Event Activation: A Love Letter to Small Events
The big impact and value of small-scale events & experiences. Join a panel discussion and community conversation as we explore the philosophy of creating meaningful small events and experiences.
While the media often focuses on the impressive size of Black Rock City and features large regional gatherings, smaller events are a powerful and highly effective way to forge relationships and build community. In fact, the many small events happening throughout our global community add up in terms of impact in ways that are perhaps more significant than their large-scale counterparts.
Given the shifting public health conditions of 2021, it is clear that small, in-person events are likely to be approved by officials before large gatherings, making this the perfect time to think about the function, design, and merits of “small and local”. At the same time, small events can be hybridized with virtual experiences in ways that create greater reach and inclusion.
Meet Our Panelists:
(Panel Moderator) Benson Ho is a Vancouver Burning Man Regional Contact and former Board Member of the Greater Vancouver Interactive Arts Society. Benson is a volunteer for Burning Man’s Regional Events Committee, through this work he’s developed tools and offerings which support over 100 official Regional Events around the world.
(Speaker) Allisu Gerlach is the Founding Producer of Chicago’s Halloween Gathering and Arts in the Dark Parade. An expert Event Producer who’s produced interactive and public events with up to 100,000 participants. Allisu is currently the Director of Community Outreach for Kalapriya Center for Indian Performing Arts.
(Speaker) Hampus Lindblad is from Sweden. Hampus is a co-founder of The Borderland, the largest official Burning Man Regional Event in Scandinavia. He’s also a co-initiator of multiple small events such as Afterglow, Ascension and Urban Burn. When not organizing burns he runs community spaces in Stockholm, the latest of which is called Blivande and can be described as an independent cultural house for participatory art, events and organizations. Blivande in Stockholm just won an EU award for their work fighting COVID-19.
(Speaker) Athena Demos is a Producer and Creative Manager with over 20 years experience in the entertainment industry and leading live global events. Athena was the Burning Man Regional Contact for Los Angeles and founded the LA League of Arts, a 501c3 organization created to foster community by facilitating the creative process. In her 15 years of volunteering for the LA Burning Man Community, Athena helped produce art and music events, including Los Angeles Decompression, monthly meet ups, and a Burning Man documentary film series. Athena is now pioneering online immersive gatherings in virtual reality with BRCvr.
