Rendering Authenticity Part Four

"People tend to consider offerings that honor some previous place, object, person, event or idea as authentic." Thus starts the section in Authenticity on Reverential Authenticity.

The principles:

• Pay a personal tribute
• Evoke a time
• Pick a place
• Make it matter
• Be realistic

The only one here that made a real impact on me of the list as it relates to events is 'pick a place. It brings to mind the MashUp Camp that my friend Doug Gold did in the Computer History Museum(as a venue). Thinking about the audience, which was developers, this was the ideal place for an event, and certainly made it authentic.

The last of the five principles is Influential Authenticity, which can seem a little 'touchy feely' but comes back to a concept that I read recently in Strategy and Business Magazine( which is by the way a great magazine if you like an aggregate view of the latest business thinking), that people look for significance and meaning in their work, that is, that what they do has influence over the world, other people, etc.

What struck me in this section of the book was the section about Jon Jerde's intention in building the Bellagio in Las Vegas which is: "our purpose is to fabricate rich, experiential places that inspire and engage the human spirit".

Wouldn't this be an incredible motto for an event:

"Our mission for this event is to run an rich experiencial conference which truly engages the participants and makes them happy to work in this industry". If I see this on the masthead of a website or brochure I hope I get a cut....

Enjoy the weekend...