Why Creating Experience is Rewarding

I love creating experiences. If you had to ask me what’s the one thing that I enjoy most, the one thing that gets my juices flowing, it’s putting all of my energy & creativity into conceptualizing and producing experiences which people will enjoy. It was this desire to make people happy through experience that I wound up in the events world: creating political campaign events, producing live concerts, generating program ideas for the 92^nd Street Y, writing scavenger hunt clues and, ultimately, starting a live trivia company.

There’s just something about creating positive memories – both for myself and for others – which is extremely rewarding. I’ve never been one of those technology guys who loves “toys” – I just recently upgraded to a smartphone after 10 years of a “flip,” prefer books to kindle and don’t even have a television (though I accept the necessary role technology plays in trivia events). To my thinking, material objects are just not as fulfilling as doing things; I’d choose an incredible meal at an amazing restaurant over a comparably-priced handheld gizmo any day of the week.

So what is it about creating experiences for others that I find so rewarding? An executive coach recently asked me this exact question, which forced me to give it some deliberation. I ultimately think it comes back to the fact that I love to have fun, and assume that most people do as well. I also love anything involving creativity, high energy, humor, surprises and happy people. Also, for whatever reason I have the ability to visualize events I’m creating through the participants’ eyes; like telling a story or long joke, I have a sense of what people will respond to, as well as when and how.

It’s a fun challenge for me to try and imagine the thought processes people will have when they encounter a situation I’ve created. With scavenger hunts, I love devising clues which I know people will find both clever and entertaining; for trivia, it’s all about asking questions that the group will find highly relevant, perhaps also nostalgic. Even at my recent wedding, my wife and I took enormous pains to ensure that the event was fun and memorable not just for us, but for our guests as well.

In the end, I ultimately receive a great deal of satisfaction having created a unique, positive, memory-filled experience which people really enjoyed. That’s what drives me, and those are the kind of events which I strive to produce for my clients each and every day.

Are you an event professional who also has a passion for creating positive experiences?  Please share your story in the “Comments” section below!