The events industry has something to learn from Kanye West. I know, know. Hear me out…
I'll admit I was an old school Kayne fan (you know, the "Gold Digger" days). However, I’ve been hesitant to share this piece because the center of my inspiration is super controversial and someone whose actions I don't condone. In fact, it’s the opposite of the ethos of my company, and I downright denounce two of his collaborators: Marilyn Manson and DaBaby. However, politics and personal opinions aside, there is a lesson in his creative process for the event industry.
Back in July, Kanye debuted tracks that received a lackluster review. What happened next was pretty interesting in my opinion.
Harnessing a methodology called “Building in Public”, Kanye reengineered his tracks using real-time feedback. So what is Building in Public? It’s exactly what it sounds like, you build products in the open for users to test which allows for rapid prototyping and iterating to happen. You keep doing this until you have a product that the public truly wants. It’s done in the tech world quite a bit.
Kanye executed this by hosting massive listening parties in stadiums (2 in ATL and 1 in Chicago) that served as real time feedback. He would perform, immediately go back into the studio he set up IN THE stadium where he lived there for 10 days, reengineered according to the feedback, and repeated until he had a final product that he felt was ready for the masses.
His album, his tenth to date, released at #1.
Aside from striving for perfection, he also gained massive PR from this approach. He came back Stronger (yes, an ode to his College Dropout Album).
In the event world, so much is held so close to the vest waiting for this BIG REVEAL. But why?
How many times has that press release about “Irrelevant former political figure to keynote Event Z ” truly worked?
How silly is it that most conferences set their agendas 3-5 months in advance given the rapidly changing world we live in?
Why are we creating virtual events that are so over-produced that there is no room for change?
Why, when registration is struggling, do events resort to pushing garbage messaging 3x per week to their databases rather than ADAPT.
Why can’t brands build events in public and give the audiences something THEY helped build that they ACTUALLY want!?
The Future of Events is here for those that truly understand the humans behind the tickets. It is non-negotiable. The data, technology and creativity exist. When you have loyal fans of your brand, they make sure you are #1 - over and over and over again.
If I owned an event right now, I’d get to know my audience fast and take some design risks. Events cannot afford to move forward doing the same thing. I’d start by breaking down everything that your audience experiences about your brand and build it back up and involve your customers and audience.
“Work it, make it, do it. Makes us harder, better, faster, stronger”.