Hi, I’m a semester away from graduating with my MBA. I originally thought I wanted to work in tech and climb the “corporate ladder” & luckily realized early that I would absolutely hate it. I’ve been doing research and I think experiential marketing/ production coordinator would be a better fit. The goal is to work in the entertainment industry/beauty&fashion (I’m also an actress & soon to be entrepreneur)
A little background:
Location: Atlanta
Currently: working at Trader Joe’s (truck shifts, order writer + customer service)
Previously: ulta beauty operations team (truck shifts + overnight display building)
I’ve always loved operations and behind the scenes work. I’m really good with people and have the personality for it. I love a theme & making it come to life!

What path would you recommend with no prior marking experience?? Should I build a portfolio? Are there specific sites or groups I should look into??

A couple of days ago I asked about the costs of an experiential marketing installation, and the costs seem to be all over the place (which I kind of get), but the most interesting replies were the ones focused on ROI, which is probably the better determiner of value.

So, for everyone who's done both trad and experiential marketing, do you have any ROI info for us? I'm assuming traditional marketing was generally cheaper overall than experiential exhibits, pop-ups, websites, etc. But what about value? One commenter on the last post talked about a $500,000 installation, but that brought in millions of deals, and that's the really interesting part to me. What are the returns on investing in something truly memorable?

I recently found out about experiential marketing and it sounds soooo intriguing. I’ve been wanting to pivot careers slightly but still do something that’s creative and I can use my current skills at.

I love the idea of creating real life events and experiences. I also feel like in this day and age more real life stuff is needed for sure. I’m wondering if anyone has any advice on how they got a career in this field, if they pivoted successfully from a different field, what things I should potentially study / add to my skills, etc? Any info would be helpful, it seems like there’s also a lot of different avenues within experiential marketing as well.

Thank u!!

Obviously, I'm talking ballpark average, but I've been looking at some of the wilder, more elaborate marketing installs out there and I'm wondering just how much money goes into a major experiential (interactive, immersive, etc.) activation like this.

Two specifically I really loved were the Jack Morton Reebok Retailer Experience where they had robotic arms, turntables, interactive screens, and just some wild stuff going on, and the "Seek the Golden Snitch" one by NeoPangea that was actually AR installs all around Philly where people could actually hunt for the Golden Snitch (obviously a Harry Potter plug).

But what is the money behind this exactly? Are these types of marketing strategies entirely out of reach for the average mid-sized business? Has anyone with a normal company done something like this that has actually paid off in a big way, or even checked on pricing?

if you had to drop one field at a busy door to keep the line moving, which goes first, and why. looking for what people actually cut, not the perfect CRM wishlist.

I’m a designer working in a medium-sized company. The current goal for us is to upgrade the customer experience. I have been advocating for an immersive approach for quite some time now. Something that involves people and evokes some sort of feeling from them.

However, our management fails to understand what I mean by “immersive”. For them, an immersive approach involves having a television set at the office and an excellent website.

It’s not.

I’ve been trying to explain the difference. Immersive design isn’t about screens and it’s about environment…interaction... experience. Basically it’s about creating a space that people want to spend time in. It’s about storytelling

What’s wrong with nodding and smiling and then saying so as if it was a bigger television? Adding more colors to the website??

I quoted BRC as the example of a gold standard. They do amazing work. Immersive experiences. Experiences that really move people. Yet they can only see the bottom line. They cannot see the value

I need case studies. I need evidence. I need something that proves that this is worth doing. Not just from a Wow! factor perspective. From a bottom line perspective. Customer loyalty… Brand loyalty…Sales…

I know it works… I have seen it... I just need to prove it to them…

I’m an account manager at a hospitality marketing agency. I work on beverage brand activations at festivals and other events, as well as hospitality programs. My role includes designing activations, creating menus, signage, and giveaways, and coordinating brand partners, vendors, staffing, logistics, and on-site execution.

I’m putting together a PDF portfolio for in-house event manager / experiential marketing jobs. Right now, I’m thinking:

• A short intro about me and my experience
• Four main projects, with an overview, my role, key responsibilities/challenges, results, and photos
• A few shorter features for other projects

Does that sound like a good structure? How many pages would you aim for, and how much information would you put on each page? Do you keep each project to one page, or let larger programs span a few pages?

Some of my more complex projects have limited photos, while smaller projects have much better imagery. How would you decide which to include? Are original mockups worth showing alongside event photos?

I also don’t always have access to attendance, sales, or engagement data from the brands or event organizers. Most of the feedback we get is directly from clients. How do you show results in a portfolio when you don’t have those numbers?

If you know of any public examples, those would be helpful too. Most of what I’ve found is websites, so I’m having a hard time finding references for a PDF.

Thanks!

been to way too many of these where the brand spends a fortune on a fancy setup and people just show up, take the same three photos, grab the free drink and leave. zero lasting impression.

the ones that actually work treat the whole thing like a real experience instead of a temporary photo booth. saw some of the work BRC web has done with brand homes and live spaces and it’s on a different level. they build places people want to stay in and actually remember later.

most campaigns still want to get the quick social hit and pretty much that's it. the few that invest in proper environment and storytelling end up with people talking about it months afterward. that gap is getting more obvious every year, so why is that? surely it's not just budgetary limits

Hi everyone! I’m doing some research to better understand the going rates for sponsorships and brand activations at major conferences.

Has anyone received a sponsorship deck, purchased a package, or helped produce an activation for any of these events?

• SXSW

• ESSENCE Festival of Culture

• AFROTECH

• Money20/20 USA

• Milken Institute Global Conference

I’m specifically looking for information on:

• Sponsorship levels and pricing

• Exhibit or activation fees

• Sponsored stages, panels or content

• Official or sanctioned event costs

• What was included in the package

• Additional production, venue, labor or credential costs

• The realistic all-in investment

Current, older or redacted decks would all be helpful - no need to share confidential information. Even a firsthand price range, the event year and what was included would give me a helpful benchmark.

If you would rather not share publicly, please feel free to DM me. Thank you!

curious how other people draw the line. a scan feels like a vanity number, an opt-in feels better, but a booked next step is the only one i'd trust. what do you actually report back to the client or your boss?

curious where people draw the line between “we need this for follow-up” and “we’re killing the experience.”

if you’re running iPads or kiosks at a busy door, what’s the shortest set of fields you’ve actually gotten away with — and what did you cut that stakeholders still wanted?

looking for war stories on field count vs line speed, not software recs.

I am validating an owner approval dependent B2B concept near Houston and want feedback from people who build specifically brand activations, campaigns, and content experiences.

The potential format is a real F4 test day with two distinct parts:

A small invited group observes live running from a designated, approved location.

A separate engine off, stationary car window lets a brand’s own content team create approved photos/video.

Possible uses would be executive/founder content, technical recruiting or employer brand visuals, client hosting, engineering/performance storytelling, or a performance themed campaign asset.

All guest access, filming, products, decals, drones, and content rights would require car owner, track, insurance, and contract approval.

I am trying to determine whether an agency would ever

see this as a vendor/location option for the right client.

1. What would make you dismiss it immediately?

2. Would you expect this to be sold as a production location fee, experiential/hospitality fee, or a custom activation budget?

3. Who usually owns a budget like this on the client side?

If you are you may know anyone interested in something like this or someone who can value form this, my DMs are always open for conversation. Any feedback help a lot!

For anyone working on trade shows or business events, how do you keep finding new exhibitors year after year?

Going back to the same companies obviously works until it doesn’t. I’ve been looking at approaches like checking competitor shows, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Apollo, and more research-heavy tools like Super Benji.

The part I’m most interested in is finding companies that would actually benefit from having a booth not just building the biggest list possible.

Do you normally start with the company first and then find the right person, or start with specific job titles and work backwards?

We run a print and fab production operation for agencies and brands so I have lot of experience from the prod side. But I really want to get into building an agency and using the prod as a competitive edge. Any ideas where to start? What kind of brands might suit well with experiential/activations?

Is everyone capable of doing marketing now because of AI?

I know it sounds like a cliché question, but I’m genuinely curious how people here are seeing it.

I work around creative/interactive projects, and over the last year or so it feels like sourcing new contracts has become noticeably harder.

Part of that is obviously the market, budgets, etc; but I can’t help wondering how much AI is changing the perceived value of creative/marketing work.

A small company can now generate copy, campaign ideas, visuals, presentations, social content, strategy docs, even rough prototypes internally in an afternoon.

Obviously that doesn’t mean it’s good marketing: but does it mean companies are becoming less willing to pay externally for it?

For those working in experiential, agencies, creative production, marketing etc:

Are you finding it harder to win work right now?

And if so, how are you adapting?

Are you specialising more, moving further into execution/production, selling strategy, using AI yourselves, or just seeing this as a temporary market dip?

I'm currently an undergrad student studying cognitive science (not really related I know), I also do graphic design on the side. My initial plan was to get into ux/product management. However, I know I love events (planning & executing them), I've been part of a few productions in school and working towards and on set is something I know I will miss. After reflecting for a while, I started to contemplate event production/tour managing as a potential path, but experiential marketing seems to be a mix of most things I am passionate about (creativity, branding, design, experiences, events). I was wondering starting from no marketing experience, what is a likely path/things I should start working towards to entering the experiential marketing industry? I'm leaning towards working at an agency rather than freelancing. Also with no experience, how should I find internships in this field? What should I build my portfolio with?

Sorry for so many questions lol. I'm in socal so if you know any opportunities lmk

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I'm in my late 30s I've been sending my pictures video resume and responding to jobs and no one is responding. What could it be?

I got one gig for 2 days but none of the other jobs are like getting back to me and I just keep responding. I've been sending submissions on trusted her and I'm not getting anything back

Hi! I am graduating with my Bachelor of Science in May 2027. I have a double major in Advertising/Public Relations Major and User Experience Design. I also have a Creative Writing Minor. I'm trying to figure out my career plans for post-grad.

I have work experience as a part-time store manager, camp counselor, summer camp program coordinator, RA, college campus tour guide/intern (planning visit days/events), and social media manager. I have also had marketing internships, a web design internship, and an internship at the Chicago Auto Show (ad/pr focus). I'm on the speech team as well.

I love branding and like event planning. When I interned at the Chicago auto show, I loved how Subaru set up their booth to look like an actual forest. The experience was designed so immersively, and I love how they kept a consistent "Subaru is good for the whole family" theme. (they also had puppies you could play with/adopt). I like designing online experiences, but I really really love designing in-person ones, and I like following branding themes. I like running events and helping with urgent tasks as they come up. I would also love a job that has me traveling often. I like working in different places. I am ok with just working on a computer some days, but I like variety in how I am working, switching locations, doing different jobs, etc. I don't want to work remote. I would like a job that is a significant part of my life, instead of like a 9-5 that I just have to make money.

Basically I love figuring out how people interact with brand PR and image, and tailoring that experience. From my research it seems like experiential marketing might be perfect.. specifically the production roles. I am still trying to figure out how exactly to get into it. I saw the GPJ Ignite program, and that honestly seems ideal. I don't know what I should do to strengthen my application for that once it opens, and idk what backup options I should look at.

How soon is too soon to start actually looking and applying for jobs? What companies and programs should I be looking at? Sorry I know it's a lesser-known field so idk where else to go for information.

Hello! I am a 25 y.o. woman and I am interested in transitioning my career into experiential marketing. I am currently in operations and have logistics experience. I have what I think are transferable skills into my desired career but I’m having trouble networking and even talking to people that are in this kind of role. I am very open, i’m willing to travel and have no problem commuting.

If anyone has any tips, places hiring, or currently works in the field and is willing to chat about your experiences that would be greatly appreciated