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AOL on the Event Transformation podcast

Andrew O'Loughlin

May 26, 2022
1 min

AOL on the Event Transformation podcast

It was super interesting to share ideas with Chris Randle on his EVENT TRANSFORMATION podcast – pushing us all to explore how we can best progress in the world of events… We cover a bit of stuff that may be on your mind, and I hope you might find it useful! We talk about events as experiences - and why selling the dream AND delivering on the promise is equally important + ✓ Why ‘the experience’ is a buzzword - but there is a good reason why… ✓ some ‘highlights’ in a process y

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It’s all about the way you make them feel

Andrew O'Loughlin

Nov 16, 2020
3 min

It’s all about the way you make them feel

Jesse Cole runs a baseball team in Georgia, USA, called the ‘Savannah Bananas’, he named them, and as the name suggests, they are all about fun. He pays a 6-year-old to be a professional high fiver, had an intern put up their hand to be a ‘human pinata’, they have a Coach break dancing on the field, Banana beer and Banana Band, fans are greeted by a Parking Penguin on ‘flatulence Friday’s, and Jesse even has his 1st team players doing a Baywatch parody – all in the name of fu

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Is sport missing the obvious?

Andrew O'Loughlin

Nov 16, 2020
6 min

Is sport missing the obvious?

People can not play or watch sport without events. Perhaps this current situation has shined a light on something obvious, but important. That it is the event days where a sport wins or loses, not just on the field, but off the field. This may seem obvious, but I do think it’s important. That ultimately, sport is simply a series of events – and the way we always consume and participate in sport is across a season of events. And of course, what is obvious right now, is that CO

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Scenarios, Scenarios, Decisions, Decisions

Andrew O'Loughlin

Nov 16, 2020
6 min

Scenarios, Scenarios, Decisions, Decisions

I’ve been speaking with many event people, and many leaders across our industry, and what’s on everyone’s minds is scenario planning. We are all trying to find the right answers, to make the right decisions. And for many, it’s been as much about working out how to ask the right questions, before we can find the right answers. Whether it be making decisions about your events, your team, or for yourself, there are no 100% correct ways to make decisions right now, and certainly

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2020, A Golden Era For ‘Experience Designers’?

Andrew O'Loughlin

Nov 16, 2020
3 min

2020, A Golden Era For ‘Experience Designers’?

We are living in a world where people are spending more money, and investing time on experiences over products. And as event providers, we know we are in the experience business. So what is our opportunity in 2020? And what do we need to do to take advantage of this We all live in the Experiential world You may have heard the term “Experience Economy” which was developed by Joseph Pine and James Gilmore, basically meaning that the economy we have today is based on experientia

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The Gifts You Actually Give

Andrew O'Loughlin

Nov 16, 2020
3 min

The Gifts You Actually Give

I’ve realised this a lot recently as I’m walking around event sites and stadiums before the gates open and before the wider world arrives. I’ve watched what goes on and I’ve been reminded by the scale, depth, and generosity of the service we provide. The gift of service As event people, I think we come together to serve people. To provide for the public, and for each other. We support each other across our event teams, and the experiences we serve up to our respective audienc

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Generating Momentum

Andrew O'Loughlin

Nov 16, 2020
5 min

Generating Momentum

How to generate momentum – 101 It’s likely you are either starting up with your event or trying to change something. Either way, we know that to succeed, we will need to overcome some resistance. Newtons 1st Law Inertia ‘the invisible force that resists any forward motion (or change) in direction’. We find resistance in many guises, whether it is getting an idea approved, a new initiative or a whole new event off the ground. We get push back from others, and it can also happe

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The Science Behind Your Events

Andrew O'Loughlin

Nov 16, 2020
5 min

The Science Behind Your Events

The Science of Events As you and I know events are a catalyst, which causes a reaction. To get people to think and act in a certain way, to show up, sign up and share your event, our actions need to cause this reaction. We’ve spoken about concepts like the Network Effect, and if your event can harness the power of physics, and cause a ‘chain reaction’, then the influence of your event will be amplified, attract more people, more profile (and more partners), again, and again.

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Where are you in your event lifecycle?

Andrew O'Loughlin

Nov 16, 2020
5 min

Where are you in your event lifecycle?

And, from discussions I’ve had recently, many of you are probably thinking what about your journey – what is your next role?? Lifecycles in events Everything in life has a lifespan. It is the same for your events. We are all trying to increase the profile or scale of our events, and it is often difficult to know if we are trending in the right direction. EventBrite’s 2019 industry survey found the #1 challenge facing event professionals is finding growth for their events. And

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The cues you can use

Andrew O'Loughlin

Nov 16, 2020
6 min

The cues you can use

I’ve had lot’s of questions from people looking to create rituals around their events. And so I hope these final steps in the 4-part series helps you too. In the past weeks we’ve followed the work of James Clear, and his record-breaking book on habit formation, and as James discovered there are 5 primary ways that a new habit can be triggered. As you will see, these link closely to how we approach Experience Design. HABIT DESIGN is influenced by: TIME PEOPLE PLACES PREVIOU

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The 4 Law’s you can use to influence everyone

Andrew O'Loughlin

Nov 16, 2020
3 min

The 4 Law’s you can use to influence everyone

Why are we concerned with habits? As any event is essentially trying to influence someones behaviour, and as habits determine 95% of what we do, the more we can influence habits, the more we can influence people to sign up, show up, and do something – again, and again. Why are rituals so useful? With events, we are offering shared experiences, to do something together. A shared interest which ideally becomes a shared passion. Both events as a whole, and, the moments in them,

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4 simple steps to unlock new rituals

Andrew O'Loughlin

Nov 16, 2020
4 min

4 simple steps to unlock new rituals

Great experiences in events often come from rituals. These range from remembrance rituals like ANZAC Day or ‘rites of passage’ like visiting the Gallipoli Dawn ceremony. Or milestone events such as Grand Final’s, the Boxing Day Test, or weddings and even NYE. And within these events are ritual moments, like the Last Post on ANZAC Day, the first ball at the Test Match, and all manner of ceremonies we engage in. These are all rituals which we share together en masse. Rituals ar

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Let’s be honest. Things go wrong

Andrew O'Loughlin

Nov 16, 2020
4 min

Let’s be honest. Things go wrong

Example A! On a cold dark winters night a few years ago, we had 5,000 runners on the start line and we were counting down… 10, 9, 8 …, I had 27 people staring at me, my team, police, clients, sponsors, and a global audience watching online. I needed to make the call, are we ready, or not?? It was decision time. Rewind to a few years earlier and there I was on live international TV. I’d told my parents if they ever saw my face on TV, something had gone wrong. And it had. A cou

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What Moneyball taught us about off field success

Andrew O'Loughlin

Nov 16, 2020
3 min

What Moneyball taught us about off field success

As I said last week, it’s amazing how much our minds are controlling us, and what people think of us, without us knowing it. So I’m exploring how this may be important for you, and your work. NUMERO UNO! Confirmation bias is the #1 mother of all biases, and it refers to our tendency to like information that confirms what we think, and ignoring or ‘reinterpreting’ any info that contradicts our beliefs. Without knowing it, we are all interpreting information the way that suits

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Your biases are influencing you, and your events!

Andrew O'Loughlin

Nov 16, 2020
3 min

Your biases are influencing you, and your events!

We have never thought about everything, and we never will This is because as humans we don’t have the time, energy, and bandwidth to make all the decisions. The reason is primal, as if we were to absorb and respond to every stimulus around us, every environmental cue, we would go mad.Which means we need to take mental shortcuts. To make all these decisions we need some pre programme responses. To make automatic, unconscious decisions. And in today’s fast moving, information r

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The Secret Effect Influencing You

Andrew O'Loughlin

Nov 16, 2020
5 min

The Secret Effect Influencing You

Given you typically invest so much of yourself into the things (the events) you make, I do think you should be aware of how this effects you and your work. The need to influence others Our events are the sum of many, many people (with varying objectives and perspectives!), so it is vital that you can influence other people, both inside and outside of your organisation, to achieve what you need to achieve. I spoke recently about how events are everything for an organisation, a

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The IKEA Effect – and what it means to you!?

Andrew O'Loughlin

Nov 16, 2020
4 min

The IKEA Effect – and what it means to you!?

I think it’s worthwhile you understand a subtle effect which is actually having a significant influence on your work. This thing is called ‘the IKEA Effect’. And simply put, it means we overvalue what we make. The ‘IKEA’ reference was inspired by Harvard and Yale studies into the ’endowment effect’. The researchers recognised this same effect in the relationship they had with their IKEA furniture! That is, they placed a much greater value on their IKEA creations than what the

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A Small Shift, with Massive Impact

Andrew O'Loughlin

Nov 16, 2020
3 min

A Small Shift, with Massive Impact

Making them active experiences, not passive ones. I spoke about the brand personality of your event the other week, which created some discussion about which characteristics are more valuable to dial up than others. And one that definitely makes the experience more distinctive the more there is, is the level of interaction. I’m sure you have seen this in your events. The more inter-active the experience it is, the more engaged your audience is. But are you really ‘engaging’?

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REMINDER : You Are Only As Strong As Your Weakest Link!!

Andrew O'Loughlin

Nov 16, 2020
4 min

REMINDER : You Are Only As Strong As Your Weakest Link!!

I think you would agree events are a team game. And as such the recipe for success in Events is pretty simple really. Our events are simply the sum of all the contributions people make. The event managers, suppliers, stakeholders and partners. The participants and the fans. And if the majority of these inputs are positive, the greater the likelihood we have of a successful event! But of course, it is because of these many contributions, events are often NOT that simple. And,

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What is your Events Personality like?

Andrew O'Loughlin

Nov 16, 2020
3 min

What is your Events Personality like?

In our golden era of event’s our audiences are spoilt for choice. So in a saturated market, the challenge for us all is to stand out from the crowd. Each event must be different. Your Events Identity You and I know that any event should offer something out of the norm, something elevated from everyday life. And also – each event must stand out from other events, in that each event must be distinct from each other. One way to achieve this, is to have a distinct personality for

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