Defying Conventions: Mallory Schlossberg on Immersive Event Design and Creative Innovation

Jun 13

Featuring Mallory Schlossberg, award-winning creative and the CREATIVE LEAD OF EVENTS AND EXPERIENCES at GOOGLE

Mallory Schlossberg (she/her) is an award-winning creative who fuses her hybrid background of brand, theater, and editorial to drive work that pushes the limits of the expected and puts the attendee at the center of it all. In 2023, she was named one of Chief Marketer Pro and Event Marketer Top Women in Marketing in the Creatives category. She currently brings events and experiences to life for Google Cloud’s Go-to-Market Creative Services team, and she has previously held roles at Google Fiber, Whole Foods Market, and Hearst Digital Media. In addition to her brand work, she is a theater director, performer, and writer, and the soundtrack to her original musical, Human Resources, is available on Spotify. She is also a musical improv instructor in Austin, Texas, and has taught people all over the globe how to improvise songs thanks to the magic of the internet.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

How to seamlessly blend brand identity with theater and editorial strategies to captivate audiences.

Techniques to innovate and exceed audience expectations in marketing and event design.

Attendee-centric design and approaches to prioritize attendee experiences in event planning and execution.

Award-Winning Creative Traits and the key characteristics and habits of successful and recognized creative professionals.

How to harness skills from different fields like theater, writing, and brand management for unique outputs.

Methods for creating memorable and impactful in-person, hybrid, and virtual event experiences.

When to utilize improvisational techniques to enhance creativity and spontaneity in marketing.

From Case studies and lessons from driving events and experiences for Google Cloud.

How to navigating the evolving landscape of digital media and its impact on branding.

Effective teamwork approaches to drive innovative and successful projects.

In this episode…

Mallory Schlossberg's multi-faceted career spans brand management, theater, and editorial work, positioning her uniquely at the intersection of creativity and experience. Recently, the award-winning creative joined Paige Buck on the "Solution Seekers Podcast" to discuss her journey, the evolution of marketing, and the magic of mixing music, theater, and brand storytelling. Her vibrant career includes roles with Google Cloud, Google Fiber, Whole Foods Market, and Hearst Digital Media, where she has consistently crafted compelling stories and immersive experiences. This hybrid background allows her to blend theatrical elements into brand storytelling, making her campaigns both innovative and deeply engaging.

Mallory's achievements in marketing are noteworthy, with a focus on creating impactful brand experiences akin to directing a play, requiring an understanding of audience, narrative, and emotional resonance. Recognized in 2023 as one of Chief Marketer Pro and Event Marketer's Top Women in Marketing, her ability to push creative boundaries and center the attendee in every experience she creates has been lauded. Despite the challenges of the pandemic and the shift to virtual events, Mallory's innovative thinking and adaptability have been crucial to her success. Beyond marketing, her passion for theater as a director, performer, and writer, along with her work as a musical improv instructor, underscores her belief in the transformative power of creativity. Her journey offers valuable lessons on versatility, innovation, and risk-taking, inspiring others to rethink their creative approaches.

DOWNLOAD THE TOP TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS PODCAST EPISODE FOR FREE

Resources Mentioned in this episode

Sponsor for this episode…

This episode is brought to you by Kennedy Events.

Kennedy Events creates stress-free conferences and events, providing expert management and design for all your corporate event needs—from in-person to hybrid and virtual events.

To learn more about our services, visit our website at www.kennedyevents.com and schedule a consultation today to find out how we can guide you in making your event successful.

Transcript

Paige Buck [00:00:43]: In 2023, she was named one of chief marketer Pro and event marketer top women in marketing in the Creatives category. She currently brings events and experiences to life for Google Cloud's go to market creative services team and she has previously held roles at Google Fiber, Whole Foods Market and Hearst Digital Media. In addition to her brand work, she is a theater director, performer and writer, and the soundtrack to her original musical human Resources is available on Spotify. She is also a musical improv instructor in Austin, Texas, and has taught people all over the globe how to improvise songs, thanks to the magic of the Internet. Before we get started, today's episode is brought to you by Kennedy Events. Kennedy Events creates stress free conferences and events, providing expert management and design for all your corporate event needs, from in person to hybrid and virtual. You can learn more about us@kennedyevents.com dot Mallory hello. Hi.

Paige Buck [00:01:49]: And thank you for being here. Mallory Schlossberg [00:01:51]: Thank you for having me. It's really weird hearing your own bio.

Paige Buck [00:01:55]: Oh my gosh. I mean, you're like, did I write that? Should I change that? Mallory Schlossberg [00:01:59]: Yeah.

Paige Buck [00:02:00]: But your bio is such a joy, and I cannot wait to listen to your, to human resources. I'm a music theater nerd, so I. And I just kind of sit in awe of all the different ways you, all the different creative outlets you get to play in.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:02:17]: Well, thank you. I mean, it's all my passion, and I think it helps out with doing the kind of work that I do.

Paige Buck [00:02:23]: Oh, I'm sure. Yeah. Like, everything threads into everything else.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:02:26]: Oh, totally. And that's what I tell people when they're like, how did you get into it? And I usually say I fell into it because all the things that I was doing made sense, if that.

Paige Buck [00:02:39]: Tell me more about that. How did it all make sense and what was it?

Mallory Schlossberg [00:02:44]: So, as you said, all the different things I've done, I have a pretty varied background. I've been doing theater forever. I've worked in creating all kinds of content storytelling formats, from literally hosting storytelling shows in New York to touching everything from like videos to signage to journalism to editorial to ux for apps. But, like, ultimately, my theater work is my most significant influence. My most significant influence. You mentioned I'm an improv instructor. I'm a performer and director in Austin. So experiential really is just kind of a home for all those skills I've accumulated.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:03:21]: But like, to be clear, I did not go to school for this. I wanted to be on SNL or on Broadway. Paige Buck [00:03:28]: Nice. Nice. It could still happen.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:03:31]: We'll see. It depends on who's listening.

Paige Buck [00:03:34]: That's right. That's right. This is the moment it's going to be because they heard you on our podcast. Yes.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:03:39]: I need to be really funny now. Paige Buck [00:03:44]: How did things progress from theater to working in the corporate, experiential side of things?

Mallory Schlossberg [00:03:51]: I mean, I had been working at Google in a separate role, and I was very fortunate that when I was looking for my role at the time, I saw a career coach who actually said to me, why aren't you talking about all the theater stuff you've been doing your whole life? At the time, I was producing virtually human resources during the pandemic, which is really an amazing accomplishment for so many people who were involved in it, because we did all these crazy technical things to do a musical live over the Internet. And in the beginning of the pandemic, that was unheard of. And I was managing all these different parts, all these technical solutions, all of these things. And a career coach I was working with basically said, why aren't you talking about this when you look for jobs? And I was like, well, I don't think they're going to take me seriously. And the person said, well, I think it might actually help you. And so I took talked about it and I wound up in my current role.

Paige Buck [00:04:43]: Wow. Wow. So it's also pretty recent, it sounds like, that you took experiential fully into your like, corporate day job, so to speak.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:04:52]: So since I would say I would took formal events relatively recently, several years ago. But when I look back on it, I actually have been doing experiential for longer. If you consider theater it, if you consider virtual productions that, if you consider ux, that, if you consider all these other things that. So what I like to tell people is, you know, we shouldn't have a narrow mind of what experiential or events are, because anything can be an experience. Going to the grocery store can be an experience. And if you're thinking about designing that, you know, me thinking about designing sets and thinking about people walking into a theater and people thinking about people scrolling, interactive experiences, I've been thinking about these my whole career. So, I mean, if I was giving advice to somebody, I would say, you probably already have experiential experience. It's just, how are you framing it.

Paige Buck [00:05:49]: And how are you? Do you even see it for yourself? Sorry? Does that person even see for themselves?

Mallory Schlossberg [00:05:56]: Yeah, I think a lot of people don't. I think a lot of people don't. I think they're like, well, have I done a conference? Did I intern this? Was I a producer? Did I do that? But I actually think the more diverse perspectives that people bring in to the industry, the better the work gets. Because then we start breaking formulas, we stop doing the things that everybody expects, we start trying new things. And that's what I am really passionate about, basically, defying expectations and doing things that are new.

Paige Buck [00:06:27]: I love that word, defying. Like that phrase, defying expectations. It's amazing. And when you just said that everyone's doing experiential, if you think about what that includes, and you mentioned the grocery store. I was at experiential marketing summit recently, and a friend in the industry was giving a presentation where she was describing exactly that. She was like, so you came in here and you had thoughts and preconceived notions, and now you're having feelings. Maybe it's anxiety, maybe it's hunger, maybe it's excitement, maybe it's boredom. But you're having feelings.

Paige Buck [00:07:02]: We're evoking something in you. You know, what are they? And then how do we play with that, too?

Mallory Schlossberg [00:07:09]: Yeah. Paige Buck [00:07:10]: To center the attendee.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:07:12]: Absolutely. Absolutely. There's a book by this author, Margaret Karrison. She's absolutely brilliant. And she has a book that recently came out that talks about, like, narrative place making. I don't want to misquote it, but I think that's what it's called, basically, about how you can create a narrative in literally any single space. And I think that's really essential. You know, the moment you walk in, anywhere the story begins.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:07:34]: The story begins, actually before, when you're thinking about it, exactly. Of those preconceived notions, etcetera. And I think that it's that kind of thinking that's really important. And to not just think about it as, oh, the moment that we have the keynote, it begins. That's a fragment of it.

Paige Buck [00:07:49]: Yeah. Yeah. So, like, what gets you out of bed in the morning. What excites you in your current role?

Mallory Schlossberg [00:07:54]: What excites me in my current role? You know, there's something obviously really magical about getting to lead and experience, like, the first seed of an idea. Watch it germinate to full execution. I feel very fortunate. You know, I've been empowered, bring my whole self to work and to try anything, which is really awesome. I mean, I feel like that's any creative's dream. I personally am uninterested in doing what's been done before, so getting to do something new or a little scary, I think that's what excites me the most, and I've been really lucky that I've gotten to do a lot of that recently.

Paige Buck [00:08:28]: Can you share some examples of what defying conventions or. Sorry, I just. As the music theater nerd, and it's not even.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:08:37]: It's far from gravity.

Paige Buck [00:08:38]: I know, I know. I almost said defying gravity instead of defying convention, and I'm like, wicked is, like, way down the list of musicals that I like, so apologies for that. But, yeah, just any, like, what's a quotidian example of defying a basic convention? Mallory Schlossberg [00:08:59]: Okay, so, obviously, I can't go into too much detail, but I will say I worked on an event that historically had traditional breakouts, and I asked that we have none. So we literally broke down walls. Now, that's not the answer for every event, but it answered the challenge, the objective we had, I think, you know, the important thing is to never get bogged down by, oh, we did it this way, and it worked. Let's do it again. But to constantly move the needle, reject the lexicon that's been established, and to constantly be curious about new ways of doing things and just rejecting formulas. I feel like, as a creative, the job is to problem solve and then to ask questions and then to solve those questions. Paige Buck [00:09:38]: This concept of putting the attendee as the protagonist or, like, they're the hero of this journey in this day long conference or this evening product launch or whatever it may be, how does that influence the way you think about the event? Mallory Schlossberg [00:09:54]: Okay, do you have, like, ten years? Because I could talk about this forever. Not ten years. That's. That's a really long time. So it's interesting when I bring up attendee as protagonist, and I talked about this at a webinar for Biz Bash, actually, pretty recently. There's a way to misconstrue it. Once I brought it up to someone, and they're like, yeah, everyone has main character syndrome these days. And I'm like, no, no, no. Mallory Schlossberg [00:10:18]: That's not what it means. What it means is if you look at your experience, your event, your launch, whatever, as a story, every story has a protagonist. It's the person going on the journey, whatever that journey may be, however it may be structured, linear, nonlinear, hero's journey, story, spine, etcetera. They are essential to the progression of the story. And a lot of time content is designed, and the attendee could literally walk out of the room and nothing would change. And what happens when it's the attendee and not the presenter driving something? It makes immersive more effective, because stuff's not just happening at you, but with you and alongside you, and it can't happen without you. And so when you do it that way, ultimately it should lead to a behavior change, because if you think about stories, all good, all good protagonists change. So I think if you use that model on a really intricate level, you could see the results of whatever you're trying to achieve. Mallory Schlossberg [00:11:12]: I typically look at it through four principles. I can dive into them if you want, or. Paige Buck [00:11:17]: Yeah, please. I think we'd love to hear it. Mallory Schlossberg [00:11:19]: So I've talked about these before elsewhere. I like to think about it as action, immersion, humanity and autonomy, all, like neuroscience research backed principles on how humans beings process information and engage with content. So think about action. It's active learning, not passive. Is it a lab versus a session where you're talked out immersion about creating, like, an embodied experience, where attendees are, like, leveraging and encompassing an environment? Humanity is about designing for everyone and zeroing in on truth. And then autonomy is about giving people that, like, autonomy within parameters, if that makes sense, yes. Paige Buck [00:11:53]: And so in autonomy, something that I'm hearing quite a lot of in the industry is around, is around choice and giving attendees just lots of different ways to have an experience with you, for you. Mallory Schlossberg [00:12:10]: Absolutely. And I think that's also a way of being critically. Like, it's critical because it means you're inclusive, because everybody processes stuff differently. So some people want to sit and observe something, some people want to touch something, and they are tactile learning learners. Other people want to go into a small pod and talk to people. Other people thrive in environments with big projections and lights and other people. That's really too stimulating for them. And so it's not just about giving people choice. Mallory Schlossberg [00:12:40]: It's about understanding that there is no one way that people experience things. Paige Buck [00:12:48]: If you're eliminating breakouts and you have a, and you are also creating a shared experience, how might you play with choice within like, you know, one space. Mallory Schlossberg [00:13:00]: So it's a lot of it comes down to spatial design. So you still may have, you know, your stages or your areas to congregate and what's not, but basically trying to create a space. Think of it as more of an open world format. You know, if you were playing an open world video game or if you were going to a theme park or something like that, and you are exploring and doing what you feel is interesting at the moment. This thing appeals to me. This thing appeals to me and it also gives space for the breaks that you might want to take. It also should be designed so that you might naturally have a collision with somebody else and have a really beautiful, spontaneous, organic moment. So in this regard, you are letting people do what interests them and also what their body feels they need in that moment. Mallory Schlossberg [00:13:46]: You know, they might not want to sit that long, they might want to stand, they might want to walk through an auditory only hall or something like that. Now, like, obviously there are sometimes instances where you need your tracks, but I do think that the more we acknowledge that people learn and interact with things differently, the more effective our experiences will be. Paige Buck [00:14:07]: Yeah, that's beautiful. That's really. I think that's. It just opens up so many possibilities too. How do you balance all of this innovation against constraints? Like real world constraints? There's only so much money, there's only so much time. Mallory Schlossberg [00:14:26]: Hold on 1 second. Okay, so I talked to you about the why behind the wow. So I think innovation doesn't mean all the cool bells and whistles and latest technology, and I think it usually gets misrepresented as such. I think innovation can be as simple as let's rearrange our furniture in a way that gets people talking in a different way. It can actually mean taking things away. What if you had an event that historically was really grandiose and while that doesn't resonate with the audience anymore because of the economic climate, well, then what do you do? How do you pull people in without all the lavish excess? That's innovation. I think it's important. You know, what are you prioritizing? What are you investing in when it comes to production, creative, et cetera? What's going to have the biggest impact, not just what's cool. Mallory Schlossberg [00:15:11]: That to me is like, what the why behind the wow is ultimately about. You can't do it all. And if you are doing it all, then you're not editing and you don't have a story, you don't have a thesis, you don't have an objective, so having that North Star, that brief, that's always really important. Paige Buck [00:15:27]: Approaching narrative and strategy. Are you typically able to do that from scratch for each event that you're. That you're working? Mallory Schlossberg [00:15:35]: I love getting to do that, you know, starting with understanding what we're trying to achieve and what that story is and then creating a narrative around that. And I love narrative. And I don't necessarily mean, like, hero's journey or anything. I think it just means, like, a story where something changes. I think what I love the most about this is I feel like often you're doing an event and people are like, well, what's the theme that we're doing? And I would like to banish the word theme from people's vocabulary because a theme is not active. A theme is like outer space. Narrative is mission to Jupiter. I've given that example before, but I think if we think about narrative, even if it's a nonlinear narrative, thinking about change, and yes, I usually start with, like, a discovery call to understand the objective, what we're trying to achieve, what does success look like, the why? You know, I jam with fellow creatives, like, what's the broad narrative? And once we have that, then everything ladders up to that. Mallory Schlossberg [00:16:33]: Everything should go through that litmus test. Paige Buck [00:16:35]: I love that base level example that you just gave of theme versus a narrative, because I have been plagued my entire career by what's the theme going to be for this gala? And I'm like, I'm bad at this exercise, guys. It feels so. And realize that it's not just like a lack of ability to, like, brainstorm and think creatively so much as that it has no meaning in a theme. Mallory Schlossberg [00:16:59]: It is. Paige Buck [00:17:00]: It's like you could pick anything. Are you talking about what you want? Like, coming up with fun decor, like, why? For why? Mallory Schlossberg [00:17:07]: Exactly. Exactly. And I think, you know, your theme could be. Your theme's like the sixties, and that doesn't necessarily mean anything. But I think if, you know, we are spending the entire event honoring people of the past that worked at X company and we're going back in time and doing these greatest moments, that's more of a story. And I'm just spitballing here. Paige Buck [00:17:28]: Yeah. Mallory Schlossberg [00:17:28]: And I think people get scared of the word narrative because they're like, oh, no, is this event now going to become, like, immersive theater? And I love immersive theater. Not everybody does. But what it really just means is that we're, like, thinking about why we're doing something, and we're thinking about, how is somebody going to change by the moment they walk out, how will they be moved? How are we trying to move somebody and not just, like, what color should the napkins be? Paige Buck [00:17:51]: Yes. Mallory Schlossberg [00:17:52]: Which matters. Paige Buck [00:17:53]: It has to be fun. So, you know, we have to think about it like it's a prom instead of coming back to, like, what experience do we want people to have and why? Mallory Schlossberg [00:18:03]: And, yeah, why are we doing this? What is the stakeholders objective? What does success look like? Does success look like, let's say we're doing, like, a nonprofit gala. What is it, donations? Well, how are we going to move people to care about that? So I think there's a lot of those kind of questions to ask, and I think just. I think constantly being curious helps with that, too, and asking why? What if all of that. Paige Buck [00:18:31]: You were mentioning a really fantastic book, and I'm curious, you know, you were saying how everything, all of your different creative outlets thread together to make, like, who you are and how your brain works and what you bring to the table. What. What are you reading? Also, because this is a non visual narrative medium, at least today you have the most beautiful piece of art behind you that I envy with a woman or girl reading on the floor in front of shelves of books. Okay, so I'm going to tell you something. Yeah. Mallory Schlossberg [00:19:06]: This, the end of storytelling by Stephanie Riggs is about narrative, and it's the storyplex, and it's about just emerging mediums of stories. This is my bookshelf, but that's the one that's right there. Right now. I'm also reading, like, a textbook about architecture, which is pretty nerdy, but that's fantastic. Paige Buck [00:19:29]: Wait, is this, like, home architecture, urban. Mallory Schlossberg [00:19:32]: Design, like, your design architecture? Just, you know, wanting to know more about ins and outs and things like that. I come from a story production background and stuff, and so the more I know and the more I learn about everything that's involved in an experience, the better. So I read architecture textbooks. Paige Buck [00:19:50]: That's amazing. That's amazing. And I kind of really want to go back to something that you said at the very beginning about producing the musical human resources, because I was thinking about the early days of COVID and how we all suddenly had this shared realization that you can't say, I'll sing happy birthday to somebody on Zoom or it's a hot mess. And that latency problem that you must have had to overcome. I'm in awe. Mallory Schlossberg [00:20:16]: So there are these technologies. There's this thing called audio movers that really aids in it. And we did figure out ultimately, that we had to pre record the music. And we had people live lip sync to it because we had such a robust band for some of the songs, and we had such intense choral music, but we were very adamant about not having it be fully edited because that's. You lose the magic of live theater. And I remember we had some issues where we had technical difficulties and we had a thing flash across the screen. I remember people texting me and saying, I think that was my favorite part because it reminded me that it was live and it's real. Paige Buck [00:20:53]: Stuff happens. Mallory Schlossberg [00:20:54]: But I did teach musical improv virtually during the pandemic, and I worked with a really brilliant pianist, musical director, and there are different technologies out there to help do audio virtually, which is awesome because that means people can do voice lessons, learn music virtually, and it just kind of opens people up to different things. Paige Buck [00:21:13]: Yes, I know. It was a beautiful achievement when I saw, I think, an Oakland, California based symphony figure out how to do small trios and quartets over record together and share together from in people's backyards and homes. Mallory Schlossberg [00:21:28]: It takes a lot of patience, but I think I feel like there was so much resiliency in art and creation during those times that I think people had the patience and resilience to figure a lot of that out. Paige Buck [00:21:40]: It's also amazing that, like, the. That it feels like the arts community is where the patience and resilience came from. Seeing it was really inspiring and it felt like perhaps, I mean, using resilience in a different way of, like, that people who engaged in that sort of creative problem solving were better off mentally, emotionally for the effort, I think so. Mallory Schlossberg [00:22:06]: You know, I had a lot of friends doing various projects, doing various readings, doing other various shows and things like that, virtually. And finding ways to stay. Oh, my God, I can't believe it's four years ago now that I'm thinking about it. Paige Buck [00:22:21]: Right. I know. How do you, speaking broadly, how do you communicate with and move people who don't have your background and the curiosity and the. Yes. And of improv into like, a shared understanding of the opportunities that all this, all the experiential can achieve? Mallory Schlossberg [00:22:43]: So hopefully, if I'm doing my job well enough and I'm telling the story about what we're going to achieve, achieve, and I walk them through the whole thing from the beginning and what the end could be, and I do decent job of that, hopefully that works, right? Because my job, I should be able to communicate to anybody. I really shouldn't just be talking in my nerdy, internal, inside baseball jargon stuff, you know, I can do that all day long with people who do what I do, but I. It's really important that I bring people along on the journey and also invite people in, and I don't keep people at arm's distance. And, you know, with the yes. And of it all, you know, letting anybody in and, like, saying, yes, let's go with that. I think that really helps. And again, just telling the story of what we could achieve, I think, can really help. Paige Buck [00:23:31]: Are there any personal passions or interests that you bring to your professional work that you haven't gotten the chance to touch on yet? Seems like there's so many. Mallory Schlossberg [00:23:41]: Well, I mentioned, we mentioned I do theater, improv, storytelling, write music, read architecture books. I am, obviously, I mean, I'm a writer, which I've done in my professional career. And when I'm not doing that, I'm a mom. Paige Buck [00:24:01]: Oh, and you're a mom, too? Oh, my goodness. How old is your child, or children? Mallory Schlossberg [00:24:06]: He is three years old. Paige Buck [00:24:07]: Three years old. Well, that also requires a lot of creative engagement. Mallory Schlossberg [00:24:11]: It does. It's nonstop improv. Paige Buck [00:24:14]: Non stop improv. Nice. Does he inspire some of your storytelling and way you think about experiential? Mallory Schlossberg [00:24:22]: Actually, yeah. Because I think that the lack of judgment and the sense of wonder and curiosity that a child has is something we can all benefit from. If we approach everything from a place of curiosity and wonder and newness and awe, it makes you look at things differently. We come from a place of preconceived notions, of judgments, because we have however many years of experience. But when you take a step back and think about somebody processing something for the first time and only having questions that are sincere and genuine and devoid of judgment, it completely changes the way you think about things. So, I mean, I think my child has made me more creative and better at the things that I do because I'm learning about these things that I've blocked. You know, we all block those things. It's how we put on our social masks, all of that. Paige Buck [00:25:16]: Mm hmm. Yeah. It's interesting to me. I mean, I. It makes 100% sense to me. And I see, like, how my nephews fuel or. Or exhaust, you know, my. My creative. Paige Buck [00:25:28]: My, like, my creative muscles and what that, in turn, fuels in my. In my business life. But it's. Maybe. Maybe you just gave me a little bit of permission, if even you notice the places where that's turned off that he can, like, turn it back on or, like. Like, light it up in you. Mallory Schlossberg [00:25:47]: Yeah. And I think that's why I tell everyone, take a level one improv class, because so much of that is turning on the part of your brain that you've been conditioned to turn off. And once you learn how to kind of turn that back on, it's like you're accessing a whole other part of your brain. That light lights up, that listens to things, that hears things you haven't heard before, that observes things, and in turn, gives you new ideas, all of that. So even if you're gonna be a performer, I think everyone should take an improv class.

Paige Buck [00:26:16]: Oh, you're absolutely inspiring me, because it's been 15 years since I took improv, and my husband, who's. It's not his worldview at all, did it to really step outside himself and got a ton out of it. I'm like, I need to go do that again. Just recently, we had a team retreat where my team here at Kennedy events and our facilitator had us start with an exercise where we all went off into a different corner with, like, cheap and cheerful little watercolor boxes and some water and paper and had to just paint something, anything, in a very limited period of time. And then we let them dry, and then we tore them up into pieces and put them into a bigger piece together. And in some ways, it's a very everyday little team building activity. And. But the takeaway for everybody was, oh, my God, we need to do more art.

Paige Buck [00:27:04]: Like, can we just do art in team calls together? Can we just do fun, creative. I need it in my. I needed in my life. This did something for me.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:27:15]: Yeah. I mean, art is very good for the brain. Paige Buck [00:27:18]: It's very good for the brain, and nobody and people appreciate it once they're in it. But you can put a lot of people in a corporate environment into an experience and watch them feel very uncomfortable with it, or they can stand and they can still come away feeling like that sparked something in them.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:27:36]: Yeah, absolutely.

Paige Buck [00:27:37]: Yeah. It's really. I mean, so I'm curious, you know, you said you recently gave a webinar at Biz Bash. You sound like you're both very free to be in your own space, but you're dialed into our industry and what trends do you see? And do you have peers that you connect with who get to do the same thing you do that you.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:27:59]: I have a couple things here.

Paige Buck [00:28:01]: Yeah, tell me.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:28:03]: Sorry. I have something I want to just.

Paige Buck [00:28:05]: Absolutely.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:28:06]: 1 second. Sorry. Okay, wait. Sorry. Okay. All right. You can cut this. I just wanted to.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:28:20]: A couple notes. Okay, so trends. So I am not a fan of the word trends, because I feel like when you identify a trend, everyone jumps on it and it becomes watered down. I got asked a lot, like, what's your favorite new tech? And there are. There's stuff I think is really cool, but I don't think it matters if it's cool or not. Like, does it augment your objective? Does it help you reach your audience? Is it custom to your audience and the needs of the program? It doesn't tell your story. And I realize that's kind of a non answer, but I think, like, the biggest shifts that we're seeing is, you know, whatever was done before is not happening again. People are breaking out of formulas.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:28:56]: You know, we had Covid, and then people did virtual events, and then, like, coming back to experiences, like, it's. You can't just do whatever it was before. You have to meet people where they are now in this moment. If you're bringing people to a space, why do they have to be there right now in this moment? In regards to connecting to peers, I'm really excited because I recently joined the World Experience Organization, and next week I'm traveling to New York to go to the World Experience Summit, where I will be around a bunch of brilliant minds in the experiential industry to talk about, you know, the experience economy, the latest and greatest in creative and all of that. So I'm very excited to just be a sponge and absorb all of the information.

Paige Buck [00:29:39]: Oh, my gosh. And they must have such a big job on their hands, how they make. How they make an impact and create an environment for people whose jobs that is, like, they must just be under a microscope, because I recently attended a conference for event creatives and looked around and thought they could really use a planner. I was like, and, you know, there's some people in the room who could help make this a little better. That's got to be hard. That's got to be really hard. But that sounds so exciting. I honestly could not have told you there was a world experience association or summit.

Paige Buck [00:30:14]: And so that's sounds like such an exciting opportunity.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:30:17]: Yeah, I'm really excited. I'm kind of counting down the days for it. I think it's going to be a really exciting, illuminating, transformative couple of days.

Paige Buck [00:30:28]: Yeah. And, I mean, I know you are a lifetime New Yorker at heart, even if you're transplanted right now, is it fun for you? How often do you get back?

Mallory Schlossberg [00:30:38]: You know, every now and then. And I was there recently. I have family there, so it's always nice to get to go because I have family and friends there, so.

Paige Buck [00:30:45]: Yeah, yeah. So here's another opportunity. I always piggyback getting to seeing family on the east coast with, like, I've got a conference. I've got a thing. I've got a. Yeah, yeah, that's nice, too. I hope it's not too hot when you're there. This can be.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:30:57]: It'll be better than Austin, that's for sure.

Paige Buck [00:30:59]: Yeah. I just think of. Yeah, I don't know, sweaty and sticky in midtown. It's like a bad memory. Mallory Schlossberg [00:31:07]: Yes.

Paige Buck [00:31:09]: Oh, my gosh. Well, I'm also really curious about what, like you said about, like, taking things apart and not having to think that everything has to be high budget, high production. Some of the most innovative things I've seen have been in blank spaces with folding tables and chairs, because it's about that engagement and the way people are, where you meet attendees, where they are and what their learning styles are or their experience. You know, the way they like to experience things. What do you think are some of the. If it's not, you've got to have that led wall, and you've got to have that amazing tech experience. What do you think some of the core elements are that really do make something immersive?

Mallory Schlossberg [00:31:53]: Narrative, and I think. But the most important thing to me, really, is that, you know, immersive is a buzzword, I think. And again, like you said, like, a lot of people think it means a large wall with projections. But I think what truly makes something immersive is that you, the attendee, are inside a journey. It's happening all around you, with you, because of you, not at you, and you are essential to it. Yes, your environment could just be a blank space, but there has to be an environment that's purposeful. Every touch point, everything you interact with has to ladder up to your story. And again, that could just be as simple as certain QR codes or copy on the wall.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:32:31]: But environment does storytelling. Again, like, you're inside the story, not watching it. Like, it can't happen without you. Like, if you could walk out and it could be different, I think that's really critical. Speaking of New York, I recently went to New York, and I got to see cabaret at the Kit Kat club, and I had actually seen the same production in London. And the whole thing with it is, oh, it's immersive. It's immersive. It's immersive.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:32:54]: You know, you walk in, you're in the club, you go down this, like, rungy hall, they give you a shot, and you're in the club. And what's really interesting is in New York, in New York, it was a little different. It was still amazing. The design work was a massive feat. It was unbelievable. The performances were great. It felt less immersive because they had these performers kind of behind curtains and closed off areas instead of, like, performing on bars and interacting and going by you and whatnot. And it made a difference, having seen it in London, where it was, they weren't really closed off.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:33:25]: And you were like, they're with them as opposed to they're there, and we're, like, on the outside, the periphery of it. Again, like, still amazing. But that sort of made me think, you know, thinking about what I do about, like, you can't just. When immersive, you have. It's always about considering the audience and always about doing a million different attendee, attendee journey, walkthroughs and whatnot. I also think having a sense of discovery and agency is pretty important to it. And again, going back to that narrative and a sense of change and narrative. So, yeah, how would you.

Paige Buck [00:34:03]: What advice would you have for somebody who's never had any experience of, to somebody who's completely new to this space? What would you invite them to read, try play with to get a taste of it and then to get started? Improv 101.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:34:21]: Improv 101. There's another really wonderful book by Margaret Karrison about narrative immerse. I need to look up the title. I love it. I feel bad that I'm not, that.

Paige Buck [00:34:35]: You don't just know.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:34:36]: It's a storytelling for real and imagined worlds. A writer's guide. If you're interested in, like, narrative, that's a really wonderful book. And I think what I would also tell them to do is to look around. Go. If you're at a theme park, let's say, right? Think about everything you're interacting with. When you are in nature, think about everything you're interacting with. Like I said, everything effectively is an experience.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:35:03]: And if you start thinking about everything that way, you will find that you have opinions, you have your own best practices, you have all of that. Ultimately, like, experience is about empathy. You know, it's about, like, being able to step into someone's shoes and imagine what their journey might be and how they might be changed or moved. Again, like, I've talked to people who say I have no experience in experiential, but they're ux designers. They're user experience designers. You know, if, like, though, that's experience. You know, if you start thinking about every single interaction, like I mentioned the grocery store, I feel like you discover you have so much to bring to the table. And I really, really, really believe that what makes work richer is people coming together with different backgrounds and not having the same history.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:35:47]: I would tell someone, lead with what you bring to the table and show how that's relevant. I think that people are very caught up in everybody having the same traditional pathway, but I think when you do that, you just end up with the same stuff. Let's all be changed. I love being changed and learning from other people. I think the other thing I would say is to not be scared of bad ideas. Like, there's no bad ideas. And, I mean, I guess that comes with the privilege of being around people that are supportive, and there's that psychological safety and all of that. But I've definitely had ideas that sounded bad on paper and some that could not be executed, but others could, you know? So it's.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:36:32]: It's that I think a lot of it is just being open to what's around you and to your own experiences that you've had.

Paige Buck [00:36:40]: Yeah. Oh, that openness is really inspiring. And it reminds me, too, of, like, if you ever took a photography class at any point in your life, you were sent out into the world with your camera and just told to reframe your. No pun intended. Reframe your thinking. Like, what do you see? What's interesting? So much more out there in the world or in your home is interesting through this lens. What would you like to capture?

Mallory Schlossberg [00:37:07]: Exactly? And just going back to, like, the grocery store thing, I said, I am. I was in New York recently, and I took my kid to Stu Leonards. I don't know if you're familiar with it.

Paige Buck [00:37:16]: Oh, my God. Well, the Stu Leonard's in Norwalk, Connecticut, quarter mile from my mother's house. Yes.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:37:21]: And it was. It's really funny because they're like, oh, the experience of that versus the experience of going to a whole foods or a stop and shop or, heb, if you're in Texas, every single thing you do is an experience. Like, the touching the buttons and making the cow move made my kid really happy, and that's important to consider. And I'm sure somebody thought about that design and how the flow of it is. It's like the single aisle and things like that. And I really think that if you start looking at every single thing you walk through, every single thing you do every day, as experience. Like, I think we all are experienced designers. You know, you've been to a store and had a hard time finding the bathroom.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:38:06]: That's not good experience design, you know, so it's. It's. It's everything is that. And I think it's really just about looking at the world that way.

Paige Buck [00:38:14]: Yeah. Yeah. That's beautiful. You did some prep for this because we. We gave you a bunch of questions to make sure, you know, this would. This would fit your constraints. And I'm curious if there's something we asked you to prep for that you haven't had a chance to share yet. Anything else you'd really like to share with our listeners?

Mallory Schlossberg [00:38:38]: Not. No, I mean, it's just great to be here. I really do feel like we're in an exciting time and we're at a point in our collective history where being together in person and feeling a shared purpose is really valuable and it can't be replicated in other ways. And we have a lot of really cool technologies at our disposal, and I think we'll continue to see a lot of it where it's like, just used for the sake of using it. But I think we're hitting a point where it goes beyond that. My hope is the industry continues to surprise us and I'm sharing my perspective and what I believe, but I'm always willing to be challenged, learn new things. Whenever I teach improv, I tell my students, like, hey, this is what I'm teaching you, but realize that this is all made up and I'm just making it up. There's a curriculum and there's best practices and whatever, but.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:39:31]: Well, with logistics and all of that. Yes, of course there are like good and bad, but I feel like with creative, what is right or what is wrong? I mean, to me it's. The question is, are we meeting the need of what we're trying to achieve? Are we meeting the need of the audience? Are we meeting the brief?

Paige Buck [00:39:46]: Yeah, yeah. Always bringing it back to how you put it, the why behind the wow.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:39:50]: Exactly. Yeah. And I. And I think being willing to ask, what if? What if I try this? And to also surround yourself with people that are smarter than you, I think is really important, too. It's the best advice I ever got, actually. So, because then you're challenged and like, how, if you're not challenged and changed, how can you make work that is.

Paige Buck [00:40:13]: Changing people, changing people and challenging their thinking, too?

Mallory Schlossberg [00:40:16]: Exactly.

Paige Buck [00:40:17]: Yeah. That's really beautiful. Wow. Well, thank you so much for your time. Mallory, I hope you are good with us sharing some of the books that you share. Yeah. Some of the real highlights for where you go to learn and think you're really inspiring. And I think folks will get a lot out of this.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:40:33]: Thank you so much. That means a lot. It was really a pleasure talking to you. Paige Buck [00:40:38]: Pleasure talking to you as well.

Mallory Schlossberg [00:40:40]: All right.

Ready to Learn More About What the Kennedy Events Team Can Bring to Your Event?

The KE team excels at incorporating opportunities to delight at every stage of the event planning process. With a clear roadmap to event success, we champion our knowledge, resources, and connections to ensure your event goes off without a hitch. Whether you’re planning a live, in-person event, something in the virtual realm, or a hybrid with virtual components, our event experts are here to guide you. Schedule a 30-minute consultation with us today.

PAIGE BUCK

Paige Buck is the co-owner of Kennedy Events, a large-scale event management company based in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York City. Our team creates stress-free conferences and events with a positive impact, which allows our clients to resonate with their audience. Kennedy Events specializes in producing flawless product launches, award ceremonies, fundraisers, and multi-day conferences while keeping our eye on retention and engagement goals.

About Kennedy Events

Kennedy Events began with one goal in mind—to produce high-level corporate events with just as much strategy as style. Maggie founded the company in 2000, found her match in Paige, and in 2011 the two became official partners. Since then, these two resourceful and brilliant creatives have pooled their strengths to build one one of the most the most sought after corporate event companies in San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles.