PinethinkAbout & Gilmore’s Annual Flagship Experience TimesIf You’re Setting Stages, Read These Pages www.StrategicHorizons.com/thinkAbout Cerritos, CA September 29 + 30, 2004

We are very pleased to invite you to this, our seventh Strategic Horizons thinkAbout to be held September 29 + 30, 2004, in Cerritos, California!

This year we continue our ongoing exploration of the Experience Economy and examine the changes its maturation holds for businesses – with an added focus on consumers’ increasing desire for Authenticity.

As you’ve come to expect from us, our latest thinkAbout will continue to challenge the boundaries for learning and intellectual discovery. We’ve designed the experience as a series of unique provocations to uncover practical, new ideas for your business.

We’ve peeled away many of the conventional – and, frankly, boring – aspects of traditional conferences, replacing them with a host of unorthodox – and, honestly, freewheeling – learning encounters. It’s in this malleable intellectual space that, time after time, we see our participants unleash their creative energy, collaborate in rich and unexpected ways with fellow explorers, and generate new insights.

So it’s with this in mind that we encourage you to read all about this very special thinkAbout in the pages of the enclosed thinkAbout Times. If you choose to join us, you’ll engage in lively discussions with our eclectic and fascinating set of guest talent, and enjoy all the structured activities we’ve designed to help you make the most of the gathering. And of course you’ll find yourself surrounded by a wonderful mix of bright, fun, and highly original participants who will energize you in ways that will endure long after the event.

Be advised: thinkAbout is an intense experience. Strongly held points of view and a deep sense of curiosity are the hallmarks of each event. Our only requirements: shed your expectations about what a “conference” should be, and come prepared to think, share, act, and create. We promise a genuinely challenging and rigorous two days.

Do join us.

Joe Pine Jim Gilmore Strategic Horizon LLP Strategic Horizon LLP

P.S. The past two years, thinkAbout has sold out weeks in advance. At press time we are already well over half full, so register now to ensure your spot! PinethinkAbout & Gilmore’s Annual Flagship Experience TimesIf You’re Setting Stages, Read These Pages www.StrategicHorizons.com/thinkAbout Cerritos, CA September 29 + 30, 2004

The 2004 Strategic Horizons thinkAbout September 29 + 30, 2004 • The Cerritos Library To Join: phone: +1 (330) 405-2886 fax: +1 (330) 963-4991 email: [email protected] mail: P.O. Box 548, Aurora, OH 44202-0548 USA Registration fee is US$2450.00. Fee covers participation in thinkAbout, event materials, and meals. Registrations cancelled by September 15, 2004 are entitled to a full refund. After that date, registration fees are non-refundable. Registration name title company street address city state postal code country phone fax email

Payment Registration fee is US$2450.00.

AmEx Visa/MasterCard Check enclosed to Strategic Horizons LLP, ° ° ° P.O. Box 548, Aurora, OH 44202-0548 USA card number signature exp. date

Accommodations We have reserved a room block and strongly recommend staying at the modern Sheraton Cerritos Hotel at Towne Center, just steps from the Cerritos Library. When reserving your room, be sure to request the Strategic Horizons thinkAbout room rate of US$139.00 per night. Sheraton Cerritos Hotel at Towne Center 12725 Center Court Drive, Cerritos, California 90703 Hotel Reservations: +1 (562) 809-1500 PinethinkAbout & Gilmore’s Annual Flagship Experience TimesIf You’re Setting Stages, Read These Pages www.StrategicHorizons.com/thinkAbout Cerritos, CA September 29 + 30, 2004

At a Glance Experience Stager of the

All About thinkAbout An overview of what Pine & Gilmore’s thinkAbout is — Year to Host thinkAbout and isn’t. Without giving away too much ...... 2 Seventh Annual Event Heading to Cerritos, California Business Briefs Select announcements and milestones for by Joe Pine & Jim Gilmore companies excelling in the Experience Economy ...... 3 Aurora, OH. Every year your intrepid future consideration. The countdown, of reporters from Strategic Horizons LLP course ends, with our #1 experience Comics hold an annual event we call thinkAbout. which we honor with the Experience Sometimes you just have to It’s an intimate gathering of like-minded Stager of the Year award, affectionately laugh. Humorous takes on professionals with great affinity for our known as the EXPY. real life in an increasingly ideas and frameworks around (purely in In the end, we awarded the 2003 EXPY to experience-filled world ...... 21 chronological order) Mass Customization, the new Cerritos Public Library in Cerritos, the Experience Economy, and – what will California, just outside of Los Angeles. soon be the topic of our next book – On the surface, a library – any library – Crossword Challenge Authenticity in business. might seem a strange choice for such Test your knowledge of the Last year’s thinkAbout took us to per- accolades, and in fact this was the first- Experience Economy and haps the oldest experience hub in the time we ever gave the award to a non- take a shot at free admission U.S., New York’s Times Square. It was an profit or, in this case, governmental enti- to thinkAbout in 2005 ...... 20 enlightening, peripatetic, and exhaustive ty. But this engaging facility – with even event that included, among the many more engaging personnel – deserved the Entertainment highlights, our Top 10 list of experiences award for how well it manifests its theme Our humble opinions on the that we recommended our participants of “traveling through time”, for its archi- best in music and movies. You take in during the coming year. Each tecture and design, for the rituals man- may wonder about our picks, example on the Top 10 holds a particular- agement put in place to engender com- but hey, it’s our newspaper . . . .17 ly vibrant learning point that all can munity, and for its bottom-line results: on immediately apply to their own average, more than 7% of the city’s popu- businesses and use as a cre- lation uses the library every single day! EXPY Exposé ative provocation We won’t go into the details of the We catch up with our previous for Cerritos experience here – but do be sure EXPY winners and see what’s to read the accompanying article by the on their minds and on their man who conceived of the project and strategic horizons ...... 10 marshaled it through to completion, City Librarian Waynn Pearson. (Waynn along Letters to the Editor with his colleagues, Jackie Stetson and thinkAbout alumni share their Stanley Strauss, took part in the 2003 personal thoughts on past thinkAbout and accepted the EXPY to the thinkAbout experiences ...... 23 raucous applause of their fellow partici- pants who had come to know them as the Registration quiet, unassuming, and downright Join us at this year’s event. remarkable people they are.) Space is limited so be sure to Rather, we’re here to report on one fact register ASAP ...... 20 that should be of interest to all who follow the Experience Economy, who have an interest in experience staging, or who just Sports like to partake in experiences (did we The heritage, the fun, and the leave anyone out?): the 2004 thinkAbout The EXPY-winning Cerritos Library. Host of the 2004 thinkAbout future of America’s game. And will held at the new Cerritos Public and an extraordinary exemplar of the Experience Economy at work. those damn Yankees ...... 18 Library on September 29 + 30. Waynn graciously agreed to host the event so his number, unlike those in the past, is our If you’re quick enough on the draw Travel newfound friends could experience the secret. The rest of you will have to sur- to fill out and fax in the enclosed From hotels to hobbits, place for themselves (and thereby tick it mise it, or ask someone in the know.) registration form, sign up at a look at some amazing off their Top 10 list). Suffice it to say that over twenty people www.StrategicHorizons.com/thinkAbout, destinations and the Space is highly limited – though the were on our waiting list last year and or call our partner, thinkAbout Director experiences they hold ...... 16 exact number of participant slots is a could not make it into the event. And as Scott Lash, at +1 (330) 405-2886, then The Strategic Horizons EXPY: secret known only to us. (Those who par- you read these words, far more than half Experience Stager ticipated last year – you know who you the paid admission passes already have Whither Report of the Year Award. are – will understand why this year’s been procured. Continued on page 13 Not the usual climate report. Forecasts for experience hubs in the U.S. and beyond . . .19 In Pursuit of Wow! The Frontier of Fake

resources of their library to celebrate Experiencing the education, books, and reading. How to Think About Authenticity in Business Cerritos Library Why Wow? Convergence in Cerritos. Let’s set the scene. The year is 1996; Cerritos is a small southern California by Joe Pine & Jim Gilmore by Waynn Pearson city, serving a population of immigrant families. Since its opening in 1973 the Aurora, OH. No tourism destination is tions” using “authentic local ingredi- library has been a cherished city service completely natural, having been manu- ents”, laments in The New York Times: Cerritos, CA. The Wow experienced and consistently ranked tops in inde- factured to create a certain effect that “It’s a war, finding fresh, local fish. Only here at the Cerritos Library is exceeding pendent surveys of customer satisfaction. increases the chances tourists will love 53,000 of us are left here, and I worry all our expectations and causing both the Steadily increasing library use has the place and want to spend time there. that we’re losing our identity as library profession and the public to already prompted one library expansion A comparison of The Venetian (the hotel Venetians. Much more than our fish – rethink what a library can and should be. (1987) and the demand for more and casino artificially placed in Las our collective memories, our dialect, our There’s no such thing as not having con- resources has created pressure for further Vegas) vs. Venice (the city artificially culture, our flavors and our tastes.” troversy when you do something very dif- enlargement of the facilities. maintained in the Adriatic Sea) illus- Indeed, every year more and more cit- ferent. At Cerritos, the difference began We’ve reached a decision point. Should trates the point well. izens flee the city and its diminishing when we decided that our “product” was the library extend what it has been doing, Venice local culture to live at higher elevations, really the user’s experience. offering more of the same collections, pro- Venice has sunk over five inches in decreasing the everyday ratio of resi- We’ve built a learning destination, and grams, and services that have proven suc- the past one hundred years while the sea dents to tourists. The mayor of Venice, put in a lot of effort to create learning cessful? Or, in response to predictions that has risen over four inches, leading to Paolo Costa, said elsewhere in The With over 100,000 experiences for our users. Libraries have the Internet will soon be the only informa- troublesome flooding during high tides. Times of his worry about what a contin- always been about learning, but here it is tion source that matters, should we shift The local government has started to ued exodus might mean to the place: “It copies sold in the right up front. Through the creation of a the emphasis to new technology, adding install a system of over seventy sea gates would be like you were in Williamsburg.” U.S., and translated into fully integrated collaborative learning workstations and beefing up the library’s to control the water levels from the To put his comment in perspective, for- 11 languages, destination, the experience library model online presence? Or should we try an Venice Lagoon into the city’s famous mer Times architecture critic Ada generates unique experiences that spark entirely new approach, something that will network of (artificial) canals. One poten- Louise Huxtable singles out Colonial The Experience Economy users’ imaginations in ways that are both make people sit up and say “Wow!”? tial casualty: the local supply of fish Williamsburg in her book Unreal continues to illuminate, memorable and transforming. In fact, the new Cerritos Library did unique to the brackish environment America as “a careful construct. . . challenge, and inspire The Wow factor has also proven to be evolve from the City Council’s desire in where the salt water meets the fresh. It’s where one could learn a little romanti- an economic benefit to our community. 1997 to provide residents with increased already become customary at some of cized history, confuse the real and unre- readers seeking new Corporations with offices located here in access to electronic resources. Rather the lesser fishmongers to slap nostrano al, and have – then and now – a very nice ways of competing Cerritos use the library as a staff-recruit- than simply filling a room with worksta- labels, falsely indicating “ours”, on time”. Her main criticism: Williamsburg in an increasingly ing tool to show off the quality of life in tions, however, we pondered what a seafood from other locales as far-flung as lies “frozen in time”, restored to an arbi- the area. Moreover, the Chamber of library of the future should offer. Our staff Morocco or Spain. Tuna comes from trary date in the past. competitive world. Commerce cites the library as a signifi- did what librarians do best – researched, Indonesia and turbot from fish farms in But does that not already describe cant contributor to the business-friendly for one year, the work of futurists, the Netherlands. Venice? Thanks to current and past “A brilliant, absolutely original book.” environment here in Cerritos. observed trends in marketing, gathered Cesare Benelli, proprietor of one of mayors and the decisions they’ve made, - Tom Peters Most important of all, the children and the better restaurants, Al Covo, and families of Cerritos have the chance to let organizer of an alliance “dedicated to their imaginations soar, and to use the Continued on page 3 the preservation of local culinary tradi- Continued on page 5 page 2 Pine & Gilmore’s thinkAbout Times September 29 + 30, 2004 thinkAbout! thinkAbout! Read allAbout It! author-rounds, both in focus and in size. Library Journal as “an expert on the dented affluence. In his most recent work, cross between the “Braindorming” exer- What You’ll Experience Third, we wanted to introduce a twist to unsavory,” is the Thomas G. Long What’s So Great About America, Dinesh cise at thinkAbout U and “Touring ‘til the traditional “talking heads” panel for- Professor of Law at the University of defends America from its liberal critics. It Midnight” in Las Vegas. For the uninitiat- at thinkAbout this Year mat. As you’ll see, we’ll begin in rather Michigan Law School, and holds a J.D. and includes his examination, as a prominent ed, imagine a cross between the all- orthodox fashion but then move into a a Ph.D. in English, both earned at Yale. But conservative, of authenticity’s emergence nighters you pulled in college and the by Joe Pine & Jim Gilmore very unusual format for discussion – a he’s really a medieval historian. Miller’s as a dominant ethos in American culture. impassioned musings with your fellow variation of open space, with each individ- tomes The Mystery of Courage and The This study provides invaluable perspective new-hires on your first job. ual author serving as a topical theme. Anatomy of Disgust have enjoyed critical on the societal impact to result across the DAY TWO A.M. – Experience Fair Dateline: Cleveland, Los Angeles, Finally, in the spirit of Authenticity, we acclaim throughout the world. His most globe from increased experiential com- What Day One A.M. is to your normal Chicago, Las Vegas, Mountain View, New wanted to get real and include as author- recent book, Faking It, contends that we merce. Interestingly however, The New talking heads conference, Day Two A.M. is York City, and now Cerritos, our seventh talent those who would offer truly unique are all faking it much more than we care to York Times Book Review called the book to your traditional trade show. That is, thinkAbout. The invitation to our very perspectives on issues of real-and-fake admit. William calls the book an examina- “a thoughtful discussion of the character first thinkAbout said precious little about people, places, performances, and princi- tion of “a world of posing and shams, anx- and historical significance of the United what exactly would transpire during the ples. We also wanted individuals who ieties of exposure, and a fear that the gen- States” and “an indictment of American two-day experience. In fact, we used just would dare to contradict prevailing wis- uine may be just another sham whose cultural conservatism”. (See his “The From the very twenty lines and sixty-three words to dom and disturb long-held truisms – cover is too tough to be blown.” (See his Ideal of Authenticity” on p 8.) describe the flow of events. From the very including our own! “Postcards and Memories” on p. 6.) Round 0: What’s On Your Mind? outset, we’ve wanted to attract profession- In each of the first three rounds the two outset, we’ve als who welcome uncharted territory, of us will conduct focused interviews with hunger for truly new insights, and value these authors. But these are merely prelim- wanted to attract spontaneous routes to discovery. inary discussions, consuming barely half While today we tell a bit more in the morning. In the final session, all eight professionals advance, we’ve maintained that same authors (including ourselves) will scatter to emphasis, offering alumni an “early-bird” eight individual stations around the room who welcome option to register for the next event with- for more intimate, small-group discussions out any details, other than date and loca- that explore whatever’s on your mind in uncharted tion. The result: this year, over half of our reaction to the first three rounds. available slots are already subscribed! Participants may freely flow to authors as territory, Having experienced previous thinkAbouts, they see fit, with whom they see fit, to dis- these alums know they’ll benefit from cuss what they see fit, for as long as they whatever we have planned. They exempli- see fit. These eight clusters of conversa- hunger for truly fy the whatever-whenever-however atti- tions will undoubtedly fluctuate in size and tude that exudes throughout each intensity; small groups might suddenly new insights, thinkAbout. They’re precisely the kind of grow big while large groups may dwindle in people we want participating because they size, all depending on where these discus- and value bring so much out of each other when sions with each “talking head” drives par- brought together. ticipants to walk with their feet and speak spontaneous With some fine-tuning over the years, their mind. This is part of the thinkAbout we’ve maintained the same basic struc- approach – you get to go where you get the routes to ture as that very first thinkAbout, with a most from the discussion. four-part harmony of morning and after- DAY ONE P.M. – Stack Attack! noon across the two-day event. On Day We’ve always thought the highlight of discovery One A.M., we invite outside talent to thinkAbout to be the interactions partici- infuse thinkAbout with challenging new pants have with each other, and with us, in perspectives) On Day One P.M., we response to the stimuli introduced during you’ll recognize the floor plan but enjoy an embark on a Learning ExcursionEM by tak- EM Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore the event’s Learning Excursion . While entirely different experience! Everyone will ing participants to new and different we usually hit the streets to experience both exhibit and visit. That is, each person places throughout our host city (although the best (and sometimes, intentionally, will spend time as the cast member for their two years ago – and again this year – we Thus the end result: three rounds of Round 2: Conversing About the worst) a city has to offer, this year we own team’s exhibit as well walking the floor decided to place participants in new con- talking heads with a twist in one large Conversation stay within the Cerritos Library (and its in search of insights at other exhibits. texts within a single venue; though the group, followed by more intimate discus- This second round of two authors could park-like grounds) for our excursion, You should detect the open space feel. term “Learning Incursion” just doesn’t sions later that morning in small groups. have been called, alternatively, exploring the library’s resources as provo- All of the morning’s festivities will take have the same ring to it!) On Day Two The morning will flow something like this: “Collaborating on Collaboration” or “A cations for our learning. place in the same room, facilitating ease of A.M., we’ve taken to employing various Round 3: Reeling in Unreality Dialogue on Dialogue” or “Exploring With books as the instigation, everyone flow and getting to know each other’s dis- modifications of “open space technology” A Texan Architect, a Dutch Journalist, Exploration” or any cross-combination will break out into small teams to come up coveries. The idea of showcasing ideas in and a Michigander Lawyer walk into a bar, thereof. The interaction between this pair with an Experience Economy-related topic an Experience Fair seems so simple. It is and proceed to talk about what’s fake and of group-dynamic experts will communi- to investigate together and set off through simple. So why say more? what’s real. The interaction between cate the essence of connected, coordinat- the library to gather intelligence. Teams will DAY TWO P.M. – The Top 10 List thinkAbout them, with us, and among participants will ed, cooperative, and collaborative conver- have access to books, newspapers, maga- As we now do at every thinkAbout, we offer multiple perspectives on authentici- sations – with perhaps some words on zines, the Internet, and other information close the event with a countdown of ten isn’t so much ty, fakery and the possibilities or impossi- mega-conversations and meta-models to resources, as well as library staff, most of experiences, each one worthy of directly bilities of escaping it. Sharing their per- boot. The two do not know each other; our authors – including dedicated time with experiencing by our participants. More than dependent on spectives are: we’re just throwing them together the two of us – and, most importantly, that, however, each one exemplifies a par- Michael Benedikt, director of the because, well, how can they not get along? access to each other: sharing experiences, ticular principle that we find compelling for Center for American Architecture and The aim is to address real work and real discussing possibilities, and business today. With the revealing of its structure as Design, teaches and practices architecture results in the business workplace. forming conclusions. each experience, starting with in Austin, Texas, where he holds the Hal Mary E. Boone heads Boone We will, of course, inte- number 10, we ask participants liberated by it Box Chair in Urbanism at the University of Associates, a consulting firm specializing grate our usual to apply this principle to Texas. In his essay-book, For an in improving the performance of individu- tricks to help trig- their own business, given Architecture of Reality, Benedikt argues als and organizations through innovative ger the exploration. their own circumstances, to to extract lessons learned. Finally, on Day “it falls to architecture to have the direct approaches to communication and collab- Our aim this year see what ideas emerge. Two P.M., we present the Pine & Gilmore esthetic experience of the real at the cen- oration. Boone’s first book, Leadership is to use the time The final experience Top 10 list of experiences that we recom- ter of its concern.” He calls for “High and the Computer, chronicles the hands- to maximize on our list wins our mend participants take in during the Realism” as “an architecture that stands on use of technology by CEOs; her most acquisition of new Experience Stager of the coming year. Topping the list, we award against, or in contrast to, the culture-wide recent, Managing Inter@ctively, address- knowledge and Year award, complete with the #1 experience our Experience Stager trend to ephemeralizaton and relativism.” es the challenges and competencies need- insights in order to the bronze EXPY statuette of the Year (EXPY) award. The bound volume exemplifies in its phys- ed to achieve results in an increasingly generate new ideas now gracing five previous To provide some flavor of this year’s ical form the very components of such networked world. Mary’s research makes about the Experience top experiences: American thinkAbout – with little risk of providing realness – presence, significance, materi- clear that inside enterprises Economy and what Girl Place, The Geek Squad, too much information, for we have plenty ality, and emptiness – that Michael advo- Communication = Change; and in dealing businesses should do as a Joie de Vivre Hospitality, LEGO, of surprises in store – here’s a glimpse of cates. (See his “Reality and Authenticity with external customers, businesses need result. The entire afternoon will be and, of course, the Cerritos Public Library what we have planned. in the Experience Economy” on p. 5.) to move from “Tell and Sell” to “Ask and devoted to gathering input. We expect the itself. Participants will hear from the 2004 DAY ONE A.M. – Talking Heads 3-2-1-0 Tracy Metz works as a correspondent Engage”. (See her “Conversation and conclusions of the teams’ deliberations to Experience Stager of the Year – then apply Since we’re gathering for thinkAbout in for the Dutch daily newspaper, HRC Collaboration” on p. 7.) push forward the state-of-the-art on what is what they hear to their own businesses. the tome-filled Cerritos Public Library, it Handelsblad, covering sundry happenings Tom McGehee heads The WildWorks happening in business today. And with that, thinkAbout will come to only made sense to invite a number of related to architecture, urbanism, and Group, specialists in staging collaborative After a respite for dinner, the focus will an official close for another year. authors to jumpstart the event. Several landscape design. A Californian living in work experiences – utilizing dynamic shift to generating output, with time spent Unofficially, however, it continues in two factors, however, weighed in on how Amsterdam for some thirty years, she is of work environments, visual scribing, and developing materials to present what each ways. First, we invite every one to come to exactly to organize this time. course fluent in Dutch, but also in obser- real-time capture of output – that outper- team has discovered. Understand though, a post-event gathering. We generally like First, we’ve had individual authors vation. Metz is the author of Nieuwe natu- form traditional workplace decision-mak- we don’t want the teams to just write down to keep the nature and location a secret, before as solo acts (strategist/futurist ur (“New nature”) and, most recently, ing. A former U.S. Marine, McGehee their conclusions – merely an information informing only those who register for the Stan Davis, performance theorist Pret! Leisure en landshcap (published served as Vice President of Cap Gemini service – but rather create an experience event. (In past years, we’ve treated those Ernst & Young’s Accelerated Solutions for their fellow participants that may very we stay an extra night to Blue Man Group, Environment™ before starting his own well transform each other’s thinking. To Cirque du Soliel, and a Broadway produc- firm. He is author of Whoosh: Business in accomplish this, we will be providing a kit tion, amongst other experiences – each the Fast Lane. We have employed his skills of wide-ranging contents to ensure your included in the price of admission!) in visually documenting the past two documentation and renditions of it might Second, we extend the experience for thinkAbout events, yielding favorable become more sensory, dimensional, and ten months with both tangible and intan- experiences we can best describe as dramatic. The most important ingredient, gible reminders of each experience on our “Disneyland meets Parris Island”. This of course, will be participant creativity! Top 10 List – and with continued applica- year, we invite Tom up on stage with us, Much of this development work will tion of the principles they exemplify. and with Mary. (See his “The Power of occur “after hours” when the library has We do hope we haven’t given you too Models” on p. 7.) closed to the general public. We’ll have the much information. Just keep in mind it is Round 1: Society and Authenticity library to ourselves for free-spirited inter- an event that is not so much dependent on For our final round, we explore the mingling along with hard-driving effort to its structure as liberated by it to create a broader implications of Authenticity as a complete the work-team projects. For dynamic flow of interaction, discussion, modern-day sensibility on the dominant thinkAbout alumni, think of this time as a and application. social institutions of our times, namely government, education, non-profits, and church. Today, many people detect phoni- ness in our politicians, sense a certain inanity in our schools and universities, see the futility of many not-for-profit charities, and witness turmoil and scandal 2003 Top 10 EM A scribe’s panel of the Learning Excursion from the 2003 thinkAbout between and within religions. Amidst all in New York City. WildWorks Group will once again scribe portions of this Visit www.StrategicHorizons.com/observations.html for a closer this fakeness, people thirst for the real. In look at why each member made last year’s countdown. year's thinkAbout, giving participants a lasting visual representation. this space, one author stands out in our mind as foremost in offering truly inde- 10. Library Hotel 5. Hard Rock Vault Orlando pendent thinking and analysis, to the Sally Harrison-Pepper, architect/place- simultaneously in English as Fun! Leisure point of courageously alienating social 9. John Robert’s Hair Studio & Spa 4. Mid-Columbia Medical Center maker Jon Jerde), but we thought this critics of all stripes. and Landscape). The book examines how 8. Swarovski Kristallwelten 3. Zorb venue deserved far more than one. Given “free time” and “fun” are having a far- Dinesh D’Souza is the Robert and this was our seventh thinkAbout, it reaching effect on the development of Karen Rishwain Fellow with the Hoover 7. Medieval Times 2. www.landsend.com seemed only natural to settle on six both cityscapes and the countryside. With Institute at Stanford University. D’Souza’s authors to join us this year as talent for regard to her own city residence, Tracy first book, Illiberal Education, brought to 6. www.AmericasArmy.com 1. Cerritos Library Day One, for a total of eight. (And if that observes how Amsterdam’s dependence public attention the rhetorical excesses made perfect sense to you, you are the on tourists leads to a degree of con- and strong-armed tactics of political cor- right sort of person to join us as well!) trivance, of staged authenticity, where she rectness. A later book, The Virtue of Who will be on this year’s Top 10 list? Second, we wanted these authors to pro- and her fellow residents serve to render Prosperity, challenged the utopian Top 10 vide different intellectual points of depar- realness for the city’s visitors. (See her assumptions of “New Economy” digerati, Come to the 2004 thinkAbout to find out live! ture for the rest of our time together, so we “Tourist in my own city” on p. 6.) examining how we can best improve soci- took pains to assemble three very different William Ian Miller, dubbed by the ety for the better in an age of unprece- September 29 + 30, 2004 Pine & Gilmore’s thinkAbout Times page 3

Wow continued from page 1 the world to see what we now call the new of staff-created original programs high- new building. All it requires is a new way “Cerritos Experience Library” and hear lights the library’s collections, and part- of thinking about libraries and a strong about its Wow customer service model, nerships with other learning institutions commitment to enhancing the user’s Business information about cutting-edge library which focuses on the user’s experience. bring a global perspective to Cerritos. experience. At Cerritos, we are so excited services, studied the systems at museums At Cerritos, Wow is not limited to the Wow Collections – All This and about the community’s response to our such as the Getty and Smithsonian, and impact of the building or themed environ- Books, Too! efforts that we are working hard to share Briefs looked at mass-volume public spaces like ments, but is best expressed by our staff, We have integrated technology-based what we have learned with other library nearby Disneyland. The key was a willing- who are continually trained to focus on collections with traditional library servic- professionals through the creation of the ness on the part of the City to consider a assessing user needs. The Cerritos staff is es. A session at one of the library’s 232 clioinstitute, a series of conferences Strategic Horizons LLP variety of options with the proviso that empowered to evaluate services and workstations or 1200 laptop-ready “hot designed to inspire libraries to inspire New Partner Named the needs of the community would always spaces in order to build confidence and a seats” reveals electronic databases, e- communities. Creating an experience- Strategic Horizons LLP said it named remain paramount. sense of ownership. By celebrating the books, Internet access, office software, based library is an emotional journey; it Scott Lash, Director of Marketing, to the If you want people to use, and eventu- pleasures of learning and new ideas, and streamed media. has to be, in terms of the planning, and position of partner, effective January 1, 2004. ally love, libraries you have to get people Cerritos has succeeded in creating a fun, We certainly did not want to eclipse the clioinstitute exists to encourage and In recognition of his outstanding contribu- in libraries. Two important ideas surfaced friendly, collaborative envi- books; as users explore the library, they support that journey. tions to new offering development, producing during our research. First was the con- ronment and the find books – everywhere, on all Other libraries can do things on a dif- the firm’s flagship experience, thinkAbout, cept of the Experience Economy as artic- word is three floors. There are best ferent scale and still offer Wow learning and overseeing the recently revamped ulated by Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore in spread- sellers, classics, rare edi- experiences – just by taking bits and Strategic Horizons website, the three extant their book by that title. The ideas within ing! tions, how-to manu- pieces of what we’ve done and adapting partners unanimously voted in Mr. Lash as The Experience Economy fit well with our als, picture books, them to their own communities. It’s even partner in full standing with all of the rights desire to make the public library more and large-print possible to implement the experience and privileges thereof. Mr. Lash will continue interactive, involving, educational, and – books, as well approach on a shoestring. In fact, our in his aforementioned duties, increasing his well, yes, more entertaining. The other as fiction and Cerritos staff incubated all the new pro- focus on new offerings and adding in full seminal inspiration was visual – a photo- nonfiction grams and services in the trailers we used management of certain key accounts. graph of the spectacular Guggenheim titles in 10 as our temporary facility. Even in that Museum in Bilbao, Spain, rising above the different modest environment, switching to experi- American Girl, Inc. ancient streets of the Basque town. That languages ence-based offerings increased our circu- image caused the Library Planning Team for read- lation by more than 17%! Pleasant Company Now to reflect on the concepts of finding the ers of all The Wow Response – The Called American Girl future in the past, shifting in time, inte- ages. Community Re-imagines its Library Company officials announced in a recent grating traditional culture with new In In a community where the library was press release that, as of January 1, 2004, technology, and blending library and fact, we already an extremely popular public serv- Pleasant Company will be referred to as museum. Cerritos selected “Honoring have ice before we poured on the Wow, circu- American Girl, Inc. According to Ellen the Past – Imagining the Future” as the gone out lation is up 67%, library visits are up 86%, Brothers, president of American Girl, “the overarching theme for the new Library, of our library registration is up 292%, and pro- change is in keeping with our desire to abbreviated to “traveling through time”. way to gram attendance is up 210%. But statistics emphasize the strength of the nationally Using the metaphor of the library as a really don’t get to the heart of the matter. Our recognized American Girl brand and also time machine, Cerritos has created a real renew inter- reward is every day seeing a face light up serves to make our company name more place in the community that seamlessly est in the book at the sight of leather-bound examples of consistent with how our customers, as well blends themed spaces with traditional as “the book”. fine printing – “You mean I get to touch as the external financial community, iden- library resources, innovative services Our multimedia this?” Or hearing the squeal of a four- tify with us.” The company’s flagship expe- with new technology. “The Zeitgeist of Learning Center year-old racing ahead of his family to rience in Chicago, American Girl Place, the future is convergence” has been a Wow (located in the Old check out the T. Rex. The gentle “thank was awarded the very first Strategic real mantra of ours; it’s not just bringing Programs – World Reading Room, you” of a senior user after a personal les- Horizons EXPY Award in 1999. the book and the digital world together, Powered by which houses our leatherbound son on how to use email to stay in touch it’s bringing human experiences in prox- Imagination classics collection) is devoted to the with her grandchildren. The Home Depot imity with library services, bringing On your way through the library, you printed word. This library sparks imagination. It everything together. are tempted to linger at a number of imag- Cerritos developed the concept of generates excitement. It fosters new Record First Quarter Net Earnings Wow Service – Beyond User inative and entertaining presentations multi-media Learning Centers to blend learning. The Home Depot, the world’s largest home Satisfaction to User Excitement that invite visitors to learn more about traditional and nontraditional resources The Cerritos community has expanded improvement retailer, reported record first Upon entering, you pause just to drink it the world around them. in an inviting package, by linking library its vision of what a library can be, and quarter net earnings of $1.1 billion, up 26 per- all in – and then you smile. Clearly, the What we have discovered is that visi- users to the best information wherever it’s what it can do. Now our users are the cent, for the first quarter of fiscal 2004. ideas in this library are not all in books; tors create their own experiences at our been developed. Our goal has been to ones who are pushing the envelope, ask- Among the factors attributed to the increase library. For example, a whole new pro- gather and integrate materials of all types ing for new programs, thinking up new was “significant progress in meeting customer gram has evolved as a result of our users in support of experience-based learning. ways to take the experience beyond aspirational needs, including an enhanced selecting a leatherbound classic, complete We want users to be able to pursue any where it is today. We set the example that shopping experience.” Bob Nardelli, chair- with gilt pages, that they always had interest quickly and easily across a full it’s okay to break the old rules, to do tra- man, president, and CEO, previously stated in promised themselves they would read, range of information sources and formats. ditional things in new way, and our users the Aug. 2003 issue of Fast Company, “When and settling into a wingback chair near Every program, every performance, and have taken that idea and are running I became CEO, I reread The Experience some of them have escaped into the envi- the fireplace and reading a chapter each every event held at the library, regardless of with it. Economy. It became clear early on that what ronment. You know immediately that this time they come into the library. sponsorship, links back to the collections. All we can say is, “Wow!” had gotten the Home Depot to its first $50 bil- place has exciting possibilities. In the two Every element of the Cerritos Library Putting Wow to Work – in lion was not going to get it to the next $50 bil- years since the new library opened, hun- design is an opportunity for an interactive Other Libraries Waynn Pearson is City Librarian for lion. I knew that the new competitive arena dreds of librarians have come from around learning experience. A “continuous loop” Wow service does not require a grand the Cerritos Library. was the customer’s experience”.

How do you create more powerful impressions than traditional media can deliver?

Visit www.gpjco.com/answers page 4 Pine & Gilmore’s thinkAbout Times September 29 + 30, 2004 A Point of View: What’s an Idea Worth? thinkAbout Times Published just this once by Strategic Horizons LLP education. I think education is certainly of Point of View. When one considers a by Doug Parker, Managing Partner, Strategic Horizons LLP part of it, but I believe it is subsumed story, say, of three guys who go fishing – inside of something greater. What we’re this isn’t exactly the stuff of earth-shat- Douglas G. Parker really about is altering the existing per- tering change. But through the vision of Publisher Aurora, (or currently paying tuition) will tell spective of our clients. As Joe Pine elo- a gifted film director, we get Jaws – a Managing Partner, OH. Now you. These institutions implicitly under- quently put it, “We’re in the business of phenomenon that forever altered the Strategic Horizons LLP that’s a ques- stand and charge for the “market value” helping executives see the world differ- world’s viewpoint of wildlife below the tion I’m often of the transformation they are eliciting. ently.” We liked that so much, it’s our water’s surface. That story could have Scott Lash asked. How Their changed student body is the prod- company’s tagline – and the notion is as been told in many ways, but a singularly Managing Editor do we estab- uct, and they charge for it commensu- true today as when he said it nine creative Point of View produced a time- Partner, lish the fees rately. They realize that tuition of, say, years ago. less classic. Strategic Horizons LLP for our speak- $35,000 per year – $140,000 over four There’s a lot to his statement. Do we Such is the power of perspective. ing and advi- years – pays for shaping the minds of know more about our clients’ businesses When we perform for our clients, we cre- James H. Gilmore sory time? Is future leaders in business, architecture, than they do? No way. Are we hired ate linkages that they had not considered Ideator-in-Chief an event like law, medicine, and so forth – people who because we have all the answers to their and reveal greater truths about the world Co-Founder, thinkAbout earn multiple millions over their life- issues? Not a chance. But what we do in which they compete. Those truths are Strategic Horizons LLP worth the times. Though difficult if not impossible provide is a unique and distinct Point of always there. . . it simply takes trained asking price? to evaluate the worth of such an educa- View to help our clients – the most eyes to guide one to see them. That’s All legitimate questions, and not easy or tion, universities have been compelled to knowledgeable people around regarding what our speaking and consulting – as B. Joseph Pine II even possible to answer quantitatively. put a price tag on it that the market their company – see their situation well as our annual thinkAbout event – Editor-with-Beard We often hear of the rising costs of will bear. . . and it gets more expensive anew. We’re cross-pollinating them with does for our clients. Afterward, our audi- Co-Founder, tuition at colleges and universities – it’s every year. our thinking, and it drives them to per- ences find it very hard to return to busi- Strategic Horizons LLP perhaps the most glaring example of Likewise, our changed clients are our form in new ways with new results. ness as usual. Now we ask: How can you put a value modern-day cost inflation, as any parent “product”, so to speak – so one could This is high-value activity in our soci- With reporting by: who’s saving for their child’s education argue that we, too, are in the business of ety. Take storytelling, one of the fine arts on that? Gary Adamson, Chief Experience Officer, Starizon, Inc.; Michael Benedikt, Hal Box Chair in Urbanism, University of Texas; Mary E. Boone, President, Boone Associates; Albert Boswijk, Executive Director, European Centre for the Experience Economy; Daniel J. Carney, Managing Director, Kesic + Company; Ed Cohen; Dude, Where’s , Robert and Karen Rishwain Dinesh D’Souza Interested in getting Fellow, Hoover Institute at Stanford University; James H. Gilmore, Co-Founder, Strategic up close and personal with Horizons LLP; Mark W. Hansen, Director, My Paycheck? Commerce Customization, LEGO System A/S; the minds that conceived David Holder, Director, Tourism and Economic Activity, Fredericksburg Tourism Department; The Experience Economy? Scott Lash, Partner, Strategic Horizons LLP; by Scott Lash, Director of Marketing, Strategic Horizons LLP Tom McGehee, Founder and CEO, The WildWorks Group; Tracy Metz, Journalist, HRC Want a backstage pass Handelsblad; William Ian Miller, Thomas G. Aurora, Today we are so far removed from the Long Professor of Law, University of Michigan to thinkAbout? Law School; David Norton, Ph.D., Vice- OH. It’s dark. toils of the agrarian age and the hand- President, Research & Experience Strategy, And way too crafted workmanship of pre-industrial Yamamoto Moss; Douglas G. Parker, Managing early in the times that many people actually long – Curious to take part in the Partner, Strategic Horizons LLP, Waynn Pearson, morning. and are willing to pay - to get their hands City Librarian, Cerritos Public Library; Paying Labor experience?* B. Joseph Pine II, Co-Founder, Strategic Cold and dirty and experience the intrinsic joys of Horizons LLP; and Sonia Rhodes, Vice- sluggish, you a hard day’s labor. And though we see it President, Customer Strategy, Sharp HealthCare. arrive at the primarily in labor-intensive industries, Additional contributions from: fishing docks the practice is starting to spread to other, Manfred Abraham, Reinventor, Wolff-Olins; to struggle less strenuous environments. Ellen Brothers, President, American Girl, Inc. into a damp And so it came to be that for the 2003 Chip Conley, Chairman and CEO, Joie de Vivre pair of hip thinkAbout in New York, we tested this Hospitality; Jeff Kallay, Experience Economy Evangelist; Gregory W. Petersburg, D.O., boots and supposition on ourselves. Our goal: to Renascence; and Candace A. Quinn, Vice yellow fish- find one person from among the legion President for Strategic Communications & erman gear. You know that in the hours of fans of the Experience Economy who Marketing, Baystate Health System. ahead, you’ll be faced with back-wreck- would be willing to pay – above and Here’s your chance! With special thanks to: ing labor, nets full of smelly, slippery beyond the regular admission fee – to Marla Lash, President, Direct Creativity, Inc.; fish, and the skin blistering chafe of work at thinkAbout as a paying laborer. Strategic Horizons is offering a rare opportunity Edina Lessack, President, Meetings & Events the lines. Happily, we found not one, but two for four individuals to get a behind-the-scenes USA; Waynn Pearson, Jackie Stetson, Stanley As you climb aboard, the old salt cap- such vanguards! As you’ll read below, immersion into Pine & Gilmore’s creative Strauss, and all the wonderful staff at the The Cerritos Library. taining the boat barks at you to cast off. our two paying laborers had different collaboration as it unfolds live at thinkAbout. You look up. And smile. Then you press motivations for their participation but For more information about this engaging experience, Editorial and Corporate Headquarters: a few hundred dollars into his hands. . . each walked away with a unique per- 105 Woodland Trace, Aurora, OH, 44202-8076, contact Scott Lash, Director of Marketing, USA +1 (330) 995-4680; fax: +1 (330) 995-4686 just for the privilege. spective of the experience and its value. at +1 (330) 405-2886 or email [email protected]. Huh? We are pleased to announce that this [email protected]. Welcome to a growing genre of experi- year we once again are offering a Subscription services: to add or remove your ences called paying labor. It’s a world limited number of paying labor name from the distribution list, please *Some actual Labor Required! call us at +1 (330) 405-2886 or e-mail in which the completely rational among opportunities. We promise insightful, [email protected]. us actually pay to work in often physi- challenging, and rare access to the minds cally demanding environments. It’s hap- behind thinkAbout and plenty (no, thinkAbout Times and thinkAbout is a produc- pening in industry after industry – really. . . lots!) of hands-on experiences to tion of Strategic Horizons LLP. Reproduction of the thinkAbout experience itself, in whole or in aboard fishing fleets and on farmer hay boot! For more information, contact part, would simply be impossible given the wagons, underground in mining camps, us at +1 (330) 405-2886 or email unique nature of the gathering, its participants, and across the prairie on cattle drives. [email protected]. and the hosts. © 2004 Strategic Horizon LLP. Paying for The Real Value of Paying Labor

ten-minute conversation by inquiring directors. It wasn’t glamorous climbing Labor C.O.D. by Ed Cohen about my promotional experience, skill under chairs, walking city streets in cir- set, and points of interest. He then cles, and testing walkie–talkies. But I was weaved these talking points into a visual behind the curtain making it happen; formed a hotel corridor from a sterile meet- Chicago, IL. So last summer I’m in picture of how the paying labor role could there is no way to script such a real expe- by David Holder ing space into an aircraft, performing a O’Hare airport about to take a business trip be benefit me in my current position, as rience. The thinkAbout crew did their job conga line through a McDonalds as a learn- when I finally get a chance to catch-up on well as how it would compliment my long- by managing the experience process so Fredericksburg, VA. New York City pro- ing exercise, and using mere soda and pen- my periodical reading. I was flipping range career plans. There was no doubt that we two paying laborers could craft vides a non-stop sensual bombardment that cils as a method for organizing groups and through Event Marketer and ran into Pine after that conversation that I was in! our individual path of discovery. is unmatched as an experiential classroom. facilitating discussion was powerful to the & Gilmore’s paying labor article. [“Take Drive Intrigue Empowering participants is a key step This NYC classroom offered Professors Pine average thinkAbout participant. This Job and Sell It”, August/September In many cases, there is a significant to transformation because this step allows & Gilmore the chance to trade in their mor- My creative energy grew with the other 2003, p. 52. – Ed.] At first, I was skeptical, lag time from registration to event. It is vital them to take ownership by developing an tarboards from ThinkAbout U [2002 in participants, but being part of the setup mumbling in my mind about how this is to build a sense of anticipation during this emotional attachment. You know you Mountain View – Ed.] for the representa- team – converting the space, blocking the such crap – which is exactly what I was period. This delay is the time to introduce have created this change when guests tive sport caps of the Big Apple – New York line, and passing out the pencils – doing when I read the theory of paid expe- thought starters, begin seeding emotional begin to craft your message in their own Yankees for Joe, New York Rangers for Jim. removed any boundaries that potentially riences in The Experience Economy, and connecters, and engender brand messaging. words. Now they are no longer spouting In doing so they assumed the role of confined my creativity. now I advocate that to all my clients. I real- If you have a web presence, it’s a great mere brand knowledge, but advocating producers with the entirety of Manhattan Opportunity ized this, too, made sense. time to drive your paying laborers to your their personal experience. And this has available to them as a stage. The possible catalyst for this personal How much is a day with Joe Pine and site. Start creating a level of discovery by powerful implications. It became apparent to them that addi- creative revolution was a full afternoon Jim Gilmore worth? Would you pay a pre- providing your laborers with “internal” Although not every experience needs to tional stagehands would be required; a per- with Jim Gilmore. It is always a useful mium price to roll t-shirts and walk access codes, which provide behind-the- be choreographed to a Disney standard, it fect setting for testing the grand theory of exercise to step into someone else’s shoes around Manhattan with them? The paid scenes information. If you don’t have an is universal that all facilitators walk the paying labor firsthand. What could be more for his perspective of the world. When the labor position offered the opportunity to internal web presence, don’t worry – the talk. One of the highlights of my paying authentic than to practice a concept that shoes belong to Pine or Gilmore, the view be in an intimate setting discussing The thinkAbout team provided the same sense labor experience was a preview of the the duo has preached from the beginning of the world becomes radically different, Experience Economy, learning more of inclusion by sending mailings and walking tour with Joe. He was gracious of their work on the Experience Economy? with experiential offerings just around about their latest ideas, challenging them copying us on internal emails. and patient, answering all my questions As one of the willing and able actors for- every corner – literally, in the case of on execution implications, and even Remember, the experience starts at the and giving me the personal attention tunate enough to receive a part in this Times Square. unloading one’s own thoughts. Before I initial moment of contact. When executed that was the core of my paying labor elaborate production, I realized early on One of the selling points for choosing to knew it, my credit card statement was properly, much of the event’s anticipa- experience. that this was not a standard event, nor attend as a paying laborer was the oppor- proof enough that people are always will- tion, emotional connection, and branding At the same time, he was moving our were these traditional educators. Sure, tunity to mine the strategic and creative ing to pay to get closer to the action. are seeded prior to the participants arriv- agenda forward by providing core talking the thinkAbout crew needed some help in minds of the two producers. I took full While many readers will see the paying ing on-site. points, which allowed me to assist him preparing the stage and delivering the advantage of the time to sponge ideas, labor positions as an additional revenue Create an Authentic Experience with his presentation the following day. content, but the value to me was worth a thoughts, and strategies through our time stream, I believe the concept’s true value Each event is going to look very differ- By extending his knowledge, Joe provided great deal more than the extra day away together. All of this absorbed knowledge is in its ability transform core consumers ent based on the particular experience; my real payoff by helping me establish and the additional cost required to be would prove easily adaptable into my own into key influencers who will deliver however, one thing is fundamental: you credibility. It was here that I transitioned paying labor. I went home with the usual business plans and strategies. brand buzz. As one of two paying laborers have the opportunity to transform an from a paying laborer to a thinkAbout great knowledge gained from thinkAbout, Delivery from last year’s thinkAbout, coupled with event participant into a brand activist. So brand ambassador. This provided me the but I also absorbed an additional layer of Success fosters understanding and growth. my 10+ years in the events industry, the make sure to use your time wisely and forum to subtly seed the conference’s benefit provided C.O.D. No, not that I grew as a professional because I was accept- following are suggested steps on how pay- capitalize on the participants existing authentic message, while at the same C.O.D. As a paying labor participant, I ed as part of the thinkAbout team. As a ing labor can payoff for you. affinity toward your brand. time communicate my belief in the grew from witnessing the Creativity, tak- paying laborer, I knew my ideas were being Pulling Your Target In The key is to have an experience that is brand’s core message, which was an affir- ing advantage of the Opportunity, and considered and that I played a role, albeit a No matter the size or scope of an event, part show, but also allows authentic dis- mation, and indeed a manifestation, of assisting in the Delivery. relatively minor one, in the successful deliv- your target should always remain the covery. I never felt that the thinkAbout the Experience Economy itself. Creativity ery of this event. I was proud to be part of this same. During the planning phase, focus team was playing flawless Disneyesque Think of it in these terms: if this article A trademark of the thinkAbout brain event and eagerly await my next opportunity your resources on attracting existing core characters with a pre-set agenda. (It inspires just one person to participate as a trust is the constant use of props, take- to be a performer on the thinkAbout stage. customers. Your proposition should could’ve been that huge leak in the ceiling 2004 thinkAbout paying laborer, I guaran- home tools, learning excursions, and include a theater of the mind description hours before the event. . . .) tee it will be money well spent. See you high-profile recording of the proceedings. David Holder is a 2003 thinkAbout alum- to build intrigue. Sure there was a working outline and in Cerritos. The common theme uniting these various nus and Director, Tourism and Economic For example, when I first contacted some talking points, but we were produc- features is the creativity necessary for suc- Activity for the Fredericksburg Tourism Scott Lash to find out about thinkAbout’s ing an event together. We were stage man- Ed Cohen is a 2003 thinkAbout cess. Witnessing the vision that trans- Department. paying labor position, he maximized our agers, technical support, and creative alumnus. September 29 + 30, 2004 Pine & Gilmore’s thinkAbout Times page 5

Thankyouverymuch” – in effect, gen- Experience Economy before this, lies in uinely winking at Las Vegas’ entertain- observing what is going in the business Frontier continued from page 1 ingly authentic inauthentic self. Time world, identifying far-reaching changes Reality and the City of Dreams remains artificially and again, visitors encounter features at that threaten accepted ways of thinking, rooted firmly in the past – in order to The Venetian that resonate with those and then developing frameworks to attract the very tourists that are driving who come to Vegas seeking escape from enable executives, managers, and work- Authenticity in the away the real residents. As late architec- the humdrum strip malls, service sta- ers to see these changes in a new light ture professor Steen Eiler Rasmussen tions, and suburban sameness of every- and thereby figure out what to do about says in his book Experiencing day life. For them, it all comes off so real. it. And that means we have to get – at Architecture, “Venice itself looms like a Really. As O’Rourke concludes, “Most of least a bit – philosophical. Experience Economy mirage, a dream city in the ether. And the things that aren’t authentic about the The place to start: with Lionel Trilling, this impression of unreality persists even Venetian’s Venice are, like the smell, an the late professor of English at Columbia But perhaps architects who worry about to the very threshold.” improvement.” University, who in 1970 presented a by Michael Benedikt the rise of the “Experience Economy” are vs. The Venetian Our Worldview and Welcome to It series of lectures on the subject at on to something more significant. Perhaps, Ah, Venice. Meanwhile, in Las Vegas Things do not always seem as they are. Harvard University that were compiled like canaries in the proverbial coal mine, (one of the fastest-growing cities in As human beings today we mold not just into the tome Sincerity and Austin, TX. they are registering a disturbing shift in Authenticity. He sets himself the task of We move modern culture, namely, the loss of a describing how the notion of sincerity about in an healthy balance between what is real in from centuries past transformed over increasingly life and what is not – between what is time into our present-day concern for media-satu- authentic and what is not – and of the bal- authenticity. rated envi- ance that architecture has historically For Trilling, authenticity “implies the ronment. In been instrumental in providing. downward movement through all the cul- suburb and Consider – every person has an abiding tural superstructures to some place city, the need to make this related set of discrimina- where all movement ends, and begins.” It semantic tions: between the actual and the illusory, is the alpha and omega of modern-day quiet of between the true and the false, between man’s conception of self, which Trilling nature has fact and fiction, the natural and the artifi- recognizes in his discourse as he moves become hard- cial, the material and the non-material, the from discussing the “idea of sincerity” to er to experi- significant and the trivial, the authentic the “ideal of authenticity”. ence on a daily basis, as has the semantic and the fake, the guileless and the motivat- Trilling observes, most tellingly, that quiet of classical and “classic” Modernist ed, the found-ready and the made-ready. . “from [Jean Jacques] Rousseau we architecture – buildings that radiate that . and so on. Why? So that at the very least learned that what destroys our authen- they are what they are, that they have we can freely choose between them, or ticity is society – our sentiment of being already said what there is to be said, that more basically, because without the ability depends upon the opinion of other peo- although they stand by us and for us, they to make such binary discriminations we ple” and that for Rousseau, who wrote of do not seek to persuade. could not function at all. Let’s try to take the “noble savage”, authenticity consist- Reality – this quieter reality, anyway – this thought to architecture. ed in “merely being not inauthentic”. is under threat, as well as authenticity, In For an Architecture of Reality, I ana- which is the authority that comes with lyze the quality of realness into being real in just this way. four elemental components, namely, Some argue that this state of affairs is an presence, significance, materiality, and ineluctable consequence of the evolution of emptiness. “Presence” is about a build- our economy. As increasingly we make our ing’s perceptual clarity and self-confi- The famed canals of the fake Venice. livings and seek our pleasures in the fields dence. “Significance” is about its involve- of information created by others, more of ment in actual people’s lives. “Materiality” North America, a place where the rising us are drawn into working in a new kind of is about a building’s physicality and made- number of relocations each year increas- economy. It is an economy beyond the ness, its heft, temperature, airiness, and so es its ratio of residents to tourists), familiar “information economy.” Today we on. “Emptiness” is about a building’s lack across the street from the Mirage Hotel & live and work in the Experience Economy. of didacticism, its indifference to us com- Casino sits The Venetian. Its owner, In a book of this name, Joseph Pine and bined with a generosity that we can’t or Sheldon Adelson, often boasts that folks James Gilmore argue that as free-market don’t want to explain. These four qualities, enjoy his hotel and casino precisely capitalism evolves, the locus of new value I argue – presence, significance, materiali- because of its “authentic” representation creation (and, with it, the locus of new prof- ty, and emptiness – comprise our sense of of Venice, right down to the knock-off its) shifts from the production, distribution, reality about everything, including build- gondoliers singing renditions of Italian and consumption of commodities, first to ings. But it is buildings, which routinely songs while “pushing” their ersatz gon- goods, then to services, then to experi- and everywhere embody all four of these dolas back-and-forth (while actually they ences. This development can be seen as qualities to some degree because of what glide on tracks) across an artificial canal counteracting the simultaneous movement they are, that play an important role in that sits a floor above the casino. in the opposite direction: the steady de- providing people with benchmark exam- Adelson told the Casino Journal “We evolution, under routine price competition, ples of what reality is and what the expe- believe [Las Vegas hotel & casino] New of hundreds of once-estimable goods and rience of reality feels like. This standard- York-New York is a ‘faux’ New York. We once-luxurious services to low-profit com- bearing is all the more needed when we are not going to build a ‘faux’ Venice. modities and automated “services”. live in a mediated and media-filled world. We’re going to build what is essentially The focus of more and more of our cre- Buildings that have powerful presence, sig- the real Venice.” ativity, then, is not things, really, nor nificance, materiality, and emptiness W. Easley Hamner, principal with The services conceived of as quanta of useful serve as touch-stones relative to which Venetian’s architects, The Stubbins labor, but bounded information fields, other, more ephemeral human produc- The Venetian in Vegas. Referential, but even more fake then the original. Associates, Inc., extended his client’s treated as property, in which memorable tions are shown to be less than fully real, vision when he told Inland Architect and entertaining experiences can be had. though perhaps no less important for life’s Magazine, “By visiting the Venetian, mil- our landscape, but increasingly our talk, Such negation, in fact, drives much of Thus restaurants compete on atmosphere richness. On this accounting, the play is lions of people who might never have the our actions, our experiences – the very how authenticity has come to be con- and service, the food becoming more like less real than the set, which is less real opportunity of seeing the real Venice can lives that we lead – in such a way that ceived and defined today. art on a plate and the waiters more like than the theater, which is less real than experience at least a portion of its everything today is part of a reality we Within Trilling’s lectures (as well as actors. Climate-controlled shopping the hill the street covers over. romance and learn of many of its quali- manufacture ourselves. This holds espe- other such studies) we detect three dis- streets become “Roman marketplaces”; Am I ignoring architecture’s many long ties. . . . Based on public and media cially true for the economic offerings we tinct ways in which social philosophers gigantic suburban bookstores imitate old- flirtations with illusion and artifice? No. reactions, the quality of materials, the create as businesses. Despite all the com- negatively define authenticity: time, intimate ones with living room fur- Poised between nature and culture, archi- experience of the Venetian, and its panies slapping “real” and “authentic” That which is not monetary – Trilling niture, readings, and espresso bars (can a tecture, even at its most fanciful, has verisimilitude all seem unexpected. all over their products, nothing that’s says, “Money, in short, is the principle of resident cat or two be far behind?); movie always shown two faces at once, the real Unlike other destination resorts in the offered by businesses is really authentic; the inauthentic in human existence.” In houses become movie “palaces” again and the un-. However much artifice archi- area, the marble is real, the columns and it’s all artificial, manmade, and fake. other words, commercializing any activ- (but much more economically, off free- tecture has historically indulged, and it facades three dimensional, and the Despite how much consumers today ity yields the inauthentic. ways); and indoor entertainment com- has, the face of reality always shone entire experience unique.” desire authenticity in a world of paid-for That which is not mechanical – plexes vying with sports stadia and art through as a matter of technological, phys- Professional humorist P. J. O’Rourke experiences, businesses can’t manufac- Trilling says, “It was the mechanical museums. Sporting goods stores become ical necessity. One could not see the picked up on Adelson’s comments to ture authenticity out of thin air; it’s principle, quite as much as the acquisi- gyms, arenas, and celebrity-meet spots. trompe-l’œil angels without also seeing the contrast the authenticity of the two not possible. tive principle [i.e., using money]. . . At children’s hospitals, patients become heavy vaults they were painted on. With places in the pages of Forbes FYI back in We realize these are bold statements. which was felt to be the enemy of being, explorers, “embarking on a journey to today’s light-weight construction methods 2000: “But is the Venetian ‘essentially Not everyone will agree – particularly the source of inauthenticity.” In other recovery”, while new housing develop- and late-20th/early-21st century attitudes the real Venice’? For a Venice that’s on those responsible for designing, making, words, altering the natural order with ments imitate historic or imagined small- towards “reality”, the situation has the wrong continent, in the middle of a or marketing offerings that must appeal machines yields the inauthentic. town life (if at quadruple the density). In dust bowl and was built last year, the to the new consumer sensibility of That which is not of Man – Trilling short, every place, every product, every Venetian is surprisingly authentic. The authenticity. To see why these state- says, “We understand a priori that the service and event in the Experience Campanile, for instance, is fake, but so’s ments are correct – and what then busi- prescriptions of society pervert human Economy becomes themed, as though it the one in really real Venice. The origi- nesses must do as a result – we need to existence and destroy its authenticity.” were part of an endless carnival. nal Campanile, completed in 1173, col- take a brief detour into philosophy. In other words, qualifying one’s choices These developments have not been lost lapsed in a heap in 1902, and a replica Before we do so, it’s important to note by the norms of society (Mankind with a on architects, of course. Ever since was constructed in its place.” some context. Philosophers and social capital M) yields the inauthentic. Postmod-ernism broke through late- O’Rourke’s observation of the obvious critics discuss authenticity from a single, Of course, the first two negations fol- Modernist orthodoxy in the early 1970s, does little to persuade most people that solitary viewpoint: that of the individual low from the third, as both money and more and more architects have joined in Venice itself is as inauthentic as The human being. While understanding machines are manmade devices, created the business of entertaining with their Venetian, let alone that The Venetian where this concept entered cultural con- within and supportive of society. buildings, i.e., providing pleasurable expe- can make any claim to being as authen- sciousness is crucial, it’s not where we’re Thus we can see the obvious but riences. Although rather few architects tic as Venice itself. People know the two coming from. The world we write about nonetheless startling conclusion: today are interested in perpetuating the places differ not just in degree but in is the world of business. Nothing offered by any business is classical-historical pastiche that kind. (As our editor at Harvard Business authentic; it’s all artificial and fake, Postmodernism first favored, many are still School Press told us, “Only a rat cannot being monetary, mechanical, and of Man. interested in the proposition that all build- detect the difference between the two The moment humans alter the created ings – not just amusement parks, muse- places.”) But this comparison provides Nothing (“natural”) world, the resulting product ums, hotels, aquaria, and such – ought to little insight into how some places (like is manmade and hence inauthentic. Sell provide exciting and memorable experi- any object) gain a reputation for authen- that’s offered that product and it’s doubly so – money ences, albeit with trendier shards and ticity while others do not. Frankly, a being that manmade device representing curves or luminous twisted volumes more relevant comparison exists in com- the human effort expended in altering crammed with electronic paraphernalia. paring competing Vegas resorts. In Las by businesses the natural world. And what business Follow this trend and extend it, and ulti- Vegas – an entire city arguably themed as today can produce any output – even an mately we must arrive at a new general “Anything Goes” – just why do some is really experience – without resorting to some understanding of architecture – to wit, changed. Keeping skepticism at bay takes a venues attract more guests than others? mechanical means? Clearly, if any busi- architecture as experience a la Jon Jerde great deal of work, as does striking a bal- Why does The Venetian thrive while authentic; it’s ness – as a manmade, mechanically or, let it be admitted, Frank Gehry – and a ance between real and unreal at the scale Aladdin Hotel & Casino, for example, lies dependent, monetary-seeking enterprise new base-line as to what the word “experi- of both buildings and cities. When so many bankrupt in Chapter 11? all artificial, – creates an offering, then that ence” means in the everyday. building types are reduced to card-thin The difference seems to be what con- offering by its very nature is indisputably Given architecture’s long history of pro- containers; when, genie out of the bottle, sumers perceive in terms of authenticity. manmade, inauthentic. viding visitors marvelous experiences – any shape dreamed of can, with comput- One sees The Venetian honoring Venice Realize, too, that there is no such think of Rome, think of Venice, think of ers, be rigged with light steel, plastic, gyp- with it own version of St. Mark’s Square thing as an inauthentic experience Disneyland – why does the thought of our sum, and glass; when “reality” is a word and other self-determined “Italian” tra- and fake because that experience happens inside whole economy mutating into an seldom printed or pronounced without ditions; whereas one walks into Aladdin of us (including our experience of using Experience Economy not thrill every quotes or a knowing chuckle. . . only eco- and – despite its outward motif – imme- all the different kinds of economic offer- architect to the marrow? After all, it nomic constraint keeps us from building diately asks, “What’s it supposed to be?” There is also a strain of thought on ings). If we – as human beings – experi- means more spas to design, more resorts, our most extreme architectural fantasies. The Venetian says to guests, “We know authenticity that follows from the above, ence an offering, then that experience by more visitor centers, art museums, plane- Some architects have responded to the what we are, and you know it too.” that of the authentic leader in business. its very nature remains inherently tariums, casinos, movie palaces, retail potential horror of the situation by This can be illustrated with a personal That also is not our concern here. Yes, authentic (as long as in any sense we emporia, etc. – fun and profitable projects, regressing, as it were, to Miesian mod- experience we encountered on a gondola leaders must be equally authentic in our remain authentic human beings). But if a all. Might such architects’ misgivings belie ernism, i.e., to stringent economy-of-form ride at The Venetian during our 2001 modern-day times, but our interest business – as a manmade, mechanically nothing more than elitism with respect to and absolute “honesty” in construction, thinkAbout event. After finishing a rous- revolves around the authenticity of eco- dependent, monetary-seeking entity – popular culture? Might it belie the fear of and refusing to indulge in the formal and ing aria, our gondolier responded to our nomic offerings themselves and by creates an offering, then that offering by not being able to compete successfully semantic possibilities offered by the full applause by saying “Grazie, grazie” extension the businesses that offer with the other experience-producing followed by a perfect rendition of them. Our method, as with the concepts industries, like film, music, sports, and tel- Elvis’ famous line – “Thank you. of Mass Customization and the Continued on page 9 evision? Maybe. Continued on page 14 page 6 Pine & Gilmore’s thinkAbout Times September 29 + 30, 2004 A Tourist in My Own City Postcards and

monger makes way for an antique dealer, an old-fashioned baker on the corner, but by Tracy Metz the cobbler for a fashion boutique, the they buy their bread from the supermar- Memories grocer for a cosmetics lounge, and the ket.” It is the visitors – in 2000 five million houseboat further down the canal has of them came from other countries, 5% Amsterdam, been turned into a Houseboat Museum. more than the previous year, and they find that the scene lived up to the post- The Nether- (“See a houseboat from the inside!”) As spent no less than 3.4 billion euros [$4.2 by William Ian Miller card, that the expectations it raised were lands. Cities, in gentrification proceeds apace, the every- billion] – whose euros finance the decor in met. The postcard (or the nature docu- the Netherlands day, commercially weaker functions can- which the residents live on a daily basis. mentary) can’t help but be a reference and elsewhere, not pay the inflated rents. The moment is bound to come when, as Ann Arbor, point, a standard we erect to orient and have become During the past ten or fifteen years the a resident of the historic city center, you MI. Have you gauge our aesthetic judgments of the popular desti- city council has also put a lot of effort into are actually pleased to see dog crap or an not also scene. We also seem almost bent on nations again improving the look of the city, particular- illegally parked car. The city is losing its experienced knowingly sacrificing the present since the ly the esthetic quality of public space. everyday quality, its mundane ordinari- the small moment to make sure we get a good 1980s. The city Dam Square has been repaved twice, now ness. On the crest of the wave of prosperi- shame of photo of it or hurry back to a souvenir seems to have with small granite cobblestones. The ty, city branding, and fun in all its guises, having felt shop to peruse the collection of post- been rediscov- “Amsterdammertjes”, characteristic posts Amsterdam is turning into a city for people more for a cards, deferring the appreciation of the ered as a meant to stop cars from parking on the who are strolling. You can pick out the res- photo or present to a more tranquil appreciation motor of eco- sidewalk, are disappearing; the roads idents easily: they are the ones who zigzag reproduction of an epitomized version on film view- nomic and political development and – as along the canals are being resurfaced in over the pavement in an attempt to over- than for the able at whim in the future. an extension of that – as the center of thing itself? I am being unfair. The photo could just leisure, consumption, and culture. The It seems we as well be an homage to the grand more people live in the suburbs, the more often prefer moment just lived, an effort to memorial- the city becomes a playground, a leisure the fake. Nature can be at its best in post- ize it. But taking a picture often ensures domain for shopping and strolling, for cards or nature documentaries. When en eating out and going out. scene I am never quite sure I am posi- The main charm of the center of tioned for the best possible view, with Amsterdam is its authenticity: it was not the best light, in the right season, to say We often conceived or constructed as a tourist nothing of the vexation of bodily discom- attraction, but has been built over the cen- forts and the insects (and tourists) who consider the turies for and by the residents. The combi- claim the outdoors as their own. I am nation of a single, lively city where people determined too that the kids better enjoy live and work in what it still a beautiful, it since I paid a small fortune to bring expedition compact, historic setting like the canal them here. Better not waste such an area, enchants many a visitor –particular- opportunity. At least I can blame some of a success ly Americans like myself, for whom the my failures to feel exactly the awe and idea of downtown was for decades synony- delight I think I should feel on the kids, when we mous with decay and anger. Now, howev- which may be why it was a good idea to er, the biggest threat to Amsterdam is the have brought them along. When one has find that opposite: the lethal picturesqueness of a paid money for the view, there is pres- city like Brugges in Belgium. sure to get one’s money’s worth – felt the scene Slowly but surely the character of the ever the more keenly because I have to inner city is changing. The already precar- Everyday scenes in Amsterdam: a disappearing facet of normal make up for the kids’ lack of interest – lived up to ious balance between visitors and resi- life as the city increasingly becomes a caricature of itself. and that complicates the pure aesthetic dents, between housing, work, and enter- experience with yet another distracting tainment is tilting in favor of the latter. It dark red brick, stone curbs, and street take the dawdlers and the gawkers, or ring intrusion, another demand upon me to the postcard is increasingly the visitors who set the lamps with a historic look to them. the bells on their bikes to warn the foreign perform or else. I am assaulted from two tone and determine policy decisions, This process is full of ambiguities. On tourists of the existence of that unique directions: I not only worry that the kids because entertainment has grown to the one hand, the city becomes more Dutch phenomenon, the cycle track. It’s a are not feeling it as they ought, but that I a less than optimal experience as we become the number one inner city func- attractive – for the people who live there good thing that the lobby that wants to rid am coming nowhere near my wife’s quiet fumble with the settings, wait for people tion. According to the Amsterdam Tourist too. Without those ten or so million visi- the city center of cars has not gotten a appreciation of the scene. Going alone to get out of the way, puzzle over which Board, almost 3.2 billion euros [$3.9 bil- tors a year, this city of less than a million foothold lest the city die of beauty. doesn’t solve the problem either because is the best segment of the panorama to lion] were spent in 2000 on entertainment inhabitants would never have the wide For Amsterdam, as for many popular of the need to share your oohs and ahs settle on, and then when to commit and in the city as a whole, more than half of it and cosmopolitan range of restaurants, tourist centers, that success is also a men- and have them confirmed by another. click the shutter. The photo can also in the city center. I feel like a tourist in my shops, and culture that makes Amsterdam ace. This process of aestheticization, of There is sometimes on overpowering have the unpleasant effect of diminishing own city, an object in my own museum, an the village-sized metropolis that it is. museumification, spawns an environment urge to confess the depth of your experi- the positive memory of the experience if attraction in my own theme park. Consider the baker on the corner: “I that is made to please – threatening pre- ence, if you think it deep, within seconds it in fact turns out not to reflect the Center of Consumption and Culture wouldn’t be able to make a living here cisely that authenticity which distinguish- of its occurrence. exquisiteness of the setting adequately. Visitors stroll enthralled from one cute without the tourists who buy a packet of But the sublime seems to invite the shop to another, while the residents see a ‘stroopwafels’ or a tin of ‘Jodenkoeken’ as a ridiculous. We, for instance, often con- gradual one-sidedness take over. The fish- souvenir”, he says. “The locals like having Continued on page 7 sider the expedition a success when we Continued on page 9

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Tourist continued from page 6 (except that the former stroll and the lat- Conversation and Collaboration ter hurry). With one essential difference: at the end of the day, or when the excur- es a city from a theme park. The everyday sion draws to a close, the visitor departs with fueling, resulting in the need for tomer feedback on the applications and is transformed into a commodity to satis- and the resident stays. by Mary E. Boone United to either get “eight-foot mechanics effects of drugs that they sell. They bring fy the desire of visitors to enjoy the most Residents have an altogether different or 1200 new trucks to fuel the planes”. together large numbers of physicians who authentic possible experience and to have And the conversation, of course, sit at small tables of up to 10 people. Each a story to tell when they get back home. Norwalk, brought out the small details as well. table has a laptop that is connected to a In 2001 the city of Amsterdam offered vis- CT. I’ve been Another Boeing customer participant network. Conversations are held at the itors the opportunity to spend a day with working in a from British Airways explained that the tables and input from these conversations the garbage fishermen of the Water wide range of toilet seats on the 777 made a sudden is gathered and entered into the comput- Department who keep the canals clean. organizations crashing sound whenever the plane jig- er for later analysis. The refuse collectors cheerfully play the as a commu- gled. Not only did this make for a less- Ground Rules for Mega- part of actors on their own floating stage. nication con- than-relaxing experience for the first- Conversations City as Leisure Domain sultant for class passengers, but it also caused the Each large group method has its own Although residents and visitors are over 20 years pilots to wonder where the noise was approach and philosophy. However, there more often drawn to the city for the same and the single coming from. This is the kind of detail are some commonalities in implementing attractions, the gap between the enter- most com- that design engineers would easily over- mega-conversations: tainment décor and the environment of mon mistake look in their need to focus on speed, Rule 1: Decide what you want as a everyday life will continue to grow, argues I’ve wit- elevation, and other functional result. If you decide to engage customers the Spanish sociologist Manuel Castells. nessed is the characteristics. in a mega-conversation, make sure that “More and more people are living in urban inclination to view communication pri- One of the most interesting side prod- both you and they know why they’re villages near a city, while the city center is marily from a broadcast – as opposed to ucts of a mega-conversation is the level of there and what both of you want to get turning into an attraction for tourists and interactive – perspective. In other words, candor it creates. When people engage in out of it. Simply holding it for the purpose consumers. . . . [C]ity centers gradually there’s a strong tendency to think in productive dialogue under the right con- of “improving relations” is a laudable acquire the characteristics of theme terms of “tell and sell” as opposed to “ask ditions, the result is a very authentic goal, but you’re more likely to achieve parks. The residents seek new places to and engage”. experience for all of the participants. For that objective if you use the session as a meet each other because the traditional Interactive communication is about that reason, mega-conversations are often means of actually doing something pro- public space in the city center is often dialogue instead of monologue. It’s about used in circumstances where the topic is ductive. If you ask people to contribute undermined by consumer tourism.” engaging people rather than simply get- highly controversial. But even when the their time and ideas and then do nothing How do you run a leisure domain like relationship to the place where they live, ting buy-in. In short, you can’t be interac- circumstances aren’t charged, the level of with them, you will destroy your credibil- this when it has a lot in common with a a different loyalty, and they need facilities tive if you’re not conversing and open, honest exchange is greatly height- ity and end up generating cynicism site for events or a theme park, but is still that are either irrelevant (school, family collaborating. ened with these types of meetings. instead of results. a public space? Amsterdam, says director doctor) or pushed out (fishmonger, cob- The shift to a more interactive perspec- High-Tech/High-Touch Rule 2: Make it equal and open. In a Hans van Driem of Holland’s national bler) in the recreational city. If your only tive on communication brings with it a Mega-conversations don’t have to take mega-conversation, everyone has an Tourist Board, stands to learn a lot from involvement with a place is that you like host of opportunities for organizations place in a physical room. Online confer- equal voice – from CEO suite to assembly Disney and Holland’s best-known theme spending your money and drinking a beer regardless of size, type, or industry. encing software can provide the same line – which is what allows the conversa- park, the Efteling. “Amsterdam has gone there, your involvement with that place’s Communication in business is often con- tion to create an authentic, candid envi- out of control as a result of its own suc- weak spots is weak too. sidered soft or intangible – something ronment. In classical rhetorical theory, cess. The city is changing, but its manage- Besides, visitors everywhere are notic- that’s incidental after the real issues of the Greeks insisted that people enter a ment lags behind, and the city council has ing that the historic city centers are grad- numbers, strategies, or business process- debate in a state of mind called self-risk, difficulty accepting advice from a branch ually turning into one-sided designed-to- es. This can be a very costly assumption. in which the person not only opened him which they see as vulgar. Any amusement please environments. The mix of func- If you plan to innovate, engage your cus- or herself to listening, but also to being park could do a better job than most of tions that makes the city attractive for tomers, and get things done in your changed as a result of the interaction. So the councillors.” both living and spending time is shifting; organization, effective communication is while debaters would argue points, they There is a tremendous tension, Van it is becoming a reservation of commer- key to your success. did so not to win, but rather to come clos- Driem continues, between politicians who cially generated, purpose-driven fun. And There are many methods and technolo- er to the truth. The same state of mind is are elected and are therefore accountable then the charm of the authentic soon dis- gies that can help you to connect, inform, important for conversations (whether to their voters, and the urban economy appears. The city is navigating a tricky and engage the stakeholders that are large or small). If you ask your customers that is dependent on entrepreneurs, most course between the Scylla of museumifi- important to you. In my latest book, (or any other stakeholders) to tell you of whom live elsewhere. “The thinking in cation and prettification and the Managing Interactively, I outline over 40 what they think, be prepared to hear (and local politics is still too elitist – while at Charbydis of the uniform banality of ways in which you can make communica- speak) the truth. the same time they copy elements of the chains stores and money change kiosks. tion more interactive. In this article, Rule 3: Hold the conversations in a historical stageset such as ‘old’ street In their book The Tourist City political let’s focus on just one of them: mega- flexible physical environment. Large lights. I think that negative attitude is a scientist Dennis Judd and urban planner conversations. group meetings present significant chal- shame, because you can learn a lot from a Susan Fainstein note that tourist attrac- Mega-Conversations lenges in terms of logistics. There’s a need corporation like Disney, with 80 million tions have a curious quality in common Mega-conversations are meetings that for the flexibility to break into small visitors a year, a turnover over 30,000 mil- with theater: tourism, like theater, trans- involve large groups of people focused on groups, come back together as a larger lion euros and fifty years of experience in forms those who attract the tourist’s inter- a common topic. They have been used for group, and use a variety of materials to theme parks and crowd control.” est into objects, into performers. “The many years in the field of organizational capture thoughts and ideas. Using the occupants of the touristic space, whether development and to date have primarily appropriate tables, having movable furni- they are employees of inhabitants, are been aimed at improving internal com- types of opportunities for people to ture and movable walls, etc., can make an what Disney calls ‘cast members’ who pro- munication. What makes mega-conversa- engage in open dialogue on a particular amazing difference in the quality of a vide local color and ambiance. . . . Since tions different from any other large meet- topic. While having people in the same mega-conversation. And, interestingly, the tourist experience is contrived, staged ing you might attend is that they involve room produces some distinct advantages, the same thing is true online – you must authenticity replaces the genuine.” large groups in a dialogue as opposed to online mega-conversations are particular- pay attention to the way in which the Seen in this light, the men whom you an audience/speaker set-up. ly useful when it is impossible or prohibi- software works and use it to design your can join on their barge while they fish the There are a number of different meth- tively expensive to bring people together. meeting well. refuse from the canals are not only ods that are aimed at providing large Online conversations are also preferable Interacting With Your Customers engaged in living and working – they are groups with an interactive experience, when there are many introverts in a The potential that mega-conversations also staging a performance. The more including Open Space, Future Search, group or when there are significant lan- bring to customer relationships is enor- authentic the performance looks, the more and GE’s WorkOut. These innovative guage differences. They give people mous. Not only can mega-conversations of an attraction it becomes. Of course, this approaches to creating dialogue have opportunity for reflection and for partici- produce information about the customer staging of everyday life is much more of an been used for many different purposes, pating in the conversation when they are experience, it can also be an experience intrusion into the lives of, say the resi- but all of them have the same objective: ready to do so. in and of itself. Many companies have not dents of an exotic island (who depend for to create a collaborative environment Tom Sudman, President of Digital AV, yet taken advantage of all the ways in their livelihood on tourism) than for the where creative conversations produce says one of his clients considers the inclu- which they could enhance loyalty, learn residents of Amsterdam, for whom life ideas that can be useful to all of the peo- sion of customers in the design process to new ideas, and create memorable experi- goes on anyway, tourists or no tourists. ple participating in a meeting. be their number one competitive advan- ences through these powerful meetings. Indeed, says Van Driem, running a city But a European capital too has to take into A number of organizations even have tage. Sudman says online teamwork has Whether or not you think mega-conver- center with an entertainment economy is account the importance of tourism for the used large group approaches to engage advantages over focus groups in gaining sations are the right way to go for your quite different from one that depends on urban economy. their customers. In doing so, they’re able customer input. Instead of taking lots of organization, the most important point to industry or business services. “Nowadays I am not trying to hold back change, but to collaborate with customers instead of time coming up with product specs by run- remember is that your communication the entertainment economy is decisive, so to hold on to the casual, the everyday, the just asking for opinions and feedback. For ning a focus group to get statistical data to with customers and other stakeholders it must be given priority. That is why I unsuspecting, that distinguishes a city example, Boeing involved its customers in take back to product design, collaborative needs to include a strong interactive com- advocate a sort of Disneyfication of the from a tourist concept. But, admittedly, a large meeting where they assisted with technologies can change the whole process ponent. If your objective is to give your inner city. Disney invented the theme for me too the city centre is a source of design modifications to the Boeing 777. and directly include the customer in new customer a memorable experience of park because the U.S. didn’t have any his- “experience” as the place I live in. There’s The mega-conversation provided interest- product design as it happens. your brand, consider the ways in which toric city centers – we do have them and no escape: I’m a tourist in my own city. ing insights, according to Billie Alban, The use of technology in mega-conver- interactive communication can enhance we don’t run them properly!” author of Large Group Interventions. sations isn’t restricted to virtual events. A that experience. Staged Authenticity This article is based on Tracy Metz, One customer participant from United number of pharmaceutical companies are In our consumption of the city as a Fun! Leisure and Landscape (Rotterdam, Airlines pointed out that the proposed using technology during face-to-face Mary Boone is President of Boone pleasure dome, visitors and residents have The Netherlands: NAi Publishers, 2002), location of the engine would interfere mega-conversations to gather rich cus- Associates. become increasingly interchangeable pp. 90-105.

This collection of On Becoming a Creation Company ten Harvard Business Review articles, “What am I holding in my hand?” “Because it’s smaller than the real thing.” (Silence. Everyone’s thinking: I didn’t edited and with The Power of Models to Often no one wants to answer this obvi- Oh, any other reasons? think we’d be talking about this, we have an introduction Change Our Organizations ous question, so we share a long and “Yeah, it’s not real.” work to do!) somewhat uncomfortable silence. Why do Not real? How do you know that? So models are representations. by Pine & Gilmore, I let this simple question hang in the air? “Because it is just a model.” Sometimes they represent specific things, chronicles the by Tom McGehee The participants don’t understand this So are models not real? sometimes larger ideals or concepts. If a evolution of business but I am not just talking about models, I “Well, most are not, but some are real.” model is only a representation, than it competition from am modeling. I am modeling the behavior They are? Can you give me an example? means that something has been left out. Plano, TX. I want from them throughout the session. (Silence) If it had everything it wouldn’t be a mass markets to Usually when I am not there to facilitate, convince, or Are all models smaller than the thing model, it would be the real thing. So who markets of one. I introduce coerce. I am there to enable conversation, they represent? decides what goes in a model? people to and a large part of conversation is listen- “No, some are larger.” “The model maker.” these con- ing, or, in this case, waiting to allow dis- Can you give me an example? And how does he decide those cepts, I do it cussion to begin. “An atom, DNA, a circuit board.” (Now decisions? in person. I Finally someone suggests an answer. a few are starting to engage.) “They are based upon what he decides have a whole “It’s a toy.” Then another: “It’s a car.” At Have any of you seen DNA, I ask? (All he wants the model to do.” conversation that point the dialogue has started. The the heads shake side to side – except for Who decides when it is no longer use- that I have participants have no idea where it is the time I asked this of a group from ful? The model maker? The person using carefully going, but it’s still early and they will usu- Genentech.) the model? The customer? What if they developed ally give me the benefit of the doubt and Then how do you know what DNA can’t agree? over the play along. From that point on the discus- looks like? (The room is silent because this isn’t an years. It took sion goes on something like this below. “Because I’ve seen a model of it,” some- easy question. What they are realizing is so long to develop because this is a tough (For the purpose of illustration, I will one replies. that each of the people who uses a model idea for people to understand, but once it record their answers in quotes and what I So your basis of reality for DNA is may find different value in it, and thus, to sinks in. . . WOW. Why is that? When believe their thinking is in parentheses.) based solely on a model, a representa- make any real change, they are truly people understand the nature of models, I ask: OK, what else is it? (You mean it tion? Are there other things that you going to have to collaborate.) they realize that they can change almost is several things? All these answers seem believe are real, when you have only seen The Purpose of Models everything about their organization. right to me.) a model? This conversation can go on for quite a Constraints that once seemed fixed in Silence. (Where the heck is he going A hand in the back. “The flag,” he says. while. The important thing is not where it cement just disappear. It’s amazing. with this anyway?) Tell me more, I say. goes, but that the group participants Let me try to demonstrate here in print “It’s a car.” “The flag is a model. I’ve seen men die discovers the nature of models on their the way I do it in person. I don’t start with an Is it a real car, I ask? for it and I’ve seen people burn it. You agenda, or rules, or an introduction. I stand “Of course not.” may say it’s a model, but to me it’s much up in front of the room and hold a toy car. Why not? more than that.” Continued on page 8 page 8 Pine & Gilmore’s thinkAbout Times September 29 + 30, 2004 The American Ethic of Authenticity Becoming continued from page 7 own. To apply models properly, they need servative have no chance of persuading Moreover, his ethic of authenticity is guy is in a different situation than his par- an intuitive understanding, so it’s impor- by Dinesh D’Souza the Starbucks guy. Indeed they are likely entrenched in his psyche; how realistic ents, but they are the ones who have tant that they learn for themselves. It’s to have the opposite effect: “Get away would it be to uproot it? A much better placed him there. In short, a little grati- those “aha” moments that matter here. from me, you fascist!” From the approach for conservatives is to acknowl- tude and understanding should not be too Models are powerful tools when used Rancho Starbucks guy’s perspective, the cultural edge the legitimacy of the ideal of authen- much to expect from the Starbucks guy. properly, because they can free people to Santa Fe, CA. conservatives are enemies of freedom. He ticity, but to make the case that the In addition, champions of authenticity focus on what is important, which makes The ideal of would undoubtedly regard Judge Bork as Starbucks guy has adopted a debased and moral autonomy like the Starbucks real progress possible. authenticity a self-righteous mullah who is trying to form of it. The Starbucks guy wants to be guy should understand that identity is not now helps to tell him how to live his life. The Starbucks original, and this is a good thing to be, but completely self-generated and that free- define what it guy believes that he has the inalienable it may be pointed out to him that he is not dom is not its own justification. Our iden- means to be right to determine his own destiny, to succeeding in this, because every fourth tity and self-image emerge out of our rela- an American; make his own choices. Thus he regards guy at Starbucks looks like him! Perhaps tionships with others. Even the Starbucks beyond our the conservative approach as presumptu- there are more meaningful ways for the guy’s studs and tattoos are an attempt to shores many ous, coercive, and un-American. And he Starbucks guy to convey his individuality: communicate something to somebody. people find it is reluctant to listen to anything these through art, for example, or by dedicating Ultimately this expressive freedom must incredible conservatives have to say. himself to a cause he believes in. have some underlying purpose. Freedom and incom- The Starbucks guy’s objection to the Instead of completely denying the value becomes insignificant if it makes no dif- prehensible. conservatives is valid on two counts. of expressive freedom, conservatives ference what I choose. Thus the Even within the United States it is contro- First, many conservatives do sound like would do better to embrace it – at least in Starbucks guy’s mantra, “I can choose for versial: many cultural conservatives react they are against freedom. Bork, for exam- part – and to focus on educating people myself”, raises the next and indispensable to it with fear and loathing. Irving Babbit’s ple, has urged the enforcement of “public about the rich moral sources of freedom, question, “What are you going to famous critique of [Jean-Jacques] morality” through the censorship of and about how to use freedom well. But choose?” It is not enough to answer, Rousseau anticipates many of the charges objectionable songs, movies, TV shows, the conservative is not the only one who “Whatever my inner self dictates.” Even we hear today. Babbit sees Rousseau as and Internet websites. Buchanan heartily needs to change; the Starbucks guy does the inner self needs a compass – it oper- simply weird, exhibiting “an eccentricity agrees, calling state censorship “an idea too. He needs to realize that his bold ates according to some substantive under- so extreme as to be almost or quite indis- whose time has come”. Some religious stance against the institutions of society – standing of the good life. There is no tinguishable from madness”. The ethic of and political activists have gone further, against commerce, against family, against cause to believe that this understanding is authenticity, Babbit writes, undermines demanding laws that enforce Christian community, against morality – is a bit of a impervious to reason, and cannot be the Christian notions of sin and individual precepts, or the norms that prevailed in pose. Indeed it fails by its own standard: it shaped through education and discussion. self-restraint. Self-fulfillment is in Babbit’s the 1950s. I cannot see how such strate- is inauthentic. After all, it is our rich, The grave weakness of the ethic of view another term for selfishness. Babbit gies could possibly work. Is it realistic for commercial society that makes an estab- authenticity is that it evades this funda- alleges that Rousseau is an advocate of a a democratic society to enforce norms lishment like Starbucks viable. It is the mental issue and simply stresses the new form of immorality that is all the based on a moral order that is no longer autonomy of choice. Here’s the lesson: models are represen- more dangerous because it is presented in shared by the community? How can a Since the earliest days of Athens and tations of reality, not reality itself, and our esthetically alluring garb. Babbit’s indict- political strategy that defines itself against Jerusalem, most of the great figures of organizations are full of them. We use ment has been echoed in recent years by America’s core value of freedom possibly Western civilization have regarded the models to make decisions all the time – cultural conservatives such as Allan succeed? Cultural conservatives must question of the content of the good life as every spreadsheet, every projection, Bloom, Patrick Buchanan, Bill Bennett, recognize that the new morality is now the central one. The American founders every marketing plan is a model, but usu- and Robert Bork. These men would like entrenched and pervasive, so that there is agreed with this, and they created a ally we are unaware of its nature. To us, nothing better than to uproot the ethic of no way to go back to the shared moral mechanism that allows people to pursue locked in our non-modeling, compliance authenticity and restore the moral con- hierarchy of the past, however fondly that the good life without government interfer- mindset, the model becomes reality. sensus that existed in the 1950s. era may live on in their memories. ence. Since the triumph of authenticity in Models serve a great purpose, because The problems with this root-and- Second, the root-and-branch rejection the 1960s and 1970s, the emphasis has they allow us to experiment, to create, to branch repudiation of contemporary of authenticity ignores the moral force of been on radical freedom, largely to the tear down and recreate, to stimulate, to ideals can be seen by considering an this ideal. Contrary to what the cultural exclusion of the question of what that react, and to communicate. They allow us example, which I offer as representative conservatives fear, the new morality is not freedom is for. The great conservative to take large concepts, like the globaliza- of the whole culture of authenticity. simply a screen for self-indulgence and challenge is to bring this issue back to the tion of our company, or small things, like Recently I stopped into my neighborhood immorality. If you were to sympathetical- forefront. Our freedom and autonomy are scheduling work hours, and bring them to Starbucks, and there, behind the counter, ly engage the Starbucks guy in conversa- precious commodities, and conservatives a working level. Models allow us freedom was a specimen who probably would not tion, and ask him to account for himself, better than anyone else recognize that it to try, to experiment, to test ideas, to have existed in earlier generations. I sur- he would probably say, “I am trying to be is a great tragedy when they are trivial- progress, and to develop understanding. veyed him with curious fascination: the unique.” “I want to be an individual.” “I ized and abused. Their mission, therefore, They allow for quick decision-making, Mohawk hair, the earrings, the nose-ring, am trying to be me.” Some may find these is to steer the American ethic of authen- and give us a way to govern repeatable the studs on his forehead and tongue, the aspirations banal, even comical, but the ticity to its highest manifestation, and to actions. Finally, the use of models allows tattoos. I could just imagine Judge Bork goals for which the Starbucks guy is striv- ennoble freedom by showing it the path creation for other models. entering the room. His immediate reaction ing are legitimate ones. Even at the cost of to virtue. Models free us from three great con- would probably be, “Arrest that man.” bodily pain, he wants a distinctive identi- legal, social, and moral norms of the com- straints that prevent us from discovering Since this is not practical, another option ty, a life that is not simply a copy of other munity that provide the guardrails pro- Dinesh D’Souza is the Robert and the innovations that will, as Peter Drucker would be to grab the young fellow and yell, people’s lives. In short, he wants a life tecting the Starbucks guy’s freedom and Karen Rishwain Fellow at the Hoover says, create “change that will lead to a “What is wrong with you, you demented that counts. autonomy. Moreover it is the hard work, Institute at Stanford University. This higher level performance”. Models free us freak!” From Bork’s point of view there is I do not think that it is either right or discipline, deferred gratification, and fru- article is excerpted, with slight changes, from the mindsets that keep us bogged simply no excuse for some people. prudent to attack him for this. The gality of his parents over the years that from Dinesh D’Souza, What’s So Great down by false assumptions and precon- But what good would come of this? The Starbucks guy is an idealist, and it would now enable the Starbucks guy to enjoy his About America (Washington, DC: ceptions. Models give us a way to reinvent epithets and remonstrations of the con- be wrong to trample on that idealism. bohemian lifestyle. True, the Starbucks Regnery Publishing, 2002), pp. 156-160. continually how we do our work. Models let us examine multiple ideas and view- points, which increases exponentially our ability to handle complexity. 7 People didn’t wake up one day and say, thinkAbout “Hey, let’s build an organization around ourselves so it can be really screwed up and make our lives miserable!” The original intent was to achieve some purpose – very by Gary Adamson probably a worthwhile purpose. It’s impor- tant to remember that. Organizations are just models; they are representations of all the things that are happening, the people who work there, the customers they serve – all are embodied in this thing called an organization. If you need to change the results, change the model.

Tom McGehee is a two-time thinkAbout alumnus and founder & CEO of The WildWorks Group. This article is excerpted from Tom McGehee, Whoosh (Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing, 2001), pp. 104-106.

In Aspire, explorers dream of their future place in the Experience Economy and enact that vision on its performance stage.

ity. We also guide their application of it to well that he decided to join us as a partner In this enduring Starizon is an Experience Design Place immersed in the achieve new-to-the-world breakthroughs in Starizon.) work by Joe Pine, Rocky Mountains surrounding Keystone, Colorado. in experience offerings that translate the If pictures, in fact, are worth a thousand you’ll find the philosophy of the Experience Economy words, then this article is probably long Keystone, CO. What do I think about able, why have I made this same choice into real, tangible competitive advantage. enough. One last thought though. When strategies, thinkAbout? Apparently quite a lot, as I’ve every year? (Yes, Leigh and I are already And, as you can see from the nearby people ask me if I think that I got a sub- methods, and been to every one, with the exception of the signed up for Cerritos in September.) Is it pictures, Starizon is indeed very much a stantial return on my six thinkAbout organizational 1999 event in Chicago. (I sent Leigh, my the innovative people I meet? Is it the place – one that let’s our clients live in an investments I respond, “You bet!” But I wife and business partner, to that one.) new frameworks I’m exposed to? (After experiential environment that exemplifies don’t think the return from the six events transformations With all my schedule demands and the all where else can you get a physics lesson the very changes they aspire to make in is additive; it’s exponential! So here’s to required to develop, myriad conference/event options avail- mixed in with your business strategy?) Is their own companies. It is, by far, the Cerritos and thinkAbout7. it the postcard reminders that extend the most powerful teaching tool we have and produce, market, and lessons for a full year after the event? the strongest differentiation we own. Gary Adamson is the Chief Experience deliver individually Sure, I think all of these things are won- AND IT ALL CAME FROM thinkAbout! Officer at Starizon, Inc., and a five-time customized goods derfully valuable, but what keeps me com- (Joe thought we embodied the lessons so thinkAbout alumnus. ing back to thinkAbout is something much and services on a more tangible. Something so tangible, in high-volume basis. fact, that I was willing, as you’ll see, to spend $4 million of my own money on it. More than any other event in the world, thinkAbout has taught me the importance of place in the Experience Economy. Whether it’s the around-the-world tour of Joe and Jim’s Top 10 list of experiences, or the around-the-town tour that is their incredible Learning Excursion, I have been shown the essential connection between an engaging experience and the stage upon which it is performed. And I’ve applied all the lessons from all these places in building Starizon – my own Experience Design Place – in Keystone, Colorado. Starizon is an idea – namely, that to be successful in the Experience Economy companies must commit themselves to transformational change, not just incre- This is Discover, where clients mental improvement. (called explorers) apply the Starizon is also an approach – specifi- Every room at Starizon is named to signify its purpose. In Explore, principles of experience cally our “Six I” process that we teach to client teams learn of the emerging Experience Economy and how staging to their own businesses. our clients as a new management capabil- to think about staging compelling experiences. September 29 + 30, 2004 Pine & Gilmore’s thinkAbout Times page 9

Postcards continued from page 6 extent I recalled, or was my memory a view blocked, the concern you are Others of us like the fact we are in taken to be the default setting from fake constructed to have made the first blocking someone else’s, the fear you Florence or New York or Amsterdam or which humankind must work to free trip worth it, a self-deception concocted may be looking foolish as you try to fig- Madrid and love that what it means to itself. And in my defense too I ask you You end up having to apologize for it to avoid the self-contempt of having ure out how precisely to look apprecia- visit those places is go to the museums to consider the ubiquitous museum when you show it to a friend: it’s not wasted the opportunity to be moved? tive and awed without looking preten- they are famous for. So how, we say, do shop. Were the epiphany before the really a good picture, but you get the Was it that the memory, in tious; and pathetically hoping the gor- you get the right to use “we” or bully us original grand work all that it was idea don’t you? And though a mediocre Wordsworthian predictability, was the geous soul a few feet over chooses to with that “you” with such a presumption cracked up to be a postcard or a replica photo works well enough to produce a experience to cherish, not the actual notice you as well as the painting. You of authority? If you, Mr. Miller, can be so would blaspheme the experience. The very active memory of the original expe- suffer feeling foolish for worrying about anxious about a trip to a museum or shop exists as a testimony to our guilt rience the first time it is viewed, it looking foolish, especially when you looking at the trees in their autumn for having blown it before the original. becomes less able to do so as the event know that nobody is watching you (but beauty, how can you be so complacently It is not as if we just stumble on to the recedes in time and the photo itself they might, mightn’t they? Better be unanxious about claiming universality shop at the end, but we feel ourselves becomes more and more the primary prepared, just in case). Unless you are for your inner states? pulled, even hurrying toward it, so that source for the memory. You end up see- really misbehaving or are the best-look- I allege in partial defense that the we can get a manageable version, one ing the scene forever as you ineptly pho- ing woman in the crowded room, you sensibility and anxieties I have that is less intimidating because it won’t tographed it. will be playing to an audience of one. described look typically western, and its raise such unfillable demands to appre- Memory also acts like a postcard in But that audience of one can be quite typicality outside the west seems con- ciate it more than we are capable of. those scenes and paintings we actually demanding and will insist that you put firmed in a negative way by various And we owe those shops a true debt of revisit in the flesh; it can enhance the your best foot forward. eastern philosophies that are centered gratitude, for those reproductions do experience, but it can also make it disap- You know these are foolish thoughts, on the desperate effort to train the spir- teach us to admire the greatness of the pointing. The memory, contaminated by yet you still worry, especially about it out of experiencing reality the way I original that made us too self-conscious the pictures we took and the postcards when you can declare yourself released have suggested we, or many of us, often to appreciate it. we bought of the scene, sets a standard from paying attention to the painting. do. The competitive non-satisfiable anx- by which we judge the present and sets That is more than a matter between you ious sensibility that informs this book is This article is excerpted, with slight up various interferences with present and the painting. In a museum there are the hobgoblin of Buddhism; it is the sul- changes, from William Ian Miller, enjoyment. Good memories, as I noted many other masterpieces housed in the lied sensibility that must be overcome Faking It (Cambridge, England: earlier, may be especially good because same building, in the same room even, and exorcized. That tormented sensibil- Cambridge University Press, 2003), you have selectively forgotten all the jealous of your attention, getting impa- ity, at least in Buddhist thinking, is pp. 161-166. anxieties that attended the experience tient and insisting you attend to them. when we had it. This may be a kindness Not only your companion wants you to memory’s fallibility and malleability move on; the other pictures are asserting offer us, but it is a mixed blessing, for it their demands too. Then, when the day Frontier continued from page 5 enterprise is ontologically unreal – that risks making the present fail to match is done, you feel somewhat defeated by is, in its very being, it is inauthentic; and the imagined past. provision of the raw material of the experience, by the fact you were cowed yet, much output from that enterprise is Stonehenge moved me when I first vis- memory, the experience itself? What into granting your not-quite-sincere its very nature is inherently inauthentic. phenomenologically real – that is, per- ited it like I never thought it would. The was my present experience but a homage completely predictably, paying And yet, as human beings we experi- ceived as authentic by the individuals sheer size of the stones, the unfathoma- reassessment of my prior experience attention only to paintings you already ence offerings every day that we view as who buy them. bility of transporting them and raising which now too suffered for having played knew were to be admired. authentic. As consumers, we view mar- This authenticity paradox lies at the them up given the available technology, its part in ruining the second trip. There You may be tempted to dismiss this as ble – cut, polished, and tumbled as it core of thinking about authenticity in the uncanny perfection of the way some was no bittersweetness of nostalgia or a highly personalized neurasthenic might be – as authentic in a way that business. Indeed, individuals long for were knocked over and how perfectly wistfulness to add texture to the loss, account, not worthy of being general- vinyl flooring could never be. We view authenticity, but struggle with how to they fell, looking significantly more sub- just a vague annoyance at Stonehenge ized. Sure, there are people, you will say, thick, pulpy orange juice – even though gain it. Businesses long to fulfill that need lime as ruins than had they been pre- for not backing me up in front of who are this agonizingly self-conscious, it was machine-squeezed and comes out by selling authenticity, but cannot really served in their original glory, gave me my family. and we will even grant that many of us of paper container – as authentic in way provide it. Consumers do perceive many the heebie-jeebies. I dragged the family Not only natural beauty or the sublime have experienced similar sentiments in that frozen orange juice could never be. offerings – as they do countries, cities, to it because I wanted to treat them to suffers the postcard effect. The museum some settings. But most of us do not find We view Archer Farms Honey & Nut and nature – as authentic, so enterprises the awe. I told them that it surpassed all brings you face-to-face with grand paint- nature and museums as agonizing as Toasted Oats cereal – even though the can somehow manage to render the per- PBS specials, all postcards, and this was ings you’ve seen in art books and on the you, Mr. Miller, would make them, nor real almonds were machine-cut and the ception of its unreal output as real – and a recommendation indeed because they big screen in your introductory art histo- the appreciation of beauty as fraught honey likely farmed – as authentic in a with authenticity becoming the new con- are well aware of my preference for read- ry class. Sometimes the real thing wins with constant self-defeating self-moni- way that Kellogg’s Froot Loops could sumer sensibility, companies must learn ing about places rather than seeing hands down and not only when it is big- toring as often as you claim. A good never be. how to render their offerings as real. them, or for watching them on TV rather ger. The Vermeer is even more amazing number of us go to museums and are The Authenticity Paradox The primary philosophical question at than dealing with the people and clumsy for being smaller than you imagined it wholly absorbed, not giving a damn Despite the fact that all these offerings hand, then, is this: How does something changes of position that comes with vis- would be and you discover that it has a about what others think, other than at their core are inauthentic, nonethe- really unreal come to be perceived as iting them in the flesh. I was expecting luminosity that is beyond reproduction, looking around occasionally to see if we less consumers view them as authentic, real? However, we are not philosophers. to be moved again myself; I was disap- while some large paintings don’t live up have been occupying the best viewing or at least more authentic than the alter- We are business thinkers, and our mis- pointed. It looked so much smaller, and I to the gasp you emitted when they position too long. Some of us know we natives. The businesses that offered sion, therefore, lies in helping those in could not decide from which point of the flashed up on the screen more than thir- are posturing and love the posturing, them were thus able to create the per- business generate practical new ideas for circle it looked most like Stonehenge. ty years ago. Such moments in art histo- love any offense it may give, or any sta- ceptions of authenticity in the minds of creating economic value from their offer- What was the optimal point from which ry class had all the elements of surprise: tus we may achieve by it. Posturing as an consumers, and again the best word to ings and thereby satisfy the desires, to view it? And what was “most like a darkened room, the big screen, the appreciator of art can put us in the prop- describe this process is render. And ren- wants, and needs of their customers. Stonehenge” to mean? feeling you were finally getting educated er mood to be pleasured by it and to dering one’s offerings more authentic Doing so today means, to rephrase the The second trip made me doubt the and cultured. In the museum you have appreciate it; posing as appreciative requires embracing this essential para- above, getting customers to perceive authenticity of my memory of the first to deal with the crowds in addition to the helps mark the moment as an apprecia- dox: Philosophically speaking (better your inherently inauthentic offerings as trip. Had I really been moved by it to the painting, the annoyance of having your tive one and what is so wrong with that? tighten those seatbelts!), all human undeniably authentic. page 10 Pine & Gilmore’s thinkAbout Times September 29 + 30, 2004 EXPY Exposé All Dolled Up with a New Place to Go EXPY American Girl experience grew with it, Q: Among the many things you do well An Interview with and as a result we opened American Girl is gathering customer data and prefer- Countdown Ellen Brothers, President Place in Chicago in 1998. ences about, and from, your customers. Q: Do you find the experiences you Can you give us an example of how of American Girl, Inc., stage at American Girl Place strengthen you’ve used some of this great customer Since the very first Winner of the Very First brand loyalty – and increase the dura- information? thinkAbout, we’ve identified tion your customers stay involved with Probably the most profound example companies and offerings EXPY Award in 1999 your product line? happened in the summer of 2002 when that, for one good reason or Absolutely. I can say our most loyal cus- one little girl wrote us a very poignant let- another, are a cut above their Middleton, tomers are generally those who have been ter explaining her birthday was on contemporaries in hitting the WI. In to the store and seen it in all its glory. September 11th, and the difficulty she sweet spot of the Experience November They are fully involved with us – they was having with that. It prompted one of Economy. That Top 10 1998 the first have the experience at our store; they buy our editors to check, and we found nearly countdown, culminates in American from our catalogue; they shop our website; 2,000 girls in our database with the same Girl Place and they read our magazine. They tend to birthday – and very likely with the exact the presentation of the opened on get involved in all aspects of the brand – same concerns. Experience Stager Chicago’s and become our best customers. So we made a decision at American Girl of the Year award. Magnificent And in terms of the store’s impact, we to reach out to these girls. We sent a pack- Mile. This certainly couldn’t create the two-hour stay age to the moms – not the girls directly, as The thinkAbout Times was to be – that’s the average length of a customer we wanted the mothers to choose if it was recently looked at each of our much more visit at the Chicago store – if we didn’t have appropriate to share with their daughters past EXPY winners. You’ll find than just a a great experience. Incidentally, we had to – and included a copy of one of our advice Kids and their moms can enjoy a updates on their progress here retail estab- deal with some early handicaps with the books, Feelings, which deals with emo- meal or afternoon tea at the Cafe. in the EXPY Exposé. lishment selling the company’s immensely store itself, in the traditional retailing tions many young girls face today: being popular line of girls’ books, dolls and sense, because we had to work around scared, worried, anxious – really a lot of accessories. It was designed as a place to some difficult existing space configura- issues. And we included some ideas for 11 in 2003. How do you avoid that 1999 stage great family experiences. Inside the tions. But we found that we were able to activities, a birthday card, and some tips same fate in a world filled with fickle American Girl Place 40,000-square-foot location, girls and create a sense of anticipation and a “what’s to help the girls celebrate in a fun way. customers and every-day-low-price Chicago, IL. their parents can take in a musical at the around the corner” feel as a result, and it’s The response was overwhelming. Lots retailers? The first-ever EXPY winner. American Girl Theater, enjoy a formal tea turned out to be a great place of discovery of moms wrote to us thanking us for the I get asked that a lot. For us, it’s really all about proprietary offerings – what we have EXPY selection for: recognizing in the Cafe, have their picture (with their as the girls explore the space. sentiment and the joyful time it helped American Girl doll companion of course!) Q: What, if any, impact on overall cat- create with their daughters. that no one else has. We control the prod- the value of paid-for experiences. put on the cover of American Girl maga- alog sales can you attribute to the pres- Q: How is the New York American uct, the service, the experiences, and the zine – and more. In just over six years, ence of your experiences in Chicago and Girl Place doing since the grand open- place. So if a customer doesn’t have a great 2000 that single location has welcomed more now New York? In essence, does a trip ing in November 2003? experience in our places, shame on me. The Geek Squad than 6 million visitors, served 700,000 to American Girl Place help increase Oh, it’s very much exceeding our expec- The other big factor to our success is Minneapolis, MN. meals in its Cafe, and performed to your “share of customer”? tations – and they were already very lofty! that we’re still, to this day, the only place that’s devoted exclusively to girls. It’s not EXPY selection for: turning an 300,000 theatergoers. We know from our studies (and we’ve We wanted an ideal location – and we cer- In the interview that follows, the done many of them) that in the six or tainly found it on Fifth Avenue. gender neutral; it’s not trying to be all ordinary service into an engaging thinkAbout Times had the opportunity to seven surrounding states surrounding the Phenomenal things are happening with things to all markets. So we know our girls, consumer and B2B experience. catch-up with Ellen Brothers, president of Chicago store – call it day-trip distance – the New York place. Just since the we’re steeped in intellectual property, and American Girl, Inc., on the company’s our catalogue sales in those states are our November 2003 opening we’ve had over it helps us create something just for them. 2001 past, present, and future, including its suc- most robust. We’ve proven that year after 775,000 visitors, with 100,000 advance And it can be a magical experience. Joie de Vivre Hospitality cessful launch of the second American Girl year. The numbers for New York aren’t in reservations for the Café & Theater. By all Q: What’s next for American Girl? One of the most exciting initiatives is San Francisco, CA. Place in New York City in November 2003. yet, it’s just too early, but we expect to standards, it’s been a fantastic start. For more information about American see the same there, following the trend Q: The newly opened New York venue our foray into the television-movie indus- EXPY selection for: an incredibly Girl, visit www.AmericanGirl.com. that customers in closer proximity to the is just ten blocks from what used to be try. Julia Roberts’ production company, insightful and effective Q: After twelve years of selling goods store become true multi-channel fans of the epicenter of the toy world, FAO Red Om Films, along with Revolution approach to theming. exclusively via direct mail order, how the brand. Schwartz, which twice filed for Chapter Studios and Warner Bros. Television, is does a company decide to get into producing a live-action television movie the very competitive retailing world, based on our popular historical character, 2002 Samantha Parkington, an orphan girl LEGO Company and ultimately start staging great experiences? raised by her grandmother in 1904. The Billund, Denmark. It’s really been part of the company’s movie, Samantha: An American Girl EXPY selection for: creating approach from the beginning. When the Holiday, is currently being filmed in a portfolio of experiences that company started in 1986, the founder, Toronto, and we expect it to air during exemplifies all ten levels of Pleasant Rowland, knew she couldn’t sweeps week this November on The WB the Location Hierarchy Model. begin competing as a mass merchandiser. Network. Building on the anticipated She became a direct marketer – because excitement surrounding the Samantha she had to. But she also knew that could movie, we are also introducing several new 2003 be a tremendous advantage, that she could movie-related products, including a new Cerritos Library tell a greater story through her own cata- 18-inch Nellie doll, Samantha’s best friend Cerritos, CA. log – using the medium to develop the sto- from the series and our first-ever “friend” EXPY selection for: integration rylines and characters and create a world, doll to join the historical Collection. of architecture, theming, design, an entire experience, around the dolls. While entering into new arenas like the technology, and human Very early on we saw the potential for entertainment industry is certainly excit- performances to create an branching out. For example, when we ing for us, the bottom line is that we will engaging educational experience. debuted our fourth doll, Felicity, whose continue to provide meaningful interac- character grew up in Colonial tions, memorable experiences, and high Williamsburg, we hosted a tea party there quality products that girls love and moms 2004 and 11,000 girls and their moms came and trust. We look first and foremost at ensur- Come to thinkAbout had tea with Felicity. So experiences real- ing everything we do is age-appropriate, and find out live! ly have been part of our roots from the of high value, and, of course, trustworthy. very beginning. And as that momentum American Girl Place visitors watch as their dolls get primped It’s how we approach each opportunity. grew, this idea for a place for the and pampered at the Doll Hair Salon. We owe that to our girls. Geek Squad Continues The Strategic Horizons Quest for World Domination! Learning EncounterEM

A thinkAbout Times Newsflash A most powerful offering for Editor’s for world domination. world of inferior computer behavior. Note: We This winner of the second Strategic Wielding sparkling badges and even companies ready to fully embrace awarded our Horizons Experience Stager of the Year sparklinger technical ability, Geek Squad the opportunities and challenges second EXPY award for its superb theming, inspired cos- Special Agents repair crashed hard drives, award in tuming, and wonderful theatre, this secure networks from unauthorized of the Experience Economy. 2000 to the 24-hour computer support task force was intruders, contain virulent outbreaks, and (in)famous acquired in October 2002 by computer even help newbies get on the Internet. computer superstore retail force Best Buy. (Whispers Ultimately, it’s their mission to rid the Only for those dedicated to support task are that Geek Squad really infiltrated Best world of bad computers. “That, and the fact realizing the full potential of their force The Buy in a devious Trojan Horse gambit. . . .) that we can’t land dates,” says Geek Squad Geek Squad. With the full strength of Best Buy now Chief Inspector and Founder, Robert business and management team. Since then, behind it, the com- Stephens. this quirky pany continues its This media dar- A maximum of twenty-five people crew of breakneck expan- ling has been known Special Agents, with its staccato “Can Do!” sion. In recent to come to the res- is recommended for participation attitude and geek attire has grown with blockbuster news, cue of not only the in each Encounter. wild abandon. While thinkAbout Times Geek Squad special common man but made repeated attempts to apprehend Chief agents will now be also the rich and Geek and founder Robert Stephens for an available for on-the- famous, allegedly update, he was so busy replicating Geek spot repairs and including The For more information about Squad locations throughout the U.S. that upgrades in all Best Rolling Stones, U2, this transformational offering, we couldn’t buttonhole one of our favorite Buy stores by the The Oscar Mayer thinkAbout alumni to get his thoughts time of thinkAbout Weinermobile, and contact Doug Parker, Managing Partner, directly. We culled this update from a vari- Cerritos. It’s a major Geekmobiles now patroling Best Buy. Blue Man Group. at +1 (330) 995-4680 or email ety of publicly available sources and our advance for the The Geek Squad is [email protected]. own super-secret spy tactics. Geek on, Experience Economy and computer-tor- frequently spotted urging the public to Robert. . . and call us when you get a mented citizens everywhere. contact them if they feel threatened by chance to come up for air! According to the Geek Squad website erratic computer activities or if they wit- (www.GeekSquad.com), this elite tactical ness any suspicious computing behavior. Minneapolis, MN. The Geek Squad, a unit of highly trained and highly mobile At press time, tight-lipped Geek Squad business that started in Minneapolis 10 individuals seeks out and destroys villain- representatives would neither confirm nor years ago with $200, has announced a new ous computer activity. These individuals deny the rumor of a possible movie deal. major nationwide expansion in its quest have banded together and sworn to rid the Time will tell! September 29 + 30, 2004 Pine & Gilmore’s thinkAbout Times page 11 EXPY Exposé The Joy of Industry Recessions Expanding the

An Interview with Chip Conley, Founder and CEO of LEGO Portfolio Joie de Vivre Hospitality, the 2001 EXPY Award Winner

San Yamamoto Moss (a well-known offerings. He goes on to say, “If ever there Creating the Creation Experience Francisco, Minneapolis-based brand strategy and was an industry that benefits from per- CA. Chip design firm), recently wrote a paper enti- sonalization, it is the hotel industry.” by Mark Hansen Conley, tled “Why Leisure Travel Companies Serve up a customized product in which Founder and Should Infuse Hospitality into their Web the brand is a mirror for the customer and CEO of Joie Strategy”. In it, he writes that travel com- you will be rewarded with higher room de Vivre panies should try to transform the “cold, rates. If consumers make decisions with Billund, Denmark. Creating with the The Brick List is a capability for kids Hospitality technical channel which is web booking their head and commitments with their classic LEGO brick is still the best- to generate a list of physical bricks need- (and winner into a warm, inviting place where brand- hearts, I think we’ve found a way to cap- known symbol of the LEGO experience. ed to build their creation or another of the loyal guests feel nurtured and gratified.” I ture those potential hotel guests. The LEGO brand has become synony- creation from the gallery on LEGO.com. Experience read this groundbreaking paper as we were Q: How accurate are the results? Has mous with an integrated universe of With this functionality, kids can find the Stager of the putting the finishing touches on Yvette and the Hotel Matchmaker been beta-tested? experiences that enhance children’s elements from their own collection to Year award in got a huge smile on my face because that’s We’ve had all kinds of people take the imagination and creativity through the build with. The building instruction 2001), talks exactly what we’re trying to do. test and have been amazed at the accura- LEGO brick. capability will allow the creator to about how his company has survived the Perhaps the most famous LEGO expe- assemble their creation and share the worst downturn in the history of rience is the LEGOLAND Parks. The first instructions with others. American hotels. Amongst other things, opened its doors back in 1968 displaying this interview discusses why the company inspiring LEGO creations in our home created Yvette, the Hotel Matchmaker, town of Billund, Denmark. Breaking con- and the revolutionary implications for the ventional boundaries LEGOLAND The LEGO brand hospitality industry. For more on the Billund gave kids and sometimes adults company (and a live demonstration of the opportunity to rule the world, if just has become Yvette), see www.jdvhospitality.com. for a day. Today this “little kingdom” has Q: How has it felt riding the econom- expanded to Windsor, UK, California, ic rollercoaster of the past few years? USA, and Günzburg, Germany. For synonymous No metropolitan U.S. hotel market had some, the chance to design a LEGO cre- ever seen its revenues drop 40-50% in a ation is a lifetime dream. with an three-year period. Not only have occupan- Indeed, LEGOLAND California cy rates dropped, but average room rates embarked on a three-month nationwide integrated have plummeted by $40 per night in San search to find its next Master Model Francisco and $70 per night in Silicon Builder, starting in November 2002 in universe of Valley. And, with the introduction of online Washington D.C., and culminating in booking with third-party web sites, it’s Orange County, CA. Participants had experiences almost like the consumers’ approach to 2,000 LEGO bricks and 45 minutes to selecting a hotel has been commoditized. create a model. The specific theme of the that enhance The big hotel chains consider it the project was not announced until the most catastrophic change in the hotel clock started, so contestants truly had to industry in decades. And, while booking exhibit creativity, strategy, and calmness children’s online makes lots of sense for airline tick- under pressure. ets and rental cars that really are com- One of the participants, Nathan imagination modity products, it poses challenges for Smart, creative, iconoclastic, avante-garde, and adaptive. The lobby at Sawaya of New York, was interviewed by choosing a hotel, which is a more person- Hotel Avante, the site of the 2002 thinkAbout in the heart of Silicon Valley. Newsday.com. He made it clear that the and creativity alized product (you sleep with the prod- national contest could be his big chance: uct, shower with it, and have a more pro- “I immediately called my girlfriend and through the longed and deeper experience with it). Our online experience should be as cy of the results. Of course, it depends on said ‘Here’s my dream and it can really Q: What is the effect of your intro- memorable and personalized as our hotel the mood of the person taking the test, come true!’ I felt like crying, because it LEGO brick duction of Yvette, the Hotel experience. Joie de Vivre won the but Yvette gives a couple of helpful hints was so absolutely unbelievable.” When Matchmaker, to help overcome com- Experience Stager of the Year award in about how to take the test in the most asked if he would sincerely consider leav- moditization? Las Vegas in 2001 (which was quite an effective manner. ing his serious adult life as a lawyer in Yvette solves this by personalizing the honor), so we’ve always been focused on Q: Any evidence that the Hotel New York, Sawaya smiled: “If I were Two new creation experience offerings hotel booking experience and driving con- creating a compelling guest experience, Matchmaker concept is working? offered the LEGO gig, I’d be making five are now available: a CD-ROM for sumer business to our own web site for but now we’re just making sure it starts Yes, in all kinds of ways. First, we’ve times less than my current salary. I’d be LEGOLAND season pass holders for the booking rooms, which means we don’t with the potential guest’s first experience seen our Joie de Vivre web site bookings leaving a city I love and my girlfriend. . .. 2004 season and an in-store creation have to pay the big commissions to what I with our web site. as a percentage of our total revenues grow It would be a whole new world to me, and capability at LEGOLAND Brick Shops call the hotel “supermarkets”. Q: How does the Hotel Matchmaker tap from 3% to 9% in the past year since it’d be scary – in other words: Absolutely. and at limited LEGO Brand Retail stores With 25 Bay Area hotels (more than into Joie de Vivre’s roots as a boutique launching Yvette. At the same time, our In a millisecond.” Today, Nathan Sawaya in Europe and the USA. These offerings any other hotelier), Joie de Vivre is par- hotelier that’s been around since 1987? reliance on the commission-expensive is getting paid to play as a master builder are supported by a special version of ticularly vulnerable since all of our hotels Since our start when I bought a run- third party web sites has only grown from in LEGOLAND California. LEGO Digital Designer in which the are in this depressed region. Fortunately, down motel in San Francisco’s tough 10% to 12% during the same period. bricks in the software are aligned with more than 80% of our hotels gained mar- Tenderloin district, our approach to creat- Clearly, we are successful in directing the available bricks in the LEGOLAND ket share in the past three years, but ing hotels has been very niche-oriented. more people to our web site. Brick Shops or Brand Retail Pick-a-Brick we’ve still seen them become more and Each time we create a hotel, we imagine a We’ve also found that people who take wall. The child can build and create at more reliant on the Expedias of the world. magazine that helps define the hotel. the test are five times more likely to make home from the CD-ROM version, and We have a great relationship with them For example, for that first hotel that a reservation. Most important, we’ve been then come to the Park or Brand Retail and will continue putting our hotel prod- became The Phoenix, my goal was to cre- able to track that the customer satisfac- location and walk through the store and uct on their “supermarket shelves”, but ate a cool and funky hotel for young peo- tion of guests who used the Matchmaker find the bricks they need: twelve of the we realized last year that our only salva- ple and traveling musicians. We chose function is higher than for our normal red ones, eight by two, four of the blue, tion was to drive more consumers Rolling Stone magazine as the brand per- guest since these Matchmaker guests are two by one, and so forth. . . . The pro- to our own web site, sonality we wanted to emulate and came finding the perfect product for them. gram can even tell them in which bin of www.jdvhospitality.com. And, the only up with 5 words that describe the hotel I can say definitively that we create bricks in the store assortment to find the way we could do that was to create the we wanted to create: funky, irreverent, much more repeat business with this needed bricks. coolest little boutique place with the most adventurous, cool, and young-at-heart. Matchmaker approach than we do by A rainbow of colors greets The in-store offering will be available personalized experience. Additionally, Everything we did in creating that hotel – attracting guests through Expedia who builders and helps spark for Park guests or retail customers to we’re offering a low-price guarantee for from the art in the guest rooms to the may be mismatched with the hotel imagination and creativity. build their creations in-store and have our customers, which means our cool lit- unique services we offered – came back to the creation placed on the gallery in the tle shop matches the prices of whatever a those five words. store location for other customers to customer finds at the hotel supermarkets. This approach has helped us create Now, in 2004, LEGO wants to enable see and be inspired. The customer will Q: How does this new Joie de Vivre soulful little landmarks full of character, We’ve always children and fans of LEGO to create be able to purchase the elements web site compare to the consumer and we’ve learned over time that the their own products in LEGOLAND Brick needed for the creation before going experience on Expedia or Hotels.com? guests who tend to fall in love with a cer- been focused Shops and in limited LEGO Brand Retail home. The differentiation between the It could be compared to the difference tain Joie de Vivre boutique hotel would locations. Imagine being able to create a two venues is the number of bricks between buying shoes at Niketown versus use many of those same aspirational funny or impressive LEGO model with available to consumer to create from. A words to describe themselves. The hotel on creating a 3D elements on your PC and then shar- range of 50 to 100 bricks are in Brand is a mirror for our customers. The hotel ing it through a gallery around the world Retail, and over 400 bricks in provides an identity refreshment. That’s compelling guest with others. And then imagine that you LEGOLAND Parks allow endless cre- why we’ve built such loyalty from our Joie would like to build the model in real life, ative possibilities. de Vivre guests. experience. . . with real LEGO elements. But, maybe In thinking about how we were going to you don’t have the necessary bricks and upgrade our web site, we took all of this now we’re other elements needed to create the into account and it led us to creating the model physically. Then you could pur- psychographic personality test that drives making sure chase the elements needed from LEGO the Hotel Matchmaker process. But in in any number of ways. some ways, our lack of a singular product Just as Nathan wanted to be a Master type like W or Ian Schrager Hotels had it starts with Designer for LEGOLAND, many others historically worked to our disadvantage, want to be able to design and share their as it’s hard to describe a Joie de Vivre the potential ideas through other various LEGO ven- hotel other than to say each one is differ- ues. And internally, LEGOLAND Parks ent. Introducing Yvette, the Hotel guest’s first and Brand Retail Stores have wished for Matchmaker, takes this brand problem a tool of creative inspiration to increase Pick-a-Brick: Building the and turns it into our greatest marketing experience with brick sales. LEGO creation experience weapon – the fact we have a hotel for Today, it’s possible to create your own one piece at a time. every personality. our web site or download other 3D digital LEGO mod- Q: Why will web customers prefer els from a pallet of assorted virtual LEGO this method of booking a hotel? bricks using software called LEGO The value is created through encourag- It’s more fun. The fact that Yvette Digital Designer (available at ing repeat visits to create and share their serves up five hotels, two local people, because their primary focus in the buying www.lego.com/ldd). The model creation creation ideas and purchase the bricks and six experiences to have that match process was purely price. Finally, Yvette can be saved and used to share in a needed to build the model physically. This the personality of the customer (based the Hotel Matchmaker has also become a model gallery on LEGO.com with thou- is a new era for the fundamental LEGO Yvette: upon the quick test they’ve taken) is so media celebrity having been featured in sands of other creations from children experience of play that connects the cool. It taps into Mass Customization, everything from The Wall Street Journal and fans from around the world. physical and virtual play experiences that Joie de Vivre’s online web guide. with customers selecting the product that to all kinds of national newspapers so it Version 1.1 of the LEGO Digital Designer encourages creation and imagination best matches their individual needs. has been a foundational element of Joie was launched in the summer of 2003 and for all ages. Foot Locker. The hotel supermarkets pro- Peter Yesawich, the culture and trend- de Vivre’s marketing campaign. has already been downloaded more than vide the most plentiful supply of product spotting guru of the hospitality industry, 200.000 times from the net. Version 1.2 is Mark W. Hansen is Director of at the lowest prices, but the experience has found in his surveys of travelers that Chip Conley is Founder and CEO of on its way in July of 2004 and will have the Commerce Customization at LEGO can feel relatively generic. nearly 40% of Internet users would be Joie de Vivre Hospitality and a two-time added features of a “Brick List” and System A/S and a two-time thinkAbout Lee Thomas, one of the executives at willing to pay 20% more for customized thinkAbout alumnus. “Virtual Building Instruction”. alumnus. page 12 Pine & Gilmore’s thinkAbout Times September 29 + 30, 2004 Why Many Marketers Passion for People

Struggle to Make It Real Making a Contribution to the Quality of Life MasterCard launched perhaps the most alone with a credit card? through Meaningful and Compelling Experiences memorable advertising campaign of the Yamamoto Moss surveyed marketers by Dave Norton, Ph.D. past 10 years: “Priceless.”. Such copy as and asked them how strongly they agreed by Albert Boswijk “Real conversation with 11-year-old son: or disagreed with the following statement: Colorado Priceless.” captured the attention of brands make life more meaningful. Only Springs, CO. Americans who felt hooked on plastic and 16 percent agreed or strongly agreed with Editor’s and others looking at the transformation There has plasticky experiences. Created by the that sentiment. Fifty-two percent dis- note: The of European society, including Arnold never been a New York office of McCann-Erickson, the agreed or strongly disagreed. And the rest, European Cornelis, Meerten ter Borg, Suzanne Piët, better time campaign won the Gold Effie, Addy 31 percent, were neutral. Now if mar- Centre for the Helmut Gaus, and Carl Rohde and Hans to be a mar- Award, and the Cresta Award, and now keters, the producers of promises like the Experience van der Loo. Several themes emerge keter. There airs in 96 countries and 45 languages. Priceless campaign, don’t believe that Economy was in common: has never The Priceless campaign continues to be brands in general make life more mean- founded at the Society is going through an important been a time phenomenally successful because it taps ingful, why should consumers? University of and deep transformation, one where self- when con- into a truth: Some things in life shouldn’t Yes, MasterCard has had great success Amsterdam determination and sense-making are sumers have be for sale. That’s the way people feel with its campaign. Besides improving in 2001 with becoming key bywords. more wanted MasterCard’s tremendous global brand the main aim The economy is taking on an increasing meaningful reach, the Priceless campaign has helped to ground the role of helping individuals make meaning experiences the company somewhat shed its image as Experience in their lives through the exploration with brands. And there has never been There has never the “other credit card”. (You have your Economy in of identity. more need for innovation than there Visa and/or your American Express, and theory, to specialize in educational pro- Authenticity – being real – increasingly is today. been a time then you have your “other credit card”.) grams, and to assist organizations in the drives how people spend their time. Tremendous opportunity to do great The Priceless campaign changed the sub- application of the theory through con- Life cannot be fully scripted, but people work and be rewarded for it awaits – if you when consumers ject from Visa’s “Accepted everywhere sulting. Its community of practice must be allowed to connect and share can make it real. Opportunities like cap- you want to be.” and American Express’ includes researchers, teachers, students with each other. turing the demand of the explosive “Membership has its privileges.” to and practitioners from business and While these findings seem to apply in Geotourist market for meaningful travel have more want- Mastercard: The brand that brings the government. Their purpose is to shape America and other parts of the world as experiences. Or producing a real product, most important moments of life to you. the body of knowledge and to apply les- well, they do seem to be more pro- like the Dyson DC07 Root Cyclone – a ed meaningful Who cares that you still can’t use it at sons learned through sharing knowledge nounced in European culture. torqued-up, bacteria-killing, 100,000g the Olympics? and best practices. To illustrate these emerging trends, vacuum cleaner. Or promoting your vast experiences with But imagine consider four European cases: Achmea cornucopia of brands the way General what more Amsterdam, The Netherlands. In this Healthcare (health insurance), ING Mills has with its Box Tops for Education brands; and MasterCard report from the European sector of the Private Banking (financial services), ID&T – the single most successful promotion could have Experience Economy I would like to share (music & entertainment), and Interdit (a idea ever to come out of Big G. there has never done. Imagine some insights, provide an overview of traveling restaurant). What makes it real? Intention, heart, if people real- emerging trends based on research, and Achmea Healthcare purpose, and the ability to do the right been more need ly did as- demonstrate these trends in practice Achmea Healthcare is the leading thing for consumers. While there are hun- sociate through European case studies. Our key Dutch Health Insurer with a full portfolio dreds of examples of how companies suc- MasterCard finding: Experiences created from a place of insurance services. Its director, Fred cessfully made it real for people, there are for innovation with the of passion for people (not purely founded Lingg, embarked the company on an millions of examples where they failed. most in economics) make great contributions experience journey in 2000. He and his The reason why marketers struggle to meaningful to the quality of life and are economically management team realized that health make it real is that most are held back by today. They are barraged by buy-it-will- experi- successful in the end. If the motive is insurance was a very low-interest service three things: make-you-happy messages on hundreds of The Dyson DC07 Root ences in purely economical, the lifecycle of these (until one becomes ill) while the industry channels, vast numbers of Web sites, and their experiences will be shorter than those was becoming more and more competi- • promises that are never kept Cyclone – a torqued-up, • having no higher purpose than profit piles of mailed catalogues. They want to be lives based on such passion. tive. So Lingg changed Achmea’s para- bacteria-killing, • models of consumer behavior that happy. They want live rich lives and have because These insights will definitely influence digm from sickness insurer to health reduce people to pockets priceless moments with family, friends, 100,000g vacuum cleaner. they had the research agenda of the European provider, from low-interest price competi- Promises Never Kept and fun places. priceless Centre for the Experience Economy in tion to high-interest experience staging. In the late ‘90s, the Banking But they don’t believe the stories mar- moments with MasterCard every time they the near future, to focus more on quality Realizing that prevention is better than Administration Institute and the Boston keters tell. They are jaded. If they buy slapped down their plastic on a store of the lives of individuals and social curing, Achmea’s mission changed to help- Consulting Group found that the main your product will their lives really be more counter or made a payment – or attended groups and the role of experience offer- ing people become conscious of how to branding challenge in financial services was convenient, exciting, deep, wonderful, or a MasterCard-sponsored event. They ings in enhancing this quality of life in an manage their own health better. Achmea to transition from creating “name aware- real? They don’t think so because the would have been perceived as more real authentic and profitable way. Healthcare considered the needs of cus- ness” to “branding the experience”. They experience does not align with what the (and they probably wouldn’t be looking for What’s Going On? tomers for health offerings from birth to discovered that the American consumer advertising promises. Ask yourself, when a new campaign idea right now). Instead, In examining how the Experience death and designed unique experiences to was not so much interested in a “rich was the last time you had a truly meaning- Economy is playing itself out in Europe, lifestyle” but rather in living “rich lives”. ful experience, as promised, on an airline, we’ve studied the writings of sociologists, Not coincidently, in October of 1997, with an HMO, with a phone service – let Continued on page 22 economists, psychologist, philosophers, Continued on page 13

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this, but it was the only way to create ID&T believes it to be in the core busi- Experience continued from page 1 trust with its clients. And the results have ness of creating meaning for a large group Passion continued from page 12 been stunning, with many participants of young people in society that are on the relating how a dinner changed their lives threshold of making their mark in life. here’s what you’ll partake in at this year’s fulfill those needs profitably. It developed – and with ING gaining many new busi- They help these people make sense of thinkAbout: special benefits to members; health cen- ness opportunities. what they see and do in the world, and Enlivened interaction with a specially ters were acquired; a magazine and web- ID&T thereby create their own identities. They chosen – and especially engrossing – slate site introduced; private clinics instituted; At the start of the nineties, hardcore construct an environment and a social of book authors, including opportunities and offerings created in such new areas as house music was breaking through in the group to which people can belong and in for small group, perhaps even one on one, re-integration to work after illness. Netherlands. Irfan van Ewijk, Duncan which they can participate. conversation. All the new experience offerings raised Stutterheim, and Theo Lelie (from Interdit, the Cowboys of the Kitchen An illuminating trek through the revenues and became profitable. Further, whence came ID&T) were so passionate Interdit, which means forbidden in stacks, across the shelves, and over digital Achmea discovered that taking care of the about the music that they began to organ- French, is a most unusual culinary con- data. The aim: learning new ideas across health situation of their clients lessened ize their own house party in 1992 in cept, designed and implemented by four the breadth of our intellectual arena that the amount of money it had to pay to hos- Utrecht. They each borrowed $40,000 young creative people from Amsterdam, each participant, working in groups, can pitals, doctors, and physiotherapists. from their parents and, despite dire warn- Brian, Jaymz, Tiddo and Niels. They are apply to their own businesses. An Interdit Location – After Interestingly, success in the market- ings from family and friends, succeeded in “the Cowboys of the Kitchen”, and their A free-flowing exchange of information, place influenced and accelerated the getting over 8,000 people to attend their concept can be described as a culinary, knowledge, and perhaps even a little wis- transformation of the organization. Now, post-Graduation party, “The Final Exam”, disobedient, semi- illegal, traveling cultur- create a fresh Interdit experience and to dom gleaned from every one’s own inves- Achmea’s staff focuses on the experience and made a tidy $50,000 profit. al restaurant. build a larger pool of Interdit-customers tigations – that’s why we call them partic- of people and not on the rules of deliver- After this first success, the three The Interdit concept is as follows: first who enjoy the excitement. ipants, never attendees! – and forged in ing care. When health problems do occur, founders wanted to organize even larger of all the collective founders define a loca- The conviction of Interdit is that the the crucible of connections made they focus on the needs and desires of raves. And large they became, with names tion where the event will be taking place. public of Amsterdam is ready for a fresh between authors, ideas, and participants. their clients and do everything possible to like Thunderdome, Global Hardcore They specifically look for places that are impulse. An initiative that stands for pure Our own, new Top 10 list (and postcard help them regain their health. “It is a mat- Nation, Mystery Land, Speed Razor, and out of the way and have something myste- values and especially for quality, without exercise), complete with the announcement ter of empathy and compassion, people Earthquake. New offerings, such as CDs, rious about them. A disco that is empty getting lost in complicated ideas and gim- of the 2004 Experience Stager of the Year first then rules”, says Lingg. This is a magazines, and other merchandise were and needs to be rebuilt, or an old church micks. Simple, honest, temporary – but award winner – and our venue for 2005. major shift in the behavior of the staff of added to meet the needs of a whole new that is not being used, an old warehouse definitely innovative and exciting. We’ve designed the entire agenda, obvi- Achmea, which previously was mere sub-culture, called “Gabbers”. that is waiting to be transformed into an Interdit certainly is in the experience ously, to fit perfectly with our library administrators and not people dedicated Thunder Magazine became the best- apartment building, or the latest, the business; they create an informal, friend- venue – with a few twists thrown in. And to caring about others. selling dance magazine in the arcade under the Rijksmuseum in ly atmosphere together with their guests through it all, what really makes But, in fitting with the trends noted Netherlands, with over 30,000 sub- Amsterdam. and friends that so often is lacking in pro- thinkAbout work is the time we share above, these experiences are not the scribers. Then, the market changed. The fessional restaurants. They bring an infor- together, exploring new frontiers, scripted ones of, say, a movie or ride, but fad around hardcore house music came to mal organization to a high professional wrestling with different points of view, rather involve real choices of Achmea’s an end, and in order to secure its future, standard. Their motive, as they say, is to and experiencing the creative energy that clients in facing difficult situations, ID&T (which at the time employed over offer pleasure in an unusual way; it’s not permeates the event. authentic conversations and circum- 50 people) had to respond. The founders restricted to economic motives. Its chal- For now, read our thinkAbout Times stances, and meaningful experiences. decided to switch to other musical styles lenge is somewhat like that of ID&T – not with an eye to your own personal experi- ING Private banking and in 1999 organized Innercity in becoming part of the “formal world” while ences, and your own business. Even if The core business of ING private bank- Amsterdam. It was a risk, as never before keeping the spirit of originality and you’re unable to come to Cerritos with us ing is assisting private business owners had such a large indoor event been organ- creativity going. this September, you’ll find the newspaper during takeovers. One of the problems of ized without hardcore music. However, Conclusions you hold carries a wealth of thought-pro- small, privately owned businesses is that ID&T pulled it off, and today Innercity is, When looking at these four cases some voking intelligence about what is going on owners often have great difficulty in let- according to its creators, the largest similarities spring to mind. First of all, we in the business world today. ting go of their businesses when the time indoor festival of any kind in the world. see passion as a major driver of business. Read all about it with an open mind to comes. For ING Private Banking, however, New experience offerings like Trance In the case of ID&T the whole business soak up the circumstances, the exemplars, facilitating the sales and transfer of these Energy, Shockers, and Massive followed. started with a passion for music and and the principles of the Experience businesses is a core activity. So, rather The latest events, a series called dance. Interdit is based on a passion for Economy. Keep your own business in mind than sponsor the usual golf tournament, Sensation, with White and Black Editions, An Interdit Location – Before people and for the combination of good as you read, take notes of, or highlight, what director of marketing Jan Sinnema, after each drew over 70,000 people dancing food and unique locations. Achmea shows interests you, and begin thinking about how reading The Experience Economy, devel- from 10 at night until 6 the following a passion for their customers’ health, you and your business should change to oped the concept of a theme dinner cen- morning. This year tickets were sold out Interdit does ask permission from the while ING exhibits it for their clients’ match the times in which we work. tered on “how to let go of your business”. in two hours. owner to use the place, but not from the lifestyles and legacy. But for those that want to go beyond, the At these dinners ING sets the stage for ID&T further created its own radio sta- police or other formal organizations. The All four also focus on more than just the place to be is the 2004 thinkAbout to be what Sinnema calls “a relevant emotional tion, two more magazines, ID&T maga- staff of Interdit knows how to turn these economic value. ID&T offers a feeling of held September 29 + 30 and hosted by our encounter” – an almost therapeutic set- zine, a beach club, and a restaurant. Most places from nothing to something on the togetherness, of belonging to something friends from the Cerritos Public Library. ting whereby every client will go as deep recently, a theatre in the center of spur of a moment. By using crude, tempo- bigger than yourself, Interdit offers an Do think about it. and as far in talking about himself as he Amsterdam was transformed into a rary locations, Interdit avoids expensive ideal in combination with spontaneity, likes or wants to. It creates a safe environ- Moulin Rouge-like nightclub. drawn-out startup periods and stays Achmea offers a context for the health of focused on what they are good at: hospi- its customers, and ING a time and place tality, atmosphere, and good food. where entrepreneurs can learn from each The restaurant is only open for a set other about the next stage in their lives. Business Directory number of days at a particular location Overall, these cases illustrate that an (from a weekend to at most ten days), experience provider with a passion for First page of significant references to the thereafter going into hiding only to resur- people and their specific needs (health, following companies: face somewhere else after a couple of food, entertainment, togetherness, sur- months. That’s how the Interdit concept prise, excitement, relaxation, etc.) is able Achmea Healthcare ...... 12 stays fresh and challenging for both the to generate successful business. More American Girl, Inc...... 3 guests and the initiators. Each new loca- specifically, these cases well illustrate the Atlantis Resort ...... 16 tion further offers new perspectives and emerging trends of self-determination and Best Buy Co., Inc...... 10 possibilities. Just a week in advance the sense-making, identity and meaning, Boeing ...... 7 founders notify all their contacts and rel- authenticity, and connecting and sharing Cerritos Library ...... 1 atives via e-mail and SMS and within a through un-scripted interactions. Digital AV ...... 7 few days they are fully booked. In Europe the trend is towards more Dyson ...... 12 Guests sit at large tables, bring their customer-driven experiences that European Centre for the friends and enjoy each other’s company, enhance the quality of life, where eco- Experience Economy ...... 12 even with strangers. They enjoy a good nomics are not the only driving value. HRC Handelsblad ...... 2 meal and some entertainment. The Many staged experiences are considered ID&T ...... 12 atmosphere is open and dynamic; there is too commercial, too artificial, too superfi- ING ...... 12 room to stand up and recite a poem at the cial, and too boring. Confronted with the Interdit ...... 12 dinner table, should one so desire. The question of what values they are looking Joie de Vivre ...... 11 processes are smartly organized, and the for, people respond not with economic LEGO Company ...... 12 food, which they call “chauvinisticre- values, but social values (e.g., friendship, Mary Boone Associates ...... 7 An ID&T Experience: The White Edition gionaleuropeanstyle”, is the core essen- intimacy), cultural values (e.g., honesty, MasterCard ...... 12 tial, pure and exciting. involvement, idealism), and personal val- McDonalds Corporation ...... 16 ment where clients can freely speak about In essence, ID&T transformed the The menu is created each day depend- ues (e.g., independence, self-expression). New York Yankees ...... 18 their feelings and emotions about some- entire market, which research from ing on what is freshly available. Primarily People seek a balance between control by Sharp HealthCare ...... 14 thing so very closely to their heart. They KPMG estimates at $500 million in the organic products are used in light versa- the experience stager and self-determined Stanford University ...... 2 then connect to and share with other peo- Netherlands alone. Through it all, the tile dishes – classic ingredients in innova- activity with its spontaneity, freedom, and Starbucks Corporation ...... 8 ple in very similar circumstances, includ- company has maintained a core set of val- tive combinations. They steer clear of the self-expression. Starizon, Inc...... 8 ing past clients who tell their own stories ues, which co-founder Duncan usual and present a 6-course narrative Businesses should ask themselves: how Strategic Horizons LLP ...... 1 about how they did indeed manage to let Stutterheim says are intuition, dynamic, dinner, commencing for all the guests at can they make a worthwhile contribution The Geek Squad ...... 10 go of their business.. creative, unexpected, and no boundaries. the same time, usually 8 pm, and taking to the quality of lives of individuals and of The Home Depot ...... 3 The special role ING’s personnel is to Its “ten commandments” include such up the whole evening. The service is quite social groups through meaningful and University of Michigan ...... 2 not be there, to not commercially act! sub-culturally specific maxims as “Only unassuming, not formal but friendly and compelling experiences? University of Texas ...... 2 Only the director of the regional ING God can judge us”, “Yesterday is history, well-meant, supple and noiseless. Venetian Hotel & Casino ...... 4 branch is allowed to attend, serving in the today is a gift, tomorrow is a mystery”, Within a few days the experience ends Albert Boswijk is Executive Director of Walt Disney Co. (and units) ...... 7 role of dinner host. Sinnema had great “Do the don’ts”, and “Keep your at that particular location. The entrepre- the European Centre for the Experience WildWorks Group ...... 2 difficulty convincing his organization of dark side”. neurs seek new adventurous locations to Economy. Yamamoto Moss ...... 11

THE 4TH INTERNATIONAL EXECUTIVE COURSE ‘CREATING UNIQUE VALUE THROUGH CO-CREATION AND COMPELLING EXPERIENCES’

ENGAGE IN LEARNING BY SHARING WITH EXECUTIVES DATE AND PLACE AND PRACTITIONERS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE 18 - 23 April 2005 Hotel Restaurant Castell d’Empordà FEATURING La Bisbal d’Empordà, Girona/Barcelona, Spain Prof. Rik Maes, Prof. Joseph Pine, Prof. Ed Peelen, prof. Ep Köster, Chip Conley, Joie de Vivre Hospitality, Mark PRE REGISTER Hansen, Lego Company, Duncan Stutterheim, ID&T, Do not miss this opportunity! Jan Sinnema, ING, Sjoerd Soeters, Soeters Van Eldonk Limited to 20 participants. Pre register now! Ponec Architects, Fred Lingg, Achmea Healthcare, Brian Registration: www.experience-economy.com Boswijk, Interdit, Marcel Goossens, DST, Jempi Moens, PrimaVera Research Program Fresh Forward, Steven Olthof, KPMG Business Innovation INFORMATION

UNIVERSITEIT VAN AMSTERDAM and many other top lecturers and experience practitioners. [email protected] a.d. Geul | 04380 Crasborn Grafisch Ontwerpers bno, Valkenburg page 14 Pine & Gilmore’s thinkAbout Times September 29 + 30, 2004 Making the Health Care Experience Even Better. . .

ence in the health care industry, there was thinkAbout Chicago in September, cal skills and clinical outcomes, but each reconnect with and honor why they got Giving Us All Something isn’t a week that goes by without a friend, 2000. Immersing ourselves in the eco- group wanted more from their experience. into health care in the first place. Staff family member, or neighbor asking me for nomic experiences of Chicago and espe- The Sharp Experience members were then asked to serve as the to thinkAbout help or advice on how to better navigate cially in the thinking of Joe and Jim set From that, we used the sensory assess- architects of change by participating in the health care system to get the care they the stage for a remarkable journey. ment tools that were taught by Joe and one of over a hundred action teams across by Sonia Rhodes need and deserve. It shouldn’t be that way. Jim to envision all aspects of the experi- our organization. Overnight, we had over From Good to Great ence we wanted to offer. We created a one thousand employees actively engaged As San Diego’s largest not-for-profit model with three core components: in work teams to make Sharp a better San Diego, health care delivery system (and largest 1) Service Excellence/Experience Design, organization. CA. When private employer, with 14,000 employ- 2) Corporate Learning (Sharp University), Next, we identified our six pillars of suc- you think ees), we believe we have a responsibility and 3) Accountability. In September, cess: Quality, Service, People, Finance, about posi- to our community to provide the very best 2001, we launched what we call The Sharp tively memo- health care experience for our patients. Experience – our organizational improve- Continued on page 22 rable experi- While Sharp has always been a good ment initiative designed to make Sharp ences, what health care organization, just over three HealthCare the best place for people to comes to years ago we decided that good wasn’t work, the best place for physicians to your mind good enough. In late 2000 we set out to practice medicine, and the best place for REAL LIFE ADVENTURES by Wise & Aldrich first? A five- make Sharp a great health care organiza- patients to receive care. star dining tion by focusing on transforming the In 2001 we brought all of our employees experience? health care experience for our staff, physi- to the San Diego Convention Center over A romantic cians, and patients. a two-day period of time to attend one of vacation? We knew that positive health care expe- three identical all-staff assemblies. We Taking the kids to Walt Disney World? riences meant more than the latest tech- called these assemblies “re-commitment Or, is it perhaps your most recent nology. To build the right platform for ceremonies” because we were asking our colonoscopy? You know – the medical pro- change, we set out on a national investiga- staff to recommit to their purpose, to their cedure where a physician uses flexible tion to learn what the best of the best were worthwhile work, and to making a differ- scopes to view the inside of your intestinal doing to create positively memorable expe- Sharp HealthCare: San Diego’s ence in the lives of others. We used these tract. No? Well, at Sharp HealthCare we’re riences for staff and customers. We investi- largest not-for-profit health assemblies to re-connect our staff with doing everything we can to add colonoscopy gated leaders in other service industries as care delivery system. their heart – and the reasons they chose – and all aspects of health care – to the top well as other health care organizations. health care as a profession. of our customers’ list of great experiences. We read books and journals to stay Along with our best-practice investiga- Health care, and the people who work We know that health care is extremely abreast of what the thought-leaders were tion, we also conducted over a hundred in it, has always had purpose at the core. important to everyone. We also know that saying – and one of our first assignments focus groups with staff, physicians, and Over the years, the complexities of health what should be a personal, respectful, and was to read The Experience Economy by patients to better understand what was plans, technology, and thousands of rules caring experience all too often turns out to Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore. The book working and what needed work. The and regulations seemed to have taken the be confusing, frustrating, or downright became our guide, and our very first stop response was overwhelming. Sharp was industry – and many of the workers – off All rights reserved. © 2002 GarLanco. Reprinted with permission of UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE. scary. With nearly twenty years of experi- on a six-month best-practice investigation known to have the highest caliber techni- track. We were giving them a chance to

And there’s the rub. The moment one finished Sheetrock-on-studs as Sheetrock- be no harder to achieve than the authen- Reality continued from page 5 tries to be real, tries to be authentic, and on-studs rather than as a plastered wall? ticity that writers, actors, and musicians the trying is detected, the bubble bursts Who but an architect can tell whether an of any talent routinely achieve. All we range of contemporary construction tech- and inauthenticity spills out. arch is really carrying a load? On the have to do is want it. Many ordinary peo- nologies. Others are more eager to But all is not lost. The best actors can other hand, who doesn’t know that the ple want that sort of realness too, and explore these possibilities. . . but, at the make us forget they’re acting. Affecting Bellagio in Las Vegas is not Bellagio in long to have experiences of it that are not same time, in the name of modernist non-affectation (unless their characters northern Italy? People are not fools to obviously for sale. I offer my analysis of “honesty”, feel compelled to expose are affected), they somehow remain true that degree. They know the Bellagio in architecture’s realness as a tool for think- structure, fabrication, joints, and duct- to themselves as persons and true to the Las Vegas to be what it is: a huge concoc- ing about the issue, and suggest that we work to public view. Yet others are quite characters they portray, reconstituting tion and experience – with, yes, real flow- look to the work of Alvar Aalto, Aldo van comfortable creating dramatic and them into singular and wholly new per- ers and real water up front. Matters are Eyck, Louis Kahn, Carlo Scarpa, and themed spaces – as long as they can be sonalities. One might argue that the “will- more problematic when chain book- Peter Zumthor for guidance as to what frank about the artifice (perhaps here and ing suspension of disbelief” that is prereq- stores, stocked with best-sellers and authentic architecture might look like in there showing the props behind, this uisite to the functioning of the theater staffed by twenty-year-olds, disport them- modern times – not to mention the thou- being their way of being honest). But hon- and movies works unfairly in the actors’ selves as cozy haunts for bibliophiles. sands of unassuming yet generous old esty is not enough, since most of the facts favor. But in truth, a parallel and equally A world without circuses is not one I buildings that still dot the American land- that buildings portray are up to architects willing suspension of disbelief works in want to live in. But nor is a world that is scape, patiently awaiting our attention. to choose in the first place. The quest, the architects’ favor too. People assume circuses only and nothing is what it seems rather, is for authenticity, which is the their buildings to be fully real, giving to be. The authenticity of an architecture This article originally appeared in authority that comes with being real with- Presence. Significance. them as much credit on this score as they that takes as its goal embodying the qui- ARCHITECTURAL RECORD, November out trying. Materiality. Emptiness. possibly can. Who can sustain thinking of eter realness I spoke of earlier of should 2001, pp. 84-89, with slight changes here. September 29 + 30, 2004 Pine & Gilmore’s thinkAbout Times page 15 page 16 Pine & Gilmore’s thinkAbout Times September 29 + 30, 2004 Travel Absorbing New Zealand Principles from

There are Ecotourism adventures to Taupo Lodge, the proprietor pointed the by Jim Gilmore geothermal reserves, bush-lands and way to Scenic Cellars, New Zealand’s Paradise beaches, not to mention glow-worm largest wine retailer (the serendipity of caves. Museums abound, including The choosing Lake Taupo for an overnight somewhat easier route: think about what Shaker Heights, OH. “New Zealand is New Zealand Maritime Museum. One can stay provided some additional research by Joe Pine & Jim Gilmore behind-the-scenes tour of your venue one of the most isolated countries in the also “Experience the Thrill” aboard fodder, as the store’s wine-cellar tour could be leveraged to elevate the image of world.” So reads the first sentence of the NZL40, an America’s Cup Yacht sailed by supplied a delightful experience). your experience. And don’t be surprised DK Eyewitness Travel Guide for New Viking Cruises. Get wet at Splash Planet, And just around the corner, the most Aurora, OH. Surely you’ve seen the that much of what you consider mundane Zealand. I was booked to speak at the amazing experience was encountered: advertising taglines – “A Magical may fascinate those unfamiliar with the 2001 New Zealand Food & Wine Tourism McDonald’s! Experience”, “Once upon Our Lifetime”, ins-and-outs of your business. Conference, and buying the guide was McDonald’s? Yes, indeed. Right there “It’s No Place Like Home” – all touting Offer options for all ages. One of the part of the research and preparation I in of all places, Lake Taupo, NZ, was a Atlantis on Paradise Island, Bahamas. The most ingenious aspects of Atlantis lies in normally do for any such engagement. McCafe. Strategically, esthetically, and scale of this renowned experience of Sol alternative experiences for any age group. The country’s geographic isolation geographically positioned between Kerzner’s Sun International astounds: a Take its water slides. The much-publicized became scrupulously evident during the Starbucks – found in only the largest NZ 63-slip marina, 38 restaurants, 18 holes of “Leap of Faith”, situated atop the (recently twelve-hour flight from LAX to Auckland. cities – and the cafés and tea-rooms that golf, 11 swimming areas, 11 exhibit constructed) ancient Mayan Temple, is not A subsequent domestic flight within NZ’s literally adorn every village along New lagoons, 10 tennis courts, 2 porte- for little tikes (or the faint of heart). But North Island, however, provided a Zealand’s two-lane highway system, such cocheres, and 1 casino – not to mention a there are plenty of alternative rides, ensur- greater appreciation of its psychological McCafes (now numbering in the hun- luxurious spa, a comedy club, an under-21 ing nearly every age group finds something and emotional isolation. For in Napier, dreds worldwide) offer “A Whole New nightclub, Discovery Channel Camp, retail appealing – from “Ripples” slides for the boarding the aircraft required no securi- Experience at McDonald’s” (as the shops, and oh, yes, miles of pristine beach. smallest tots, moving up through various ty screening – no identification check, tagline reads on the, still, paper place- Perhaps few readers own or manage an intermediate rides, to a number adult no “Have you packed your bags your- mats). Amazingly, it’s a place for cus- experiential offering that can rival this options, and a “Lazy River Ride” for the self?,” no metal detectors, nothing! What tomers to spend more time at amazing destination resort. But that whole family to enjoy. Do you similarly an escape from the hassles of travel McDonald’s, not less (the traditional should not preclude extracting principles offer something for everyone, regardless of back home. focus of fast food chains) and to form from Atlantis and creatively applying how young or old (or how timid)? But it was the education gained from memories (we took a picture of the them to your venue. If the ancient myth of Define a signature center. At the heart the visit that provided the most valuable “golden” arches formed in brown on the a lost continent can inspire such an exem- of Atlantis is “The Dig”, which houses memories. The Experience Economy foam of our cappuccino). But wait – and plary Island experience, then surely the underwater remains and artifacts of the thrives in New Zealand. Far from the with apologies to Gertrude Stein: There’s modern-day Atlantis can inspire an archi- (anciently drowned) continent of Atlantis. familiar loci for experiences – Vegas, more there there. In addition to an pelago of ideas for all the smaller, but no This maze of underground corridors pro- Orlando, Amsterdam, London, Tokyo – New Zealand: more than indoor and outdoor playground, an old less important, businesses that together vides incredible views of the New Zealand is home to a rich mix of sheep and hobbits. DC3 airplane repainted as McDonald’s represent the exotic marine life of the experiences exemplifying the kind of Airlines offers an alternative dining bulk of the resort. Given the enterprise that increasingly comprises venue. Climb the stairs and spend time Experience vastness new economic output. an enormous water park bizarrely experiencing an in-flight Happy Meal! Economy. of the In Auckland, tourists pay to view the located in the middle of the Hawke’s So the worldwide icon for the Service city from the observation decks of Bay wine region, or interact with Economy, McDonald’s, now stages new Skytower, while locals take in the casino, sharks and penguins at Underwater experiences – in New Zealand! Ah, but it restaurants, and shopping in Skycity World. There are experiential retail makes perfect sense. This country has below. Others stroll down Parnell Road, venues like The Golf House and invented, exported, and created one of New Zealand’s magnificent “Mile of Candyland. Need transportation? the world’s largest experience industries: Style”. There’s an IMAX, of course, but The “alternative” coach-bus com- Bungee-jumping. It’s next biggest there’s also “bridge climbs” over the very pany Kiwi Experience advertises export? There’s Lord of the Rings, of top of the Auckland Harbour (suspen- that it never takes the most course. But also something called sion) Bridge. Elsewhere, one can take in direct route from point A to point Zorbing, where one’s placed inside a Lionzone: The Lion Beer Experience, or B! What a perfect distinction large ball and rolled down steep hills. . . . visit Agrodome, a sheep and cattle farm between a mundane service and a Don’t worry; be happy: there are plen- offering animal-show entertain- memorable experience. ty of other experiences yet to be imag- So consider these ways to enhance your place, it also provides the invaluable func- ment (“sheep shows”?), Amid this extraordinarily expe- ined and commercialized. Need inspira- experience: tion of centering the overall experience in hands-on milking and riential landscape, one place made tion? Go absorb Package, package, package. Most expe- a way that pointedly translates the Atlantis sheering classes, guided a particularly powerful impres- New Zealand! rience stagers offer packages of one sort or theme into a credible reality. What core tours, and other agri- sion. While staying at the another (season passes, annual member- experience could you use to provide the rides. Lake ships, local tie-ins, and so forth), but same sense of integrity to your theme? they’re often embraced reluctantly, Sign on a signature artist. Elsewhere, featured sporadically, or promoted Atlantis displays the luminous glasswork haphazardly. Worse, such packages often sculptures of Dale Chihuly. These pieces focus exclusively on price, price, price. provide sightseeing spokes to the resort’s Atlantis certainly advertises its prices, but “The Dig” hub. More importantly, it does so they don’t come across as a discount. through use of a single artist’s work. You Why? Well, its everyday pricing is the probably can’t afford equally expensive art to package offer. The sales pitch for its pack- set off your experience, but you can intro- ages offers more than mere cost-savings or duce some art (or craft) – and when doing convenience, it promises completeness – so, limit yourself to a single, local artist’s (or the fulfillment of an overall experience – artisan’s) work, so that its display becomes exemplified by offering packages atop your signature sightseeing attraction. packages (book a hotel package, then add Set up a signature photo spot. A large, a meal or golf package). The lesson: Make empty throne graces one entrance of the packages your unapologetic lead, not your Atlantis Casino, serving as the one must- last ditch effort to drum up demand. spot for picture-taking. Children and Package a backstage tour. Atlantis also adults alike hoist themselves into the makes an offer to non-guests. It charges massive seat to commemorate their expe- $25 to visit the place via its (front-stage) riences. Got such? “Discover Atlantis” tour. Granted, it can Don’t let the lessons of Atlantis be lost! Launching in 2005! Pine’s Top command such a fee because the experi- ence is worth $25. But the mere existence This article originally appeared in of such an offer serves to validate the Entertainment Management, September/ Strategic Horizons value of its core packages. Consider a October 2002, p. 10. Experience Ten getAways Salons retail experience that all by itself hits the by Joe Pine sweet spot. San Francisco – An absolutely wonderful Multi-client gatherings place to visit, even if you wouldn’t want to Gilmore’s Top hosted three times each Dellwood, MN. With two girls aged six- live there. The history, the happenings, the year by Joe Pine or teen and fourteen, I’m in a bit of a different Joie de Vivre hotels. . . . A truly beautiful Jim Gilmore, taking you situation than Jim, enjoying both family city with fantastic shopping, great jazz beyond Lecture-based vacations and getAways with my wife, clubs, terrific theatre – and where I first Ten getAways learning. Julie. We also sometimes take standAlone talked with Doug Parker about the three of vacations while at other times extend a us joining together to form Strategic Horizons offers a welcome respite. There’s Mobile and highly business trip into a mini-vacation. (Hmmm Horizons LLP. by Jim Gilmore a wonderful villa and my children love the dynamic, this offering – I detect a 2x2 matrix emerging!) Side Lake, MN – Julie’s father still has pirate pool. It’s a great family experience. concentrates discovery, So here are ten places I love to go to the family cabin where she spent her sum- L’Ermitage, Beverly Hills – rather than creativity, and networks across all permutations, in order of how mers in this little community north of Shaker Heights, OH. What getAway take red-eyes home on West Coast trips, I in key Experience Hubs. well each place hits the sweet spot: Hibbing. We enjoy slowing down and get- spots do I recommend? Well, my children opt to spend an extra night, and to spend Limited to just Pebble Beach – Including Monterey, ting away from it all by going up north. are ages eight and six, which accounts for it here. It’s my favorite hotel. I pack seven high-energy and Carmel, and its environs, this is our Las Vegas – Little-known truth: until many selections on my list. I do manage to plenty of CDs, order in-room dining, and thoroughly outgoing absolute favorite place to be (no matter The Experience Economy was published, split evenly between U.S. and non-U.S. really relax. individuals in each Hub. which quadrant of the 2x2 we happen to be I’d never even been to Las Vegas! Now it’s destinations. Simply in alphabetical order: London – ‘tis my favorite city. I like to in!). If you’re a golfer, you have to play my favorite spot to extend a business trip Atlantis – a must at least once in one’s hotel hop and also take in some West End Now accepting Charter Pebble Beach at least once in your life. by checking out the latest and greatest lifetime. I dig The Dig, and there are productions. I try to include a Sunday on Member applications. Julie and I had the opportunity to see the experiences. My favorite place to stay in water ride and slide experiences for every my stays, just to worship with the saints Couch potatoes need 2000 U.S. Open there, when Tiger Woods the Experience Capital of the World is the age. Despite the visual appeal of the at Saint Helen’s Bishopgate, near Lloyd’s not apply. set record after record. New York – New York Hotel & Casino, run familiar hotel towers, I prefer to stay at of London. Hilton Head – Two years after we were by my good friend Felix Rappaport. the timeshare villas for the added space. New Zealand – the two islands would married, with Julie seven months pregnant New York, New York – Meanwhile, in (See “Principles from Paradise” also on surely require two months or two years to For more information and me on crutches, we took a vacation in the real New York, New York, one can this page.) fully explore. New Zealand is the first about this intense a place where for the first time I actually always find something new to experience Camelback Inn, Scottsdale – a must in place I’m planning to return to when my interaction, contact wanted to stay longer when the trip was in the city that doesn’t sleep. If you March. Enjoy poolside breakfast, a walk wife and I become empty nesters. (See Scott Lash, over. Now we own a Marriott vacation place haven’t been there since 9/11, you simply “Absorbing New Zealand” also on Director of Marketing, at up Mummy Mountain, and then head to +1 (330) 405-2886 or email at Grande Ocean resort. must visit the site of the former World the pool. It’s also just a short drive to this page.) [email protected]. Arizona – On an extended trip around Trade Center and pay your respects to numerous Spring Training baseball ven- Shadowbrook Resort, Tunkhannock, the entire state, one truly can believe they those that fell there. ues, and I always try to take in a Phoenix Pennsylvania – Go in the summer and can fill an entire magazine, Arizona Orlando – We used to go here every Coyotes (NHL) game. enjoy golfing, bowling, miniature golfing, Your Turf. Your Topics. Highways, with pictures of its beauty. And other year or so when the kids were littler, Chalet du Lac, Iseltwalt, Switzerland – swimming, and ice cream eating beneath Your Turn. in the winter, it’s a great place to spend an but it stills holds our allure for nostalgic near Interlaken for certain conveniences. two cow heads, all in one rural resort extra day to – you guessed it – golf. reasons, for closeness to my father in The balcony view off one’s room here is located in my hometown. Amsterdam – My favorite city to be in, Tampa, and for the new and wondrous in grand. I love walking about the small ham- Wales – stay at a bed-and-breakfast in now largely out of familiarity. There’s escapist experiences in this premier expe- let. Many glorious day trips can also be Laugharne; spend an afternoon at low tide always something new to discover, with rience hub. had from here. at Dylan Thomas’ Boathouse. It’s perhaps most everything within walking distance. Yellowstone National Park – You have to Horizons by Marriott, Orlando – anoth- my favorite spot on all the earth. Even if you don’t smoke cigars, stop in see the natural beauty of this place at least er place on the list for March baseball. One Westin, Maui – enjoy a Heavenly Bed on the P.G.C. Hajenius store for a wonderful once in your life. day at Disney is all I can handle, so this heavenly island. Ah, the sunsets. . . . September 29 + 30, 2004 Pine & Gilmore’s thinkAbout Times page 17 Entertainment For the Contemporary Jazz Collector

lection. When you play them, don’t be offerings, so listen to them at their best in by Joe Pine surprised to find your attention their first collaboration. diverted to some wonderful music. John Klemmer, Mosaic. Hear [Please, no letters to the editor on Klemmer’s soulful sax wail, more often Dellwood, MN. A confes- the definition of “contemporary than not over, through, and around the sion: I’m not much of a rock jazz”, alternative names, relative playing of Dave Grusin on the and roll fan. (Indeed, I barely merit or musical quality of this Fender Rhodes. recognize half the artists to whom genre vs. “true”, “straightahead”, David Benoit, Inner Motion. Jim refers nearby, referentially or “classic”, or any other jazz, whether Perhaps the very best of a ter- otherwise.) or not these particular albums qual- rific, twenty-year-plus oeu- When in my office, I tend to lis- ify for either genre, whether or not vre representing the ten to classical music in the they’re even any good, etc. – Ed.] best of contemporary morning (mostly baroque, actu- Dave Grusin, Mountain Dance. piano playing. (Ask ally), contemporary jazz in the The all-time best exemplar of con- me for my afternoon, and so-called “New temporary jazz from one of the David Benoit story Age” in the evening. When fathers of the genre (and founders of sometime.) going out – where my attention GRP Records). Grusin’s tinkling of Al Jarreau, need not be diverted to work the keys on the title tune, backed by Breakin’ Away. My matters – I love both the con- Harvey Mason’s expansive drums, is taste tends toward cert hall (Tchaikovsky’s Sixth a wonder to behold. instrumentals, but Symphony is my absolute George Benson, Breezin’. Hear the every one of the favorite) and the jazz club guitar master with the smoothest of songs on this album (for more attention-grabbing vocals midway in his journey from are wonderful, and straightahead improvisation). You straightahead to contemporary jazz wonderfully unique. could say there are multiple – and before he transitioned over the Includes the best ren- music markets within this top into to sappy pop. dition of Sammy Cahn’s one customer. Grover Washington, Jr., Winelight. “Teach Me Tonight” I’ve Once, I was thumbing through Play it during a quiet ever heard. the stacks for CDs at a music dinner, whether The Rippington’s, Moonlighting. From store, when I overheard a lady in a group or the fertile fingers of guitarist Russ ask a clerk for help in picking out with just Freeman accompanied by a long succes- some contemporary jazz for her the two of sion of both sidemen and superstars, it Christmas for her son, who had you. was so tough to figure out which album is just gotten a CD player. (This was awhile Joe best, and I just went with the first, Gilmore’s ago!) He didn’t know much, so I volun- Sample, from 1986. teered to lead her to the best of Carmel. Craig Chaquico, Once in a Blue the genre. An album Universe. The newest album completes It’s my pleasure to share my (newly that actually my list, for it represents a new fusion Favorite Flicks updated) picks here in the pages of the lives up to the beauty that inspired it. between rock and jazz (Chaquico is the thinkAbout Times. These albums (can Bob James and Earl Klugh, One on One. former guitarist of Jefferson Starship). Thanksgiving; to me it’s just another one still use that term?) are the classics of It’s so hard to represent the work of these Now this is the sort of rock I can by Jim Gilmore Thursday.” the genre and should be in every fan’s col- fine gentlemen with any one of their solo roll with. Unforgiven – Rich in symbolism. It’s all here: the no-good, the bad, and the ugly. Gods and Generals – As a friend at Shaker Heights, OH. Film is the domi- church pointed out to me, this film con- nant media of our times. Doubt me? The tains perhaps the most realistic prayers next time you fly on a transcontinental or ever portrayed in film. Rock and Roll Referential overseas flight, watch how obediently all The Great Escape – I can’t help but put the window-seat passengers respond to this star-studded gem on my list. Maybe Dave Matthews Band Let’s add three albums featuring covers the request to lower the shades for viewing it’s Steve McQueen and the baseball by Jim Gilmore King Curtis + Joni Mitchell = Mary Lee’s of Tom Waits tunes: Step Right Up, New the in-flight movie. Or, take a window seat glove. . . . Corvette (at Arlene Grocery!) Coat of Paint, and John Hammond, yourself and don’t comply. Explain to the A Bridge Too Far – My favorite war Jimi Hendrix + Tom Jones = Prince Wicked Grin. (Have a listen and then start flight attendant and your seatmate how movie, this one trumps all others. Saving Shaker Heights, OH. On my first visit as The Beatles + The Beach Boys = your Waits collection with a copy of his you like to read books by natural light, and Private who? a Batten Fellow to the Darden Graduate Barenaked Ladies folksy first album, Closing Time.) see how quickly you’re ostracized. Harold and Maude – After naming School of Business at the University of Carole King + Richie Havens = Tracy A Nod to Bob: An Artist’s Tribute to Bob Of course Jet Blue and the like take the three straight war movies, I had to put Virginia, I picked up a September 4, 2003, Chapman Dylan on His Sixtieth Birthday. Don’t in-flight, movie-viewing experience to a some irreverent cult classic on the list. It copy of the MBA student newspaper, The The Doors + Paul McCartney = Nirvana think twice about getting it (or the whole, new customized level. Still, I’d was either this or King of Hearts, with Cold Call Chronicle. In it, Darden profes- The Clash + Bootsy Collins = Kid Rock Victoria Secret Exclusive, Lovesick.) rather pack a DVD of one of my favorites the Cat Stevens soundtrack giving this sor Ed Freeman and his son, Ben, co- Bob Marley + Peter Frampton = Lenny Mary Lee’s Corvette, Blood on the for playing in my laptop: disturbingly delightful flick the nod. authored a front-page article entitled “The Kravitz Tracks. Recorded live at Arlene Grocery, Casablanca – I can watch this classic Forrest Gump and Philadelphia – Death of Rock and Roll?”. The two Cheech and Chong + Lenny Bruce = NYC, Mary Lee’s Corvette daring cover of over and over, and never tire of trying to They have to be considered as one. The lamented what rock and roll music had Adam Sandler my favorite Dylan album somehow man- figure out what he and she think when. back-to-back, Oscar-winning perform- become, noted how modern-day bands See how uncannily this works? ages to out-nod the official Nod. The Maltese Falcon – It’s the stuff that ances of Tom Hanks could not be more have lost connection with the blues, and (Hmmm: from “Going to California” to House of Blues issued Paint It Blue: dreams are made of. The movie sends different or more inspiring. pined for rock music with real meaning. “Californication”.) Try defining some Songs of the Rolling Stones (This Ain’t No me over. You’ve got my list: no animation, no At its climax, the article dared readers other contemporary artists (Charro + Tribute). I’m not a big Stones fan, but I Ben Hur – Voted best film in the year of Adam Sandler, and no Michael Moore. to name any album recorded in the past Cher = Britney Spears?). More important- love this album. my birth, it has to be on my list. Now if we could only get the airlines to twenty years that “belongs in the same ly, consider how your business today Ain’t That America: The Bluegrass Rocky – My favorite line: “To you it’s serve some popcorn! breath” as these ten: could render itself more real by referring Tribute to John Cougar Mellencamp. An Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II to the past. That’s just one thing we can uplifting instrumental album that, Allman Brothers, Live at Fillmore East explore together at Pine & Gilmore stripped of the original lyrics, actually King Curtis, Live at The Filmore + you = thinkAbout! yields a greater appreciation of the Jimi Hendrix, any album Now I need to recommend my own ten Indiana songwriter. The Beatles, The White Album LP’s worth of tunes for your listening Jerry Garcia & David Grisman, Pine’s Prized Carole King, Tapestry pleasure. . . . Rather than list my all-time So What. This instrumental album includes The Doors, The Doors favorites, I’ve made ten choices extending three tracks offering separate takes on the The Clash, London Calling this referential theme: Miles Davis jazz standard, “So What”. Pictures Bob Marley, Legends The Grammy-winning Timeless. This Finally, an additional jazz note: I’m Cheech and Chong, Big Bambu tribute to Hank Williams features an amaz- delighted to see Al Jarreau’s Breakin’ Of course, I couldn’t resist the challenge ing array of artists, from Bob Dylan to Away on Joe’s list. Jarreau singing his own and began thinking about various rock- Johnny Cash. Sheryl Crow’s cover of “Long lyrics to Dave Brubeck’s “Blue Ronda A La by Joe Pine and-roll recordings of more recent vin- Gone Lonesome Blues” makes you wonder Turk” blew my tage. In mulling over the possibilities, why she doesn’t do country all the time. mind away I found myself struggling to think of Wayne (“The Train”) Hancock, when I Dellwood, MN. One of the experiences to become the premier actor of his, any rock artist without simultane- Thunderstorms and Neon Signs. I once first our family most enjoys together is watch- and just perhaps any, generation. ously making mental reference to heard country singer Katy Moffat refer heard ing movies – and then talking about them This movie can be considered all some combination of previous to Hancock as “the reincarnation of it. afterwards. (Indeed, one can gauge the by itself as Hanks’ best work. rockers. It quickly became Hank Williams”. Darn right – as engagement of a movie by the amount of The Philadelphia Story – I often an exercise confirming The Train really gets the juke time spent discussing it.) say that any movie starring Cary Grant our contention joint jumping. (Interestingly, So it was tough narrowing down my all- is worth watching. I also think Katherine that being Hank Williams III covers the time favorites to a top ten list. I concen- Hepburn was a phenomenal actress. This refer- title track on his Risin’ trated on those movies I’d want to see most was their best work together. Outlaw if stuck in a cabin in the woods where the Toy Story + Toy Story 2 – Wonderful album.) only choice was watching movies or listen- technological achievements combined ing to Jim’s favorite CDs. . . . with superb storytelling – with the amaz- ential LOTR – If you need those initials ing achievement of the sequel actually provides a explained to you, then you’ve obviously bettering the first film. means of render- missed the greatest cinematic achieve- Raiders of the Lost Ark – Sure, it was ing authenticity. ment of our, or any other, time. Of an incredibly exhilarating movie, but also This referential authentici- course, this judgment is from a guy who one that changed the ways movies were ty is evident in other genres of read each of the books like eight times made. Every adventure yarn after it had music as well; indeed, it arises with any growing up and spent over two years to increase the excitement quotient all other genre of economic offerings. For reading them to his kids as the greatest the way up to and including “non-stop”. example, I highly recommend Richard bedtime story every told. . . . Shadowlands – A surprising love story Peterson’s Creating Country Music: The Matrix – I was in awe the first time with the subtle backdrop of the greatest Fabricating Authenticity for insights on I saw it. And the second. And the tenth. I love story of all. how this unfolds in country music. was even wowed by the two sequels, Somewhere in Time – Long my avowed So reflect on this with me, ignoring the though of course they don’t measure up. favorite movie (despite some rather poor specific albums and focusing instead on (How could they?) directorial choices). I’m a sucker for time the artists. Then consider how any breath- Casablanca – Look up the word “clas- travel movies, and this tearjerker always worthy suggestion for a contemporary sic” in the dictionary and see a picture of tugs at my heart. (Jane Seymour as the equivalent can be defined by referring to Humphrey Bogart putting Ingrid Bergman love interest has something to do with two rock stars from decades before. on that plane. that. . . .) Ready? Ah, one, two. . . . Forrest Gump – One of my favorite ‘80s The Dirty Dozen – A sentimental Led Zeppelin + Iggy Pop = Red Hot sitcoms was the hilarious Bosom Buddies, favorite: the very first movie I saw twice Chili Peppers and to think how far Tom Hanks has come while it was still in the movie theater. Allman Brothers + Paul Simon = page 18 Pine & Gilmore’s thinkAbout Times September 29 + 30, 2004 Sports Authenticity in Baseball Managing Major

changes, upgrades, and adaptations that um. Great for football, no doubt, but it by Joe Pine inevitably happen to a building erected doesn’t fit the game of baseball. League Baseball over eighty years ago. Even when the To top it off, in 1996 Fruit of the Loom (!) dimensions of the center-field and sur- paid $20 million for the ten-year rights to Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY. Last sea- rounding fences were brought in progres- name the stadium after its sports apparel son, this diehard New York Yankees fan sively from their original gargantuan division, Pro Player. So its name no longer by Joe Pine & Jim Gilmore took the opportunity to see his favorite depths to a more modern distance (the has anything to do with the stadium’s her- team play against the Seattle Mariners in left-center field fence, originally 500 feet itage, with its owner, or even with who or fabled Yankee Stadium. It was a terrific away, now sits at 399), the team created a what plays there. It was sold – as in sold out Aurora, OH. The current management vain to speed up the game (after all, base- pitchers’ duel, won 2-1 by the Yankees’ Monument Park, first on the field of play – to the highest bidder, which promptly philosophy of Major League Baseball basi- ball’s uniqueness centers on the absence Mike Mussina. and then behind the fence as it came in. went bankrupt in 2000. Fruit of the Loom cally can be summarized in two words: of a time-keeping clock). Instead, be true The Mariners took the lead 1-0 in the Standing plaques, accessible to fans before sold the Pro Player brand to Perry Ellis, Damn Yankees. If it’s bad for the Yankees to itself, and strive to get customers to top of the fifth from three consecutive sin- and after games, were dedicated to a long which now pays nothing for its brand and its owner, George Steinbrenner, then spend more time (and therefore more gles, but catcher Jorge Posada tied it in the series of star players, managers, and exec- namesake, so the name of the stadium now it must be good for baseball. Or so what money) at the ballpark – before, during bottom of the inning with one swing of the utives (not to mention two Popes). doesn’t even have anything to do with the amounts to MLB strategic thinking goes. (many, if not most, leave early), and after bat off loser Joel Pineiro. An inning later Contrast that with the home stadium of company that named it! (Full disclosure: one of us is in fact a each game. now-departed second baseman Alfonso the Yankees’ (unfortunately, winning) And you really know Pro Player Stadium diehard New York Yankees fan, 2. Sell Experiences Soriano scored what would prove to be the opponents in last year’s World Series. The is fake because not a penny of public but the other is a diehard- Baseball is in the experience business, winning run on his own solo home run. Florida Marlins play in Pro Player funds went into its building – it was er Cleveland Indians so it should stop acting like a goods man- Posada provided defensive heroics as Stadium, and as far as this lifelong baseball financed completely by private fan. We collaborate ufacturer (talk of the “product” on the well, throwing out two base runners, fan is concerned, the place is Fake Fake. hands! And you call that a Major but eleven months field perpetuates this erroneous position- including Ichiro Suzuki trying to steal sec- First of all, it’s not even a baseball stadium League Baseball stadium? (Ok, a year and avoid ing). Promotions based on goods give- ond base to end the eighth inning. (An – it was built for the Miami Dolphins foot- actually, in the greater perspec- unnecessary aways are no longer enough. Today, peo- especially exciting play for the crowd, ball team in 1987 and originally named tive of things, that one thing is in interaction come ple desire unique experiences that filled as it was with Japanese tourists com- Dolphin Stadium before being re-chris- fact more real. . . .) October. . . .) engage them in a distinctively personal ing to the U.S. to see Suzuki battle against tened Joe Robbie Stadium after the It’s not that newly built stadiums What other way. If a Dennis Tito will pay $20 million the Yankees’ Hideki Matsui, for later that Dolphins’ owner (but before its opening). can’t aspire to realness. Just take a business treats its to labor as a space tourist, what experi- week the two teams met again in Seattle.) It was retrofitted for baseball, beginning in look (or, better, take in a game!) at labor negotiations ences might command fees orders of As sparkling as the game was, it was the 1991, with the Marlins’ first season in the Camden Yards in Baltimore or as occasion to magnitude above today’s ticket prices venue that made it special: Yankee place two years later. Jacobs Field in Cleveland to under- from fanatically enthusiastic and finan- Stadium. The House that Ruth Built. The So not only isn’t the place what it’s sup- stand how even a new kid on the city cially wealthy fans, while simultaneously home of the most storied franchise in posed to be, but even with the baseball- block can render itself authentic driving increased ticket sales? How baseball, the New York Yankees, which has induced renovations it’s not true to the through its location, its design, its about the following: won almost a third of the World game. The stadium was amongst the first materials, its homage to tradition, Start with paying labor, Championships and almost half of the to have luxury boxes separating the hoi- and even its name. charging to work jobs tradi- American League pennants since Babe polloi from the bleacher bum in the most In the 1992 movie “A tionally performed by paid Ruth led them to their first World Series in democratic of traditional American sports. League of Their Own”, the labor or unpaid volun- 1921. The team did not win its first It has awful retractable seats, never aes- manager of a professional teers: scoreboard opera- Championship, however, until 1923 – not thetically appealing. Nor are all the 1940s-era women’s team, tor, grounds crew, coincidentally, the maiden year of Yankee Dolphin orange and teal seats ringing the played by Tom Hanks, mascot, organist, Stadium. (Fittingly, the Babe hit a home tiers. The fences have various nooks and famously (and exasper- spring training run in the Stadium’s very first game on crannies owing to its original purpose. The atingly) exclaimed, helpers, even hon- April 18, 1923.) traditional center field scoreboard is miss- “There’s no crying in orary managers – say Thanks to its age, to its rich heritage, to ing, replaced by two equal scoreboards baseball!” True, but at the All-Star Game the many outstanding, memorable, and placed appropriately for the end zones of there is authenticity in (and after the fiasco critically important games played there, the football configuration, but out of prop- baseball. at the 2002 game, and to the significance of that most-hon- er sight lines for baseball. Reminders of At least, that is, until the growing weaken the leading brand in its portfolio don’t tell us the risk of mismanaging the ored of baseball teams that plays there, the Dolphins abound even during baseball steroids scandal (fake bodies equal fake of offerings? And in what other business game too great!). Package all these offer- Yankee Stadium clearly is Real Real. It is season, including the retired names and records), which has the potential to forev- does internal strife – we’re not talking ings within fantasy camps or educational what it says it is – the home of the New numbers of football stars lining the upper er render the game inauthentic to even the between management and labor here, but classes, and recast existing workers as York Yankees – while clearly remaining deck façades. most dewy-eyed of baseball fans. That between management and management hosts for such experiences. true to itself despite the inevitable Overall, it’s just a lousy baseball stadi- would be a pity. – generate such negative publicity? Major Offer special access, charging for unique League Baseball provides a case study in game experiences: sitting with the owner how not to run an enterprise, for MLB is or General Manager during games, viewing not being true to itself. Swimming pools in or listening to the action with devices that the bleachers? Ballparks named after connect to specially placed cameras and dot.coms? All-Star games called a tie due microphones, or traveling with scouts. An Experience Per Inning to lack of pitchers? MLB has made itself Stage experiences around scarce mem- Fake-Real, fast on its way to becoming orabilia and customized merchandise: balls are completely out-of-play before have customized on the back, until I Fake-Fake unless it changes course. eBay rosin bags, bases, and uniforms by Jim Gilmore grabbing them! came up with “140-R 10”, my section-row So what should MLB, as a business, do? (especially those associated with specific On to the ideas: and seat number. It usually generates an For a lesson to us all in how to apply the game highlights), and allow fans to design Counting Caps – From the moment inquiry from some fan in the stands as to fundamental conviction that authenticity and produce their own t-shirts using vari- Jacobs Field, Cleveland, OH. I offer you step into the ballpark, keep track of its significance. My comeback: “And what demands that businesses be true to them- ous game photos, box score statistics, and here nine ideas, one per inning, for how many caps of different Major League seat are you in?” selves, we offer Commissioner Bud Selig ticket stub scans (both at in-stadium enhancing your experience at The Jake, Baseball you see worn by fans. You can Fellow season ticket holders throughout and his gaggle of owners the following kiosks and online from home). home of the Cleveland Indians. make this a collective effort for your the land should consider customizing jer- two-part advice. Franchise Internet TV and radio web- Most, though not all, of these ideas also group, or choose sides and compete on AL seys in similar fashion, except Yankees 1. Face Reality casting rights to anyone willing to pay and can be put into practice at most any ball- vs. NL sightings. (My friend Bill Morgan fans. They should be required to buy a The cry for “competitive balance” just compete for listeners. The paradigm of park. I say this because some practices came up with this cap game. A note on new numbered jersey each year corre- serves to cover up clandestine accounting one local broadcast channel need not should be rightly restricted to the place Bill: he won’t let any kid wear #3 on the sponding to George’s latest superstar grab. and poor decisions of the past. Had MLB apply online, and the multiple voices may where they were originated. For example, Little League team that he coaches! Pass the Peanut – I hate “The Wave” at not moved to three divisions and a wild serve to attract fans from outside local throwing an opponent’s homerun ball back Priceless.) baseball games. This inane act belongs at card prior to the (strike-shortened) sea- geographies. onto the field is a practice that should only You Are What You Wear – There’s a cor- college football games, or frankly, it most son of 1994, the New York Yankees would Double the business. The neglected be done at Wrigley Field. Cubs’ fans relation between what ones wears to a befits indoor soccer. As a wave-mocking not have even qualified for the post-sea- area with perhaps the biggest opportunity invented that tradition, and it’s bother- game and how actively one participates as alternative, I like to initiate Pass the son in its championship seasons of 1996 to generate new revenue? The 81 away some to see the act imitated elsewhere. a fan. So at least don a cap. I also wear an Peanut. Give a peanut to the person to and 2000 – they would have finished sec- games played each year! Teams should Indeed, Cubs fans only keep balls hit by “authentic” 100th anniversary Cleveland your immediate right. Ask them to pass it ond each year to Cleveland in the old AL build immersive virtual stadiums specifi- opponents when they go foul. Of course, Indians jersey. In this age of free agency, I to the person to their right, and so on, East. (But there’s no hard feelings here. . cally designed to experience away games Cubs fans should first make sure foul struggled with what name and number to continuing until the peanut has made it . .) The format change just increased the in a technologically sophisticated way. all the way around the ballpark. likelihood that “big-market” teams make Such ideas as these – all predicated on If you’re really outgoing, you can pass the post-season, and that some “small- Major League Baseball being true to itself, out peanuts to each person seated in the market” team having a good year gets rather than going beyond the boundaries aisle seats of your entire section. Then on knocked out in the playoffs. of what it is and has always been all about the count of three, have them begin pass- The real issue: Stop focusing on redis- – will not only generate direct revenues ing their peanuts in a contest to see which tributing existing revenues (perpetuating and profits, they’ll also drive demand for row returns its peanut first. This game pro- a zero-sum mindset) and allow teams to more tickets and enable currently less- motes the same knucklehead participation retain new revenues generated from non- fortunate franchises to better compete as The Wave, without distracting much traditional sources (fostering an innova- with those damn Yankees. And if not, at attention from the actual game that true tion mindset). Pooling revenues from least there’s no more authentic result in fans are there to enjoy. Everyone wins. such new ventures as mlb.com just accen- baseball than the Yankees again being in All-Star Voting – Having fans vote for tuates the disparity that exists between the World Series. starting players for the All-Star game is teams in TV revenue; letting teams retain More importantly, these ideas should ridiculous. As far as I’m concerned, the revenues from individually owned and also spark thoughts for your own business. players alone should do the voting. uniquely differentiated web sites – as just Informed fans need to vote in some one potential set of innovations – could Much of this article first appeared in ridiculous line-up to encourage Major help close the revenue gap. “R.I.P. MLB”, Context Magazine. Winter, League Baseball to call greater attention Stop managing minutia, like trying in 2002/2003. to the folly of fan voting. So do what I do each year: Vote using the fewest possible number of last names. (Alternatives: pick names that all rhyme or start with the at Camden Yards when with thinkAbout shall see in my example below, do not same letter of alphabet.) alum Dee Silfies. It works as well at any sta- limit yourself to baseball jerseys.) Go up Here are my recommended picks for dium playing the theme from the old TV to each of the wearers and ask them to the 2004 All-Star game. For the American show The Addams Family between pitches, come with you. You’ll be amazed how League: Martinez – 1B, Wilson – 2B, at bats, or during innings. You’ll need to compliant some folks will be, never ques- Young – SS, Chavez – 3B, Martinez – C, have purchased (and consumed) some pop- tioning your motives. Then, in a promi- Johnson, Ramirez, Young – OF. For the corn or other food and beverage requiring a nent area, have the crowd cheer for the National League: Johnson – 1B, Giles – cardboard tray. When the theme song player they like most by putting you hand 2B, Wilson – SS, Ramirez – 3B, Johnson – plays, stick your hand through your pop- above the head of each selected person C, Chavez, Giles, Wilson – OF. Just seven corn box or food tray and do your best imi- while encouraging applause. last names for sixteen positions! Then tation of Thing. Last August, amidst the quarterback con- root for Pedro Martinez and Randy Singing at the Stretch – When singing troversy with the Cleveland Browns, I had Johnson to be named as starting pitchers. “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” remember two fans sporting jerseys, #2 Couch and #10 Mascot Mocking – If the home team it’s Cracker Jack, not Cracker Jacks. Holcomb, stand at the front of my section has a mascot, look for occasions when it Baseball is a game of correctly executing while I whooped up rival cheers back and stands on the dugout or otherwise the fine details. Do your part as a fan and forth. (Of course I did it between innings.) obstructs your view of the field. Then get the lyrics right. It Ain’t Over – Stay for the entire game. Republished with permission of Globe Newspaper Company, Inc. Republished with permission of Globe Newspaper Company, yell, “Down in front!” In Cleveland, add Competing Jerseys – Look for two fans No matter what the score, stay for the Jim Gilmore transformed into a rabid Tribe fan during for hideous mascot Slider: “You ugly wearing numbered jerseys from two dif- final out. The beauty of baseball is that it Game 2 of the Boston - Cleveland postseason series in 1995, pink carpet remnant!” ferent players, ideally from the same team has no clock. Why ruin that by rushing off in which the Red Sox’s Mo Vaugh went hitless. Be Thing – I first did this at The Ballpark but competing for playing time. (As you somewhere? September 29 + 30, 2004 Pine & Gilmore’s thinkAbout Times page 19 Whither Report Highlight: Experience Hubs Across the Globe

We know from whence the Experience depression, however, continues around Economy came, but whither is it going? San Francisco with the bursting of the country’s advantage in manufacturing Sydney (it’s not just the Opera House As both cities, regions, and nations have dot-com bubble, but one shouldn’t count labor will not last; the storm is already anymore. . .), and, back in Europe, competed for first supplying and trading it out – Silicon Valley always bounces World Forecast rising to develop new, more lasting capa- Amsterdam (more than the Red Light natural resources, and then for manufac- back, and technology companies already bilities. Indeed, we were surprised during District, it’s becoming a gateway for turing plants and the jobs that went with understand how commoditized first a 2002 visit how receptive Chinese exec- European experiences). Perhaps them, and now for service jobs, so too hardware and now software is becoming. Experience Hubs are not new, they’ve utives were to the ideas in The infrastructurally rich Prague will will they compete for tourists and the Services is today’s growth arena; experi- always been around the globe. In the Experience Economy (and over 30,000 develop into the first Experience Hub of experience jobs that go with them. They ences are tomorrow’s. Old World past, however, they’ve prima- copies of the translation have been sold Eastern Europe. will do so through the creation of In the nation’s mid-section, storm rily centered around the heritage of a there). Its first Experience Hub is Two surprising hubs can be seen today Experience Hubs. Our general whither clouds are brewing as Chicago’s particular place – think of canal-based already developing off the east coast: growing on the global radar screen: forecast call for more cities and regions Magnificent Mile competes with the Venice, cultural Paris, or musical Shanghai’s Nanjing Road district, where Dubai and New Zealand. With what has around the world to declare themselves nation’s newest and most compact Vienna. Increasingly, we forecast the government is spending billions already become an icon for the United to be the place to go, not just for general Experience Hub: the Mall of America just Experience Hubs will grow into a major (that’s in dollars, not yuan!) to make it a Arab Emirates – the Burj Al Arab hotel, experiences, but more and more for a outside of Minneapolis/St. Paul. Similar whither phenomena across the globe, first-class retail tourism destination. gliding like a giant sail over 300 meters specialized experience focus. storms can be anticipated as competition not just in the US. In this case, it’s the above the Arabian Gulf – Dubai is heats up for the preeminent Experience tsunami of the Experience Economy becoming a Mecca (if you pardon the Hub amongst country music fans – will it wreaking havoc across the shores of pun) for those desiring a luxurious resort be the traditional Nashville, or will developed nations. experience, or even for those who want National upstart Branson fulfill the promise of its Two places strike us as being at the their experiences full-time, given The self-proclaimed title of Live fore of this front: Tokyo and London. Palm development with its homes built Forecast Entertainment Capital of the World? Tokyo is a wondrous place due to the onto an island shaped out of whole cloth Like these last two, a small number of Japanese penchant for all things new to look like a palm tree. And as for New isolated hubs continue developing in and (latest whither trend: food theme parks) Zealand, four words: Lord of the Rings. Many Experience Hubs are already around particular topical areas, includ- and electronic (certain districts exceed Unfortunately, we see no change in the established across a number of fronts. ing Washington, DC, for national her- even Las Vegas for neon per square whither forecast for most developing Look for the Northeast to continue to be itage, New Orleans for blues and jazz, meter). The city of London perhaps best countries in the third world. Still largely Forecast: Watch for a volatile dominated by New York’s Times Square South Beach for adult Spring Break, and exemplifies one whither pattern driving Agrarian based, most of these economies and the Southeast by Orlando, but there Sante Fe for wellness retreats and relax- much of what we see by the way of mix in developed areas as are stuck in place (if not worse) due to are high pressure zones developing ing spas (and the latest converging growth creation in the Experience heritage fronts collide with internal instability and political factors. around Philadelphia and Atlanta that twister: medi-spas). Economy: retail tourism, the winds of massive cultural storms. Until basic human and economic rights bear watching. One rather surprising hub – it has yet shopping and visiting all rolled up into Elsewhere, experiences remain are recognized (including property rights Out west, locally heavy experiences in to appear on anyone’s radar screen – one tornado of frenzied experience overcast by the need for and a functioning legal system), there is and around Los Angeles don’t seem to may be in the early stages of develop- activity. For most people, visiting more temperate political and little hope for an emerging manufactur- draw the excitement they once did ment in and around Kansas City, but the London is no more about understanding economic conditions. ing sector, much less a nascent experi- around the country, but it remains a details remain sketchy at this point. English heritage than visiting Tokyo ence sector (other than the occasional great place to visit. The real whither Look there for a combination of factors is about immersing yourself in bout of eco- or politico-tourism that is activity continues to be centered around coming to bear – including how it’s with- Japanese tradition. People go to collect Other full-fledged hubs include Hong more exploitive than constructive). Las Vegas, well-deserving of its title of in a day’s drive of 55 million people – and experiences, baby. Kong (for its American-style theme Whither the Experience Economy? the Experience Capital of the World. We look here for more details on whither or Or look at China. Many high-level peo- parks alone), Singapore (of particular Look to the Experience Hubs for ideas find an up-and-comer zone in Seattle – not it develops into a full-fledged ple there already understand that the note: the island resort of Sentosa), for your business. while the weather is usually depressing, Experience Hub with all the elements of the experiences are cheering. A topical a first-class destination.

Seattle, WA Look for a rainbow of Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN experiences parting these Cold at times, but never once overcast skies. inside the Mall of America. Chicago, IL Steady and mild, with temperatures generally E rising due to hot spots like EXPY winner American Girl Place.

L E H E New York, NY Still some occasional E turbulence but enjoyable atmospheric conditions overall. Hey. . . you gotta problem with that buddy? H

L.A. and Basin E Rising heat from E Orange County mixing with cooler E air in L.A. Watch for a perfect storm in and around Cerritos, especially September 29 + 30. L Orlando, FL Las Vegas, NV E Continued storms Hot! Hot! Hot! Heads in the Kingdom’s up as lightning may corner, but sunny strike in and around weather elsewhere. the Strip. Tuscon, AZ Swarms of retirees and vacationers descend as healthy E undercurrents Branson, MO increase. Trending toward hot as the once dominant country- western front weakens.

E = Experience Hub

sions (such as Starbucks). Always a mag- tainment (shows), and esthetic (themed New York, NY: With Toys ‘R’ Us flag- Seattle, WA: Nearly always cloudy, but nificent environment for a stroll (of about hotels & casinos). Look also for continued ship store situated there, one could dub it a great place for selected but disparate Forecasts a mile. . .). enhancements to the markers of its expe- “The Center of the Experience Universe” experiences, from the world-famous Pike L.A. and Basin : Universal CityWalk – riences. The ways casinos have signified – though in year’s past it was merely the Place Market (one of our favorite exam- for Selected designed by thinkAbout alumnus their places has gone from mere signs, to “eye of the porn”. Some say it’s lost its ples of theatre in business) to the U.S. Cities Jon Jerde – has added a vibrancy the city neon signs, to movable neon signs, to authenticity, while others respond, Experience Music Project with its new itself was sorely missing. Disney’s architectural wonders, to full-fledged (and “Thank goodness!” No matter your opin- Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame California Adventure may be close to a in some cases, such as New York New ion on its whitherness, we forecast over a inside. Look for continued innovation flop, but Anaheim continues to be the York’s roller coaster, even admission-feed) million and a half people will pass through from Starbucks to be exported around the happening place for destination experi- experiences unto themselves. Where will it it every day for years to come (100,000 of world and a new focus on experience Branson, MO: Highway 76 is like the ences. And venues too numerous to count head next? Whatever happens there does- them tourists!). It’s a must-see on any computing at Microsoft coming to a Las Vegas Strip in miniature, but look for proliferate across a wide area surrounding n’t have to stay there – you can extract out Hub tour, which should be expanded Windows XP-enabled device near you. the area in and around this formerly the LA basin – including, of course, two of its principles for your own business. beyond the Square to the rectangular Tucson, AZ: Canyon Ranch started the quaint southern Missouri town to contin- the world’s latest experience firsts, the Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN: Chartered Island for such new experiences as whole destination spa trend, and look for it ue adding new experiences every year, original Vans Skatepark at The Block at planes will increasingly bypass the conges- the second American Girl Place and the to continue its whirlwind growth in this dry and for them to be less and less based on Orange and, of course, the new library in tion at Chicago’s O’Hare to land for the ING Direct Cafe on and off (respectively) desert environment. Massages aren’t the live country-and-western music as the Cerritos. Indeed, in the land of two-word day at Mall of America, returning later Fifth Avenue and the Apple Store only attraction anymore, but all things con- years go by. Our favorite place recently cities, this Experience Hub stretches from that night with the overhead bins stuffed in SoHo. cerned with healthful living are increasing experienced: Branson Creek Golf Club in San Diego in the South, to Palm Springs with shopping bags – and passengers Orlando, FL: No longer dominated by on the horizon, including spas combined nearby Hollister, the #1 public-rated golf in the East, all the way to Santa Barbara stuffed with experiences collected that Walt Disney World, still everything in the with full medical treatments – the whole course in the state. We concur. in the north. (As the Pacific Ocean in the day. And as it’s completely indoors, the area is influenced by its powerful pat- medi-spa phenomenon. For you twister Chicago, IL: The Magnificent Mile West isn’t a city, it doesn’t count.) forecast is for 70 degrees and ceilinged all terns. Look for everyone who is anyone in chasers, if you’ve never seen the develop- theme – brainchild of the Greater North Las Vegas, NV: Always sunny, and year long, even in the dead of winter in the experience staging to create a venue here, ment of a new experiential industry, you Michigan Avenue Association – was always a hotbed of experience innovation. frozen tundra that is Minnesota. When a and for it to be bigger and better than any might head here soon. If you do go, check birthed in 1947 but still has life in it yet. Look for more in the way of educational coming expansion comes into being adja- other instantiation. And for thunder- out Tuscan-themed Renascence from anti- Look for more experience premiers (a la experiences, as Las Vegas has already cently to its north, look for growth to close storms to roll by every afternoon in the aging practitioner and thinkAbout alumnus Niketown) and continued early expan- cycled through escapist (gaming), enter- to 50 million visitors per year. summer like clockwork. Greg Petersburg, M.D. page 20 Pine & Gilmore’s thinkAbout Times September 29 + 30, 2004 Win a Free Registration to the 2005 The 2004 Strategic Horizons thinkAbout September 29 + 30, 2004 • The Cerritos Library Strategic Horizons thinkAbout

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ACROSS 45 Either-_____ sacrifice 73 Rev. Jim 104 Active-immersion realm 2 Half an em (dash) 28 Republicans 63 Symbol for sodium 102 Opposite of west 1 These reduce sacrifice 46 Viet _____ 75 Alternating Current (abbr.) 106 _____ Shrager 3 Repeat-_____ sacrifice 30 Passive-absorption realm 66 Experience Economy (abbr.) 103 Emergency Room (abbr.) over time 47 Sick 77 Pres. Reagan to friends 108 I smell a _____ 4 Scrap of cloth 31 Hit the _____ spot 68 Recreational Vehicle (abbr.) 105 _____ 95% 16 _____ all five senses 49 Seventeenth letter in 78 Information Technology 110 Objective case of we 5 No Good (abbr.) 36 Capital of Qatar 69 Sinatra did it this way 107 Keystone state (abbr.) 17 Five hundred meters Hebrew alphabet (abbr.) 111 Basketball official 6 Industrial Engineer (abbr.) 37 Husband of Bathsheba 70 Capital of CA (abbr.) 109 _____ your part in China 50 Spielberg's alien 79 _____ ing theatre (colloquial) 7 U.S. Soldier 38 Teaching Assistant (abbr.) 73 Principle from Guttman's 114 _____ there, before 65 18 Social insect 51 Oldenburg's Place 82 Work _____ theatre 112 Fourth tone (a long, long 8 Lutron's Grafik _____ 39 Theatre of Who's Line Is It adventures Across 19 Prefix for two, both 52 Wants a cracker 84 Twelfth letter in Greek way to run) 9 Utmost possible Anyway? 74 Gift of _____ 116 Aaron the _____ shine man 20 Symbol for silver 54 Noah's Ark resting place alphabet 113 Vehicle for 73 Across 10 Tagged-Image File (abbr.) 40 Zero 76 You are what you _____ 118 Ecuador (abbr.) 22 CityWalk to Huxtable 58 American Airlines (initials) 85 Characteristic of 115 Social Security (abbr.) 11 No there there 41 TV’s McBeal 80 _____ and answer 119 Progression Of Economic 25 Iowa State city 59 ARM commodities 117 Newsman Brinkley, for one 12 North-northeast (abbr.) 43 Day _____ at resort 81 Work IS _____ Value (abbr.) 27 Silicon Graphics Inc. 60 Rhode Island (abbr.) 88 Used to urge silence 121 Passive-immersion realm 13 Street (abbr.) 44 Phones home 83 _____ through sacrifice 120 Pounds per square in. (abbr.) (abbr.) 61 Tampa Bay (abbr.) 89 ESPN _____ 122 _____-of sacrifice 14 Big Blue co. 48 _____ impressions with 86 Utah (abbr.) 122 Friday (abbr.) 29 Gaggle of _____ 62 Peter _____ 91 Cooking vessel 124 Doctor (abbr.) 15 Bye Bye Ms American _____ positive cues 87 Experience Mark (abbr.) 123 Sung before K-E-Y, 32 Real Life (abbr.) 64 Half a laugh 92 Activity for goods 125 = people in theatre model 21 Coors, for one 53 Prefix for all 90 Symbol for nickel M-O-U-S-E 33 Confidential (abbr.) 65 After 114 Down, _____ that 94 _____ go bragh 128 Prefix for prior to 22 Second tone 55 Blame It On _____ 93 Act this way at unwel- 124 In NH, Live Free or _____ 34 _____ York 67 Mix in _____ 95 Eureka expression 129 Follows 48 Down 23 Pres. Lincoln to Mary Todd 56 Swedish music group comed party 126 Call Paul Simon this 35 Active-absorption realm 69 At the _____ 98 Argentina (abbr.) 24 Segment of circle 57 No pain, no _____ 96 Computers _____ Theatre 127 Trademark (abbr.) 42 Opposite of down 71 By way of 99 Resident Advisor (abbr.) DOWN 25 Long time _____ 59 Much _____ about nothing 97 Fuel for autos 128 _____ Cruiser car 43 Tony Vera's theatre 72 Airman, Navy (abbr.) 101 _____ the experience 1 Results from customization 26 _____ Harrison-Pepper 62 Just say your lines theatre 100 U.S. car group (abbr.)

experience matters

Better Experiences. Better Results.

Macromedia® Breeze™ goes beyond web conferencing—enabling you to quickly and Better user experiences can make a big difference to your bottom line— easily share online meetings, presentations, and training courses over the Internet. Rich Internet Applications increase sales and decrease costs.

To learn more about Breeze visit: To learn more about Rich Internet Applications visit: www.macromedia.com/go/breeze www.macromedia.com/go/ria Copyright © 2004 Macromedia, Inc. All rights reserved. Macromedia, the Macromedia logo, Macromedia Flex, and Macromedia Breeze are trademarks or registered trademarks of Macromedia, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. Other marks propertiesare trademarks are the of their respective owners. Inc. in the United States and/or or registered trademarks Breeze and Macromedia of Macromedia, Flex, logo, Macromedia the Macromedia Inc. All rights reserved. © 2004 Macromedia, Macromedia, Copyright September 29 + 30, 2004 Pine & Gilmore’s thinkAbout Times page 21 Comics RHYMES WITH ORANGE by Hilary Price FOX TROT by Bill Amend © Reprinted with special permission of King Features Syndicate. ©2001 Bill Amend. Reprinted with permission of UNIVERSAL PRESS All rights reserved. SYNDICATE. WIZARD OF ID by Parker & Hart WIZARD OF ID by Parker & Hart By permission of John L. Hart FLP, and Creators Syndicate, Inc. By permission of John L. Hart FLP, By permission of John L. Hart FLP, and Creators Syndicate, Inc. By permission of John L. Hart FLP, THE FUSCO BROTHERS by Joe Duffy NON SEQUITUR by Wiley Miller ©2001Wiley Miller. Dist. By UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE. Reprinted Dist. By UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE. ©2001Wiley Miller. with permission. All rights reserved. ©2001 Lew Little Ent. Reprinted with permission of UNIVERSAL All rights reserved. PRESS SYNDICATE. FRANK AND ERNEST by Bob Thaves FRANK AND ERNEST by Bob Thaves Reprinted by permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc. Reprinted by permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc. I NEED HELP by Vic Lee RED & ROVER by Brian Basset © 2001, The Washington Post Writers Group. Reprinted with Post Writers © 2001, The Washington permission. © Reprinted with special permission of King Features Syndicate. ADAM by Brian Basset ADAM by Brian Basset © 2001 by UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE. Reprinted with permission. All © 2001 by UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE. rights reserved. © 2001 by UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE. Reprinted with permission. All © 2001 by UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE. rights reserved. TIGER by Bud Blake TIGER by Bud Blake © Reprinted with special permission of King Features Syndicate. © Reprinted with special permission of King Features Syndicate. RHYMES WITH ORANGE by Hilary Price THE NEW YORKER COLLECTION THE NATIONAL REVIEW © 2003 The New Yorker Collection from cartoonbank.com. All © 2003 The New Yorker Rights Reserved. © Reprinted with special permission of King Features Syndicate. BIZARRO by Dan Piraro BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS BIZARRO by Dan Piraro GLASBERGEN REAL LIFE ADVENTURES by Wise & Aldrich © Reprinted with special permission of King Features Syndicate. Copyright 2001 by Randy Glasbergen. www.glasbergen.com © Reprinted with special permission of King Features Syndicate. © 2002 GarLanco. Reprinted with permission of UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE. All © 2002 GarLanco. Reprinted with permission of UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE. rights reserved. page 22 Pine & Gilmore’s thinkAbout Times September 29 + 30, 2004 Mindset for Executives in the Experience Economy

not always out of mind. Not so with the tomer’s needs, but experience staging ership. Effectively coordinating the vari- Empowering the CXO by Dan Carney Experience Economy. Even though the needs processes with maximum flexibility ous roles in experience staging –dra- In the late 1990s, every business imagi- book came out now over five years ago, to enable the ensemble to adjust real-time maturgs, scriptwriters, set designers, prop nable was establishing an e-commerce this concept continues to drive change to the needs of its guests. How many times managers, costume designers, stage crews, venture or line of business. Some were Cleveland, across a wider and wider spectrum of busi- have you found yourself in a customer and casting director – both within one’s born out of opportunity, while others out OH. As man- nesses. New skills and new attitudes, service line with a problem that was atyp- own organization and across multiple of fear that core businesses might be dec- agers and therefore, are becoming vital for success. ical of the norm and were disappointed to partners requires the utmost skill. imated by new competitors. leaders, we Fortunately, early experience stagers learn that the agent helping you had very Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric, While the ultimate outcome of these are fortunate demonstrate several qualities that should little flexibility to address your problem in has said “leadership today is about build- ventures varied considerably, an important to work dur- aid us as we delve more deeply into the even a rudimentary way? ing teams and placing others first. It’s not lesson learned was that each company’s ing an eco- realm of commercial experience offerings. Managers in the Experience Economy about you.” In the Experience Economy, e-Business executive helped their company nomic age As you consider taking the plunge, here will do well to design experiences with a nothing could be closer to truth. navigate the unknown waters of cyberspace. that is incred- some attitudes you should adopt. core structure for the offering while allow- Remembering the P&L Most were charged with a P&L for specific ibly dynamic. Viewing Yourself as the Host ing for maximum flexibility and decision Customers have demonstrated they are on-line offerings and with additional respon- Summarizing Jim & Joe have advanced our thinking making at time of execution. Concurrent willing to pay for compelling experiences. sibility to assist other line executives adopt just the major immensely about the nature of experi- with greater flexibility, managers must Each of the major experience stagers men- e-commerce across their own areas. trends that ences and how to provide them. In the give the execution cast members the tioned above charge admission for their Companies moving into experience have changed Experience Economy, sellers are stagers information and decision-making tools experiences, as should you – even if you’re based offerings would do well to consider business over the past fifteen years would and buyers are guests. But sellers should essential to maximize the opportunity to in a corporate B2B environment. In the a similar approach. Appoint a Chief be difficult at best. also therefore consider themselves hosts. delight each and every customer. technology industry, I2 Technologies ran a eXperience Officer and empower that Remember Reengineering? Two years If you invite someone to your home for Not Going it Alone user conference in the late ‘90s that was individual to lead the change effort across after the movement’s defining book was dinner, there is a mindset one has prepar- There are few organizations with the an industry forum for the best and bright- the company. Just as many e-Business released, leaders everywhere were ing for guests. Structuring the event is scope and scale to stage major experience est. Attendees paid admission and other officer roles proved temporary, the need redesigning business processes. As we critical and attention to detail can never offerings on their own as, say, Disney, industry players bought sponsorships. The for a CXO may recede as the broader learned how to be more efficient, we soon be too great. Universal, MGM, and Carnival do. For event was a profit center and actually organization becomes more skilled at pro- learned how to “rightsize” our corpora- “What a great host!” is extremely smaller companies, partnering enables the made money for the company even before viding compelling experiences. But in the tions and increase organizational flexibili- rewarding to hear because of its strong smallest organizations to move actively considering the impact of the conference short-term, the CXO will bring focus and ty. By 1999, we were learning how to con- connotations of a rich and rewarding into the arena. on the company’s core business. accountability to a task that will ultimate- duct business in cyberspace and testing experience. Taking on the mindset of a Getting partnering right, however, is Managers in the Experience Economy ly change the nature of the company. countless new Internet-based business host assures that customers feel like challenging at best, and with risks fairly must become adept at building experi- For no one can withstand the new pres- models. Over the past two years, trans- guests, and as hosts, our focus will be high –nothing becomes a (negative) expe- ence-based lines of business that drive sures of the Experience Economy without parency has become the vital mindset as laser-like in making their experiences rience faster than bad service – teamwork revenue streams, profits to the bottom transforming the organization – beginning investors and boards increase their scruti- memorable. skills will be one of a manager’s most crit- line, and, ultimately, value to sharehold- with your own attitudes. ny of senior management and hold them Designing for Flexibility ical core competencies. Building on the ers. Pricing should be based on the value to greater accountability. Mass production, selling, and distribu- principle that work is theatre, the to the customer, and long-term profitabili- Dan Carney is a thinkAbout alumnus Most of those trends lasted but a few tion systems are slowly being dismantled Director’s role is fusing collaboration and ty will flow from repeat customer visits and Managing Director of a boutique years and then shifted out of sight, though to address the increasing variety of cus- command, the essence of great team lead- and solid cost management. executive search firm, Kesic + Company.

By applying the learning from leadership girlhood should be prolonged. Everything product category consumers are buying development sessions, the health care that American Girl does builds upon the based on price? Making continued from page 14 Marketers continued from page 12 experience at Sharp is changing. From idea that girls shouldn’t have to grow up Perhaps the root of marketers’ struggles using the right words during patient and too fast and that girlhood is important to to be real is grounded in how we often Growth, and Community. We created a co-worker interactions to applying the they chose to simply associate themselves American culture. Sundance, which has perceive the people our products serve. report card with key targets by pillar so all fundamental steps to service interactions. through advertising with a shift in con- both for-profit and not-for-profit entities, Are they a demographic? A psychograph- of our work was aligned with our purpose. From improving and streamlining complex sumer values. And while awareness shot exemplifies the brand truth that an inde- ic? A share of wallet? It’s hard to see the We established rigorous measurement of processes to creating memorable, signa- up, there are very few consumers who pendent lifestyle creates better art. When need to be real if you don’t see your target employee, physician, and patient satisfac- ture moments for patients and families. really believe that MasterCard makes life you attend a Sundance Film Festival in audience as consisting of real people. And tion and began to benchmark against Now, when patients visit the Sharp more meaningful. the mountains of Utah, you feel like inde- even if you feel a connection with the peo- national data. Metropolitan Outpatient Pavilion for a No Higher Purpose pendent film is a precious art form. By ple your products serve, if the frameworks We also knew that to achieve our goals colonoscopy, they encounter something In order for MasterCard or, say, Coca- you being there, you are doing good work that explain who they are don’t account we had to become a learning organization. entirely different from the norm. Special Cola, Kaiser Permanente, Best Buy, – and it’s a blast! for what makes a brand real and meaning- The Sharp University was launched to attention is paid to personal privacy and Disney, or whomever to be real in the Film festivals and doll companies, okay. ful, you’re stuck. focus on the education and development of dignity. After the procedure juice and hearts and minds of consumers, they But vacuum cleaners? Yes, even vacuum One of the best models of human the Sharp team. Educating and developing crackers are served on a silver tray with can’t just advertise that they are real. (In cleaners can have Brand Truth. The story behavior (along with Maslow’s hierarchy our 1,000 leaders was a top priority so we stemmed glassware and special mints. And fact, advertising is probably the fastest of James Dyson is one that rings true with of needs) is Pierre Bourdieu’s work on created quarterly leadership development after discharge, all patients receive a way to send just the opposite message.) consumers today. He buys a vacuum that how individuals accumulate meaningful sessions focused on skill building and hard- phone call as well as a thank-you note They need a message and a product that promises impressive suction, takes it experiences. A sociologist and ethnogra- wiring new practices into our every day signed by each of the caregivers – includ- are so well intertwined that people can home and realizes that once the bag gets pher and a tremendous thinker, Bourdieu business. Through inspiration, education ing the physicians! The experience is so simply feel the reality of the brand expe- dust in it (which is the whole purpose of demonstrated that people in modern soci- and celebration, these learning sessions different that now we have patients rience. Some quintessential examples of a vacuum), the suction is dramatically eties accumulate two types of capital: eco- have helped transform the organization recruiting friends and loved-ones to have a real brand experience are American Girl, reduced. Angry, he sets out to build a bet- nomic capital (money) and cultural capi- and the experiences we create. Homework colonoscopy. Patients often say that hav- Inc., the Dyson Company, and Sundance. ter vacuum. And guess what – he does it. tal (meaningful capacities). He showed is assigned each quarter via what we call ing a colonoscopy was the best health care Pleasant Rowland built a multimillion- And it’s wildly successful. The Brand that one can determine things like tastes, the “Accountability Grid” because we experience they’ve had – now that’s some- dollar doll company by blending tradition- Truth is that the people should stick it political concerns, belief systems, styles believe that learning is an active process. thing to thinkAbout! al American values with direct mail and to the corporate brands by making their and behaviors, and attitudes based on the It’s critical to get leaders to actually do And as Joe Pine told us during one visit, compelling stories about girls. James own innovations. types of cultural capital that people accu- something with what they have learned. “If you can do it in colonoscopy, you can Dyson’s vacuums have become the gold Ouch. That Brand Truth hurts. mulate (and their income). As a result, every leader has learned: do it anywhere!” standard for cleaning equipment, and his Consumers today not only expect the But most importantly, Bourdieu • How to interpret employee Since 2001 we’ve seen a dramatic story about how he took on the big brands promises made by marketers to be kept, showed that the more cultural capital satisfaction data and roll-out the improvement in employee, physician, and has made Dyson the new real thing. but they also demand brand experiences that’s associated with an experience, the results to staff in a prescribed, patient satisfaction. We’ve reduced Robert Redford’s Sundance was once a ski that stand for something – a difficult thing more meaningful that experience will be action-oriented fashion turnover and been recognized for the past resort. Now it’s a media phenomenon and for brands that have never stood for any- to the individual. This is good news for • How to assess and improve patient two years as San Diego’s Best Place to the authentic source for independent thing to pull off. And, consumers expect marketers since it suggests you can actu- satisfaction Work. We’ve experienced unprecedented films. to play a significant role in the production ally measure the cultural value created by • The core steps to service recovery improvement in overall consumer aware- These companies have commonalities. of the experience. It feels more real your offering or your marketing efforts. • How to created service maps and ness and perception of Sharp HealthCare, They all started with a higher purpose when they are involved. As more and more consumers in devel- touch point analyses and have been honored with an Emmy than simply making a profit. They were Models of Consumer Behavior oped countries continue to transition • How to develop Signature Moments award for our thirty-minute television doc- guided by a vision of how the world You can’t really blame our profession. from the accumulation of stuff to the • How to “round” on staff and patients umentary – an unscripted and unrehearsed should be, at least as far as their markets Consumers, after all, weren’t supposed to accumulation of meaningful, real experi- for better outcomes look at The Sharp Experience from the were concerned. And their marketing behave this way. We were first taught ences, the companies that will be most • The value and use of key words at key patient and caregiver perspective. respects consumers’ ability to create their that stimulus demanded a response. successful are those that know how to times (scripting) We hope that by making the health care own meaningful experiences. Then we were told that consumers fol- identify what makes an experience mean- • The fundamentals of service experience better at Sharp we’re helping to Consequently, each brand enjoys tremen- lowed a rational process of developing a ingful, how to access the cultural capital • How to re-recruit the winners make the health care experience better dous trust, loyalty, and value. consideration set, narrowing their choic- associated with an experience, and how to • Factors for physician satisfaction everywhere – because we believe that every Companies that have these qualities es, and picking a product based on produce Brand Truth. It truly is time to • Process improvement methods patient deserves a positively memorable have Brand Truth. That is, when con- certain criteria. get real. • How to conduct crucial conversations health care experience each and every time. sumers hear their message and experi- Now we’re continually told that it’s all And, much, much more. ence their product it rings true because about the emotional connection. David Norton is Vice President of The Results Sonia Rhodes is Vice-President of the offering is about something purpose- Consumers buy because they connect Research & Experience Strategy for Our relentless focus on making health Customer Strategy at Sharp HealthCare. ful, deep, significant, or heartfelt. For with your brand emotionally. If that’s Yamamoto Moss and a four-time care better has already started to pay off. She is a four-time thinkAbout alumnus. American Girl, the Brand Truth is that the case, why is it that in almost every thinkAbout alumnus.

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www.yournextmeeting.com September 29 + 30, 2004 Pine & Gilmore’s thinkAbout Times page 23 Letters to the Editor

gram Renascence creates for each indi- to free the mind. Choosing my own fate us to design a Teen Mini-Medical School his session and he invested insights and Beyond Experiences vidual aspirant is literally a life-plan. It (schedule) I moved from group to group experience for local students. The mar- took us through the whole process of and into Authentic involves every dimension of the aspi- with differing challenges and discussion keting department for our 650+ bed, aca- using magazines to generate five govern- rant’s life. To be successful the life-plan subjects, and was introduced to new demic tertiary care hospital, in partner- ing adverbs or adjectives to theme his Transformations we offer must itself be designed and pre- mind-opening techniques. Massages ship with the local physician faculty, put hotels. The magic is the guests would use sented in ways that ring true for the indi- were even provided to relax and digest together this one-of-a-kind experience. these same words to describe themselves. Conjuring up my experience at vidual. It cannot be a canned program the information. In Teen Mini-Medical School, students Stories are authenticity – YAHOO!’s thinkAbout U a few years ago [2002 in applicable only to the non-existent The ideas really started to flow on the – high school sophomores at the head of Tim Sanders taught us that stories relate Mountain View – Ed.], one memorable “average” individual. Otherwise it is second day when groups of three won- their class in science and math and hand authenticity. And taught us an easy discussion concerned itself with what unlikely aspirants will fully integrate the dered around the hotel scribbling down selected by area biology teachers and guide to engage people. On a scale of makes an experience authentic. As a program recommendations into their sparks of ideas for every participant’s principals – are given great exposure to one to ten you’ll score a four if you tell physician, the importance of authentici- lives permanently. issues posted on their hotel room doors. the inner workings of the medical center someone a story about someone they ty in the patient experience did not Health care providers can facilitate The discussions, exercises, and sparks of and attend ten hours of lecture given by don’t know, a six if you tell your story, escape me. The context of the discussion healthful transformation for patients ideas really helped with solving the the lead faculty of the institution. Onsite an eight if you get them to tell revolved around authenticity of products through guided experiences. For experi- issues posted on my own hotel room at Baystate Medical Center students tour their story, and a ten is when you tell a and services. It isn’t so much what was ences to transcend being memorable to door. The overall experience was unique operating rooms and observe a live sur- shared experience. said that stuck with me but rather what become transforming – when the cus- as promised and very inspirational. gery, see one of the country’s busiest Memories of 2002 did not receive comment. What is tomer is the product – it is fundamental emergency departments in action, tour • Hanging out in the hotel hall until required in order for an experience to be that the experiences connect individuals Manfred Abraham one of the country’s top 25 laboratories, 2 A.M. and having smart converstation. authentic when the customer is with their true nature and inner truths. Reinventor and explore their CSI curiosities in our • Smoking cigars with Tom McGehee the product? Wolff-Olins morgue. They are also linked up with and Brian Owen in the hot tub at Renascence is in the transformation Gregory W. Petersburg, D.O. London, England our Recruitment Department and Hotel Avante. business. My specialty work is about pre- Renascence real medical students and residents • Watching adults act like kids as we ventive-aging medicine. Individuals who Oro Valley, AZ upon graduation. checked out and got to pick a super- seek out Renascence aspire to transform Teen Mini-Medical School has grown hero lunch pale with all the executive toward optimum health and renewed out of an existing, wildly successful pro- toy inside. youthful vitality. At Renascence, then, Experience Design gram for adults which has hosted over • Making Miranda Moss laugh and share our customer is the product. They desire 300 participants to date. Forty-seven her beautiful smile. to avoid, delay, or minimize aging-relat- Leads to Teen Of Doors, students graduated from the program • “Braindorming” with Dan Sundt and ed declines. Successful aging is about Mini-Medical School with a mini-medical school diploma and Katherine Dockeril and then continu- choosing optimum actions – physically, Discussions, and a fresh set of scrubs in hand. ing the cerebral high as we shared a mentally, emotionally, and spiritually – Distinctive Ideas A looming shortage of health care pro- The overall goal of our Teen Mini- cab to the airport. that are also sustainable. The interpreta- fessionals has inspired Baystate Medical Medical School is to encourage inner thinkAbout 2003 tion and approach for all of this is unique Working in the creative industry, ideas Center to think and act creatively city youth showing academic potential Real-Real-Fake-Fake from the morning for each individual. When the customer are my daily bread. So when a client sug- around recruitment and retention to stay in school, go to college, and session to the Learning ExcursionEM to the is the product authenticity takes on gested (they were clearly not happy with efforts. At the same time, our organiza- come back to Springfield as health care lively debate. It was an immersion in real. added complexity. the quality of my ideas at that point. . .) tion determined that our neighborhood professionals. Memories of 2003 The facilitator of experiences has sev- residents were underrepresented in our that I should take part in the 2002 As for results, it’s too early to tell. The • Having an out-of-body experience as eral dimensions of authenticity to tend thinkAbout in Mountain View, I was professional ranks and we began to look first class hasn’t yet graduated from high we walked Times Square with our to when the customer is the product. looking forward to a couple of days of for ways to get more local students on a school, but we are working with the area headsets on. It was like we weren’t This necessitates going beyond creating brainstorming and bouncing ideas off health care career track. Using guidance counselors to track their inter- there, watching from afar. authentic experiences in a general sense. Experience Design principles learned at other likeminded individuals. ests and progress. If the spark this • 7 A.M., standing outside the GMA At Renascence we begin by helping indi- I wasn’t quite prepared, however, for thinkAbout and elsewhere, we set out to program has ignited in students causes Studios in my khaki shorts and t-shirt, viduals articulate their aspirations in the encounter that awaited me. In line influence early health care career plan- them to pursue health care careers, it drinking a Starbuck’s and watching the ways that are congruent with who they with their preaching, Pine & Gilmore ning among high school science stars. would certainly be win-win for our hos- tourists (fanny packs and all) so excit- are – authentic to their true nature. had prepared an experience that started Baystate Medical Center is a member pital and the community. ed and thinking, it isn’t my New York, Next, the experiences we create and long before my arrival at Mountain View. of Baystate Health System, and the but they’re having fun. So real-real- guide must also be true to the individ- From emails asking about hotel room Western Campus of Tufts University Candace A. Quinn fake-fake and the like, for me I learned ual’s nature. requirements to an inspirational interac- School of Medicine, in Springfield, MA. VP for Strategic Communications authenticity is about perspective. The personalized healthy-aging pro- As a teaching hospital, it was logical for tive invitation, everything was prepared & Marketing • Sitting in the Marriott revolving DOONESBURY by Gary Trudeau Baystate Health System lounge watching the city go by as © 2000 G. B. Trudeau. Reprinted with permission of UNIVERSAL PRESS SYDICATE. All rights reserved. Springfield, MA we brainstormed. • Falling off my seat laughing at The Producers Why do I attend thinkAbout? I’ve met the most amazing people at A-HA! Moments – thinkAbout. It’s like being back at col- a thinkAbout Review lege, but everyone is an honor student. When one of them sends me an email or I have attended two thinkAbouts so calls me on the phone, I’m energized far, each radically different from the by the connection. And because the other. Here are my personal impressions thinking doesn’t end when it’s over – it and memories of each experience: just begins. thinkAbout 2002 The Magazine Model - EXPY Winner Jeff Kallay Chip Conley CEO of JDV Hospitality Experience Economy Evangelist shared his “magical formula” – the maga- Atlanta, GA zine model. There were only six of us in http://experiences.typepad.com

THE NEW YORKER COLLECTION © 2003 The New Yorker Collection from cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved. page 24 Pine & Gilmore’s thinkAbout Times September 29 + 30, 2004 you’ll discover great rewards. seem fraught with peril. But Starizon as your trusted guide, reshape your culture, capabilities and basic business concept may encounter your own dragons of doubt. The exploration that will your business to thrive in the Experience Economy, you’ll monsters. Today, as you “think about” the changes necessary for O n olden maps, uncharted territory was marked by fire-breathing S some dragons. message. We’ll help you slay Experience Economy, send us a your company’s place in the If you have the courage to seek desire to make. you live the very changes experience environment that lets immerses you in an inspirational invented the discipline. Starizon guided by the very people who Experience Design process improvement, and we offer an change, not simply incremental Economy means transformational understand that the Experience [email protected] www.starizon.org 970.262.2123 80435 Keystone, CO 31 River Overlook Court P.O. Box 8865 © Starizon 2004 center of its kind. Here we tarizon is the first experience