XP Land - The Art, Science & Impact of Experiential

XLIST
Announcing the Jury for the 2023 XP Land XLIST, in partnership with C2
Over the past three challenging years, what was the single thing we all missed the most? The experience of being together. We missed concerts and festivals and sporting events and every single form of gathering. But during that time, the visionaries of the experiential…

Field Guides
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Editors’ Picks

Projects
But Is it Art? Immersive Experiences Aim for Selfies with Substance
Pictures of friends in alleged “museums” dedicated to pizza, color, and, uh, a certain number of rooms have been plaguing my Instagram feed for years. The pandemic flattened some experiences (RIP, Rose Mansion), while others have trudged on (I see you Candytopia), but the…
The winners (Big Tech) and losers (musicians) of SXSW 2023
In Austin, SXSW is a (sip in the sunshine, dance all day and all night) state of mind —whether you have an official badge or not. The unofficial theme of SXSW 2023: Big Tech Inside the sprawling bottom level of the Austin Convention Center,…
Resources
23 experiential statistics for your 2023 events
We don’t want to jinx it, but… Could 2023 be the first year of maskless, full-capacity events without vaccine checks since 2019? Since the onslaught of the (unprecedented!) Covid-19 pandemic and through its ups and downs, the experiential industry has responded with admirable creativity…
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…
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…
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…
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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