Futures Forum

Let's Get Phygital! looks at examples of Physical x Digital interaction designs and asks what we might learn and apply to the Hybrid experience journeys we create. In this episode we discuss Phygital Tech and XM applications and look at examples of work from Left Field Labs, Blue Cadet, Microsoft. We hear from Allie Magyar (Hubb), Neal Thompson (AWS), Gary Gonzalez (Convoke), Julie Lynch (Lynchpin Ex) who discuss applications for audience engagement, dialogue and the potential of Machine Learning for elevating virtual networking. 

In this episode we ask the forum to reflect on what they are seeing and experiencing as strategists and planners. And we ask - what do you need to know about Hybrid? In this podcast - part one of two - we hear from Allie Magyar (Hubb), Gary Gonzalez (Convoke), Kimberley Gishler (CEMA), Julie Lynch (Lynchpin Ex) and Sara Smith (Microsoft Research).

A weekly mindshare on innovations, ideas and best practices for the experiential industry.In this week's episode we talk about Gamification of Content. What we can learn from F2F to apply to Virtual,  and vice versa? How can the current virtual necessity be used for future,  possibly more hybrid,  event scenarios and applications? The conversation was organized around 4 talking points:Naomi Clare, Allie Magyar, Mark Dominguez, Ronni Kimm: Let’s talk about the lens of RN vs. Future. How have you been balancing those perspectives? How has this driven why we are gathering in this Forum?  How do innovations and frameworks shift in response to unprecedented challenges and why should we be hopeful about the future?Gary Gonzalez, Amy Blackman, Mark Dominguez, Katy Mull: Esports events are this really unique blend of the live and virtual. How have you seen Esports brands bridge the spatial ‘distribution’ of attendees so that both types of participation are integrated and inclusive?  Clare Brown, Michael Lewis, Justin Boone, Amelie Bahlsen: What are some best practices for Gamification in immersive interpretive environments that you have seen? How are the physical and digital experiences integrated – and how might that be extended to virtual participation? Denise Cintron, Allie Magyar, Justin Boone, Naomi Clare – What are the best practices for Gamification at conventions, conferences or activations? How have you approached the Virtual participant in past events, and how might that change in the future given our current virtual pivot?

Futures Forum:Mindsharing Ideas, Innovations, and Best Practices for the Experiential Industry.This week we are talking about Learning from Experience - how approaches to measurement and assessment in the future may be impacted by our current virtual pivot. At the table are Hubb, Intel, Fruition, NASA, PCMA and OPUS Agency and Storycraft Lab. 

In this hands-on episode we we shift from ideation to application mode. This Experience Mapping workshop asked participants to map a journey for their attendee profile.  Visit https://www.thefuturesforum.com/listen-learn to view the pre-read materials that were sent to attendees. Your mission (should you choose to accept it): Read the pages below and select a profile journey you identify with. Have a think about what YOU would LOVE to experience at a Hybrid event. Share ideas and get hands on in the MURAL, where we’ll be building our journey maps: https://app.mural.co/t/storycraftlab1758/m/storycraftlab1758/1595616317654/fe2008913a5ca51ad568024f56a103b398f0359cLots of brilliant ideas here from Allie Magyar, Josh Vanderkrol and Marty Choate of Hubb, Dan Noake of Modev, Mark Dominguez of Intel, Mahoganey Jones of Event Specialists, Rachel Matthews of George P. Johnson and Megan Henshall of Google. This episode was facilitated by Storycraft Lab - and those of you exploring the MURAL will also find ideas contributed from members of CEMA, and  students from NYU Stern as well as the GWU Event Management program. 

In this hands-on episode we we shift from ideation to application mode. This Experience Mapping workshop asked participants to map a journey for their attendee profile.  Visit https://www.thefuturesforum.com/listen-learn to view the pre-read materials that were sent to attendees. Your mission (should you choose to accept it): Read the pages below and select a profile journey you identify with. Have a think about what YOU would LOVE to experience at a Hybrid event. Share ideas and get hands on in the MURAL, where we’ll be building our journey maps: https://app.mural.co/t/storycraftlab1758/m/storycraftlab1758/1595616317654/fe2008913a5ca51ad568024f56a103b398f0359cLots of brilliant ideas here from Allie Magyar, Josh Vanderkrol and Marty Choate of Hubb, Dan Noake of Modev, Mark Dominguez of Intel, Mahoganey Jones of Event Specialists, Rachel Matthews of George P. Johnson and Megan Henshall of Google. This episode was facilitated by Storycraft Lab - and those of you exploring the MURAL will also find ideas contributed from members of CEMA, and  students from NYU Stern as well as the GWU Event Management program. 

In this fun episode we let the ideas roll, as we shift from learning to ideation mode. We found ourselves focusing on acts of co-creation and content engagement. This Idea Jam was run as a Yes And session - each of the participants  began with a thought or 'What if we' / 'How might we' question and the group plussed on top in response until the concept got so epic we had to stop! Lots of brilliant ideas here from Allie Magyar of Hubb, Justin Boone of Opus Agency, Dan Noake of Modev, Christina Schuler of Intel. This episode was facilitated by Storycraft Lab. We'd love to hear any ideas or thoughts sparked by this session from our audience!

In this fun episode we let the ideas roll, as we shift from learning to ideation mode. We found ourselves focusing on acts of co-creation and content engagement. This Idea Jam was run as a Yes And session - each of the participants  began with a thought or 'What if we' / 'How might we' question and the group plussed on top in response until the concept got so epic we had to stop! Lots of brilliant ideas here from Allie Magyar of Hubb, Justin Boone of Opus Agency, Dan Noake of Modev, Christina Schuler of Intel. This episode was facilitated by Storycraft Lab. We'd love to hear any ideas or thoughts sparked by this session from our audience!

In the face of adversity, humans get creative. We invent. We innovate. We evolve. And as Planners, Strategists and Creators we respond to the evolving needs of our audiences. So today in our Spark session we ask: What's New? What's getting you excited? What cool tech or interesting innovations are you seeing? How are our audience needs changing and what ideas are sparked for future events? In Part two, discussions turn to the importance and possibilities of how we can enable discovery, energize shared connections and reimagine 'networking' in light of evolving audience needs. We hear from Dan Noake of Modev, Justin Boone of Opus, Mahoganey Jones of Event Specialists, Neal Thompson of Amazon Web Services, Howard Stern of Kaon Interactive, Lauren Telchin Katz of NASA, Allie Magyar of Hubb, Megan Henshall of Google. 

In the face of adversity, humans get creative. We invent. We innovate. We evolve. And as Planners, Strategists and Creators we respond to the evolving needs of our audiences. So today in our Spark session we ask: What's New? What's getting you excited? What cool tech or interesting innovations are you seeing? How are our audience needs changing and what ideas are sparked for future events? We hear from Dan Noake of Modev, Justin Boone of Opus, Mahoganey Jones of Event Specialists, Neal Thompson of Amazon Web Services, Howard Stern of Kaon Interactive, Lauren Telchin Katz of NASA, Allie Magyar of Hubb, Megan Henshall of Google. In Part one, discussions turn to the importance and possibilities of Audio to a connected experience, and how experience scales - from micro to macro moments - create meaningful connections with other humans. 

In Shared Strategies we hear two fireside chats. In the first discussion around Shared Journeys: How might data enable us to connect, personalize and measure hybrid experiences? We heard from Allie Magyar of Hubb, Megan Henshall of Google, Neal Thomas of AWS and Justin Boone of Opus Agency. In this episode we begin with Julie Lynch of Lynchpin Consulting responding to the Fireside Chat from Part One, then we hear the second Fireside Chat on Shared Communications: How do we engage attendees and build awareness BEFORE the event? with Rachel Stefan of Snoball, Kim Gishler of CEMA, Mary Healy of Opus Agency and Sara Smith of Microsoft. Sarah Bondar of The Charles Group leads the response to the discussion.Thanks to all of our participants, which included also Megan Schofield of Google and Lauren Telchin Katz of NASA. 

In Shared Strategies - we hear two fireside chats. The first discussion is around Shared Journeys: How might data enable us to connect, personalize and measure hybrid experiences? We'll hear from Allie Magyar of Hubb, Megan Henshall of Google, Neal Thomas of AWS and Justin Boone of Opus Agency. In this first episode we also hear group introductions from the full Futures Forum. These are often omitted from the podcast, but for our regular listeners we thought it might help to put voices to names. If you wish to skip ahead to the chat itself, you'll find that at the 10 minute mark. The next episode will be posted on Monday and will include the group response to this initial fireside chat as well as the second Fireside Chat on Shared Communications: How do we engage attendees and build awareness BEFORE the event? with Rachel Stefan of Snoball, Kim Gishler of CEMA, Mary Healy of Opus Agency and Sara Smith of Microsoft.Thanks to all of our participants, which included also Megan Schofield of Google, Lauren Telchin Katz of NASA, Julie Lynch of Lynchpin Consulting and Sarah Bondar of The Charles Group. 

In this episode, the brilliant minds -  Jeremy Baxter-Jenkins at SilverFox Communications, Justin Boone of Opus Agency, Kena Jones of Salesforce, Susie Kandzor of Microsoft, Allie Magyar of Hubb, Sarah Bondar of the Charles Group, Megan Henshall of Google and Monte Rehling of Intel - return for a continued thoughtful discussion about how to foster meaningful inclusion in virtual and hybrid events. In the second half of this discussion the group talks about how virtual enables and extends audience inclusion, and how we might consider equity of experience across a variety of hybrid journeys. 

In this episode, we hear some really brilliant minds in a thoughtful discussion about Inclusivity, including Jeremy Baxter-Jenkins at SilverFox Communications, Justin Boone of Opus Agency, Kena Jones of Salesforce, Susie Kandzor of Microsoft, Allie Magyar of Hubb, Sarah Bondar of the Charles Group, Megan Henshall of Google and Monte Rehling of Intel. This was a lovely conversation, with a lot of consideration around how we meaningfully create experiences that are inclusive. The first part of this discussion asks what Inclusivity means to each of the participants, from their unique perspective on the events and experiences industry. And, we hear from Kena Jones on how the terms 'Inclusion' and 'Accessibility' can be considered in relation to one another. 

In this episode of the Futures Forum, we hear from Justin Boone, Opus Agency, Denise Cintron of Intel and Kim Gishler as they find inspiration from examples of Phygital design for XM, in particular the example of Tim the Security Guard at the Museum of the Cowboy and Western Heritage. We also hear from Natalie Fulgencio-Turner of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Rachel Matthews of George P Johnson, along with Allie Magyar of Hubb and Gary Gonzalez of Convoke + Catchy as they find inspiration for Phygital applications from the world of Art and Immersive Museum Exhibits. 

In this episode we ask the forum to reflect on what they are seeing and experiencing as strategists and planners. And we ask - what do you need to know about Hybrid? In this podcast - part two of two - we hear from Mahoganey Jones (EventPreneur), Julie Lynch (Lynchpin Events), Kim Gishler (CEMA), Justin Boone (Opus Agency), and Sarah Bondar (The Charles Group). 

In this week's episode, "May The Fourth Be With You," we talk about epic tales of adversity and triumph. What Star Wars character do you represent today, and how did they overcome challenges they faced? The panelists assess the unique qualities of Star Wars characters, revealing themes such as emotional intelligence, balance, and adaptability, as it aptly relates to the challenges we're facing in our own personal and professional lives today. 

In this week's episode we talk about Virtual Adaptations. What trends in live experiences will need to be adapted for virtual engagement, and what opportunities for innovation can we uncover? We heard about themes such as the importance of empathy, how virtual can support shared human experience and community, how we might connect experience with the greater good, and the unique opportunities that virtual platforms open up.  The Storycraft Lab team gathered to review this conversation and share some of the key insights provided by:Justin Boone, Opus AgencyNeal Thompson, AmazonUsha Chaziyat, Intel Meghan Schofield, Google

In this week's episode we talk about Virtual Meaning. How might experiential learning approaches make virtual content engaging and meaningful? The conversation was organized around 3 talking points:Content Engagement StoriesParticipants: the whole groupShare a short story about your most memorable content engagement:What happened? What is your lasting memory of the experience? What messages resonated and why do you think they impacted you? From Engagement to Activation Participants: Bret Freedman, Jason Ulaszek, Ronni KimWhat moves the needle on the dial of activation?Microsoft Hackathon Pivot to Virtual Participants: Susie Kandzor, Jonathan Healey, Jason Ulaszek, Naomi ClareWhat innovations and insights have you discovered through the Microsoft Hackathon pivot to virtual? How might these insights be applied to other learning formats 

A weekly mindshare on innovations, ideas and best practices for the experiential industry. In this week's episode we talk about Virtual Spaces. How do we connect, navigate and experience Virtual Spaces? The conversation was organized around 4 talking points:Audience Journeys - Howard P. Stern, Naomi ClareHow do we help attendees to connect, navigate and experience Virtual spaces? How does site/venue and setting influence the conference experience? How do the principles of Interior Architecture apply to Virtual Spaces?Experience Planning –Meghan Schofield, Denise Cintron, Meredith RollinsWhat best practices can we apply F2F event design and what are the entirely unique considerations for Virtual? What can we understand from working styles, preferences and environments to apply to virtual connectivity? How do we think about branding in live events and what does this mean for the virtual experiences we create?Future Scenarios –Meredith RollinsHow do we support the re-skilling of the industry? How might we enable shared –integrated -spatial experiences in future hybrid events? What does this mean when we think about “Future as a process, not a place” (Ronni Kimm) ?Physicality and Technology –Howard P. Stern, Amy Blackman, Naomi ClareHow might physical exhibits be made virtually accessible –and virtually inclusive? How do AR and VR tools provide meaningful shared experiences? What is Mixed Reality and what are best practices for meaningful content engagement in MR space?