XP Land - The Art, Science & Impact of Experiential

Everything is…
Everything is Drag
Welcome to XP Land’s new series, “Everything is…” Each month, we’ll highlight an experiential trend that has caught our eye and explore the many thriving subcultures that exist today. From professional wrestling and musical theater to cruise culture and cannabis, there are hundreds of…

Field Guides
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Editors’ Picks

What to XPect
Are 2023 concerts and music festivals pricing out fans?
It’s been four years and six albums since Taylor Swift toured. Last week, the singer announced the North American leg of The Eras tour, and while the excitement among Swifties was palpable, nervousness quickly took over. How much will tickets cost? Will fans be…
What to XPect
6 insider tips for creating your own immersive storytelling experience
When I think about what an immersive production can and should be — and consider the myriad of shows and experiences I’ve seen — the work of OddKnock Productions stands out the most. The Denver-based organization was formed by Brendan Duggan, Parker Murphy, and…
The Breakdown
How to invest your surplus EOY brand budget into 2023 experiences
Another year, another budget to spend before the clock strikes midnight on January 1. Of course, we can’t ignore the sweeping tech and media layoffs dominating the business landscape right now. According to Vox, “Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg cut 11,000 employees, or 13 percent…
What to XPect
The XP Land Experts’ 2023 Experiential Predictions
If necessity is the mother of invention, then 2023 is ripe — dare we say pregnant? — with experiential opportunity. No other industry brings such creatively diverse professionals together for a common cause: To make life just a little more exciting. In 2022, experiential…
The Breakdown
XP Land’s Favorite Activations and Events of 2022
For better or for worse, 2022 was the year we all took our masks off and went out into the world again, vaccination cards safely tucked at home… somewhere. As experiential writers and professionals, the XP Land team was able to experience our passion…
Ones to Watch
Top 2022 holiday season events and experiences
Holiday events don’t have to be the same familiar players year after year. While we love a trip to the ballet to see The Nutcracker or (waiting in a two-hour line for) ice skating at Rockefeller Center, there are plenty of new and nontraditional…
What in the XP Just Happened?
Let me tell you something about my fandom: The highs and lows of BravoCon 2022
Bravo super fans are as thick as thieves and will protect each other until the end… of the weekend. Last week, more than 30,000 people attended BravoCon — the network’s second annual fan experience — at the Javits Center in New York City. That’s…
XP Insights
The best new experiential stadiums in the world: Fall 2022 edition
It’s fall again, which means: sports (at least to us). To honor the season, we’ve updated our stadiums roundup to include a look at three innovative or newly opened arenas, catering to esports and gaming, the FIFA World Cup, and yes, even the NFL…
In My Experience
How to activate your next festival with the ease and care of Austin City Limits
The last time I went to a music festival, I was a footloose and fancy-free twentysomething. I woke up late, threw on some glitter, grabbed my keys and was out the door. Last weekend at Austin City Limits (in where else, Austin, TX) was…
The Breakdown
9 of the worst music festival fails (and what experiential pros can learn from them)
Music festival tickets are expensive. It’s rare to find general admission tickets for less than $100, and those don’t come with much more than entry inside. Only when you purchase a VIP, platinum, or insert-elite-ticket-name-here pass for three to four times as much will…
Q&A
If you create it, inspiration will come: Q&A with writer and creator, Trish Harnetiaux
A playwright, filmmaker and experiential creator walk into a bar… No, it’s not three people, just the multi-hyphenate, multi-talented Trish Harnetiaux — and she probably knows the bartender, so the first round is on the house. I first met Trish on a Zoom call…
Q&A
The artist is present — and ready to collab: Q&A with artist Domonique Brown
Even in the age of multi-hyphenates, Domonique Brown presents an impressive oeuvre. A visual artist with an MBA, Brown has shrewdly positioned herself at the nexus of culture, art and commerce, and the results speak for themselves. Not only has she produced a fabulous…
Ones to Watch
Rage against the greed: Experiential lessons from the Woodstock ’99 documentaries
Which music festival do you think of when you hear Woodstock? Your perception of the event may be colored differently depending on your generation. That’s right, I’m “talkin’ bout your generation,” cue The Who. Most of us — from Boomers to Gen Z —…
XP Insights
What could the future of Austin events look like?
After two years of Covid-related tumult, big-time events are back, hopefully for good. But what do people want from experiential events now, and what are the trends we’ll see more of in the next few years? This summer, the headlines about Austin, Texas, covered…
In My Experience
Inside Out(side Lands Music and Arts Festival 2022)
“The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.”- Mark Twain Last weekend, San Francisco’s highly awaited Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival returned at last, bringing roughly 220,000 Bay Area music fans together for three days of live music in…
What in the XP Just Happened?
Sticking it to the man for 75 years: The best and worst of my first Edinburgh Fringe Festival
On a stage in Scotland’s capital city, a Cockney-accented actress playing a parody version of Ariel from The Little Mermaid stands next to a statue of Prince Eric with one *large* difference from the film (yeah, it’s exactly what you think). This is just…
Resources
Defining XP: What it is (and a bit on what it’s not)
The experiential world doesn’t have neatly defined edges. For some, it may represent “party planning” and the custom invitations, floral arrangements and DJ booths that come with that role. For us, experiential (or XP) is the magic that happens at the intersection of art,…
What in the XP Just Happened?
Going full out at Cheer Live, and why the show-to-experience formula is such a hit
When my pandemic obsession, Netflix’s Cheer, announced that the Navarro squad would head out on a Summer 2022 tour, I knew I could, I would, I must find a show to attend. Originally, I tried to convince a group of friends to venture out…

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