In this episode, ThinkLab explores the changing landscape of events in the design industry, whether they’re digital, physical, or hybrid. Our guests each provide a unique perspective — from how manufacturers, distributors, and event producers should create events to how architects and designers should leverage them.  
 
First, Chuck Saylor, principal at Designvox, speaks about tailoring events to the current moment so that designers will be inspired to attend in person. Marco Giberti, entrepreneur and co-author of Reinventing Live: The Always-On Future of Events, draws his experience with B2B marketing to explain how events are changing across industries. Finally, A.J. Paron, design futurist at SANDOW Design Group, shares some tactical ideas for how to adapt to the hybrid era and use events to build stronger connections between designers and manufacturers. 
 
In this episode: 
[6:00] Find out the #1 thing that compels people to attend design industry events 
[8:00] Chuck discusses how creating meaningful content for a local audience can build community. 
[16:10] “Disruption is happening faster than ever before. You can deny this potential disruption, or you can engage disruption and be prepared for the next generation of events.” 
[19:30] Marco explains the need to develop “digital headquarters” to extend the life of physical events. 
[27:48] A.J. shares 3 ways organizers can prepare to pivot their plans in the face of shifting COVID-19 restrictions.  
 
Connect with our interviewees on LinkedIn: 
Chuck Saylor  
Marco Giberti 
A.J. Paron 
 
This season of Design Nerds Anonymous is brought to you by Mannington Commercial, Keilhauer, theMART, and NeoCon, companies doing big things to move the design industry forward. 
 
Download our leading-edge playbook: 100 Ways to Create a Phygital Sales and Marketing Strategy. 
 
Finally, thanks to Hannah Viti, our audio producer, and Blue Dot Sessions for providing the music for this episode.