Engage or Fade: Why Cognitive Design is the Future of Events

There is immense competition at the gateway to the minds of audiences in the events industry.

We are at a critical inflection point where attention is fragmented, cognitive overload is the norm, and conventional approaches are no longer enough.

Ben Moorsom is leading a global movement to rethink how we engage. As the creator of Neuroscaping® and a 25+ year pioneer at the intersection of behavioral science and experience design, Ben helps organizations stop wasting effort on legacy tactics and start designing for what really matters: the mind.

In his eye-opening discussion, Engage or Fade, Ben challenges outdated event practices and exposes how many well-intentioned design choices actually drive adverse engagement. For example, branding every surface doesn’t increase brand recall—it teaches the brain to ignore you. And he will reveal what sound level, common at many events, actually reduce comprehension and memory.

Drawing from hundreds of Behavioral Experience AuditsTM, Ben demonstrates how small, strategic changes can lead to profound behavioral impact. This isn’t about more tech, more hype, or louder environments. It’s about making it easier for attendees to engage by reducing cognitive friction and aligning with how the brain processes information. It’s about replacing outdated KPIs with behavioral ones—so that events don’t just feel successful, they are successful in driving meaningful outcomes.

Ben shares practical frameworks like the ALIGN® System, the Audience Priming EffectTM, and the Cognitive ResonanceTM Checklist to equip event professionals with tools they can use immediately to create smarter, more resonant, high-impact experiences.

If you’re still measuring what was easy to count—instead of what truly counts—it’s time to rethink. Reach out to explore how this presentation can elevate your event, your audience, and your outcomes.

About Ben Moorsom

Ben Moorsom is Founder, President and CEO of Debut Group. He is the creator of Neuroscaping® and author of Engagement: Decoded™.

Ben is passionate about audience engagement. He began his career in marketing communications as a producer but early on, he noticed that corporate communications efforts were so often missing the mark and at times, even causing harm. There had to be a better way to reach the hearts and minds of audiences.

Since 1997, Ben has been pioneering the fusion of behavioral science with creative and communications to drive engagement and behavior change. As the founder, president and CEO of Debut, Ben boldly leads debut’s team towards meaningful engagement outcomes for our clients and their audiences. His work has spanned across neuroscience, event psychology, change management, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and even the metaverse.

Ben is a seeker who thrives on discovering and decoding new knowledge and a disrupter who’s made it his life’s mission to deconstruct, recalibrate, and engineer engagement.

To learn more about Ben, visit: www.benmoorsom.com

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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