I've been thinking about building in public...

Building in public is when entrepreneurs take their audience along with them during product development - before it’s actually ready. Pretty simple concept. When done well, it’s a brilliant display of authenticity and the creation of something the eventual users feel invested in - aka more likely to purchase. Social media has a lot to do with this concept, gaining momentum by showcasing the highs and lows, the challenges and triumphs, and speaking directly to consumers. It’s like business reality TV at your fingertips.?

I wrote a piece last year about how Kanye West did this and I think about it often.

There is something very interesting here for those creating experiences.?

We talk so much about knowing our audiences, but what if we focused on forming authentic relationships with our audiences instead? What if we didn’t try to have all the answers for go-live, but we built experiences with our desired audiences? Invite them to watch it come to life with us!

It gives the pre, during, post event journey a different meaning.?

As it becomes harder and harder to grab the attention of people, I’m betting hard on the brands that lift the curtain and pull their audiences into the design and brand story from the inside out.?

xRD

one. anti-party in the usa.

Airbnb launched an anti-party technology designed to prevent unwanted gatherings and further protect their hosts in the US and Canada. The accessibility for everyone to be an event planner was made easy and fairly inexpensive by Airbnb. With the ban on fêtes, there is clearly an opening for intimate venues that allow anyone to throw a rager. Add this to the fact that event planning is one of the most desired remote jobs right now and I see a huge opportunity.

two. love & basketball.

Just read this article on Overtime Elite, a high school basketball league giving top players a better pathway to becoming professional athletes by bypassing the NCAA. They are a masterclass on understanding their talent, community building, content creation and the future of environment design for events. Their story is pretty awesome too. Who knows, maybe if this existed in the 90’s I would have gone pro (ahem, since I broke a rib my junior year and got dropped by every D1 school recruiting me).

three. hungry heart.

I’m sure you saw the drama about the crazy Bruce Springsteen ticket prices thanks to Ticketmaster’s variable pricing model that adjusts pricing based on supply and demand. As someone who often advises on price modeling and also consumes products with market-based pricing, I’m conflicted. If demand is there, the price will increase. But, what’s the tipping point in satisfaction on the value and return on the experience? When do we do more harm than good?

four. choose your own adventure.?

I’m really into the new interactive video platform, Tolstoy. Think of it as marketing automation, but in video format. A personalized adventure for communication. It is a logic-based, video platform where you choose what you want to hear. I really like the concept for all things experience (onboarding clients and employees, sales, product FAQ/help, even education). I want to see an event incorporate this into their experience journey (hint hint).

five. big kale.

Did ya know that Pizza Hut was the largest buyer of kale before 2012? They used it as a garnish to cover up the ice on their salad bars. One woman is responsible for the rise of kale: Oberon Sinclair. She saw the potential, thought kale was cool and created a marketing campaign for her new client, the American Kale Association, which she completely made up. Part of that campaign was getting influencers (and suckers like me) to wear kale swag. It started appearing in popular NYC restaurants and the rest is history. Honestly, I don’t even like kale, but this is the kind of creativity I live for.

I highly recommend sharing this with someone who will be on a beach this weekend. For more info on what I actually do outside of yammer via newsletter, gimme a follow or even text me 917-659-1808. I love new friends.

"Cause tramps like us, baby, we were born to run." - Bruce Springsteen