Edinburgh Napier University

  Purpose – Focussing on the perspective of business event leaders’ perspective, this study explores the future of transformative experience (TE) events, recognising a paradigm shift from organising conventional events to designing and guiding transformative experiences in the MICE context.

Design/methodology/approach – Using a qualitative interview-based design, insights from 20 international business events industry leaders were gathered and analysed using thematic analysis through a multi-step process with MAXQDA.

Findings – The findings discuss the future of transformative events by identifying the paradigm shift towards TE in business events and outline key dimensions of the leader’s and team's mindset and skills. Five design principles for TE events in the MICE sector are identified: Design for change; emotionally experiential environments; personal engagement; responsibility; and, transformative measurement.

Originality/value – The study adds to the emerging body of knowledge on transformative experiences and contributes to an extended stakeholder perspective, namely that of business event leaders and their teams who are instrumental in facilitating transformative events. An original framework for designing TE MICE events is offered as a theoretical contribution.

Practical implications – The study offers a snapshot of how transformative events of the future could be designed and suggests a series of practical insights for MICE event leaders and organisers seeking to leverage events as a catalyst for intentional transformation, positive impact and long-lasting change.