The World Experience Summit is a three-day, in-person gathering taking place 12-14 June 2024 in New York City.
Experience designers, creators, producers, operators, promoters and thinkers from across all 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 soon, with the general ticket release to follow shortly thereafter.
And from Thursday March 7 at 12pm GMT, we are opening our programming to submissions from both WXO Members and non-members.
Applications closed on Friday March 29. Click the button below to submit yours now, or read on for a more detailed submissions guide.
What Are We Looking For?
The World Experience Summit’s agenda is TBCC: To Be Co-Created. We’re hosting co-creation sessions with the WXO community throughout March as we design and evolve our programming.
Last year, we ran a mixture of talks, presentations, panels, workshops and pop-ups, as well as unplanned “unconference” sessions that presenters signed up for on the day.
This year, we’ll still be welcoming all of the above – but we’re especially interested to hear from those with ideas for participatory and interactive workshops and experiences that shake up the traditional conference format. This is the World Experience Summit, after all…
Proposal Formats
- 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.
2023 examples: From Storytelling To Story-Doing: An Experience Design Masterclass, GOLDFIRE Social, Ritual Design 101, WXO PlayLab, Innovation Workshop
2. Big Ideas, Weird Ideas & Experience Trends
TED-style talks 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). They might include an element of performance, run more as an open discussion or panel, or include props.
2023 examples: The Transformation Economy (Joe Pine), Designing For Happiness (in conversation with Michael Acton Smith), The Immersive British Artists (panel)
3. 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.
2023 examples: Sounds of the Ocean, Novobeing VR, Eventwell & The Neu Project’s Quiet Room, Oizy’s Labyrinth, Dreambox
4. 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…?
2023 examples: Wonder Walk with Barbara Groth, Accessibility Consultancies with Beth Rypkema, Sonic Coffee with Caroline Hobkinson, Cross The Threshold Experience by Ricky Thomas & Tanner Wells
Content Themes
By Sector
The World Experience Summit is a global gathering of experience innovators from all 29 experience sectors, so we welcome (and encourage!) submissions from across the Experience Economy.
If you represent any of the below, we’d love to hear from you:
- Immersive
- Employee Experience
- Museums & Attractions
- Brand Experience
- Gaming
- VR, AR, XR & The Metaverse
- Experiential Retail
- Experiential Marketing
- Experiential Travel & Tourism
- Customer Experience
- User Experience
- Live Events
- And many more…
By Topic
We’re looking for proposals across the Art, Science, Business & Future of Experience.
The Art of Experience: tools, techniques and frameworks to help stage better experiences.
2023 examples: Audience-Centric Storytelling, Transformative Immersive Experiences, Travel Is Better When It’s Experience Designed, How To Do It In Public, How To Build A Magic Nostalgia Factory.
The Science of Experience: using trends in neuroscience to create experiences that are more fulfilling, resonant, and better for our wellbeing.
2023 examples: Immersive Mental Wellbeing, The Power Of Audio-Immersive Experiences, An Introduction To Neuroaesthetics, The Body Tells Our Stories.
The Business of Experience: how to create experiences that are more profitable, sustainable, measurable and successful.
2023 examples: The Importance Of Communications In The Immersive Industries, The Future Of Branding In The Experience Economy, Designing Seriously Kick-Ass B2B Experiences, Return On Experience Roundtable, Climate Fitness, Diversity Of Thought, Community & Understanding.
The Future of Experience: what’s new and next in the world of experiences, from new technologies to emerging trends.
2023 examples: Spatial Audio: Your Scaleable Superpower, Digital Twins Will Revolutionize Immersive Experiences, Game Engines Are Your Future, How To Upgrade IRL Experiences With AR, The Social Revolution.
Want to explore last year’s full programme for inspiration? Download it here.
The Four Golden Requirements
- KEEP IT CROSS SECTOR.
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 specific. However, we find that the best talks/workshops/whatevers 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. - BE BRAVE.
We’re looking for you to be 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 also 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. - EVERYONE IS WELCOME.
We actively seek diverse perspectives. 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. - TELL, DON’T SELL.
No sales pitches, please – our experience innovators aren’t here to be sold to, they’re here to learn. If you’d like to know more about available sponsorship opportunities, please fill out our Sponsorship Enquiry form here.
Submission Process & Timeline
All proposals will be evaluated by The World Experience Summit steering committee to ensure they are suitable and fit with the overall programme.
- Thursday 7 March 2024: application process opens at 12pm GMT
- Friday 29 March 2024: applications close at 11:59pm GMT
- Mid-April: successful applicants will be notified and sent next steps.
We only have a small number of proposals that we can accept this year as part of the official programme.
However, please do apply if you have an idea you are excited to share! We may be able to include your proposal in other, more lightly scheduled parts of the programme, such as the unconference, or other events that we organise, such as our weekly Campfire and PlayLab series.
Thank you to The Immersive Experience Institute, whose Call For Proposals guidelines greatly informed and helped the writing of this page.
