Gianna's Gem: Nervous System Regulation- the Secret Weapon Event Planners and Their Attendees Need

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Hi there,

Last week, I had one of those conversations that stops you in your tracks. I’ve wanted to write about nervous system regulation for a while and this conversation convinced me of the need to share about why it can be a life strategy and also a business strategy you may never have considered but need to if you want durability…in your own life, and in your business.

I was catching up with an industry colleague who just finished running her company's activation at AWS re:Invent…you know, that 60,000-person conference I've written about before that's essentially Disneyland meets the Super Bowl for tech folks.

"Gianna," she said, "re:Invent is always such an assault on the nervous system. The crowds, the noise, the overstimulation, the constant 'on' energy... by day three, everyone (attendees AND our booth staff) is always completely fried." I agreed with her, commiserating about this week-after-Thanksgiving assault of the nervous system (Vegas, crowds, holidays) during the busiest time of the year.

Then she told me something brilliant.

This year, her company partnered with a client to create something different: a nervous system regulation lounge right on the expo floor. In the tech world of grind-culture, this was a HUGE RISK, but it resonated deeply with attendees and booth staff and was a wild success! Not another branded booth with product demos and lead capture forms. An actual sanctuary designed specifically to help people downshift from sympathetic (fight-or-flight) to parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) nervous system states when they needed it most. For anyone who’s tried to catch an Uber during this event just to get back to your hotel room for a 15 minute meditation or disco nap, and found the wait to be an hour, you know what I mean!

The results? Wildly successful with attendees who literally queued up to experience some relief! But here's what really caught my attention: her booth staff reported that after spending time in the regulation lounge during their breaks, they felt calmer, more grounded, and had more strategic, meaningful conversations with prospects, which directly drove better business results.

Let me say that again: Creating space for nervous system regulation didn't just feel good. It drove revenue. MIND. BLOWN. 

We can take care of ourselves and win the business too!

This conversation crystallized something I've been thinking about for years but haven't yet written about: the absolute necessity of nervous system regulation—both for us as event and tech professionals navigating high-stress industries, and for the attendees we're designing experiences for.


The Science: What Your Nervous System Is Actually Doing (And Why It Matters)

Before we dive into solutions, let's talk about what's happening in your body when you're planning that conference, managing that crisis, or standing on an expo floor for 10 hours straight.

Your autonomic nervous system has two main branches:

The Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) is your accelerator. It activates when you perceive threat or stress, triggering the famous fight-or-flight response. Heart rate increases. Cortisol and adrenaline flood your system. Blood flow redirects from your digestive system and prefrontal cortex (the part of your brain responsible for complex thinking, emotional regulation, and decision-making) to your muscles. You become hyper-vigilant, reactive, and focused on survival.

The Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) is your brake. It activates during safety and calm, triggering rest-and-digest mode. Heart rate slows. Cortisol drops. Blood flow returns to your digestive system and prefrontal cortex. You can think clearly, make strategic decisions, connect authentically with others, and access your creativity.

Here's the problem: modern event planning (and attending intensely stimulating events) keeps us in chronic SNS activation.

Tight deadlines. Budget pressures. Last-minute vendor changes. Stakeholder demands. Technology failures. And for attendees? Overwhelming crowds. Sensory overload. Back-to-back sessions. FOMO about missing the "right" networking opportunity. The pressure to be "on" and perform.

When your Sympathetic Nervous System is chronically activated, several things happen:

  • Your decision-making deteriorates. That prefrontal cortex shutdown means you're operating from your reptilian brain—reactive instead of strategic.


  • Your creativity evaporates. Innovation requires the cognitive space that SNS activation eliminates.


  • Your emotional regulation fails. You snap at your team. You catastrophize problems. You lose perspective.


  • Your body breaks down. Chronic cortisol wreaks havoc on everything from your immune system to your sleep quality to your digestive health.


  • Your relationships suffer. When you're in fight-or-flight, you can't attune to others. Authentic connection becomes impossible.


And here's what hit me hardest about my colleague's story: If this is true for us as planners, it's equally true for our attendees.


The Event Planner Paradox: We're Dysregulated While Designing Experiences

Let's get real for a moment. How many of you have:

  • Responded to an email at 11 PM while your heart was racing about tomorrow's site visit?

  • Eaten lunch standing up in three minutes between back-to-back calls or skipped it completely or…eaten but not really felt like you were aware of eating?

  • Felt your chest tighten when you saw your inbox hit 150+ unread messages?

  • Had trouble falling asleep because your brain was spinning through the event run-of-show?

  • Snapped at your partner/kids/team because you were stretched so thin?

  • Felt simultaneously exhausted and wired, unable to truly relax even on "off" days?

This isn't just stress. This is nervous system dysregulation. And it's not sustainable.

I learned this the hard way. During my years at Google, Softbank, AWS, Airtable… I was executing flawlessly on the outside while slowly burning out on the inside. I was checking every box, meeting every deadline, exceeding every expectation—while my body was screaming for me to slow down. 


The wake up call came for me when I was trying to conceive my son. After multiple costly failed attempted to conceive, including rounds of IVF, I finally caved and took a full month of unused vacation time to see if that would help. Sure enough, that’s when I conceived.  My work kept me in such a state of chronic fight or flight, I needed a full month “off” from work for my body to feel safe enough to carry a child.

Was it a heart attack? No. It was a panic attack—my nervous system finally waving the white flag after months of chronic activation.

That moment changed everything for me. I realized that my "I'll rest after this event" mentality was fundamentally broken. Because in this industry, there's always another event. Another deadline. Another crisis. Another email waiting to be responded to…


Gianna's Gem: You cannot pour from an empty nervous system. The quality of the experiences you create is directly related to the state of your own regulation.


Why Tech and VC Professionals Need This Even More

If you're reading this and working in tech, venture capital, or similarly high-velocity industries, you're facing a perfect storm of nervous system stressors:

  • Constant Context-Switching: Moving between Slack, email, Zoom, Notion, pitch decks, and product demos keeps your brain in a state of fragmented attention that's neurologically exhausting.

  • Always-On Culture: The expectation that you're available across time zones, responding to messages at all hours, attending "optional" evening events that aren't really optional.

  • High-Stakes Decision-Making: Whether you're deciding which startup to fund or which product feature to prioritize, the cognitive load is immense—and it's happening while your nervous system is already taxed.

  • FOMO and Competitive Pressure: The fear that you're missing the next big thing, that your competitor just closed a deal you should have seen, that you're not networking enough/shipping fast enough/scaling quickly enough.

  • Event Overload: Between investor dinners, demo days, conference activations, team offsites, customer events, and industry gatherings, you're constantly "on"—performing, pitching, connecting.

The result? An entire industry of brilliant people operating from dysregulated nervous systems, making suboptimal decisions while wondering why they feel simultaneously exhausted and anxious.


The Nervous System Regulation Lounge: A Case Study

Let me paint you a picture of what my colleague created with with her client at reInvent.

Walking into AWS re:Invent's expo hall is like walking into sensory chaos. Flashing lights. Competing music and booth “teaching theaters” blaring content. Thousands of conversations happening simultaneously. Booth staff shouting demos. The constant buzz of opportunity and overwhelm.

And then: an oasis. The “nervous system reset lounge” was designed with intention at every level:

Sensory Design:

  • Soft, warm lighting (no harsh fluorescents)

  • Sound dampening materials to reduce the chaos of the expo floor

  • Comfortable seating that actually supported the body

  • Plants and natural elements to trigger biophilic responses

  • A water feature providing gentle white noise


Regulation Activities:

  • Guided breathwork sessions every 30 minutes

  • A quiet meditation corner with cushions and noise-canceling headphones

  • Gentle stretching and movement prompts displayed on screens

  • Grounding activities (like a sand zen garden)

  • Hydration station with herbal teas and infused water

Time Structure:

  • A cubby to “check and charge” your devices so you won’t have distraction and also get a nice recharge for your phone while you’re recharging your own batteries. Optional option to have a staff member come get you after a set amount tof time has passed so you can relax stress-free.

  • Gentle encouragement to stay for at least 10 minutes (research shows it takes approximately 10 minutes to shift from SNS to PNS activation)

  • No pressure to engage with product information or sales staff

  • No sales messaging, just light branding that enticed people to learn more just because it was so unobtrusive.

Here's what happened:

For Attendees:

  • People literally lined up to enter during peak expo hours (there was a “notify me” option so people didn’t have to stand in line and get more stressed when this happened)

  • The average stay time was 17 minutes—in an environment where most booth interactions last under 3 minutes

  • Attendees reported feeling "reset," "grounded," and "able to focus again"

  • Social sharing was organic and enthusiastic—people genuinely wanted others to know about this space

  • Brand affinity skyrocketed (more on this in a moment)

For Booth Staff:

  • Team members who took regulation breaks reported feeling less frazzled and more present leading to…

  • More strategic conversations (fewer rushed pitches, more listening and understanding)

  • Their ability to read prospects improved (when you're regulated, you can attune to others)

  • They closed more qualified leads because they were operating from their prefrontal cortex instead of survival mode

  • End-of-day energy levels were significantly higher than previous years

For Business Results:

  • Higher quality lead capture (people who were genuinely interested vs. people grabbing swag)

  • Increased time spent with prospects (those strategic conversations)

  • Better brand perception ("This company actually cares about my wellbeing")

  • Measurable pipeline from conversations that happened in calmer, more grounded states

Gianna's Gem: When you help people regulate their nervous systems, they associate your brand with safety, care, and genuine value—not just products and pitches.


What Nervous System Regulation Looks Like for Event Planners

Okay, so you're convinced this matters. But how do you actually regulate your nervous system when you're in the thick of event planning?

Here are the practices that have transformed my own planning process and kept me sane through some of the most demanding events of my career:


1. The Morning Non-Negotiable

Before I dive into my to-do list, I spend 10 minutes regulating my nervous system. This isn't a luxury, it's the foundation that makes everything else that will happen that day so much more manageable and my priorities so much clearer.

My ritual:

  • 2-5 minutes of breathwork (4-count inhale, 8-count exhale activates the vagus nerve and shifts you into parasympathetic mode) 

  • 5 minutes of gentle stretching or yoga

  • 5 minutes of journaling intentions for the day

Why it works: You're training your nervous system to start the day from a grounded place instead of immediately spiking into stress mode. This baseline regulation carries through your entire day.

The resistance you'll face: "I don't have 15 minutes!" Here's the truth: you're going to spend those 15 minutes somewhere—either proactively regulating, or reactively managing the mistakes, miscommunications, and meltdowns that happen when you operate from dysregulation.


2. The Micro-Regulation Breaks

You can't sustain regulation through 8+ hours of back-to-back meetings and crisis management. You need strategic breaks throughout the day.

Every 90 minutes, I take 5 minutes to:

  • Step outside (even just to a window) and get natural light

  • Do a body scan (notice where I'm holding tension)

  • Take 10 deep breaths

  • Stretch my neck, shoulders, and back

  • Drink water (dehydration increases cortisol)

Why it works: These micro-breaks prevent the accumulation of stress. You're resetting your baseline instead of letting dysregulation compound throughout the day.

Pro tip: Set calendar reminders (or another mechanism that will enable you to remember your intention). Otherwise, you'll get sucked into the vortex and realize at 6 PM that you haven't moved or breathed properly all day.


3. The Sacred Lunch break

I know, I know—lunch is when you "should" be networking, squeezing in one more call, or powering through emails.

But here's what I discovered: when I protect even 20 minutes for lunch for actual nourishment and regulation, my afternoon productivity skyrockets.

My lunch protocol:

  • Eat sitting down (not at my desk)

  • Put my phone away completely

  • Chew slowly and actually taste my food

  • Take a 10-minute walk after eating

Why it works: Your digestive system only works properly in parasympathetic mode. When you eat while stressed (SNS activation), your body can't properly digest—leading to energy crashes, brain fog, and that horrible "wired but tired" feeling.

Plus, that midday reset prevents the 3 PM crash that has you reaching for your fourth coffee while making increasingly poor decisions.


4. The Transition Ritual

One of the hardest parts of event planning is the constant context-switching between strategic thinking, vendor management, stakeholder communication, budget reviews, and creative design.

I developed transition rituals between major tasks:

Before switching contexts:

  • Close all unnecessary tabs and applications

  • Take three deep breaths

  • Set an intention for the next task

  • Clear my physical space

Why it works: Research shows it takes approximately 23 minutes to fully focus on a complex task after switching. These micro-rituals reduce that cognitive switching cost and help you arrive fully present.


5. The Boundary Enforcement

This one's hard, but it's essential: you must create boundaries around your availability.

My boundaries:

  • No work emails after 8:30 PM or before 7 AM

  • One full day per weekend completely offline (admittedly still working on this)

  • No working on phone during time with my son

Why it works: Your nervous system needs genuine recovery time to restore. If you're always "on call," you're training your system to stay in low-level SNS activation even during supposed downtime.

The pushback you'll get: "But what if there's an emergency?"

The reality: In 15+ years of event planning, I can count on one hand the number of true emergencies that required immediate response outside business hours. Everything else can wait until morning—and your rested, regulated brain will handle it better anyway.


Gianna's Gem: Boundaries aren't selfish—they're the prerequisite for sustainable excellence. You cannot serve others from depletion.


6. The Movement Integration

Sitting in meetings and hunched over computers creates physical tension that dysregulates your nervous system. Movement is one of the fastest ways to release that stored stress.

What works for me:

  • Walking meetings whenever I don’t need to be reviewing something at my computer (I'm convinced I have better conversations when moving as I’m less distracted by my screen)

  • Stretch breaks between calls (yes, really—put on one song and move)

  • Evening yoga or stretching routine before bed when possible

  • Weekend hikes to reset in nature with my family

Why it works: Movement metabolizes stress hormones. When you're stuck in your head and your body, you're trapping cortisol and adrenaline. Movement releases it. Nature also helps reduce cortisol, ground us and see the bigger picture.


Designing Nervous System-Friendly Events: A New Framework

Now let's talk about what this means for the events you're creating.

If nervous system regulation matters for you as the planner, it matters exponentially more for your attendees—because they're experiencing all the stressors of the event without the benefit of having designed it.

Think about the typical conference experience from a nervous system perspective:


Sympathetic Activation Triggers:

  • Overwhelming crowds and noise

  • Back-to-back sessions with no processing time

  • FOMO about missing sessions or networking opportunities

  • Constant stimulation (bright lights, loud music, competing demands for attention)

  • Pressure to be "on" and performative

  • Lack of quiet space or privacy

  • Poor food choices (sugar and caffeine spikes, no real nutrition)

  • Uncomfortable seating and physical exhaustion

  • Information overload with no integration time

The result? By day two, your attendees are operating from survival mode. Their prefrontal cortex is offline. They're making poor decisions about which sessions to attend. They're having surface-level conversations because they don't have the capacity for depth. They're consuming content without retaining it.

And then we wonder why event ROI is hard to measure.


Here's the paradigm shift: What if we designed events specifically to support nervous system regulation instead of accidentally sabotaging it?


The Nervous System-Friendly Event: Practical Design Principles

1. Build in Genuine Recovery Time

The problem: We pack agendas wall-to-wall because we think more content = more value.

The reality: Attendees retain only 10-20% of content from back-to-back sessions with no processing time. With strategic breaks and integration periods, retention jumps to 40-50%.

What to do instead:

  • Schedule 30-minute breaks between major sessions (not 10-minute bathroom sprints)

  • Create dedicated "integration hours" where attendees can choose their own adventure: attend optional workshops, explore quietly, have one-on-one conversations, or literally just decompress

  • Design your final session to end by 4 PM, giving people time to process before evening networking

  • Build in a "pause and reflect" ritual after powerful keynotes (3-5 minutes of guided reflection)

What happens: Attendees actually absorb and integrate what they're learning. They return to sessions ready to engage rather than mentally exhausted. And paradoxically, they report getting MORE value from fewer sessions.


2. Create Restorative Zones Throughout Your Venue

Taking a page from my colleague's lounge, every event should have designated spaces for nervous system regulation.

Essential elements:

  • Quiet Zone: Soft lighting, comfortable seating, sound dampening, no screens or networking expectations. Just space to be.

  • Movement Zone: Gentle stretching guides, yoga mats, or even a simple walking path

  • Sensory Regulation: Plants, natural materials, water features, calming scents

  • Nourishment Station: Healthy snacks (not just coffee and cookies), herbal teas, infused water

  • Technology Breaks: Phone-free zones or "phone parking" stations


Pro tip: Make these spaces visible and inviting, not hidden away like a shameful secret. Normalize the need for regulation by designing it prominently into your event flow.


What attendees will say: "This was the most thoughtful event I've attended. I actually had the space to think and connect meaningfully."

3. Rethink Your Sensory Environment

Most events assault the senses, assuming that "high energy" equals "good experience." But overstimulation dysregulates nervous systems.

Lighting:

  • Natural light whenever possible (our circadian rhythms respond to it)

  • Warm, soft lighting for registration and common areas (not harsh fluorescents)

  • Dimmable options for different times of day

  • Avoid strobing or rapidly flashing lights that can trigger stress responses


Sound:

  • Intentional music choices (research shows certain tempos and frequencies regulate nervous systems)

  • Sound dampening in high-traffic areas

  • Quiet zones that are actually quiet

  • Mindful volume levels (if people have to shout, it's too loud)


Smell:

  • Fresh air circulation and outdoor spaces/lounges

  • Subtle, calming scents (lavender, eucalyptus, citrus)

  • Avoid overwhelming air fresheners or food smells


Touch:

  • Comfortable, supportive seating (your attendees' backs will thank you)

  • Temperature control (slightly cool is better than too warm) and blankets for those who may need extra warmth 

  • Quality materials that feel good (tablecloths, name badge lanyards, swag items)


Gianna's Gem: Your sensory environment is constantly sending signals to attendees' nervous systems. Design it intentionally to signal safety and care, not chaos and overstimulation.


4. Upgrade Your Food Strategy


Food is one of the most overlooked nervous system regulation tools at events.

The typical approach: Sugar laden pastries for breakfast, heavy carb-loaded lunch, endless coffee, afternoon cookies, evening alcohol. This creates a blood sugar and cortisol roller coaster that dysregulates everyone.

The regulated approach:

  • Protein-rich breakfast options (not just muffins and bagels)

  • Balanced, nourishing lunch with real vegetables and quality vegetarian and animal protein options

  • Healthy snack stations throughout the day (nuts, fresh fruit, veggie sticks with hummus)

  • Hydration emphasis (herbal teas, infused water, coconut water—not just coffee and soda)

  • Mindful non-alcohol service (quality over quantity with booze, mocktails that aren’t pure sugar and include adaptogens, with substantial food always available)

Why it matters: When blood sugar crashes, cortisol spikes. When attendees are dehydrated, cognitive function declines. When they're surviving on caffeine and sugar, they're in SNS activation.

Feed them well, and you're literally supporting their nervous system regulation.


5. Design Connection, Not Just Networking

Traditional networking creates SNS activation for most people (especially introverts). The pressure to perform, make small talk with strangers, and "work the room" is exhausting.


What to do instead:

  • Structured connection activities with clear prompts (reduces social anxiety)

  • Small group conversations facilitated by hosts (eliminates the "lost in a crowd" feeling)

  • Shared experiences that create natural bonding (like my poker tournament example from the last Gem)

  • "Introvert-friendly" zones where deep one-on-one conversations are encouraged

  • Post-session integration circles where small groups discuss what they learned

What happens: Authentic connections form. People feel seen and valued rather than reduced to a badge scan. And paradoxically, business outcomes improve because relationships built from regulation are stronger than those built from stress.


6. Open with Regulation, Close with Integration

The opening ritual: Instead of immediately diving into content, start your event with a collective regulation practice.


Examples:

  • 5 minutes of guided breathwork to help everyone arrive fully

  • A mindful moment acknowledging the transition from "outside world" to "event space"

  • Gentle movement or stretching to release travel tension

  • A gratitude practice or intention-setting exercise


Why it works: You're creating a collective nervous system baseline. Everyone starts from the same grounded place instead of bringing their stressed-out travel energy into your opening session.

The closing ritual: Don't just end with "thanks for coming!" Create space for integration.


Examples:

  • Guided breathwork or visualisation to start a session

  • Reflection prompts ("What's one insight you're taking from today?")

  • Journaling time with beautiful notecards that attendees can mail to themselves in six months

  • A closing circle where people share their key takeaway

  • A gentle transition ritual that honors the experience and prepares people to return to regular life

What attendees will feel: A sense of completion and integration rather than abrupt disconnection. They'll leave feeling nourished instead of depleted.


The Business Case for Nervous System Regulation

Let's talk ROI, because I know you're thinking: "This all sounds lovely, Gianna, but what about the bottom line?"

Here's what research (and my colleague's GitHub lounge) demonstrates:


When attendees' nervous systems are regulated:

  • Retention increases dramatically. They actually remember your content instead of experiencing it in a fog.

  • Engagement deepens. Regulated nervous systems can access curiosity, creativity, and genuine interest—not just surface-level participation.

  • Decision-making improves. When their prefrontal cortex is online, they can evaluate your solutions strategically rather than reactively.

  • Brand affinity soars. You become associated with care, safety, and genuine value—not just another vendor.

  • Word-of-mouth amplifies. People don't rave about "another conference." They rave about "the event that actually cared about my wellbeing."

  • Sales conversations improve. Your booth staff and sales team, operating from regulated nervous systems, can listen better, attune to needs, and close more strategic deals.

  • Employee retention strengthens. Your event team doesn't burn out and leave the industry (or your company).

Gianna's Gem: Nervous system regulation isn't a nice-to-have wellness add-on. It's a strategic business decision that drives measurable outcomes.


Watch what happens. Notice how you feel as a planner. Notice how attendees respond. Collect feedback. Iterate.

Excellence isn't built in grand gestures—it's built in the accumulation of small, intentional choices that honor human nervous systems rather than overwhelm them.


The Bigger Picture: Events as Agents of Change

Here's what excites me most about this conversation: we have the opportunity to model a different way of working.

If tech and VC are facing a burnout epidemic (and all data suggests they are), and if our events are microcosms of our industry culture, then we can use events to show people what regulated, sustainable, human-centered work looks like.

When you create a nervous system-friendly event, you're not just making attendees comfortable. You're teaching them that:

  • Rest is productive, not lazy

  • Boundaries are professional, not selfish

  • Regulation is strategic, not indulgent

  • Humanity belongs in business

And when they return to their companies carrying that experience, they might just start asking: "Why don't we design our workplaces like that event designed their experience?"

That's the real ROI: events as agents of cultural change.


A Personal Note

I'm writing this from a place of hard-won wisdom. I spent years operating from a dysregulated nervous system, believing that was just "the cost of excellence."

The truth is, I wasn't excellent when I was dysregulated. I was surviving.

Durable Excellence came when I learned to regulate. When I protected my nervous system as fiercely as I protected my event budgets and timelines. When I designed events that honored human biology instead of fighting it.

The nervous system regulation lounge story reminded me of something crucial: the experiences we create for others begin with the state we create for ourselves.

You cannot design creatively from chaos. You cannot create connection from depletion. You cannot offer presence when you're barely holding it together.

So this Gem is an invitation—to yourself first, and then to your attendees:

What if we stopped glorifying exhaustion and started celebrating regulation?

What if we measured success not just by attendance numbers, but by how nourished people felt?

What if we used our events to model the sustainable, human-centered future we want to see in our industries?

The nervous system regulation revolution starts with you. In your morning ritual. In your lunch break. In your event design choices. In your willingness to say "my wellbeing matters, and so does yours."

Because here's what I know for sure: the future of events isn't about more content, more stimulation, more overwhelm.

It's about creating the conditions for human nervous systems to thrive—so that genuine learning, authentic connection, and strategic thinking can emerge.

And that future? It's being built one regulated breath, one quiet room, one nourishing meal, one mindful moment at a time.

Welcome to the revolution.

XX,

Gianna


What I'm loving this week: And for all my favorite vendors, partners and products, visit: https://www.giannagaudini.com/gianna-recommends

Cirque du Soleil ECHO, San Francisco

I took my family to see Cirque du Soleil's ECHO this past weekend, and I'm still thinking about the artistry and experience design days later. This production is a masterclass in creating immersive, multi-sensory experiences that honor the audience's journey from start to finish.

What stood out to me: 

The Thoughtful Welcome: As we entered the main tent, my son was immediately handed a booster seat—unprompted, unasked. This tiny gesture set the tone for the entire experience: "We've thought about you. We want you to see everything." That's nervous system regulation in action: anticipating needs before they become stressors.

Projection Mapping Excellence: The use of projection mapping wasn't just technical wizardry—it was storytelling. The cube structure transformed seamlessly throughout the show, creating infinite worlds within one space. As event designers, we often focus on physical set pieces, but ECHO demonstrates how technology can create emotional impact and narrative flow without overwhelming the senses. This one structural element served multiple purposes throughout the show, constantly surprising while maintaining coherent design. This is exactly what we should be doing with event spaces: designing elements that transform and reveal new dimensions rather than cluttering with more "stuff."

Experience Value: Here's what really matters: my son (who's 8) didn't check out once during the 90-minute show. No fidgeting. No "when is it over?" whispers. He was completely absorbed, because Cirque understood pacing, created moments of wonder, and respected the audience's attention span with varied acts and intentional transitions. They even leveraged the clowns from the show to “warm up the crowd” and create humor and intrigue while we waited for the show to begin. He loved them more than any of the acrobats!

The Takeaway for Event Planners: ECHO reminded me that the best experiences layer multiple elements (acrobatics, music, projection, narrative) in service of one cohesive story. They don't overstimulate—they guide your attention with precision. They create rhythm: moments of intensity balanced by moments of breath.That's exactly what nervous system-friendly events do: they orchestrate stimulation and regulation, energy and rest, spectacle and space.

If you're in the Bay Area and want to see world-class experience design in action, catch ECHO before it moves on. And bring your kids—they'll thank you for it.