The World Experience Council
As the WXO nears our first thousand members, a committed team of experience visionaries have been selected to help the organization step up to the next level. The World Experience Council counts hundreds of years of expertise in the creative and commercial sides of the Experience Economy – and decades discovering the science, playing with the technology, and measuring the impact. Together, their collective wisdom will steer the WXO as we continue on our mission to fill the world with great experiences.
JASMIN JODRY
Executive Creative Director
Immersive Experiences that inspire Emotional Connection and Participation through Art, Culture and Entertainment.
Joe Pine
author, speaker, and advisor
B. Joseph Pine II is the cofounder of US-based Strategic Horizons LLP, a thinking studio. His many books include Mass Customization, Authenticity, Infinite Possibility, and The Experience Economy: Competing for Customer Time, Attention, and Money.
Maya Guice
Director of Strategy
Maya Guice is the Director of Strategy at BRC Imagination Arts, which partners with brands including Diageo, Ford, and NASA to translate brand and cultural stories into transformative, human experiences. Maya co-develops and oversees the short and long-term marketing, positioning, and business strategy for the firm, including all brand and growth-related activities including content, PR, events, awards, and strategic partnerships.
Samit Garg
Co-Founder & Managing Director
MD & Co-Founder of E-Factor Experiences Ltd and President of EEMA, India champions the creative economy, merging tradition with modernity in bold, sustainable experiences that cross borders and transcend boundaries of all sorts.
Dr. Paul J. Zak
Professor, Speaker, Co-Founder, Immersion Neuroscience
Dr. Paul J. Zak is Distinguished University Professor at Claremont Graduate University and is in the top 0.3% of most cited scientists. His most recent book is Immersion: The Science of the Extraordinary and the Source of Happiness.
Justin Stucey
Creative Producer
Justin Stucey’s career spans from media to arts and culture. Previously holding leadership roles with Santa Fe Opera, Meow Wolf, Denver Zoo, and many other iconic organizations, he now serves as a Producer for Walt Disney Imagineering.
Jessica Weickert
VP, Strategy at XDA
Jessica Weickert, VP of Strategy at XD Agency, leads a team of creative scientists dedicated to uncovering human truths and transforming stories into powerful experiences that evoke emotion and drive audiences to act.
Miguel Melgarejo
Director of Experience Strategy
Miguel Melgarejo is the Director of Experience Strategy at Cocolab, a leading multimedia experience studio based in Mexico City. Miguel recently founded Blobworks, an organization that focuses on training, consulting and designing experiences."
Lou Pizante
Partner The Experientialists
Lou, co-founder of The Experientialists, is passionate about scaling and investing in location-based experiences. In this thrilling (often bewildering) role, he deftly balances legal and financial physics while trying his darnedest not to crush the creative soul.
Heather Gallagher
Strategic Leader in Immersive Experiences & Transformative Events
A multidisciplinary maverick, she has led high-profile events and multi-format immersive experiences, directing passionate teams that push the boundaries of possibility. During her 19 years at Burning Man, Heather was pivotal in technology, design, cross-functional leadership, storytelling, culture, and orchestrating large-scale operations within a complex, temporary city as it evolved into a global cultural phenomenon and community.
Mat Duerden
Department Chair of Experience Design and Management
Mat is the Department Chair of Experience Design and Management in the Marriott School of Business at Brigham Young University. Mat co-authored, Designing Experiences, with Robert Rossman which was published in 2019 by Columbia Business School Press.
Frances Vieras Blanc
CEO Eat the Cake Studio
Frances is an experience maven and vibe curator with over 25 years in entertainment, from theater to video games. As Co-Founder of Eat the Cake Studio in France, she creates immersive worlds that transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. She is a founding member of the WXO and JeDI Immersive in France. She is also co-founder of Les Journées de L’Immersif, the largest immersive industry gathering in France.
Dr. Michael T Lai
Consultant, Author, and Educator
Michael T Lai is Managing Partner at China-based TANG Consulting, an eXperience strategy, design, and management consultancy. His book, *X Thinking*, co-authored with Jason Huang, is one of the first and best selling books on the Experience Economy in Mainland China.
Giulia Ferrari
Corporate Strategy & Coordination Manager
Giulia Ferrari is Corporate Strategy Manager of Balich Wonder Studio, working side by side with the CEO of the Group to develop and implement Group strategies of organic and inorganic growth, integration plans with Banijay Group after the recent acquisition (2023) and overall ESG program.
Laura Hess
Writer & Experience Strategist
I’m a writer and experience design strategist for interactive and immersive productions. I’ve worked across formats and genres in experiential marketing, theatre, film, VR, and installation art. I draw from my deep background across disciplines to design new vocabularies for emerging mediums. My work considers the impact of business models and consumer UX alongside the narrative experience.
Adam Mortimer
Head of Brand Experience & Strategy
Pioneering unforgettable experiences is my life’s work and has taken me across the globe. A journey shaped by learning, collaboration and creative application to deliver multi-awarded live and digital experiences. I’m driven and curious about what’s next. Shaping the future of experiences, where art, science, and human behavior intersect to create memorable, sensory-driven moments that resonate. Part art. Part science. All heart.
Pigalle Tavakkoli
FOUNDER & DIRECTOR, SCHOOL OF EXPERIENCE DESIGN
Pigalle is an award-winning Experience Design strategist, keynote, team trainer and educator. She is passionate to empower others in the art and science of designing emotionally charged, unforgettable client and customer experiences, to inspire engagement, retention and impact.
Julian Rad
Creative Director/ Experience Designer
Creative Director and Experience Designer working in brand, film, narrative, immersive, and technology. Sundance Film Festival, IDEA Design Awards (Industrial Design), Drama Desks, Obie Awards, IDSA UX Awards, AdAge Experiential Awards, NYMF Awards. Constantly curious.
Christopher Morrison
Narrative Human/ Founder/Director
A writer-director who has worked on over 200 films, plays, TV, VR, videogames. His feature ‘The Bellwether’ was seen over 80k times. His branching narrative VR “The Werewolf Experience” played Tokyo, Cannes, and Seoul. Cirque du Soleil has called him “A huge asset to the creative process.”
Donnacadh O'Briain
Experience Designer & Story Architect
After 20 years developing and directing all kinds of Live Theatre, winning Olivier and Offie Awards along the way, Donnacadh now divides his time between Theatre, Experience Design in a range of contexts, including large and small scale learning projects, and speaking about Story, Creativity and Parenting.
Jamie Ruddy
Writer | Director | Creator of Immersive Experiences Co-Founder & Creative Lead at Sideways Kitty
A graduate of NYU's film school and ITP program, Jamie has written for Universal Studios, won awards for screenplays and short films, and created immersive experiences for brands including AT&T, Asics, IBM, Sphere, Illuminarium and Lincoln Center.
Louise Murray
Global Innovator
Louise Murray (Lou) is a global innovator, CEO of Lemuria Dreamer LLC, and Venture Partner at Zu MTL/Capital. She specializes in transforming entertainment and hospitality through strategic leadership, delivering world-class experiences for brands like Disney and Cirque du Soleil
Eric Alba
Executive Creative Producer
Eric Alba is a Creative Producer, Designer, and Visual Effects Supervisor with 20+ years of experience in creative and technical production. He excels in leading diverse teams to create impactful, innovative experiences. Notable projects include the Museum of The Future and MSG Sphere.
Alain Thys
Founder, The Transformation Architects
Alain helps executives/investors profit from the Experience & Transformation Economy. Over the years, he’s impacted 500M+ customers, worked with 30+ brands, and over a million stakeholders, creating hundreds of millions in value—and even more smiles.
Barbara Groth
Creative Entrepreneur & Weaver of Wonder
Barb Groth is founder and creative director of the Nomadic School of Wonder, a traveling troupe of “wondermakers” who create “adventures in awe” rooted in nature, art, community and play. Each site specific sensory driven adventure is a unique, joyous and spontaneous experience into the unknown. The Nomadic School of Wonder aims to amplify our limitless imagination, expand our creative potential and deepen our connection to ourselves, each other and to the natural world.
Jerry Lee
Experience Design and Creative Strategy
Founder of Project Wonder and commissioned artist for EDC Vegas, Jerry designs communal experiences that tell stories through music and technology. As CSO of Incite Studio, he led experiential design projects for clients like Apple and Toyota with activations at major events around the world.
Tobias Geisler
CEO & Co-Founder at VAVE
Tobias Geisler is an experienced brand consultant, interior designer, and creative director who believes in the power of space to tell immersive stories that make people feel, remember, and share. At VAVE, Tobias and his team combine logic and magic, strategy and design, art and technology to create unforgettable immersive experiences that convert stories into space. As one global team of over 80 thinkers and creators, VAVE aims to shape the future of experience.
Aisha Shillingford
Artistic Director
Aisha Shillingford is the Artistic Director of Intelligent Mischief, a multi-disciplinary creative studio focused on Black radical imagination. An anti-disciplinary artist from Trinidad & Tobago, her work spans world-building, cultural strategy, and design.
Abraham Burickson
Director of Odyssey Works
Co-Founder of Odyssey Works and Co-Director of the Experience Design Certificate Program, has spent more than two decades exploring the relationship between what we make and how it is experienced. He is also the founder of The Long Architecture Project, which rethinks architectural practice from the perspective of Experience Design. His book on Experience Design was published by Yale University Press in 2023.
Wendy Heimann-Nunes
Co-Founder/Co-Managing Partner Nolan Heimann
Michael Arief Gunawan
Event Strategist & Storyteller
Mike is the founder of LiveLife, helping brands strategize their event experience to drive registration, conversation, & call to action. He strives to design experience that is not only interactive & emotionally engaging, but also impactful, leaving people wanting for more.
Ashley Jex Wagner
Senior Live Experience Strategist | Executive Producer
Ashley Jex Wagner is a live experience strategist & fandom expert with 20+ years of experience. She’s led award-winning fan experiences for Rick and Morty and League of Legends, blending creativity with strategy to drive revenue and build engaged communities.
Charlotte Bunyan
MD and Co-Founder at Arq
Charlotte is an industry trailblazer who’s pioneered award-winning work at top agencies, including Metaverse Beauty Week. She runs Arq, an innovation lab focused on next-generation virtual and augmented experiences, underpinned by behavioural science.
Ramsay Wood
Experience Designer, Unfiction author.
Ramsay is a fan-focused designer of playful, collaborative experiences. Specialising in unfiction, transmedia and story-play, he helps fans make connections by helping brands make-believe.
Arjan Schimmel
Strategic leader experience design and operations
Arjan is a strategic leader who designs and executes great experiences at scale. He has advised and worked with businesses around the world, such as Pizza Hut, Asda, McDonald’s, The White Company, eBay and Majid Al Futtaim. He currently heads up customer experience with Etihad Rail in the UAE.
Didi Bethurum
Chief Communications Officer at Meow Wolf
Didi Bethurum is the Chief Communications Officer of Meow Wolf, a US-based innovative arts and entertainment company that creates mind-bending experiences through immersive and interactive storytelling. Didi has spent over twenty years designing and delivering global enterprise marketing and communications solutions.
Ida Benedetto
Design Strategist and Experience Director
Ida Benedetto is an experience director and design strategist. She designs high-stakes meetings, adventures, and celebrations, creating opportunities for insight, innovation, and change. Clients have included BlackRock, Activision, IBM, Starbucks, Google, NBCUniversal, Ogilvy, Pfizer, and Ralph Lauren. Her research on the design of transformative social experiences has been used in coursework at Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, and NYU.
David Shulman
Chief Financial Officer at Soren West
I am a CFO with a creative streak; a business-minded artist; a team-oriented doer; a passionate builder of things. Since 2011, I’ve held executive roles in production and entertainment with projects & experiences all over the world.
Julia Eisenloeffel
Impact Experience Designer & Concept Creator at Dream Lab
Julia Eisenloeffel is an expert in impact-driven experience design, wellness and well-being. As the founder of Dream Lab, she consults for impact projects, NGOs, wellness facilities and the hospitality industry on resort builds. With a strong academic background, Julia explores how space design influences (mental) health. She teaches experience design at hospitality and tourism schools and has a background in event management for big brands like Red Bull.
Kevin Dulle
Author, Visual Strategist and Cofounder of Wonder Mint
As a Visual Translator and Strategist, and Un-workshop designer, Kevin M. Dulle brings the world of visual thinking and playful creativity to life for those seeking to SEE their ideas, insights, and overlooked opportunities. Author of the ERY Method, his passion, helping individuals and businesses see their possibilities in the world of Experiences through creative visual thinking, strategic wordplay, and insightful provocation. “A dream unseen rarely is believed. A dream not believed, seldom is achieved.”
The WXO Founding Circle, 2020-2024
In late 2020, in the teeth of the pandemic, a group of experientialists from around the globe gathered – virtually, of course.
Hailing from Shanghai to Santa Fe, Adelaide to Dubai, and from so many experience sectors, they became the WXO Founding Circle.
We’d like to thank them all for their support and help as the WXO grew from just an idea of what was missing in the world – with zero members – to today’s thriving organization with 800+ members in 41 countries on six continents. Much work to do, and so much more growing to come! But we’ve come a long, long way from zero 🙂 So – a very big thank you
