The World of the Experience Economy and the Magic of the People Making it Possible
Millennials are fueling the experience economy, but the souls who run the experiences are where we should really be paying attention.
I’m currently building a tech company in the experiences space and there is one thing the world of analysts know for sure: millennials are fueling the experience economy. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read this and it makes me excited every single time. We’d rather save and spend our money on trips, music festivals, shows and curated birthday parties than on material possessions.
What really makes me happy about that small string of words is that it means that people are gravitating to being physically together again. We are humans, we are meant to be together, not disconnected behind screens. So, not only am I’m 100% happy to hear this news, there is actually an additional upside for me, in this experiential world, and I’d like to share that with you.
I started my career in restaurants in 2009 and shortly thereafter moved to San Francisco where it became my primary career, and beyond. Restaurants are inherently experiences in themselves.
From the moment you make your reservation, your experience begins, and it ends only when the last memories of the meal you shared with another(or solo, I see you out there) finally fade away. Your walk from the front door to the table, to the bathroom, to the bar - it’s all planned and designed for you if you’re lucky enough to be in an establishment that cares. And the good restauranteurs really do.
It’s a magnificent dance, opening a restaurant every day. Like a broadway play, it requires many actors, costume changes, set design, and an audience to work the way it should.
In many ways the actors in this play, the people who make your drinks or food, greet you at the door, or wash your dishes, are a troupe, a family. Making sure your sisters and brothers are well fed, rested and loved, is all part of clocking in and out each day. Without this backbone, the meals you eat, the shows you attend, just wouldn’t have that magic to them. The people that work in experiential worlds are something else, and the bond we hold with each other, unrivaled.
When you work in experiences, restaurants or beyond, you share your life, your soul, your world, with the people on your team. Sometimes this happens on purpose, but most of the time, it happens without even knowing it. Or out of sheer necessity of needing to be 1000% on the same page as the people you’re about to spend a LOT of your time with. That bond, that common reality, between builders and creators is where the best experiences are built.
When we aren’t taking care of tables or professional athletes, or setting up stages and crews before dawn, driving dairy trucks, or shaping your consumer choices without you even realizing it, we are taking care of each other. No one leaves a coffee run with less than 6 on a tray, just in case someone who said no, changes their mind, or if someone needs a lukewarm cup in a few hours.
“I brought extra hair ties and this awesome new Argan oil, gonna make you smell gooood girl.” As we all tie our hair back to get to work. The team experience is the shared experience, it all matters.
So if you’re thinking of going and designing a new experience as your next venture, good on you, but my question is, can you make it happen even on this small of a scale. Are you a good friend? Can you turn someones day around without words? Can you blow someones mind without expecting anything in return, without getting paid, without anything, just to feel the gratification that comes from it? Can you connect with people on authentic level?
Try that out first, and from there, your answers will come, of how to truly, truly blow someones mind. And you’ll be a better person from it. We only get this one life, my challenge to you, is to experience all of it.
