The real art of spectacle is not what you think
"Spectacle" is one of those words that can send the imagination in multiple directions.
For some, it means a packed stadium filled with color and noise. For others, it's a breathtaking, supersized opening ceremony, an immersive installation or a sound and light production designed to stop people in their tracks.
But a closer look at our Design for Spectacle track suggests that event leaders tasked with creating spectacle are thinking far beyond a single “wow” moment. Speakers from organizations including FIFA World Cup 2026™, Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix, Fanatics Events, AREA15, the Vegas Golden Knights, Expo 2031, the Athletics (A's) baseball team, DMP Creative, BaAM, Meetings Today, the LVCVA and Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, all work at the sharp end of audience engagement. They understand how to attract attention.
What's perhaps more interesting is what they're focusing on now: community, connection, trust and long-term impact. In other words, making that hard-won attention stick.
In Beyond the Spotlight: Rethinking Mega Event Legacy for Host Communities, Mario Thompson, Aubrey Walton, Jennifer Roche, Wendy Meadley and Sharifa Wilkinson explore a question that reaches far beyond mega events. How do organizers leave something of value behind once the crowds have gone home and the cameras have stopped rolling?
It’s a conversation that challenges the industry to look beyond attendance figures and economic headlines. Lasting impact is increasingly measured through community outcomes, social impact and the opportunities for human connection that an event creates long after the closing session.
A similar theme runs through Community First Thinking When the World is Arriving. Drawing on the experience of Formula 1 in Las Vegas, Lori Nelson-Kraft and Rebecca DeLuca will examine how destinations can welcome a global audience while keeping local communities at the center of decision-making.
It's easy to assume these lessons belong exclusively to world-famous events. In reality, every organizer faces some version of the same challenge: balancing visitor expectations with the needs of the people and places that host them.
In From Sideline to Show Floor: What Sports Teaches Brands About Belief, Lance Fensterman and Annemarie Roe draw on insights from sports and live experiences to explore why some events inspire genuine advocacy while others simply deliver a pleasant experience. Freeman’s Mickey Wilson will moderate.
Anyone can fill a venue with enough marketing noise and muscle, but creating a sense of belonging is a different challenge altogether.
Sports has long understood that people return for more than the action on the field. Fans want to feel part of something larger than themselves.
That thinking connects with Building Fans, Delivering Experiences Beyond the Field, where Kristen Santero, Catherine Aker and Devon M. Pasha explore how organizations nurture loyalty and engagement over time.
Running through all of these sessions is another question many planners will recognize: how do you keep experiences fresh while delivering consistently?
In Creativity Meets Consistency, AJ Annunziata and Tyler Davidson examine the balancing act between innovation and execution. It's where ambitious ideas meet operational realities and where experiences become memorable for the right reasons (or the wrong ones!).
The Design for Spectacle track offers a timely reminder that the most talked-about events are not always those with the largest budgets, biggest audiences or most ambitious productions.
More often, they're the events that make people feel welcome, valued and connected to one other. These events understand that people are deeply social and driven by emotion and memory. Their success comes from understanding what helps us connect, remember and experience a sense of awe.
That's a great lesson whether you're planning for 200 people or 200,000.
Featured speakers in the Design for Spectacle track
- Catherine Aker Senior VP, Marketing & Communications, Athletics (the A's)
- AJ Annunziata, VP & Creative Director, AREA15
- Tyler Davidson, VP & Chief Content Director, Meetings Today
- Rebecca DeLuca, VP of Destination Sales, LVCVA
- Lance Fensterman, CEO, Fanatics Events
- Wendy Meadley, CEO and Chair, EXPO 2031 Minnesota USA
- Lori Nelson-Kraft, Senior VP, Community Affairs, Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix
- Devon M. Pasha, Emcee and CEO, DMP Creative
- Mario Thompson, Chief Sales Officer, Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board
- Jennifer Roche, Director of Community of Legacy at the FIFA World Cup 2026 Miami Host Committee
- Annemarie Roe, President, BaAM Productions
- Kristen Santero, VP of Digital Marketing & Fan Development, Vegas Golden Knights
- Aubrey Walton, Executive Director of Host Cities, FIFA World Cup 2026™
- Sharifa Wilkinson, Director of Event Management Education, Florida International University
- Mickey McClay Wilson, Chief Marketing Officer. Freeman Company
