Trends, Creative Insight, and the Future of Events
Carley Faircloth, CMO for Spiro, sits down with their new Chief Creative Officer, John Trinanes, to connect on some cool trends he is seeing in the events industry. John also shares how he is designing cohesive, integrated brand experiences across a variety of different platforms and mediums for clients.
Carley: Tell me about your favorite trends you’re seeing in the industry right now.
JT: The “Festivalization” of the Conference: Rethinking the model of the traditional ballroom conference and making it into an immersive outdoor experience where attendees can engage in different situations. We can learn a lot from outdoor festivals like SXSW, Coachella and Bonnaroo.
The Idea of Asynchronous Communities: Major companies have historically held one yearly conference or event, but now that virtual events are becoming more common, events can be put on more often. The conversations they spark can continue online for years to come, blurring the line between one "event" and the next. The purpose of an event is connection with other humans, ideas and inspiration- but beyond that, the dividends of an event is a connection so powerful that it continues long after the moment ends- to become community. People attend events but they join communities.
Carley: What is one piece of advice someone gave to you early in your career that you still refer to today?
JT: There are 10 ways to do one thing. Make sure you explore those ten ways as part of your brainstorming process.
Carley: Out of all the events and shows you can attend in the next year, which one are you planning to be THERE for?
JT: Farnborough Air Show outside of London – the granddaddy of them all.
Carley: At Spiro, we aren’t using terms like IRL and URL anymore which has become the industry norm recently. How are you explaining to your peers and others in the industry what’s happening with people attending events in person or virtually?
JT: There is really no distinction between a live event or a virtual event. There is this convergence of mediums. Even during a live engagement, we embrace the fact that attendees are consuming content and engaging in their own personal way, where some prefer the traditional way of sitting in the general session hall. Some may choose to sit in a common area or restaurant for that matter. And some may even choose to engage while on the treadmill at the hotel fitness center. The common thread is whenever, wherever your THERE is, your experience can be. It’s ARL (All Real Life). Spiro’s objective is to design experiences that meet those audiences where they are. So that ongoing communities of ideas, identities and shared interests continue long after the event or experience is over.
Carley: With Spiro’s Pursuit of THERE•ness, where would you say your THERE is?
JT: Newport, Rhode Island – Second Beach – sitting on a surfboard as the sun goes down with my children and just appreciating what we have in life.
Carley: What was one of your first creative outlets growing up that you wish you still had time for now as an adult?
JT: As a child growing up in California in the 70’s, I would wake up at the crack of dawn and turn on the TV to watch Japanese science fiction superhero shows like Ultraman, Godzilla and Giant Robot. I would then recreate these characters in clay which became my favorite medium along with drawing. This led to me creating clay figures for King Kong and Mecha-Godzilla. In sixth grade, I created a stop animation film of all my clay figures. I even built a huge set. To this day, I stay young with my obsession with anything anime and comic books (specifically Marvel). And have a very large collection of comic books dating all the way back to the early 60’s.