Nick Borelli states his mission as “bringing the world together through intentionally designed experiences.” He not only applies this to his daily work, but equally on stage and facilitating discussions are industry events and in multiple media channels.
He has been working in events since he was 14 years old and today he is the Director of Marketing at ethical facial analysis company Zenus, and the instructor of the PCMA Institute’s “Enhancing Events with AI” course.
Borelli was also the co-host of the Event Brew podcast where he discusses the latest issues impacting live event professionals, and served for a decade as a board member of the SEARCH Foundation, helping to raise money for event professionals in crisis. He has advised associations, conference organizers, technology companies and event suppliers, and was the first instructor of MPI’s Event Marketing Strategist course.
Meetings Innovators spotlights the trailblazers defining the future of meetings and events. Each month, we feature visionary professionals breaking the mold with innovative strategies, fresh perspectives, and bold ideas. These pioneers are crafting experiences that resonate, inspire, and lead the way forward. Join us as we celebrate the creative minds taking the future into their own hands and shaping what’s next in the world of meetings and events.
Meetings Innovators is sponsored by Marriott Bonvoy.
What does innovation mean to you?
Innovation is a dissatisfaction in the current state driven by a mission-centered passion to accomplish more. For event organizers, this means wrestling with risk in order to push things past the status quo. You’re either an innovator or you’re not and if you are it is more of a world view than a tool you only use when needed.
Why is innovation important in events?
I think events have been somewhat isolated from innovation driving decision making historically for a number of reasons. I also think this is going to change culturally very quickly.
Innovation has been a “nice to have” in the B2B space because of all the expectations and logistics. I also think a lack of data has made it hard to iterate effectively. These factors and measured expectations from leadership have led to a bad goal for innovation: aiming not to fail.
With the goal of not failing, no risks are taken and you exclusively travel on roads already driven on. With the onset of social media there was an influx of inspiration from other events which spread trends like well-being initiatives, CSR activities and sustainability adoption. Eventually, these went from trends to table stakes and the innovation slowed down once again.
AI, initially, will scale this phenomena with even more uniformity resulting in faster and easier produced events which are competent but will lack innovation. The bar will rise, average will be more easily attainable and risk will be mitigated. All of this will be the perfect environment for innovation as the only means to rise above the chorus of same-same events. In a world of AI’s scraping of what has been democratically distributed, innovation goes from nice to have to need to have if you’re looking to survive in your market. To me, that’s exciting.
What inspires you to create innovative approaches to events?
I measure my work by the change I’ve helped create. I’m endlessly curious about people too.
Once I think I have an understanding of a community, I’m faced with the puzzle of how to create change that wasn’t going to necessarily happen on its own. My curiosity inspires me because it’s my most direct path to growth. I’m curious about what my peers are working on, I’m curious about why certain roadblocks to progress hold back communities, and I’m curious about how attendees will react to different intentionally designed experiences.
The key is, I’m comfortable not having all the answers while still having the desire to learn as much as I can.
Who has inspired you most?
There are so many people in the events space who have inspired me that it feels cruel to be asked to limit how many to highlight. One of the best parts (if not THE best part) of working in this space is seeing how generous the leading minds are with their time and how collaborative they are.
Every time I see a list of the most influential, powerful, or innovative individuals within our industry I feel incredibly grateful that I know and have worked with so many of them. I’m inspired by the spirit of our industry and those who share their passion.
How Important Is Looking Outside the Industry?
I think this is absolutely essential. Your choices for design are to recycle, remix, or originate. If your inspiration comes only from the industry, you’re more likely to see remixing as the peak of innovation.
During Covid, I was bereft of event inspiration so I started looking at movements. I always saw the ultimate outcome of events as creating change in an individual before that, but after studying social movements I realized that the level above changing someone is creating change agents.
Inspiration outside of the industry doesn’t have to be that large or esoteric, however. If you work in B2B events, you need to experience cutting edge B2C events more and pay attention to scalable concepts and what they are trying to accomplish. If you work in associations, consider sports as a window into creating a sense of belonging and lifelong identity adoption.
When you are trying to look for inspiration outside of events, look for overlapping missions.
How do you get buy-in for innovations?
Data has been a game changer for innovation buy-in. When leadership is asking an organizer to essentially not fail and to not reinvent the wheel, the innovator has to get some wins under their belt before they can build on them to take risks. Data makes innovation less risky by providing learnings regardless of the outcome.
If you have an innovative idea you don’t think will get approval, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Instead, consider an A/B test. Measure the outcome of your idea against the current state and let the numbers speak for themselves. Use data to make a case for innovation and to show responsibility. These are the building blocks to a culture of innovation.
What part does failure in innovating?
Failure in events needs to be redefined because thinking in binary terms hurts us. Failure implies only two outcomes, one where you succeed and the other where you do not. A reframing would be adopting design thinking, which is circular and without end; it’s an iterative process, not just pass or fail.
Adopting design thinking takes the weight off the pass/fail model. It works towards a test phase which results in learning. This mode of thinking is naturally iterative. It’s about constant improvement which means it can always be better. The pass/fail model is one where you build something and you protect what you’ve built until it (inevitably) breaks down.
Yes, being comfortable with failure is one way of looking at it but reframing innovation in terms of design thinking means you cannot fail because you’re always learning and applying what you’ve learned.
What advice would you give to aspiring innovators?
Lean into what makes you different. Don’t try too hard to learn the rules. If you focus on your unique world view and bring new ingredients to the mix, everything you produce will be naturally innovative.
Also, not knowing things can be a super power. Ask “why do you do it this way?” more often.
One of the values that I have benefited from the most is humility. I don’t know what I don’t know and I’m open to learning. Flexible thinking is key to innovation because you have to be open to seeing something no one has seen before.
What professional legacy are you looking to create?
I hope my legacy is one where I have helped people see things from a point of view they have never considered.
Digital outlets have algorithmically perfected the art of protecting people from challenging ideas that could have been the seeds for growth. I like that in-person experiences are messy. I like that they are unpredictable.
We have the responsibility to make intentionally designed experiences more innovative in order to create deeper bonds and more change has never been more important. I just want to be a part of this moment.
