In this 90-minute Masterclass, you will discover:
An insightful analysis of one of the most powerful frameworks for human consciousness ever known to man that has fueled our evolution for ages. (Warning: when you realize where you are in this framework, you will immediately feel a sudden expansion of consciousness right there.)
Ways to get started on experiencing the thrill of reality hacking… and realize how malleable the world around you is. (This realization will hit you like a ton of bricks… you’ll never look at life the same way again.)
Why most people are stuck in a kindergarten-level of creating reality and fool-proof methods to make sure you don’t.
The top 5 fascinating studies on conscious creation of reality… (If these don’t blow you away, check your pulse.)
The definitive guide to “bending reality for beginners” especially those who have a hard time believing they can.
The #1 most CRITICAL ingredient most successful reality benders use… and a daily tool you can use to make sure you don’t miss this EVER.
ONE powerful 5-minute creative visualization technique to permanently fix problems in your life (you’ll see results in anywhere between a few hours to a few days).
The mechanics of the Six Phase Meditation revealed — why it’s such a powerful tool to help you feel calm, compassionate, creative and incredibly resourceful in fulfilling your life’s purpose.
And much, much more…
Watch this 5-minute video to learn more
about this Masterclass…
Author of The Code of The Extraordinary Mind,
a New York Times And USA Today bestseller
Vishen Lakhiani – Author of The code of the extraordinary | Mindvalley Academy
Founder of the highly acclaimed invite-only personal transformation event, A-fest.
Instructor Profile
About Your Trainer
Vishen Lakhiani is the founder and CEO of Mindvalley, one of the fastest-growing personal growth companies on the planet. Vishen was able to take $700 of his own money and turn it into a $100 million dollar company — with no loans or VC funding. In doing so, Mindvalley has revolutionized the personal growth industry and has won over a family of over three million customers, subscribers and raving fans. Leading an international team of 200 people from over 30 countries at Mindvalley HQ (voted by Inc. Magazine as one of the World’s Coolest Workplaces), his goal is to revolutionize the global education system by bringing to the forefront transformational and personal growth education, and making these practices more mainstream.
He is also a member of the Transformational Leadership Council and sits on the Innovation Board for XPRIZE Foundation. Through Mindvalley, he has won numerous awards for company culture and workspace design.
His book, The Code of The Extraordinary Mind published by Rodale, blends evolutionary biology and computational thinking. It also provides a new framework for identifying, questioning and redefining beliefs to understand and enhance the human self.
Vishen is also an active philanthropist through Awesomeness Fest, the non-profit, wildly popular personal growth festival he created. He applies Consciousness Engineering to all aspects of his life and business — from Mindvalley to Awesomeness Fest to his career and daily habits.
As Seen On:
What People Say About Vishen Lakhiani
“I am very excited and glad to recommend his work to you.”
“His knowledge base and his ability to present it clearly and to actually put it into practice is above anyone I have ever seen in this field. I am very excited and glad to recommend his work to you.”
Testimonial By Jack Canfield | Becoming Limitless – Mindvalley Academy
Jack Canfield
Co-author of the New York Times bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul series
“He’s going to be seen as a genius in his field.”
“Hearing Vishen speak about his vision for transforming education is inspirational and gives you chills… and you know years from now, he’s going to be seen as a genius in his field.”
Testimonial By Lisa Nichols | Becoming Limitless – Mindvalley Academy
Lisa Nichols
Star of The Secret and motivational speaker
“I have been inspired and motivated.”
“I have been inspired and motivated with a 1000 new ideas listening to Vishen bringing value to the society, developing new ideas to put into practice. He can help you and it has certainly helped me change my whole outlook on bringing my message to help the world.”
Testimonial By John Gray | Becoming Limitless – Mindvalley Academy
John Gray
Author of Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus series
“I have been able to improve my mindset, health, finances, and energy!”
Vishen is truly a visionary and has brought us into the fold to expand our consciousness to a higher level. I have been able to improve my mindset, health, finances, and energy!
Testimonial By Brenda Halliday | Becoming Limitless – Mindvalley Academy
Brenda Marie Halliday
Customer
“What comes through is how much they truly care.”
I have been using MindValley for about 5 years now. I’m never let down by the quality of the programs that Vishen and his team offer. ….what comes through is how much they truly care and how much they want to help in a positive way. Thank you!
Testimonial By Kris Medline | Becoming Limitless – Mindvalley Academy
Kris W Medlin
Health Coach, Yoga teacher, Reiki Master.
PASTIMALLOWS
March 30, 2017 by delishPH in Sweets17 Comments
Pastimallows
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Looking for something new for dessert? Try making your own Pastimallows. With its name, you’ll know that it is a combination of pastillas and marshmallows. It is very easy to prepare, no cooking required and would only take 15 minutes to make.
Here’s how to prepare Pastimallows:
Ingredients:
2 1/2 – 2 3/4 cups powdered milk
1 cup condensed milk
1 pack medium sized marshmallows
1 tsp. butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
Process:
1. In a bowl, mix in the powdered and the condensed milk. Knead well until you get the right texture (similar to the pastillas mixture). If you it’s too wet, add more powdered milk and vice versa. But the 2.5 is to 1 cup should be fine.
2. Blend in about a teaspoon of butter. This will at least keep the pastillas mixture becomes too sticky.
3. Coat marshmallows one by one with the pastillas mixture.
4. Roll them on the plate with caster sugar.
5. You can use the macaroons paper cups to arrange them well.
Its shelf life is about one month. It would stay longer if you keep them refrigerated.
Note from Delish:
I first tasted pastimallows on one lunch occasion, one of my church mate brought it. I liked it a lot. So I decided to try making one at home. And I would like to share it to everyone. pastillas + marshmallows = Pastimallows
If you have any questions about this, don’t forget to drop me a message.
Watch how to make Pastimallows here:
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17 Responses to Pastimallows
Anj says:
June 23, 2017 at 6:35 pm
What powdered milk brand should i specifically use for this pastimallows recipe to get the taste right? Thanks for the help
Reply
delishPH says:
June 23, 2017 at 6:40 pm
Hi, you can use bear brand. That’s what I used.:)
Reply
Elaine Rizal says:
July 1, 2017 at 9:18 pm
thank you so much for sharing. i have a question. you said if it is too sticky still to add powdered sugar. do you think you ment powdered milk to add instead of powdered sugar because also it is not in the recipe you mentioned. thank you so much. please answer back.
Reply
delishPH says:
July 1, 2017 at 9:33 pm
Hi Elaine, thanks for pointing that out. Right, you need to add “powdered sugar” if your mixture is too sticky. 🙂
Reply
Benilda says:
July 30, 2017 at 3:27 pm
Hi….where to buy caster sugar?thank you
Reply
delishPH says:
July 30, 2017 at 9:49 pm
Hi. I got mine from SM supermarket. 🙂
Reply
Hilda V. Gonzales says:
August 3, 2017 at 11:55 pm
Ilan po ang nagawa nyo na pastimallows based sa measurements ng mga ing.?
Reply
delishPH says:
August 3, 2017 at 11:59 pm
Hi, around 20. but I used the bigger size mallows 🙂
Reply
Gema says:
August 21, 2017 at 10:03 pm
Hi gaano po katagal pede xang stock¿¿ thanks po…
Reply
delishPH says:
August 21, 2017 at 10:07 pm
about 2-3 weeks if not refrigerated, but it will last more than one month if refrigerated.
Reply
rena says:
August 24, 2017 at 11:10 pm
hi have a a good day panu pag pandan or manggo na flavor anu gagawin haloan lang ba ng pandan powder or mangga powder
Reply
delishPH says:
August 24, 2017 at 11:26 pm
Hi, I suggest you use liquid food flavor. Mix it with condensed milk before mixing with powdered milk.
Reply
Joy concepcion umali says:
August 22, 2017 at 11:36 am
Kung ibebenta po ba to ok ang kita? Thanks!
Reply
jass says:
August 23, 2017 at 9:32 pm
what kind or brand ng butter po ginamit niyo?
Reply
delishPH says:
August 23, 2017 at 9:58 pm
just dari creme buttermilk
Reply
Xin says:
August 31, 2017 at 10:27 am
Pwede po ba gumamit ng refined sugar?instead sa caster sugar?tanx po
Reply
delishPH says:
August 31, 2017 at 10:36 am
Yes pwede. 🙂
Reply
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Ukoy Recipe – Filipino Shrimp Fritters
Posted on November 26, 2016 /Under Filipino Recipes /With 2 Comments
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Get this easy Ukoy recipe, the Filipino crunchy shrimp fritters using sweet potato. It is a popular Filipino snack that can also be served as appetizer or, like me, as a main dish to be eaten with rice. Make sure you do not forget the spiced vinegar for dipping!
Get this easy Ukoy recipe, the Filipino crunchy shrimp fritters using sweet potato. | www.foxyfolksy.comI’ve been craving for Ukoy for like ages but I always thought that it is impossible to make them while I am here in Germany because of the main ingredients involved. The Ukoy/Okoy I grew up with uses green papaya which is impossible to find here, ripe papayas sure there are some from time to time, but not green unripe ones. Then while browsing through the net, I came across several recipes for Ukoy that use different kinds of vegetables like bean sprouts, squash and sweet potato!
Get this easy Ukoy recipe, the Filipino crunchy shrimp fritters using sweet potato. | www.foxyfolksy.comI was excited to try it of course, so next in my list was the shrimps! It should be not so difficult I thought, of course there are shrimps in Germany, but usually we only have the frozen ones. Does not matter, it could work! But then all that I was able to find in our local food stores were too big, already peeled or the heads removed! I don’t know why, but I cannot picture an Ukoy with beheaded shrimps. My last hope was to go to the nearest Asian food shop (which is not really so near), so I convinced Armin that it is time to replenish our fish and soy sauce.
And look what I found!!! The perfect shrimps for Ukoy!!! Ok maybe, almost perfect…perfect would be if they were fresh but these were frozen fresh but still, they looked fresh once defrosted and they tasted great and were crunchy just like fresh shrimps! I cannot be more happy!
Get this easy Ukoy recipe, the Filipino crunchy shrimp fritters using sweet potato. | www.foxyfolksy.comGet this easy Ukoy recipe, the Filipino crunchy shrimp fritters using sweet potato. | www.foxyfolksy.comA note about cooking Ukoy: Don’t be surprised if you get a runny batter, it is supposed to be like that.
I also remembered watching an Ukoy vendor in the ‘palengke’ or market (way, way back then) because I was too curious and fascinated how they make their shrimp fritters perfectly round. That is where I got the idea of using a saucer to measure and form my Ukoys. Get this easy Ukoy recipe, the Filipino crunchy shrimp fritters using sweet potato. | www.foxyfolksy.com
Print
Ukoy Recipe - Filipino Shrimp Fritters
Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 25 mins
Serves: 8
Ingredients
¼ cup flour
1 cup cornstarch
1 cup water
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon annatto/achuete powder (can be more or less)
1 cup small shrimps + some for toppings
2 cups grated sweet potato
oil for frying
Spiced vinegar for dipping
Instructions
In a bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, salt and ground pepper. Add the water and whisk together until well-blended and smooth. Stir in annatto/achuete powder to the mixture and mix well until color is evenly distributed.
Add 1 cup shrimps and grated sweet potato in the mixture and lightly stir to distribute.
Heat oil in a skillet or frying pan over medium high heat.
Fill a small saucer evenly with about 2-3 tablespoon of the mixture and add 2-3 more shrimps on top. Gently tilt the saucer to slide the mixture into the hot oil and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until they turn golden brown.
Transfer the deep-fried ukoy in a plate lined with paper towel to absorb the excess oil.
Serve while still hot with spiced vinegar.
NEUROSCIENCE
January 19, 2017
8:00 am
Is the Default Mode of the Brain to Suffer?
By
Drake Baer
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If you’re going to get any sort of science done, an experiment needs a control group: the unaffected, possibly placebo-ed population that didn’t take part in whatever intervention it is you’re trying to study. Back in the earlier days of cognitive neuroscience, the control condition was intuitive enough: Just let the person in the brain scanner lie in repose, awake yet quiet, contemplating the tube they’re inside of. But in 1997, 2001, and beyond, studies kept coming out saying that it wasn’t much of a control at all. When the brain is “at rest,” it’s doing anything but resting.
When you don’t give its human anything to do, brain areas related to processing emotions, recalling memory, and thinking about what’s to come become quietly active. These self-referential streams of thought are so pervasive that in a formative paper Marcus Raichle, a Washington University neurologist who helped found the field, declared it to be the “the default mode of brain function,” and the constellation of brain areas that carry it out are the default mode network, or DMN. Because when given nothing else to do, the brain defaults to thinking about the person it’s embedded in. Since then, the DMN has been implicated in everything from depression to creativity. People who daydream more tend to have a more active DMN; relatedly, dreaming itself appears to be an amplified version of mind-wandering.
In Buddhist traditions, this chattering described by neuroscientists as the default mode is a dragon to be tamed, if not slain. Chögyam Trungpa, who was instrumental in bringing Tibetan Buddhism to the U.S., said the meditation practice is “necessary generally because our thinking pattern, our conceptualized way of conducting our life in the world, is either too manipulative, imposing itself upon the world, or else runs completely wild and uncontrolled,” he wrote in Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism. “Therefore, our meditation practice must begin with ego’s outermost layer, the discursive thoughts which continually run through our minds, our mental gossip.”
In his book Mindfulness for Beginners: Reclaiming the Present Moment ― and Your Life, Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of mindfulness-based stress reduction, argues that this idle narration, this “selfing,” is something that needs to be reined in order to have a balanced mental life. When the DMN “predominates, especially out of unawareness, it can very much limit our understanding of ourselves and of what might be possible,” he argues. The crux of the Buddhist argument is that if you don’t establish some relationship with your DMN, some mindfulness of its activity, you’ll be yanked around by the swirling eddies of emotion, reaction, and rumination. But what do brain sciences say?
Whether or not your default activity is helpful or harmful depends on where your mind automatically tends to go, says Scott Barry Kaufman, the scientific director at the Imagination Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. In the same way that your tongue defaults to probing a cut on the roof of your mouth, the brain is attracted to unresolved issues. “People differ drastically regarding if their default mode network content is creative or ruminative,” he says.
In a way, the DMN is like a scout, ranging about for prospective futures. To Kaufman, the default mode has a “prospective bias”: It’s seeking out big-picture strategies for what could be. Depending on the person, their history, and their biological dispositions, that prospection could tilt toward worrying or hoping. As psychologists have contended for decades, daydreaming itself has at least three different flavors: positive constructive daydreaming, which has lots of playful, wishful imagery and plan-making thoughts; guilty-dysphoric daydreaming, which has lots of anguish and obsessive fantasies; and poor attentional control, where it’s hard to concentrate on anything. “Prospection can lead to suffering if it hinders executive attention, the ability to have awe, attention to the present moment,” he says, emphasizing that, as with so many others ways that our minds get into trouble, the problem is rigidity; research indicates that a disturbed DMN is a mechanism in depression. “Our greatest source of suffering isn’t the default mode,” Kaufman says, “but when we get stuck in the default mode.”
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Indeed, the peripatetic nature of the DMN can be harnessed for creative thinking. In a 2015 Scientific Reports paper that Kaufman co-authored, 25 participants were asked to do creative thinking tasks, including the standard measure of divergent thinking, asking how many uses you can come up with for a brick (spoiler alert: doorstop and weapon are two go-to options). At the start of the task, the DMN coupled with the salience network, which selects which stimuli to attend to, and toward the end of the task, it coupled with the executive network, which is responsible for the control of attention and working memory — results that suggest that producing creative ideas requires a combination of focusing internal attention and controlling spontaneous thinking. “The DMN contributes to the (more or less) spontaneous generation of (potentially useful) ideas,” co-author and Harvard postdoc Roger Beaty told Science of Us via email.
It underscores the fact that not all minds that wander are lost. University of British Columbia philosopher Evan Thompson, author of Waking, Dreaming, Being: Self and Consciousness in Neuroscience, Meditation, and Philosophy, says the DMN’s mental meanderings are “the baseline state of you as a cognitive system.” It’s tremendously pragmatic: being able to remember the past, plan for the future, and happen upon creative insights are all essential tools for navigating life. While he was hesitant to mix the word “suffering,” which is so loaded in ancient Asian religious traditions, with the “default mode,” which is of a contemporary neural vintage, the two connect in the way that suffering arises when people concretize the fleeting swirls of thought, especially around conceptions of self. Still, he says, there’s “particular kind of stickiness” that can come when DMN activity grows overly self-centered.
Default-mode content involves an image of self, one that’s easy to become attached to. These self-conceptions are “affectively charged,” he says; they carry lots of emotional weight. “We constantly think that it’s not just another thought, that [the image of self] is something real, not just an mental image.”
He compared it with a strawberry and thoughts of a strawberry. If you’re a particularly good imaginer, you might start salivating at the image of a ripe, inviting strawberry. Still, it’s just a mental image; not an actual strawberry. The “selfing” conjured up by the DMN is a lot like that: images of who you think you are, but not who you actually are. While you wouldn’t take a mental image of a strawberry to be an appropriate filling to a real-world shortcake, it’s easy to take your mental images of you to be your real-world self.
“The self isn’t one thing, it’s an evolving construct of many different processes,” Thompson says.“Contemplative traditions like Buddhism and yoga would say that habitually investing in the image of the self more reality than it actually has is a source of great difficulty. When we take it to be real when it isn’t, according to these traditions, then that causes suffering.” He mentioned that in cognitive behavioral therapy, that process of divesting realness from your mental chatter is called “decentering,” or thinking less that your thoughts are the truth about what’s happening and viewing them as an observer. The therapeutic interventions offered by psilocybin and LSD — which, at least in one trial, helped longtime smokers quit at a rate three times that of the best pharma drugs — seem to have a similar, though more sudden, effect.
At a phenomenological, subjective, what-it’s-like level, the trouble or lack thereof that your DMN gets into seems to depend on how automatic (or de-automatized) your patterns of thought are. Lots of our trains of thought, as suggest by the term train, speed along as if carried by a locomotive, one after another, carried by mental-emotional momentum. If you’re more biologically sensitive to perceived threats, it’s likely that it’s a direct line to rumination, or negatively, recursively reflecting on how you’re bad at your job, rock-climbing, dealing with your family on holidays, or whatever the task is. Though by that point the amygdala, so present in neuroticism, will probably be involved, too.
The key is what brain science people call “cognitive flexibility”: being able to more freely choose your mental habits, and have greater agency in your cognitive phenomena. CBT and even hypnosis are options for taming an unruly DMN, as is the fashionable yet ancient practice of meditation. Study after study indicates that meditation reduces activity in the DMN. Judson Brewer, psychiatrist and director of research at the UMass Medical School Center for Mindfulness founded by Kabat-Zinn, has found that extended meditation practice reforms the DMN, so that the default mode itself shifts: The resting state of the brain becomes more like the meditative state, producing “a more present-centered default mode.” So maybe that’s what all that advice to live in the present moment is getting at: If you can invest more attention in the sensory world than in your narrative overlaying it, you might identify the former, rather than the latter, to be what’s true.
TAGS: NEUROSCIENCE MINDFULNESS DAYDREAMING
When creating an event experience, you want it to be a memorable, unique and amazingly awesome. That’s where this year’s 2017 Event Trends roundup comes in. Add these new technologies, strategies and activities into your planning as early as now to stay ahead of the curve. Don’t forget to use our free event planning checklist and make your life 10x easier when encorporating these trends. So you might be wondering what are the top trends? Well, here they are:
Share Event Experiences With Anyone, Anywhere Through Mixed Reality
Make The Physical Feel Digital Via On-Demand Services, Touch Tech, and More
Increase Engagement Via Artificial Intelligence
Deliver Exemplary Event Experiences
Make Better Decisions Through Real-Time Data
Let Participants Run The Show
Hold Events In Non-Traditional Locations
Leave A Positive Message
Create Personalized Experiences
So now you know the trends, let’s dive deep into each one and hear from industry experts on why each is such a huge trend.
Share Event Experiences With Anyone, Anywhere Through Mixed Reality
1. Share Event Experiences With Anyone, Anywhere Through Mixed Reality
One of the downsides of live events is that people have to be there to experience it. While this does create a unique experience for the attendees, wouldn’t it be better if people could be attendees no matter where they were? That’s where mixed reality comes in.
Additional realities: AR and VR
Mixed reality, where people where physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in real time, is one of the newest trends in the events industry. Through augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), people will be able to walk through the venues as if they were physically there. These two technologies are going to rapidly become mainstream in the next few years (especially with the launch of technologies like Bridge and Structure), making them a must have for future events. With the cost of experience VR dropping with the release of technologies such as Google’s Daydream VR, it’s becoming easier for everyone to try VR. Let’s just hope it doesn’t become like the novel, Ready Player One.
Live streaming via drones
Livestreaming is everywhere now (you can even do it in 4K). EventMB also had this one on their 2017 event trends guide, for good reason, this is going to be everywhere! For those who do not have access to VR equipment, they can tune into live event broadcasts courtesy of drones equipped with 4K cameras. Drone streaming is another trend that we expect to see next year, paired with the live broadcast features of social media sites such as Facebook Live and Instagram Live. This will let events achieve game-changing, full-360 degree streaming before 2017 ends. We’ll talk more about live tech in the next section.
Virtual meetings
Virtual meetings will allow people to attend events remotely as if they were there in person. Right now that is done with cameras and the same live stream technologies avaliable today but what if the experience could be more immersive? The same set of options available to regular attendees will also be made available to them, through the power of real-time technologies such as the Microsoft Hololens.
Which begs the question: how will people actually interact with each other in a virtual event? This can be done through personalized avatars as demonstrated this year by Facebook. Instead of tiny images and icons, you’ll be able to convey physical movement and even facial expressions. We imagine it would be like those holograms in Star Wars, but even more interactive.
“Later, as immersive experiences with AR and VR reach full tipping points in terms of price and capability, AR and VR will expand beyond visual immersion to include all human senses.” – Jason Allan Scott, The Eventrepreneur
Make The Physical Feel Digital Via On-Demand Services, Touch Tech, and More
2. Make The Physical Feel Digital Via On-Demand Services, Touch Tech, and More
On the flip side, technology is also making physical experiences feel more digital. The sharing economy lets people access services on-demand, making them as simple as tapping on your phone. Events now have multiple concurrent tracks that let attendees go in and out with ease, just like browsing websites. Technology becomes part of everyday objects, making them smarter and more interactive.
On-demand services
By tapping on-demand services like Uber and AirBnb, event organizers can use crowd-powered services to gain ideas, solutions and services to bolster participation and engagement in events. Event managers and suppliers can use on-demand services to deliver better service at a lower cost.
Choose your own adventure
While big conferences already offer multiple tracks to cater to their diverse audience, smaller events will soon be able to do the same. In addition to participation in different sessions, devices like NFC and RFID cards will also give guests access to specific content. Want to learn more about RFIDs and NFC? Check out our episode 14 of #EventIcons where we interview Anthony Palermo, the godfather of RFID at events.
Touch tech
Physical products are poised to make a comeback in the 2017 event trends. Event engagement will be enhanced by tangible items that on-site attendees can actually touch and hold. Dubbed “touch tech”, these items are simple but smart, like Snapchat’s Spectacles which lets you take first-person videos through your sunglasses instead of your phone. All we ask is that the touch tech is better than the Touchbar on the new Macbook Pros)
“Distributed commerce is going to grow in importance to event organisers and consumers alike in 2017.” – Joel Crouch, General Manager, Eventbrite UK & Ireland
Increase Engagement Via Artificial Intelligence
3. Increase Engagement Via Artificial Intelligence
The past year has seen the rise in awareness and usage of artificial intelligence or AI. Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, and Amazon’s Alexa are just three of a legion of AI assistants that people can use everyday. Needless to say, these same AI can be tapped to provide an added boost to events when it comes to personalization.
Personal concierge
Another awesome idea we shared with EventMB’s 2017 event trends guide. We also drew inspiration from Inbound 2016, and the launch of Hubspot’s Growthbot, which is a chatbot designed to be your personal marketing concierge. Artificial intelligence draws its power from the cloud and the crowd, where it learns by observing questions and responses of millions of users. Not only can an AI deliver information on-demand, it can also provide it even before you need it. On top of that, artificial intelligence can act as a personal concierge since it can process voice commands and even reply just like a human does. Expect a sassy remark or two in your future AI interactions.
Virtual event assistants
Event managers can use an AI as a digital event assistant that can help with anything from registration to budgeting. This helps event professionals build lean teams that can focus on improving attendee experience instead of drudging through backroom operations.
AI as branding
Siri, Cortana, and Alexa have all become household names because of their distinct personalities. An AI can also lends its personality to your event, much like a brand ambassador.
But unlike your regular human spokesperson, this one can interact with hundreds of people at the same time without limits. The AI can then be a more powerful branding tool, allowing people to interact with the “event” itself. The AI can also stand at the helm of a viral marketing campaign. And to top it off, you don’t have to deal with a huge ego.
“Imagine delivering more personalized interactions, and we all know our event participants loved to be ‘understood’ – insert AI” – Dahlia El Gazzar, Tech Evangelist + Idea Igniteur, DAHLIA+ Agency
Deliver Exemplary Event Experiences
4. Deliver Exemplary Event Experiences
The top currency of today’s world is not the US dollar nor is it Bitcoin. It’s engagement. This holds true for the events industry as well. Keeping the audience engaged in the event not only adds to the bottom line, it also makes participation in the event a fulfilling activity for everyone involved, from the organizer to the attendee.
Emotionally intelligent events
Emotional intelligence will play a key role, allowing event organizers to cater to the emotional and psychological needs of each attendee. Sensory lounges, recreational rooms, experience areas, and the like can keep participants immersed and holistically satisfied. Different demographics will have different needs, and the organizer will have to create different strategies to keep each engaged. The one-size-fits-all approach is scheduled to die out.
Soft skills will also be useful in the creation of more efficient programs that take into account the needs and expectations of the participant, not just those of the organizer. It’s no longer about exchanging contact details, and more on exchanging meaningful experiences.
Connect emotionally with local flavor
Another way to heighten the attendee’s experience is the use of local aspects such as culture, locations and even cuisines, to evoke an emotional connection to the event. By creating an authentic and memorable experience, products and brands will find a home in people’s consciousness. A good example of this is AirBnb Experiences where people can take part in unique activities instead of just buying travel lodging.
“It’s no longer about having a pen on hand or business card to send off with attendees, but rather giving them something that will heighten their in-the-moment experience and later continue to connect emotion with the event/brand.” – Monica Wolyniec, Marketing Communications Manager, Boomset
Make Better Decisions Through Real-Time Data
5. Make Better Decisions Through Real-Time Data
One of good side effect of using event technology is that it makes decision making easier. This is because you can gather enormous amounts of data, sometimes even in real time, and distill it down into actionable insights, all without lifting a finger. This makes event planners even more nimble, able to choose the more effective course of action through data-driven decisions.
Measure ROI better
By default, you can already collect data from your event from a variety of means: cameras, sensors, apps, and more. By measuring this data, marketers and events managers can better measure the expected ROI of each event activity.
This also means that you can segment your crowd better and explore promising niche audiences. Generalized events are fast disappearing, and the trend towards niche conventions is gaining ground.
Better logistics and management
Real time data gathering will also play a role in logistics and event management. Demand for anything can be measured on the spot, whether it be ticket sales, session attendance, or crowd density. You can then respond by creating real time content on-site in response. For suppliers, physical stocks can also be replenished depending on the consumption, which can now be measured in real-time. This allows a new level of flexibility when it comes to delivering good, creating activities, and broadcasting content. One of our favorite tools to collect real-time data is Loopd which allows you see where your attendees are in real-time.
“This’ll be the year of data playing a big role in determining the effectiveness of events. Marketeers are better equipped to calculate ROI than ever before, and there’ll be new technology emerging in 2017.” – Ed Poland, Co-Founder and COO, Hire Space
Let Participants Run The Show
6. Let Participants Run The Show
A mainstay of internet culture is the online community, where members of self-organized groups create content together and moderate their own actions. Because of this, people are clamoring for events where they have a say in its activities. It might be scary to hand over the reins to your attendees but you’ll find that it might be worth your while doing so.
Speakers and participants learn from each other
Next year will see the gradual decline in the keynote speaker-dominated events structure. Instead of having just one keynote speaker dictating the tempo, future events will focus on the creation of “learning sessions” where both speaker and audience can share the limelight. Existing examples of these involve the AMA’s or Ask Me Anything threads that proliferate online, where there is a direct interaction between speaker and audience.
PS: We do this on a small scale every week with the #EventIcons show where we let the audience as the questions, not the hosts.
Hear attendee chatter
One of the sidelights of many events are the talks among attendees, often held in between booths and activities. The next year will see this being absorbed directly into the framework of events. Imagine creating an impact in an event even when you’re just chatting in the corridors.
Create events together
Events can also be more engaging to people if they have a say in how it is made. Organizers and the audience can get together to plan the content and activities. Of course, if people are engaged, they can also become the most viral form of advertising. By tapping into services that allow live social media broadcasts, you can get people to share not only the event’s proceedings but what they think about it as well.
“For corporate events we are going to see conventional conference formats change to allow much more participation in the delivery of content – that’s the attendees making more contributions both before and during the event.” – James Morgan, Founder, Event Tech Lab
Hold Events In Non-Traditional Locations
7. Hold Events In Non-Traditional Locations
The use of dedicated meeting places will take a hit, as organizers become more unconventional in their use of space. Informality is fast becoming the new norm, and this spills over into the use of more casual locations. This includes places like rehearsal studios, lofts, and more.
Surprising “pop up” events
Aside from using new venues, organizers are also getting into the “pop-up” event bandwagon. This is the use of an unlikely place that has been remodeled to fit the brand or event’s message. These events are usually announced shortly before they begin, tapping into the surprise factor. The old, familiar, unsuspecting place is then found to have been transformed into an experiential location, to the delight of the audience.
Exploring new event grounds
As well, event organizers are moving away from the usual upscale venues and into the more unknown locations. It is not uncommon for events to be held far from central districts, in an effort to avoid the convoluted traffic, bustle, and other conditions of mainstream, high-demand locations. Second and third-tier locations are expected to make even more appearances this 2017.
“From coffee shops that host drinks receptions in the evenings and nightclubs that transform for conferences in the daytime, to empty meeting rooms in busy offices where visitors can brainstorm for an hour or two, there are so many innovate ways we can think about venue hire.” – Andrew Needham, CEO, Headbox
Leave A Positive Message
8. Leave A Positive Message
Making a social impact is also an important item making an appearance in events this 2017. Leaving a positive message is always a welcome thing. However, these changes ought to start within the event itself.
Diversity
The white-man-in-a-suit figure as the top gun in an event is fading out fast. Increased technology and social awareness has decreased the barriers to entry, allowing more and more people to participate as authority figures. Organizers can induce diversity in the event by encouraging audience participation. Social media walls, for example, can help nudge people into sharing in the discussion.
Safety
Of course, being participant-centric and leaving a positive mark also means showing the audience that you care for them. Crisis management preparations are bubbling up as a trend, ensuring that the audience is cared for in any eventuality.
“It’s not just about “being green” but also what makes good business sense in terms of company profit and giving back to the community as well.” – Damian Oracki, Founder & CEO, ShowSlice
Create Personalized Experiences
9. Create Personalized Experiences
Everyone wants to feel special. It might be something as simple as seeing your name (spelled correctly, of course), in your coffee cup. Or it might be a grand experience celebrating your achievements. Big or small, technology has made it easier for event planners to personalize their events, from emails to activities and even to giveaways.
Personalized offers
Google is a prime example of how your current interaction helps it make predictive assumptions on your future activity. This helps make things easier for participants by giving them what they want, when they want it.
Aside from smarter, activity-based emails and timed prompts, these personalizations will provide better value to customers by throwing in promotions specifically tailored to the peoples’ preferences. This is like the product suggestions in retailer websites, only at a much larger scale and much more tailored to what you want.
Personalized solutions
Personalization also helps make happy campers out of irate customers and attendees. Different people with different concerns call for different strategies. While the shotgun approach prominent in today’s industry can be effective, it can be much more efficient for event planners to provide laser-focused solutions based on the individual’s profile.
“The biggest trend that will continue to grow in 2017 for me, is the shift towards participants dictating their personal event journey.” – Stephane Doutriaux, CEO, Poken
View the trends in Slideshow format:
View the 2017 Event Trends on Slideshare
Last year we only had five event trends in our sights, which now doubled to nine top level topics. Of last year’s five, two make an appearance this year, with seven brand new trends moving the event industry forward into the future. What’s surprising is not just the new tech, but also the new attitudes and expectations of attendees for future events.
Want to learn more about trends affecting the industry? We highly recommend you check out the following resources:
EventMB’s guide to 2017 Event Trends
Corbin Ball’s 7 meeting tech to watch in 2017
EventBrite’s curration of over 50 event industry experts on 2017 trends
2017 AmEx Global Meetings and Events Forecast
Want to see how last year looked in comparison? Check out some of these:
Endless’ guide to 2016 event trends
EventMB’s 10 Event Trends For 2016
EventBrite’s 35 industry expert predictions
Successful Meetings magazine top meeting trends for 2016
EventFarm’s top event marketing trends of 2016
eTouches’ upcoming meeting trends of 2016
Genioso Event Magazine’s event trends in 2016 you need to focus on
For event planners like you who want to be in the forefront of the industry, it’s time to take a close look at each of the above trends and see which ones can turn your next event into both something memorable and something with impact.
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Will Curran
Information junkie, energetic, and work-a-holic are just some of the words we can use to describe Will. Aside from spending 20 out of 24 hours a day working as the Chief Event Einstein of Endless Events, you can catch Will ordering a chai latte or watching The Flash with his cats. He is also well known for his love of all things pretzels. On a serious note, Will does a great job leading the team and thinking of new ways to make Endless excel. His drive and dedication, to Endless, keep the rest of the staff going strong.
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