Unlock Event Magic: Surprise Your Attendees with Unforgettable Experiences!

those unexpected experiences that make an event truly memorable. And I think this is going to be a really fun session. So I want to start with a fun question and hear what is the most memorable or surprising experience that you've had recently.

>> Um so I took my um children who are Gen Z um to Italy and we were in Venice. We were at the JW in Venice, which is on a private island, 15-minute water taxi. Um, I love to immerse the kids in different cultural experiences when we travel. I feel like I'm privileged to be able to travel in this industry. Um, and trying to really showcase that for them so they really develop a broader sense and perspective on life. So, they have a cooking school called Sapore. And so we with chef Raquel, we did noki making, we did um pizza making. And I feel like when you share experiences like that, it's something that's incredibly memorable. For us, it was the highlight of our trip. We were in three different cities. Um it'll something that the kids will remember forever. >> And just looking at good food, >> I was going to say, not only was it memorable, it also looks delicious. I'm I'm glad we're coming up to lunch uh pretty soon. Uh but you know really what

you're describing is an experience that's inspiring. It's memorable, unexpected, and really rooted in the destination which we know attendees are looking for today. And in particular, Gen Z has a really different set of expectations. This is a generation that already makes up 21% of event attendees and they're on track to be twothirds of the workforce by 2030. So, I'm sure for everyone in this room, you're rethinking every element of your programs to accommodate for this rising generation. And Alice, you work with planners all across the country. I'm curious, how have you seen the expectations of the younger generations impact what type of experiences planners are really prioritizing?

>> Yeah, I mean, I think Kate, it's a great question. Significantly changing, right? I think if as you and I live with two Gen Z's, right? So I feel like I know them pretty well. Um and I think they really want these immersive experiences, right? Something that's like culturally grounded. Um and they are, you know, something that's undiscovered, right? Like these hidden gems on even in places where you might be familiar with um like a city like this, how you can create these completely unique experiences. So, I feel like a lot has been changing and evolving as a result of kind of what they want and they're changing it, I think, for everybody else, right? They're changing people's perspective on what somebody anticipates coming into a meeting, right? The type of programming they're expecting. Um, even flexibility in the schedule, right? Um, more so than in the past. And a lot of planners are now really looking to the hotels um to talk through what unique experiences can we create like show us what you can do. So a lot lot has been changing pretty consistently.

>> Yeah. Yeah, and I love that you bring up this concept of hidden gems maybe in a location, you know, because when we first started um planning for this session, my mind immediately went to kind of that secluded lagoon uh in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, which if anyone here is planning an event in a secluded lagoon, please come find me later. I'm happy to attend. >> Um, but you know, that's not really what we're talking about. How are you defining hidden gems? And how can planners use that concept to really elevate the attendee experience? >> Yeah, I think people think remote location first. I think when we say hidden gems and it can be that, right? People are discovering different locations in different cities. Um, so I do think it's important to be as planners like open-minded to new locations, right? If you look at like Cleveland, you look at Detroit, right? they're on like this urban revival in those cities and the amount of um investment in those cities are pretty significant, right? Um from a hotel perspective, I mean we have a 600 room JW coming into the market. We just opened our first luxury event space with no rooms that'll be attached to this complex, an addition hotel coming in to the market. So really high-end luxury coming into this market. Um, but I think, you know, when you look at Hidden Gem, it's really how do you make it feel special? It's not like a secret location or secret somebody hasn't experienced. It's it may be new for your attendees to experience. And so, when you look at things like being in a in a city like this, um, how do you create a sense of place and community, right, which is something that they're really gravitating to, um, even in markets that

they're very familiar with. um you look at this generation I think too more so than all really focus on sustainability right and giving back to their community and so you know I'll give you an example um of what I mean by sense of place from a sustainability standpoint right um I had just come back from we did our incentive in the um Ritz Carlton in Capalua in Maui um and we have a what we call the um ambassador of the environment program that groups can take advantage of and so we did this for our attendees um where we have naturalists n sorry naturalists that are on staff that will take you snorkeling but it's really deep dive into the culture the community where things are coming from where things are are grown um and you can also do you know energy you know helping with conservation projects that are happening in those markets right as we kind of rebuild communities and things of that nature so seems to be really um very wellreceived and again give people a different sense of place. >> Yes. So, it sounds like it can be a venue, it can be a destination. Um, but really it's about an experience and it's always unexpected. Um, and I really want to get the pulse from everyone here in the room. We're going to have a poll up on the screen and we want to hear which uh type of experience leaves the biggest impression on your attendees. You can vote via the QR code on the screen or via the app like you've been doing. And we're going to come back to some of those results um at the end. But I want

to pivot a little bit and talk about the strategic upside of um these unique experiences. We heard earlier, you know, budget is one of the biggest concerns that people have. Everyone in this room is being asked to do more with less. So why should planners be leaning into these hidden gems in this environment? >> Um I think return on investment really important, right? And I I don't I'm sure a lot of people have heard of um return on relationship and I think Ana hit it really well earlier when she talked about people want to feel part of something different and community, right? And when you look at these events, they have a much higher return on um higher return on the meeting satisfaction scores, right? We're seeing that. But it's trying to capture like the emotion part of do they feel more connected to your association, your company as a result of um because you've given them more connectivity to people, right? And access to people. So, and things that they're going to remember and talk about all the time. Um but

right away, I think everybody goes to super expensive, right? There are some elaborate events that are 100% expensive, right, to pull off. But there's also other things that you can do with creativity, right, and intent. So, at the JW Marco Island, as an example, they um have this immersive experience, and this does not do it justice, but it's called the Panton um dinner experience, and it's all tied around sunset, right? So, everything is tied around like beautiful yellows, fiery oranges, um pink blush, but the menu is curated in the same color tone, right? And we invite our guests to come dressed tied to sunset, right? The beginning stages of sunset and the end. And so again, it just that's a creative and intention. It's not like the menu was so significantly different than what somebody would have selected. So I just have you think about some of the creative ways you can do it. At Sheridan Hotels, as an example, we started doing when we do breaks, I heard some breaks going away, but here's here's the thing on breaks, right? We're inviting local businesses into our community, into our hotel. I think it gives you that kind of authentic experience that people are trying to have. And so for example, like at the Sheridan in Dallas, you know, they have vendors that'll come in that are local small businesses coming in with hot sauces that you can try and curate. So again, it gives you a very different vibe on a break. Um, and we're supporting our small businesses in the community. So there's a lot of creative things that you can do that are not going to break the bank. So it it doesn't need to be costly. It doesn't need to be complex, but it does need to be creative. and discovery like that takes time which again was one of the top things that people said they don't have. So how can people really surface these unexpected experiences without adding to their workload?

>> I mean I think there's a lot of tools and and as I say this I'm not just speaking for Marriott International right but as a community or hotel community um a lot of digital tools that are being curated. Um, we've now worked on a playbook, right, that gives you I think the hotel community hasn't done a great job of when you go in on site, how many of you seen the ballroom set the way it typically is set, right? It's hard for you to envision like what we can how we can unlock that space. And so, um, and we haven't really told that story very well. So, we now have a playbook on these experiences. And believe it or not, in a month from now, um, at our newly renovated Marriott Marquee here in New York, we're going to showcase these the top experiences that we have that our hotels have curated and bring our customers into that to experience it and show them how we can how we bring it to life, right? Um, so that's how much we believe experiences matter. People are looking for those unique experiences. So, um, I think we are going to give away is that up here? Yeah. So, we will have three people, three or four people invited to attend that event in New York in a couple of weeks. Um, so if you're interested, um, I promise you it will be spectacular. JW Marco will be highlighting kind of Pantone in in real life. Um, but really great experience for our CRN network of hotels, which are our larger properties across the portfolio. Um, and then I'll reach out to to you next week. >> Yeah. And certainly you can tell how much uh Marriott is prioritizing experiences, but I want to go back to

what you said your attendees are prioritizing in terms of the experience. You know, we'd love to uh pull up those poll results and see what your uh top result was. And it looks like local culture really left the most lasting impression on your attendees. So Alice, how can everyone in this room bring the unexpected into an experience that incorporates local culture?

>> Yeah, I mean I think I give you a couple examples, right, on on some things that you can weave in that is not um as high cost. I will tell you one that I I've seen execute and here are some different things. So we're doing a lot more stuff with our pools, right? um in off times where people are not using it with meditation, yoga, wellness obviously being a priority for people, not just a nice to have tied to a meeting. Um below is like an ice cave too in Canada. So again, remote location. Um but one that is kind of near and dear to me and and one of the best ones I've seen executed so far um because we challenge our hotels every day to beat the next one, right? kind of level up the the bar and the expectation is um something the Marriott Marquee here in New York calls um from the ballroom to the burrows. So again, this is an exceptional city and they recreated in their ballroom space beautiful vision of what New York is. So this is a snapshot of that. Um they've created like they bring Broadway into that. So again, all of different parts of our ballroom are staged differently. So we have that being done. We have street artists that are doing paint art um or spray paint art. We have here's our bodega, right, which if you're from this area, which I am, um a core cornerstone in a lot of our neighborhood communities across all of our burrows. And it has great food from the city that people can experience, right? Um we also have things like um our subway buskers, right? Singing and bringing it to life. We have break dancers in there. So, it's taking the best of the city, right? A lot of people come into meetings and then they leave and they're in the same four walls, right? And they don't leave it. This is bringing the city into them and cultivating it in a pretty pretty spectacular way. I think that's a perfect example of how you can bring culture of community into into a hotel. >> Amazing. And I think you know that idea of bringing something so locally rooted and making the magic come to life with something a little unexpected is a perfect place to end. So thank you so much Alice and thank you everyone here. >> Thanks everybody.