The Atomic Event
A New Way of Thinking About the Next 24 Months
As we all work to rebuild the events, trade shows, and conferences that are so crucial to your organization’s success, now is the perfect time to hit the reset button on your thinking and consider a new approach.
Let’s start with the most basic building block of everything in the known universe--atoms. Human beings, plants, water, air, convention centers, your computer, everything is comprised of atoms. And if you take this just one step further, thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and attitudes are simply a form of atomic energy. For our purposes, let's think of this as our 'human energy field.'
And remember, energy is neither created nor destroyed. Energy can be conserved, transferred, or transformed. For example, heat and light from the sun, powered by nuclear fusion, support the growth of plants and animals, which are converted into energy in the form of calories that we consume, and so on.
OK. Enough with the science lesson and back to events. Events are simply environments where energy is transferred and transformed from one human energy field to another. Events are places where atoms change form as energy is transferred between people as “atomic” ideas are exchanged, atomic business deals are discussed, and atomic human interaction (networking) and atomic insight are converted into new ways of advancing individual and collective progress.
So, now what? How does thinking about atomic events help me? Here are three ideas to consider:
- As an event organizer, you have been held back for these last 11 months because the ability to transfer energy in the form of ideas transmitted through the in-person emotional frequency of energy transfer has been inhibited by screen-to-screen interaction. Zoom is efficient but not effective at transmitting the energy frequency face-to-face. What does this mean as we all get back to a high-energy, high-frequency, high-atomic event experience that restores the current disturbance in the force? Plenty. Now is the time to think about how to liberate this pent-up energy transfer by designing your 2022 in-person event to make the most of the human experience. Create more intimacy, more authentic spaces for interaction, more serendipitous connections, and less traditional networking over cocktails and loud music. Think carefully about how you design the physical specs to support real human energy transfer. Design with human energy transfer in mind.
- The days of being an event landlord and expecting your guests to know who else at your event is tuned to the same emotional frequency should come to an end. Digital events are great at pre- and post-connection. Help your attendees by allowing them to meet like-minded people before they arrive. Ask questions during registration about where they went to school, hobbies, personal interests, and favorite movies, and give people an opportunity to meet others around personal and professional connection points. Affinity groups are how people come together. Cat lovers, football teams, knitting groups, and car enthusiasts all have similar energy fields of interest; why not offer new ways of engaging your audiences by connecting them around shared energy...in new ways.
- Add a new design principle to your event-planning strategy: introduce the EMOTIONAL EKG. This idea comes from an understanding of human physiology and recognizes that energy ebbs and flows throughout the day. Ask yourself how your event design can help regulate this energy flow – how you start each session, how you greet your audience at registration, and how you speak to your audience with your “event voice.” One of the best general sessions I’ve ever been part of was when Deepak Chopra spoke at a medical conference our company designed. He led the audience of physicians and other medical professionals in meditation...all 5,000 of them. Sounds weird, but it was so powerful, and renewed the audience after a long day. Consider the music, food, lighting, carpeting, green-spaces, outdoor locations, and air quality considerations you can adopt to influence the emotional energy and help your audience feel alive, recharged, and re-energized.
The invisible atomic charges that can be transferred and transformed by event leaders who are looking for a new way to attract, engage, and inspire audiences are so powerful. As we all come back together, this new future will be here before we know it.
Unlock your energy and begin to think about how we will all thrive in this new era of live atomic energy experiences.
Don Neal
Founder & CEO
360 Live Media
703-915-8421
P.S. If you or your colleagues are looking to get a leg up on marketing in 2021, I'm sharing my outlook and advice with DMCNY on Wednesday. Registration is free.