SPECIAL GUEST!! Carina Bauer 📵 Your Next Event Needs LESS AI | Ep. 568

0:01Welcome to Do This, Not That, the podcast for marketers. We share quick tips, things you can do right now, and then we add a little bit of chaos at the end of every episode. We also keep it short, like this intro. Let's check it out. We are back for Do This, Not That, and we have an incredible guest. We have a returning guest. You know when you're a returning guest that the person is incredible, and that is the case here. We have Karina Bauer. She is the CEO of IMEX Group. Now, you know IMEX Group because they put on literally like the FIFA World Cup and the Super Bowl for the global meetings industry.

0:39It is wild. So let me just tell you about their event for a second. Then I'm going to tell you about Karina. So they have their big North American event coming up in October. IMEX America, which is going to be in Vegas. I'm going to be at this thing. I was there last year. over 17 ,000 people were there last year and they had I mean thousands of exhibitors you've never seen exhibit hall this big in your life and they had 92 ,000 meetings that took place that's about 92 ,000 meetings more than anybody wants to have with me it's unbelievable and Karina is the force behind this entire thing she is literally like the center of the event world she's won every award everything she's in the event industry council hall of leaders she's been named the 25 most influential people in the incentive industry.

1:21She's been running IMAX Groove as CEO since 2009. She's a big deal. And we're going to be talking about design, this humanity of design for events, for marketing, and why design matters more than ever. And we have this amazing report we're going to put in the show notes that IMAX just came out with. Karina, welcome to the show. Thank you so much, Jay. It's a lovely introduction and delighted to be here. So let's jump right into it. I think that if we rewind, you know, 10 years ago or so, and you talk about an event, doesn't matter if it's a small dinner, a little road show, a big event, any kind of event, business, consumer, doesn't matter.

1:58And we're like, oh, yeah, there's a speaker, there's a slide deck, there's networking hours, and that's the event. But it feels like now there's this surge of we need to insert humanity and joy. So what is this idea of designing for joy? Is that what we need to be thinking about? I think really what we're talking about in terms of designing is about more than the aesthetic, which is in itself important. But it's really about what is the intention behind the connection you're trying to create. It might be joy, it might be more business focused, but really design is about how you have that invisible force that shapes how people feel, what people trust and what people remember from an event or even from a marketing campaign.

2:50And design really is that intention behind it. And the report that we have published, but also our talking point that's running right throughout our shows and throughout what we're doing this year, is really trying to say to people, you know, think about design in that broader, more holistic sense. Think about that intention of what you are trying to create and do that first, and then the connections will come. so in a practical sense at a very tactical level so like i've gone to some events and different industry events lately and they'll have you know an area with a bunch of dogs that you could hold you could pet or they'll have something like you know paint a rock or whatever is this idea of of tactical kind of human moments that you say okay we need something not ridiculous but something ridiculous to kind of get everyone to do whatever is that what is that how you prioritize this this humanity in this design or is it is it bigger than that i think it's bigger than that i think really what we are looking at is a change in how people want and need to connect we're in a very digitally focused world more so than ever there's a decline in trust because of ai in terms of what you see online so in-person events suddenly are really the only medium that people can fully trust.

4:15And in addition to that, there's a loneliness epidemic across the world. The World Health Organization has data for that. And so people really need human connections. So if you are designing experiences for a brand, for example, it's really important that you think about how you want to put across that brand, how you will know that people can trust that brand, but also how you're going to get people to connect in a really authentic way and one that's meaningful for them. So puppy cuddling may be a way or bringing people together to do some painting together to just sit down and have a moment's pause could be a really valuable way as well.

4:57But I guess the main thing is that you think about your customer first and that human need. So what is your customer's human need? And you put that at the heart and the center of whatever it is you're designing, be that a big event or a small brand event. So, you know, along those lines, what I struggle with is that we want to break out of the sameness. You know, you want to have the humanity of it all. And then at the same time, you know, all this AI stuff, how do we leverage AI, you know, make everything more AI or whatever? what is what's the balance there like like you want to have ai helping you to you know capture things going on during your events but like for example if somebody submits a deck to speak at one of your events and you could see it's clearly just an ai slop do you do you reject it like what how do you actually bring the ai stuff in and still balance the humanity of it all yeah i think for us we look at ai in two ways one is can you make any of your administrative processes more efficient and so that's obviously one way that all organizations are currently looking at and certainly when you look at marketing and when you look at event tasks there are a lot of very administrative things that ai can help with however you do need to be careful that it is that it's human-centered.

6:26So you always need that human curation. The other way I think AI can help from an event perspective, and this also goes back to an expectation that has changed over time, is that when people come to an event, they come to an event for that human connection to build that trust and relationship with other human beings, but also with real intention. And they want to make sure they're meeting the right people and they're going to the right sessions. So again, AI can help to curate that experience and make sure that you really do know, you know, who is in the room, how do I meet them, what sessions are going to benefit me most, how am I going to build that network the most effective way possible.

7:10So that's the sort of the planning side that AI can help with. But I think once you're in an event, and if an event is designed well, really, again, you want to put the human at the heart of the event and let humans do what they do best. And we have a great person in our industry, a great writer. And he says, you know, the event people are in the goosebumps business. And I just love that quote, because that just describes what it's like when you're in a room full of peers. There's that excitement. There's that literally chemical reactions that are happening. And you don't want AI to get in the middle of that.

7:47You don't want technology to get in the middle of that. But you can use technology and AI to make those connections as effective as possible. I love that. I've been seeing some people, I mean, this is so off script, wearing the different AI glasses now. And I'm always like, dude, you better not be recording me. Um, so that's like, I don't know why I'm bringing that up, but I, I don't know. I like, you know, these human gatherings, everyone needs to like, I don't know, put their AI garbage away a little bit, just connect humanly. I do feel that. Yeah, definitely. And I think what you're also describing is that lack of trust that we have nowadays with technology, because a few years ago, you wouldn't have even considered the glasses might be recording you.

8:31And suddenly there's that question in your mind. And so, yeah, I think when people are together, that comes back to maybe what you were saying at the beginning about puppy cuddling or, you know, people sitting down quietly and painting. It's not the painting that matters. It's the ability to let people decompress together, to have a moment together, to have a shared experience. That's what matters because that's what builds the relationship and the trust. And the number of times, you know, it's happened to me, but other people said they made their best contact in the coffee queue. So, you know, putting people in a room together in and of itself is valuable but we we just want to do that in a way that's really going to help them get the most out of it the other thing i'd say that ai can obviously be helpful for is after the event analyzing the data giving you the insights helping you measure what actually happened and so but again use the technology quietly and without getting in the way of that human connection that's really what's important so a total i'm I'm just so off script, which is so bad, but I know you know all this stuff.

9:36I just want to pick your brain for a second. There are listeners out there right now that maybe they're a small company, big company, whatever, and they want to do some kind of event. They want to do a big dinner. They want to do a little 100-person thing or five, whatever it is. And the company that they're at looks at any kind of event as a cost structure, something that costs money, not as something that is going to move the ball forward. It's just another thing they have to spend money on. Is there any, you know, secret Karina Bauer sauce way to position an event so that way you can go to your higher ups internally and say, no, no, no, this is why we need this thing.

10:14This isn't a cost. This is a benefit to our company. Yeah, absolutely. And I think this is where design can become super strategic. I think what you want to do is really understand what your team, your division, your company goals are, what are the strategic priorities, and center this event and show how those strategic priorities, those goals, whether it's revenue, whether it's brand attachment, whether it's loyalty, are really going to drive those goals and move the needle on those. that's really how you have to position the event and you have to right at the beginning explain how you are going to measure that success or not and so build that in right from the start and make sure you measure that so you know if it's brand loyalty you can measure before and after the event the effect that the event had on brand loyalty for example or if it is about attachment to brand there are technologies nowadays that you can build in so that you can analyze people's satisfaction, the joy that they had from the event.

11:22So there are a number of ways that these things can be measured, build that in right from the start. But if you're talking to the C-suite, you've got to center it in what the C-suite strategic priorities are. And any kind of event can be centered in that if you are designing the right kind of event for those goals. See, I love that. And I believe if you fast forward a few years, the way that right now, every organization's meeting, how do we bring AI into our organization? I think that every organization is going to have a line item. How do we bring humanity into our organization? Because there's going to be so much sameness, so much AI stuff.

12:00And I think that events, human-to-human connection, you're in the right field a thousand percent. Do you see the event industry growing? Do you see more events or do you just see like the same events getting larger? Like how are events doing? Yeah, I think I totally agree with you. I think people are really understanding that events are the medium whereby you can build that trust. And I actually think in person live connections will be the new luxury. You know, that is what will be scarce. And therefore, that is what people will will desire and flock to. In the event industry, we see that happening with more events.

12:48Not all events are getting bigger. Some events are actually, you know, more events are building up or starting that are really about bringing small micro tribes of people together with online communities wanting to meet in person. And we've been seeing that probably since the takeoff of Facebook groups, you know, 15 odd years ago. And that is just building. And especially as well, we saw post pandemic, the rise of remote work, the need to get teams together. That's also driven a different kind of event as well. And now we see brands really leaning into those in-person connections to really showcase what their brand is about.

13:32because, you know, nowadays to differentiate, you need to design that differentiation and show your personality. One way you can do that is online. But the best way really is getting your customers in a room in a field and a festival and, and really showing your humanity as a brand to them. And we see that happening more and more. So I think events are kind of growing and diversifying because and you're also getting that mix of sort of consumerization of business events so you know business events traditionally with sort of the very staid formulaic conference trade show type event but if you take an event like IMAX it is a business to business event but you know someone described it as a business or trade show that behaves like a festival so you know we're not trying to be a festival but so many of the things we do the way we bring people together the fun elements the the joy that we try to inject into it and the sort of full week experience that we give people is more like a festival than a traditional b2b event so we're really seeing that happening all over the place yeah i will say uh having been to your event uh imax north america it's in Vegas it's gonna be in October again it is bonkers I mean that exhibit I've never been more excited to be on an exhibit hall in my life I mean there's just so it's like I was like a zillion football fields long it's really really wild but speaking of wild people don't know this but Karina's pretty awesome in terms of like she's does stuff like humanity wise she she skydives she kite surfs she does all these things I don't understand though like so am I am I right do you just do like wild stuff?

15:21Is there stuff that you are not willing to do? Yeah, you know, I'm not looking for like extreme danger that's putting my life at risk. But yeah, interestingly, I think, you know, this idea of being present with humans, I guess, for me, I kind of take that into my personal life in the sense of, you know, if I'm say rock climbing, I have to be very present in the moment. And for me, that is a way that I decompress and relax or kite surfing, you know, it's a sport that I was always saying, you know, it's been really challenging for me to learn. And I enjoy putting myself in positions where it's not extreme danger, but I do have to be focused, I do have to be present.

16:08And I am out of my comfort zone. And I think that people want that. and and that does go back to designing experiences not necessarily forcing everyone to um you know drag through the water face first on a kite but you know actually how do you um develop experiences that are appropriate that are going to help people be present in the moment because i think that's what people want we we're so distracted we need to find ways now to connect with other people in real life and be really present in that moment. And I really think not only that human to human connection is the next luxury, but disconnection, disconnection from technology is also the next luxury.

16:52And you already see hotels, luxury hotels popping up where they deliberately have no data network and no Wi-Fi. And you put all your devices away the moment you get there. So I think these things are coming up. And I think that will impact our marketing. It will impact our campaigns and it will impact how brands show up in the world. And of course, it impacts our in-person events as well. I totally agree with you. I mean, this whole idea of touching grass and getting outside, I'm all for it. I'm not all for, I would never want to be on Karina's team because she's going to walk into work one day and say, all right, everyone, we're doing a team building exercise.

17:31guys, we are going to jump out of a plate. And it's like, ah, and I quit. But beyond that, she's amazing in every possible way. So listen, in these show notes here, we are going to put IMAX's new free report, Why Design Matters. I don't care if you're a business marketer, consumer, nonprofit. I don't care if you don't put on events. It's really about bringing design and humanity and joy into all of your marketing, everything you're doing. So we're going to put that in the show notes. And also check out IMAX's event in October. I will be there. It's going to to be amazing in Vegas. Karina, you are awesome.

18:04Any other parting words for all of our listeners? I would just say that think of design as that intention. What's the intention that you're going to put behind your campaign, your marketing, your brand, or indeed your event? And that's really the biggest takeaway that I would have. It's that intention to design for your objectives and design for the human beings who are your customers and put those humans first. Humans first. I love it all. I appreciate you being here. Wait, don't go anywhere. There's two really important things I want to tell you. First off, my book is out. Stupider people have done it.

18:43And I don't know how, but this book has made it to the USA Today bestseller list, one of the top books in the entire country. Now, all net author proceeds are going to the V Foundation for Cancer Research. And between this book and these things that we're doing, we've now donated$130 ,000 in the fight against cancer. If you buy this book, if you buy the Kindle, the audio on Amazon, on Barnes & Noble, anywhere, money is going to fight cancer. We need your help. Please grab a copy of Stupider People Have Done It. The second thing is I want to work with you. I want to amplify your brand. I want my agency to help you get more customers, more subscribers, more whatever.

19:22I want to partner with you in so many different ways. All you got to do is go to jschwedelson.com, jschwedelson.com. And then there's a button in the upper right-hand corner that says partner. Fill out that form. Let's work together. Let's do stuff. And if this wasn't the worst podcast you've ever heard, it would be amazing if you follow the show, if you leave a comment, if you tell your friends about it. I appreciate you and go out there and crush it.