Introducing the Epitome | A State of Awe Essay Series

The Latest Wonders in Experience Design, Festivals and Gatherings

“We will be back to producing events by August”, I said.

Looking around, the assembled crew of colleagues all nodded in agreement. Behind them, an absolutely jam-packed stadium event was raging. As was the transmission of a virus that was going to disrupt our friendly, short-term pact.

It’s easy to forget. It’s easy to forget how temporary it was going to be. Easy to forget the empty streets, the boarded up retail windows, and most definitely the toilet paper shortages. We bunkered down, spinning up FaceTime dinner parties, Zoom dance parties and experimenting with new technology that promised to bridge this very temporary divide. Pot banging patio celebrations and distanced coffee walks. We were apart, yet together. This was all going to be very temporary. This was March 2020. 

The calls to restrict behaviour were becoming louder, and we all thought a few tough months, at most. A group of gathering designers and event professionals, unable to see the reality of what was bearing down on us. That was well over eighteen months ago. 

Things became much more clear, very quickly. Our region experienced its first death two days later. The Imperial College projection study that showed global deaths soaring into the millions dropped a week after that. A public health emergency was declared the following day, with social gatherings, indoor dining and a raft of behaviour restrictions implemented four days later. I wrote my first digest on the future of gatherings the next day, on March 22, 2021. 

Every other Sunday from that point forward, I published a new digest, exploring the latest news and hottest trends at the intersections of psychology, imagination, digital gatherings, and economics. It helped me navigate what was happening in real-time. It was the first time in my life that I found the time and the courage to write publicly, and it was extremely rewarding. Ultimately, I used this new hobby as a way to remain connected to you during very unconnected times. 

But as the months became a year, and as the news consolidated, each digest began to feel more-and-more forced. I consistently delivered thirty-five digests before I felt the content lacked depth, novelty and value. At least to me.

Back in July, I took a hiatus. I returned to producing small, but complex live events. It felt good, and also gave me time to reflect. 

Coming off those reflections, I decided that the digest format needed an evolution. 

We have clearly entered a new era. The pandemic wasn’t a short 3-month break like we first assumed. Instead, the world of gatherings, events and experiences has been forever upended. As we near the end of the year and look into what should be a very socially jubilant 2022, there will be a difference. If you have been following along, it will be easy to agree that things won’t be going back to how they were before.

Through the experience of writing thirty-five digests, I uncovered three mega-trends for the experience economy that will reestablish a new baseline for the future: 

• LEGACY PATTERNS HAVE BEEN SMASHED. The first and likely most fundamental change is that our status quo, what was considered normal, has been completely thrown out. Legacy methods have entirely shifted, and legacy behaviours, completely lost. What we used to worship or desire, fading in relevance. A few easy examples? The fact that your physical location no longer matters as much. We have a staffing crisis and a materials shortage. How you market to consumers is upside down. Decentralized subcultures proliferating over homogenous beliefs. Visual artists, one of the most traditionally disadvantaged professions, poised to acquire fame and money more quickly than any other. Creators, the Davids of today, have triumphant advantages over Goliath, the corporation. It is impressive how dramatically that legacy thinking, and the institutions that support that thinking, has imploded.

• A DIGITAL METAVERSE REVOLUTION ARRIVED. The second big change is the digital revolution of live events. I’ve been saying since April of last year that our industry has faced its Napster moment. The dam has broken, consumer habits have shifted virtually, and the capital flowing into hybrid technologies is staggering. We now accept video meetings as the default setting. We have all socialized in one way or another via virtual technologies. Facebook rebranded as Meta, and every large brand is making an immersive digital move in one way or another. Most significantly, every cool culture kid seems to be working to decentralize western society. Web3 is on the verge of shifting our biggest wants from physical things to virtual goods. In the very near future, the most desirable experiences will be in the Metaverse. 

• HOW WE ORGANIZE OURSELVES HAS SHIFTED. Third and finally, we are seeing a massive change in how we organize ourselves. Inclusivity and diversity is a top priority for everyone. But even more deeply-seated? A tack away from hierarchical structures to flat, fluid and community-driven organizing. We’re watching as NFT artists rally massive communities around their tokens, and organizations like Black Lives Matter lead us into the next era using a distributed leadership model. The DAO, or the Decentralized Autonomous Organization, is taking venture capital and community crowdfunding to stratospheric levels. The leaderless, distributed and anonymous self-organizing culture wave is going to surprise you. 

Nearly every article, news item or trend briefing that I collected over the last year-and-a-half fits squarely into one of those three tectonic movements. While I’m not sure any of them can be attributed directly to the pandemic, I am confident in saying that their strength was rocket-boosted because of it. 

In exploring these topics, I began to wonder if a topical digest of short morsels was the best format? After contemplation, I decided that a writing style less driven by the churning media cycle and more tuned into a deeper-level of exploration is what I would enjoy. 

As my confidence in these three trends goes up, my discovery period is slowing. And I feel like a deeper understanding of the topics within each realm is what will provide the most value. 

I would like to introduce you to The Epitome Series, a set of essays with more depth on a single topic, argument, or first principle. Starting early in the new year, and being released in a more fluid, less scheduled way, the Epitome Series will replace the digest for the time being. 

For those of you who will miss the regular letter, I do apologize. From time-to-time, you may still see a digest come out (I’m thinking quarterly). In the meantime, I do hope you will stick around to take a deeper dive into the topics you already know and love. 

Until we reconnect, I hope you and your closest relationships find a way to gather in the most enjoyable ways over the Holidays. We all deserve it. See you in 2022. 

As Ever, 

Jordan (with the support of Tyson)