nov]
Travel [ Dec ]
The Event [Dec
4th]
Evaluate [Dec
5th]
Digital Experiences Sensory & Digital
Experiences
Digital
Experiences

19. Digital & Sensory Experiences
Digital Experiences Sensory & Digital
Experiences
Digital
Experiences
● Website
● Registration Page
● Digital Ad Design
● Social Media
● Email Marketing
● Chat/DM/Email (with your staff asking questions)
● Travel booking
● Pre-Event Communication (Email, Push, Social,
Retargeting)
● Video, Images, VR/AR, Graphics
● Online Community
----
● Physical Mailers
● Phone Communication
● Checkin App/Kiosk
● Event App
● Push/Chat/Email/Social
● A/V, Digital Signage
● RFID/Beacon
● ARS/Live Polls/ Gamification
-----
● Badges, Totebag
● Decor, Lighting, Staging,
Music
● Printed Collateral, Banners
● F&B
● Your Team
● Speakers/Sponsors/Vendors
● Other Attendees
● Email/Push/Social
● Post Event Survey
● Pushing Event
Insights to
HR/CRM/ERP
-----
● Thank you call

20. Embed Your Attendees Journey in
Your Planning Process
1. Understand Your Goals
2. Consider What Success is for Your Attendees
3. Plan Your Event That Tells a Story that Ends in Their
Success.
4. Align Sensory and Digital Experiences
Tell them a story
to visualize
desired
outcome
Make it easy for
them to learn
more
Support your
Story with rich
media
Remove friction
in registration
Collect
essential info
Engage them
onsite
Enable and
Track success
metrics

21. THANK YOU
Bob Vaez
CEO EventMobi
bob@eventmobi.com