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Designing Anticipation: The Hidden Half of Experience Design
Most experience designers focus on what happens during the experience itself. But neuroscience and tourism research suggest that the emotional journey actually begins long before arrival.
In this Campfire, Joseph Franklyn McElroy (Galileo Tech Media) will explore how anticipation shapes memory, meaning, and loyalty – and how experience creators can intentionally design the before phase of an experience.
Drawing from research on Memorable Tourism Experiences (MTEs), destination marketing frameworks, and real-world experiments from my hospitality and tourism work, he will look at how storytelling, sensory cues, and digital discovery influence how guests imagine an experience before it happens.
Jospeh will also discuss how emerging AI-enabled operational systems — what he’s been experimenting with as a Sovereign Operational System — can help organizations listen to anticipation signals and adapt experiences in more responsive ways, while keeping the human story at the center.
Participants will leave with practical ideas for designing pre-arrival touchpoints that deepen engagement, strengthen loyalty, and make experiences more memorable.
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About Joseph Franklyn McElroy:
Joseph is a hospitality innovator, marketer, and storyteller whose career bridges data, tech, psychology, and art. As founder of Galileo Tech Media and owner of the Meadowlark Motel in the Great Smoky Mountains, he studies how anticipation shapes memorable experiences and deepens brand loyalty.
Joseph’s “Experience Architecture” framework combines SEO strategy, behavioral insight, and narrative design to help organizations craft journeys people revisit, re-buy, and retell. He speaks on how marketing, done consciously, can make memory itself the ultimate ROI.
How to watch this Campfire:
- Campfires are available for WXO members only
- To join the WXO, please head to our Application page
- The WXO is a global home for the leaders, shapers and doers in the Experience Economy
- As a member, you’ll get live access to Campfires like this one plus unlock an on demand library of over 100 Campfire recordings
Timings:
Campfire #2 is suitable for those in the US or Europe, but everyone is welcome! Here’s when we kick off in your time zone:
- London: 17:55 – 19:25
- Paris: 18:55 – 20:25
- Los Angeles: 09:55 – 11:25
- Santa Fe: 10:55 – 12:25
- Chicago: 11:55 – 13:25
- New York: 12:55 – 14:25
- São Paulo, Santiago & Buenos Aires: 13:55 – 15:25