WXO - World Experience Organization

👑 What makes a great leader? According to several WXO Members... “Inspiring people, bringing motivation, direction and purpose for what they’re setting out to do and what to focus on.” Joachim Meyer Andersen “A great leader is like a chameleon: they can lead people from different cultures by changing their colours and approach accordingly.” Michael Arief Gunawan “An active listener who knows how to adapt to the need, and is confident to step in and give support to avoid leaving employees confused.” Skye V. “I do leadership workshops. Last week I had a person who didn’t feel like a leader, as she was very introverted. But there are as many different leadership styles as there are personality types. It’s about authenticity.” Bernd Gibson “Someone who knows your value and your superpowers.” Vasili Shatrov We often consider leadership skills as something that only managers need – but if you have the power to influence someone’s life or workload, you need to have leadership skills, whatever your job title. Jens Heitland & Claudia Ursuleț-Popa 🌸 at WeAreSucceed are on a mission to teach the world better leadership skills through measuring leadership with the Success Leader Index (SLI). Learn how you can use their tools to further your business or your professional career via the link in comments 👇

😈 How do you use the joy of fear in your experiences? As we ramp up to the scariest time of the year, we're reflecting on last Halloween's Campfire, in which Michael Badelt & Barron Scott Levkoff shared how they harness the power of horror in their experiences. Badelt uses Alan Hopps’s “SCAARE Principle” to train actors how to interact with audiences, for example: SELECT target (logistics, body language) CATEGORISE guest (decide what will work best) AWARENESS (spatial awareness, behavioural awareness, props and corners) ACTION REACTION (for example, a witty reply) ESCAPE (plan in advance – if it takes longer than 3 seconds to escape, it’s no longer scary and becomes annoying or funny) This is obviously useful for scary experiences – but we think it might also be useful for ALL experiences where we need to interact with guests and make them feel engaged, cared for, and safe. Learn more about how you can use scare tactics to amplify the impact of any experience via the link in comments 👇 (Image from Barron Scott Levkoff 's show: MADAME NIGHTSHADES SPIRIT CARNIVAL at The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, Carnival) #wxo #worldexperienceorganization #experiences #experience #experiencedesign #horror #horrorexperiences #horrorattractions #halloween #experienceeconomy

👩🦼 Inclusive design isn't an add-on: it should be fully integrated into your experience from the start. When we do this, it means that everyone who shows up to our experience can enjoy it equally, regardless of whether they have a disability or not. Sargood On Collaroy is a resort located on Sydney’s Northern Beaches in Australia. It's the world’s first, purpose-built facility providing accessible accommodation, personal care, equipment and amazing adaptive recreational activities to people living with spinal cord injury (SCI).  It's also a perfect example of an environment that has been designed for all abilities, using Universal Design for building layout, and purpose driven to see those with SCI increase their independence. This is achieved through design, technology, technique… and attitude! It's an interesting example of an environment being planned for full inclusiveness from conception, and has many ideas which can be taken into more commercial project design for experiences. Join Sargood's Executive Director, James Dakin, to learn how we can all become Extremely Accessible and champion fully inclusive design in our experiences, no matter how small the increments. #wxo #wxocampfire #worldexperienceorganization #experience #experiences #experienceeconomy #experiencedesign #inclusivedesign #accessibledesign #inclusivity #accessibility

🎲 Learn how to win your next experience pitch – in spooky Halloween style... For our next WXO PlayLab this coming Tuesday 29 October, experience strategist Nancy Duncan will recap her top 5 factors for winning a pitch, from creativity and innovation to chemistry to your presentation itself. We'll then tackle an imaginary, Halloween-themed brief in teams, putting Nancy's tips to the test in a fun and impactful exercise that you can apply to your next experience pitch – whatever the theme. WXO Members can RSVP now on Circle – get ready by reading the top takeaways from Nancy's previous Campfire on the subject via the link in comments below! #wxo #worldexperienceorganization #wxoplaylab #experiencepitch #pitching #experiences #experiencedesign #experienceeconomy

Is it possible to squeeze over two decades of experience design knowhow into one simple framework? Well, Creative Director Sermad B. – responsible for projects like Icons (The Up House, Polly Pocket House), Squid Game: The Trials, and Bravocon – has given it his best shot. The result is the brilliant, comprehensive, and revelatory E.M.O.T.I.O.N.A.L Framework for making experiences. Here's "E" for "Empathy" in a nutshell: 🥇 Empathy is experience design 101: it means being aware of what guests want and need 🏃♀️This empathy extends not only to guests but also to anyone involved in the experience, including operators and clients, who will be running and funding it △ Remember the “escalations of empathy”: start with the functional needs, and work your way up to those special moments that will truly connect with your guests. Want to unlock the rest of Buni's framework? Read the full report via the link in comments below – or WXO Members can go to Campfires on Demand now to watch back the full recording. #wxo #worldexperienceorganization #experiencedesign #experienceeconomy #experiences #wxocampfire #experienceframework

👸 Hot off the heels of our recent IRL WXO Campfire in Los Angeles with BRC Imagination Arts comes the second episode in the miniseries we've partnered up with them on: How To Shape A Legacy. Episode 2 focuses on legacy as it applies to businesses and brands. Maya Guice talks to BRC Chief Creative Officer Christian Lachel about the closest thing a brand can have to having a soul: a set of values, that lend to a series of decisions, actions, and events that become the lessons we impart, and hopefully, the stories that we tell when we feel like shedding light. Download wherever you get your podcasts at the link in comments! 👇 #wxo #worldexperienceorganization #brcimaginationarts #storytelling #story #experience #experienceeconomy #experiences #experiencedesign #legacy

🦋 Have we gone too far with transformation? Professors at Brigham Young University formulated the Hierarchy of Experiences some years ago to help understand how we might think about experiences, dividing them into four categories: 1. ORDINARY 2. MEMORABLE 3. MEANINGFUL 4. TRANSFORMATIVE While well received and influential, the implication of a hierarchy with transformative at the top means that there has become something of an obsession with designing transformative experiences. But not every experience can or should be transformative – and academic research shows that ordinary experiences have benefits that are in danger of being overlooked. BYU experience design professor Brian Hill & design strategist Ida Benedetto compared their research and got to an unexpected question: have we gone too far with cultivating a field that looks at transformative experiences as the only ones worth designing? Read their research and join the debate via the link in comments 👇 (image by the ever brilliant Kevin Dulle) #wxo #wxocampfire #worldexperienceorganization #experience #experiences #experienceeconomy #experiencedesign #transformation #transformativeexperiences #ordinaryexperiences

👻 In September 2024 an overnight, hybrid, immersive horror experience took place on an island off the Bristol coast, in what may have been a world first. Not only did Stormjar, the experience studio specialising in darker experiences, thrillers and mysteries that created The Static Sea, raise over £1000 for the charity that manages the conservation of Flat Holm Island, they also broke the record for the biggest-ever spend in Wales' smallest pub. 🍺 Now, Stormjar's Co-Founder Sophie-Alicia Shaw will share learnings that you can take into your next experience, such as how to: 🔥 Raise awareness and support conservation efforts 🔥 Create from a place of inspiration, using volunteer and community support 🔥 Be open to a range of income and participation levels 🔥 Blend physical & digital worlds 🔥 Make a one-night-only experience a success WXO Members can RSVP now – and check the link in comment to see what else we've got coming up for the rest of the season! 👇 #wxo #wxocampfire #worldexperienceorganization #experience #experiences #experienceeconomy #stormjar #horrorexperience #experiencedesign

We're pleased to announce the formation of the inaugural World Experience Council! 🥳 As the WXO - World Experience Organization nears its first 1,000 members, this team of global experience visionaries will play a pivotal role in guiding us into the next phase of our growth – and power the ongoing evolution of the Experience Economy, of course. The World Experience Council brings together a wealth of expertise from both the creative and commercial aspects of the Experience Economy. With centuries of combined experience and decades of pioneering advancements in the science, technology, art, impact, and measurement of experiences, these leaders will provide invaluable insights and guidance. “The collective wisdom of the World Experience Council will not only be instrumental in shaping the WXO’s future, but also help steer it in its mission to enrich the world with exceptional experiences and transform quality of life for all humans on planet Earth,” said the WXO’s CEO, James Wallman. Discover the full list of experience creators, investors, producers, operators, commissioners, professors, scientists and entrepreneurs behind the World Experience Council in the comments below 👇 #wxo #worldexperienceorganization #experiencenews #experienceeconomy #experiences #experience #worldexperiencecouncil

We're not surprised that our recent Campfire with salutogenic sound specialist Tom Middleton *resonated* with so many of you. Immersive audio is one of the most exciting new technologies shaping how we approach sensory design in our experiences. So we were delighted to welcome another former DJ turned immersive audio specialist and the founder of Swell Studio, Brian d'Souza, to tell us more about his journeys into sound therapy and immersive audio experiences. d'Souza went on a five-year journey to discover if sound therapy and the experience of a real-life sound bath could be distilled into a mobile app to reach people wherever they are, working with the likes of the The British Academy of Sound Therapy, L-Acoustics & Kinda Studios along the way. The resulting app, SwellSpa, helped him develop several principles for designing therapeutic sound experiences: 1. AGENCY. 😌 The individual has to be able to listen in the way that is right for them. To achieve a state of mindful meditation and focused attention, people need to feel at one with the space and in the moment – a challenge in our era of noisy environments and an overcrowded attention economy. 2. INTENTIONALITY. 🎯 We need to meet people where they are, understanding that we are all strange and wonderful, with different triggers. Some people are prone to sensory overwhelm, and some respond to sound in a negative way. One person’s music is another person’s noise. 3. STORY. 📖 We should look to support "patient listening": listening that’s purposeful, meaningful, and active, with a start, middle and end, akin to a storytelling experience. For more insights from d'Souza on how to channel the principles of sound therapy and design immersive audio experiences in your work, hit the link in the comments!👇 #wxo #worldexperienceorganization #experiences #experience #experiencedesign #wxocampfire #immersivesound #immersiveaudio #spatialaudio #wellness #wellnessexperiences #wellbeing #wellbeingexperiences #soundtherapy #soundhealing