The World Experience Summit is a three-day, in-person gathering taking place 28-30 June 2023.

For the first time ever, Experience Economy pioneers from around the globe and across sectors will come together to define the future of experiences.

Experience designers, creators, producers, operators, promoters and thinkers from across all 25 sectors of the Experience Economy will:

• Connect and collaborate with like-minded Experience Economy experts.
• Discover radical ideas about the Art, Science and Business of experiences.
• Learn how to stage more successful, profitable, and sustainable experiences.
• Share in writing the next chapter of the Experience Revolution.

Super Early Bird tickets will be live for WXO Members from midday Tuesday March 7 until midnight Friday March 17.

From Friday March 3 at 12pm GMT, we are opening our programming to submissions from both WXO Members and non-members.

What Are We Looking For?

The World Experience Summit’s agenda is TBCC: To Be Co-Created.

We’re therefore open to various formats as we design and evolve our programming. Some examples might be:

• Experience Workshops: teach an audience how to design, make, operate, and promote successful experiences. You might lead an innovation and experience design workshop, or prototype experience concepts.

• Big Ideas, Weird Ideas & Experience Trends: TED-style talks on the Art, Science, Business and Future of Experiences. These might be from one or two speakers (or more!). They might focus on Techniques & Frameworks, Tools, Principles or Case Studies (see The 6 Types Of WXO Campfire for more details).

• Pop-Ups & Prototypes: present your limited-edition, multi-sensory, experiential pop-ups and never-seen-before experience prototype try-outs before our audience of experience experts.

• Something Else Entirely: we also welcome rogue, rebellious and really weird ideas that don’t fit into any of the above boxes. A game, scavenger hunt, ARG…?

The Four Golden Requirements

1. The best submissions strike a balance between nerding out about your specialism, and having clear takeaways for ALL experience experts. You’re here because you know things no-one else does – so we absolutely want to hear you get deep, specific and weird about what you do. However, we find that the best talks/workshops/whatevers often also outline tools, techniques, tips and insights that will help experience experts from all sectors create and stage better experiences. While it’s up to them to draw that inspiration and apply it to their sector, if you can help light the way, all the better.
   
   
2. We’re looking for you to be brave, generous, and vulnerable. The WXO community is a safe and inclusive space for you to share your ideas: we respect IP, encourage debate and (polite) disagreement, and practice assertive inquiry. We want to provide a real insight into aspects of the experience industry that might not be talked about elsewhere – so don’t be afraid to share (semi) confidential details, such as budgets, costs, investment sources and sales, and ask the uncomfortable questions.
   
   
3. We actively seek diverse perspectives. In our regular Campfire series and beyond, we’re striving to represent not only all sectors and regions, but also all voices within the Experience Economy. We therefore encourage applications from all races and genders, LGBTQ+ and disabled people, and those with diverse backgrounds or who are otherwise typically underrepresented within the experience community.
   
   
4. No sales pitches, please! Our experience pioneers aren’t here to be sold to – they’re here to learn. If you’re interested in sponsorship opportunities, you can contact us at james.wallman[at]worldxo[dot]org.

Submission Process & Timeline

All proposals will first be evaluated by The World Experience Organization editorial board to ensure they are suitable for the Summit.

We’ll then put the shortlist of proposals to the WXO Member community, who will decide who should make the final cut.

Timeline:

• Friday 3 March 2023: application process opens at 12pm GMT
• Friday 31 March 2023: applications close at 11:59pm GMT
• TBC: the shortlist will be revealed to the WXO community
• TBC: poll closes and the results will be sent to successful applicants

We only have a small number of proposals that we can accept this year. However, please do apply if you have an idea you are excited to share! We may be able to include your proposal in other parts of our schedule, such as the Unconference, or other events that we organise.

The application process opens Friday 3 March at 12pm GMT.

The deadline to submit is Friday 31 March at 11:59pm GMT. 

Any questions?

We encourage you to also submit your proposal in the first instance. You’re welcome to email our CEO James Wallman via james [dot] wallman [at] worldxo [dot] org

Thank you to The Immersive Experience Institute, whose Call For Proposals guidelines greatly informed and helped the writing of this page!