There was a time in New York City when major department stores ran across popular intersections. The prime example of this is Macy’s. Its flagship location continues to sit on its 34th Street throne, maintaining the importance to the larger brand, and serving as a reminder of a time when retail stores reigned supreme. I’ve been to them all, and have distinct memories with each of them: from the service I received to my experiences at the make-up counters. I remember shopping at stores like B. Altman and experiencing the wonder of the seventh floor picture collection. This was the first time I saw a celebrity picture framed with a handwritten autograph, the scrawled letters works of art made by the icons themselves. These memories are of a bygone time, when photos and handwriting were treasured objects that revealed something intimate and personal.
I have so many treasured memories from B. Altman. I saw fashion shows there. I bought my first hat there. I vividly recall the music, a classical accompaniment which flowed from the store’s grand piano, situated in the center of the retail space. I spent leisure time at the salon, relaxing and enjoying a cup of tea. The store was not just a store, it was a place to go. It was a community of staff and patrons who understood the customer – your tastes, your style, your spending habits. Shopping as an experience is one of the most pleasurable activities, although today’s fast-paced lifestyle doesn’t always permit it…
Or does it? New York City is gearing up to welcome Nordstrom’s NYC. In looking at the ads for jobs, my excitement grew. From baristas to bathroom attendants, the lists of service positions are vast. This stands in stark contrast contrast to the new Lidl DIY supermarket, which opened up near me not too long ago. Luxury is booming, but so are quicker and cheaper forms of retail. Both offer distinct experiences, and a close look into our priorities as a society.
As an experiential expert, I am reminded of the show on public television about the history of Selfridges, the iconic department store in London. Harry Selfridge, an American, created the first retail experience in London. He didn’t just sell Hermes scarves, he had Hermes come and demonstrate how to wear them. What Mr. Selfridge did was create the retail experience through events. Selfridges grew because of grand, over-the-top, experiential opportunities. He was a showman, and like P.T. Barnum and the circus, Mr. Selfridge put on a show. Selfridge knew, as many other retail icons did, that experiences and emotional connections result in sales.
I am enthusiastic to see what Nordstrom’s brings to NYC. Let the show begin!
Dianne Devitt
In theater, actors and stage elements are deliberately positioned based on how and where the director wants the actors to move. This is called blocking. Meetings and events require the same deliberate choices, and we call it flow.
The most critical success factor for events is the flow. How easy is it for your guests to move around and get the full value of the event experience, whether networking, learning, eating, drinking, enjoying entertainment, or some combination of these? Here are three things to consider with regard to your event setup:
1. Energy. Think about maintaining your event’s momentum. When people are in a continuous movement, there is a feeling that goes with that—of energy, excitement, life. Show me an event with a bottleneck or a long line at the food station and the feeling instead is one of needing oxygen: Get me out of here!!!
2. Attention. Because every venue is different, every set of choices about the physicality of a space is different. The challenge is to conceptualize a design plan that engages the audience appropriately and is directly related to the world you are inviting people to enter. For example, if new products, services, or messaging are being introduced, think about where to position the signage (both digital and analog), demo areas, interactive stations, or displays that will make the introductions. Place them near registration, a lounge, popular food stations, or a specialty bar, thereby signaling “I’d like your attention.”
One of the children’s charities I’ve worked with has a computer unit that fits over hospital beds for children to play with. At events, we display it on a small round stage with lighting. Round enables attendees to see the unit from all directions and it becomes part of the décor.
3. Deliberate Choices. The process of making choices that affect traffic, energy, and attention is what I call “kinetic engineering.” This concept requires a new way of seeing when you’re doing a site visit. As you walk the venue, identify obstacles and put yourself in attendees’ shoes.
For example, how you work with columns, ramps, balconies, windows, and stairs is based on the type of meeting or event being held and can be either a creative choice or distraction. Let’s take working in a room with columns. How we position décor and furniture around them, create food stations around them, use them for display, lighting effects, or audiovisual, makes the difference between obstacle or opportunity. With a low budget, I create a set up with a variety of rounds, both high-tops and cocktail size, to create varying heights and something to distract from what could be an impediment in the space. The simple act of shifting a square table into a diamond shape can change the flow of a room and opens up movement.
Whatever your deliberate choices, remember that the physical space is your stage and that this is a critical element of strategic meeting design.
I recently had the privilege of working with the brilliant women and men at MIT to plan the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. The name of the event was “Giant Leaps: Perspective is Everything” – and yes, it certainly is for all of us. The program ran for three days and involved a total of seven events, from a symposium to a symphony hall, where Buzz Aldrin narrated the 1937 Gustav Mahler film, The Planets, while accompanied by the glorious Boston Pops, led by Keith Lockhart. It was a magical and fitting tribute to the history-defining team of Apollo 11, who are sadly not with us to acknowledge this year’s 50th anniversary.
On the half-century anniversary of the moon landing, I’d like to publicly thank MIT, and specifically the AeroAstro Department, for the opportunity to be involved with this very special event. I’d also like to acknowledge my stellar team – Jennifer, Kathy, Vickie, Paul, Mary Ann, Carol, Ana, Denise, and so many more – who made our operation as successful as it was. One moment I will always remember is when Christopher Kraft, NASA’s first flight director, commented that our job was similar to his in overseeing the operation and keeping the fish swimming upstream... Hardly, Mr. Kraft, but thank you for the acknowledgement!
To be successful in anything we do requires taking risks. This means having the courage to make giant leaps in our own lives and always working to grow. By doing so, we not only discover new pathways, but we learn more about ourselves, our infinite potential, and our value to humankind.
In the planning process for this event, I spoke with experts, did my research, read heaps of documentation, and learned valuable lessons that have the potential to resonate with all of us.
Do you and your team take the time to discuss and analyze the reality of reaching your goal?
How would you rate your current team, whether in-house or virtual, and their collective energy at work?
Are you surrounded by the best people to do the job? If they are not performing to their potential, how can you better motivate them? What might be missing?
Are you open, honest, and trusting of your strategic partners and the vendors with whom you collaborate? Do you share information freely so that everyone can maximize their job performance?
How can our mistakes be used as case studies for growth and for the creation of new efficiencies? There truly are no mistakes in an open, trusting environment. We all make human errors, which are essential to our improvement.
In your work, do you always think of the people first? Their personal challenges, professional goals, and ways in which you can provide support?
When someone asks you to provide back-up, do you take the time to think and offer feedback that is beneficial, non-judgmental, free of personal opinions, and which can contribute to the greater good?
Do you challenge yourself to learn something new everyday? Do you use technology as a tool, rather than as a mechanism to waste time and escape into mindlessness?
How much information do you collect that may be able to help others down the road? Are you taking the time to organize your work, so it can become part of future research? Do you file and date your work, so it can be tracked?
What is your own quality control habit? Do you check your work and have someone else look at it before you submit? Do you wait a day before sending an important email, so you can read it with fresh eyes and make quality edits?
The next time you think you are facing an insurmountable obstacle, think again. How can you apply the lessons from the Apollo 11 team? Work together to accomplish extraordinary things for mankind. It just takes one small step.
Every moment of every day has the potential to provide endless inspiration – if we allow ourselves to be open to it. As a yogi, I understand the power of a full, meaningful, and compassionate breath that says ‘thank you’ to all around me. This inhale keeps me focused and grounded, regardless of the other factors which surround me. I am continually learning the immense value of concentration and focus. Settling into stillness allows me to truly hear that little voice inside me, the one that gives direction and guides me throughout my work and my life.
A compassionate breath instills calmness that opens our receptivity. Be still – and LISTEN.
I rely on a few tried-and-true methods to stimulate my creative ability, but I also constantly seek new approaches. The practice of intentionally inviting creativity is critical to the artistic process. When you grasp the thoughts which come intuitively, you are not letting your ego mind judge them. Below I list a few of my favorite methods, and I look forward to hearing your preferred practices as well.
I want to design an experience for a company whose logo is blue.
Why?
They’re my client and branding is important to them.
Why?
Because the color is a subconscious reminder of their product.
Why?
Because that’s the way color works. It is a language of the senses and makes a lasting impression. Therefore, it gives us choices on how to design the experience.
Why?
Because the company is going to invest in an event, and we want it to make a lasting impact.
Why?
Because it will keep them in business, which means more business for me as well.
You get it. Whichever question word or form works best for you, I encourage you to try this exercise. Games like this one can help us to think objectively and focus on innovative solutions.
Listen to everyone working alongside you in order to fully understand the task at hand and the ways in which a creative solution will help. Ask questions before providing the first thought that comes to mind. Often, we instinctively offer solutions without understanding the whole picture. I have a friend who finishes my sentences with quick-fix ideas. More often than not, I find myself saying, “But I haven’t finished yet; there are more details, facts, and objectives we need to consider before determining a creative solution.”
In today’s click and return age, there is more to see and experience if we take a moment to pause before our actions. Our awareness invites wisdom and illuminates invaluable creative opportunities.
Listen, ask, and breathe – the answers always come.
…Because I know that you can do it.
I venture to guess that most of you reading this have heard these words at one time or another in your life. Perhaps you remember that first time when someone ‘let go’ of the two-wheeler bicycle and you glided on your own, like a bird flying out of the nest for the first time. What a thrill, how free, how light, how happy basking in this exhilarating feeling, or you recall a challenging time in your adult life that took courage and motivation to complete a task or address a situation. Regardless of what the situation is, someone believed in you and trusted you more than you trusted your ability at the time. You were learning self-confidence; you were learning to trust that little voice inside your head thatknows you can do it.
One of my dear friends passed suddenly a couple of years ago. What happened prior, is that her beautiful daughter learned of a life altering disease that demands surgery and has affected the use of her right arm. What Mary has done is to embrace this situation and hone her trade as a left-handed photographer and her work is astounding. Many of us have urged her – just keep working because we know you can do it, Mary. She faces self-doubt constantly and that, I remind her, is what makes her art reach so many people. For creative thinking and expression is about interpreting a situation that can better help people communicate and connect.
“If you hear a voice within you say you cannot paint, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.”
― Vincent Willem van Gogh
Creativity is the ability to create solutions - and it applies to everyone. It is not restricted to people in the arts or communication. It is a part of our thought process whether you are in the military, an accountant, a mechanic, a Mom, an athlete. When anyone is in a creative moment, there is a flow that comes from within. I believe IN-SPIRIT is true IN-spiration. I’ve often silenced at the little voice in my head that says, you can’t do it or why it can’t be done or how my work is not good enough. The good voice says, I know you can do it.
Professor Patricia Sternberg believed and trusted in me when I was in college. Majoring in Theater, one of my focuses was costume design. The annual play was being produced and I was asked to design the costumes – and I did design 33 costumes on $300 budget. Pat trusted me to produce the costumes without seeing one image, one drawing. All she said was I know you can do it. I loved to sew and design, but my illustration skills were a little beyond stick figures. The costumes were perfect for the show but that little voice won because of this doubt that my illustrations weren’t good enough, that I didn’t pursue costume design. Little did I know that illustration was a separate talent.
I did the same with considering being a television anchor. That little voice telling me that I would never remember all the words and lines – again, little did I know about teleprompters and signs and reading from a script!
The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”
― Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
I know that YOU can do it! Don’t limit you. Don’t limit your talents because you can’t see where the next step is. It is our obligation to be the best we can be so when you feel the seeds of self-doubt, try the following:
AND REMEMBER THAT I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT!
It takes plenty of practice to bring awareness to your brain and to allow the flow of creative ideas. In the same way you head to the gym or take a yoga class to increase your physical strength, it takes work to improve your creative confidence. We are all creative beings, and each of us expresses ourselves differently. Your creative workout is just as important as your physical workout, and like a physical workout, it may be different for everyone.
Here are a few ways to stimulate those right brain neurons and spark your creativity:
1. Start your morning with a ten-minute meditation. Focus on inhaling for four counts and exhaling for eight counts. Relaxation encourages free thoughts.
2. If you work at home, take a walk in the middle of the day, varying your route each day. Look up and make a note of all that you see: the details, the flowers blooming, a new street sign, construction. The fresh air, physical activity, and change of scenery will increase blood flow and fill your mind with new ideas.
3. If you commute, stimulate and surprise your thoughts by driving an alternate route or listening to different audio each day. Audiobooks are a fantastic source of inspiration. Mixing up your music will fire up your neurons and increase your creativity.
4. Doodle. Use a favorite pen or pencil that moves easily on paper and make whatever you like! Forget what you were told in school: doodling is a healthy habit that enforces concentration. Our brains shift every 20 minutes from right to left dominant thinking. Hence, the phrase “writers block” is real. Be aware of your breath as your thoughts mirror your pen, shifting from analytical to free form.
5. An afternoon working at a desk can sometimes feel like a vortex. Give yourself permission to get up and move. Movement stimulates blood flow and keeps your thoughts freely flowing.
6. Carry a notebook, so you are prepared whenever creativity strikes.
7. We live in an Instagram society, so feel free to take photos. However, remember that your eyes are your best camera. Sometimes we lose an irreplaceable moment in time while focusing on a lens.
8. Visit museums, and immerse yourself in all types of art. The best way to visit a museum is to focus on one piece. Absorb it, make it your muse, and walk away with insights and your own vision. Visiting an entire gallery in a few short hours will not allow you to contemplate and absorb the creativity in the same way.
9. Find inspiration in all types of design: fashion, architecture, linens, even automobiles! All ideas and patterns reflect the design of their time.
10. Be yourself. Each one of us is a different design, made for a unique reason. Like flowers in a garden, we grow together, but each one has its own beauty and purpose.
Creativity is a heightened state of awareness that allows to see things differently. However, you must be certain that you are seeing and understanding the entire situation before offering solutions.
Once you have followed these 10 steps, let your inner creativity flow!
Dianne Devitt
