This year's event in Las Vegas will leverage the principle of polarity in the design of nearly every component of the learning experience. To begin, you’ll have two pre-event options: either re-walk the Learning ExcursionEM tour stops from the original 2001 thinkAbout in Las Vegas, or un-wind in a lounge with other non-touring participants.

Our Day One AM talent is none other than the always-smiling magician extraordinaire, Giovanni Livera. As one of the most sought-after corporate entertainers in America, Gio’s upbeat style and meaningful messages lie in stark contrast to the academic tenor and serious-mindedness of Pine & Gilmore.

For our Day Two PM Learning Excursion, Pine & Gilmore will guide separate teams in first defining two different sets of polarities, then exploring the Las Vegas landscape for insights about each polarity, and finally preparing output to share the next day – through a variety of different media – the lessons learned through this real-world investigation.

The Day Two AM debrief will ping-pong the Pine team against the Gilmore team, with each group alternatively sharing their respective thoughts on what everyone should take away from their study of the various polarities examined the previous day (and night, of course).

Day Two PM will close with the bestowing of this year’s Experience Management Achievement award and the presentation of Pine & Gilmore’s Top Ten list of recommended experiences to take in during the coming year – concluding with this year’s Experience Stager of the Year (EXPY) winner. And to cap it all off, this year’s “One Big Idea” exercise will involve the identification of one key polarity for your business and/or for your self.

September 23, 2008
Day 0
thinkAbout 101
As a warm up, Pine & Gilmore will share thoughts on a few fundamental frameworks of the Experience Economy and authenticity, plus introduce two thinkAbout alumni to share their thoughts on “how to get the most out of the thinkAbout experience.”

Two for the Price of One
OPTION #1 For those who were not at the original thinkAbout in Las Vegas, or for those interested in repeating the tour as a refresher, Jim Gilmore plans to retrace the same Learning Excursion route that we took in 2001. While then we toured from 2:00 p.m. until midnight, as this year’s pre-event tour we’ll cover the same ground in half the time. How will we do it? We’ll basically cut down on the amount of time at each tour stop by providing an encapsulated review of what we did in the original excursion, talk about what we did, and most importantly share highlights from the debrief that transpired afterward. And as with all thinkAbout excursions, there will be plenty of opportunity to talk while we walk. Dinner will be provided during the tour.

THE OTHER OPTION? Joe Pine, on the other hand, will host a lounge gathering for those who would rather sit and chat. It’s an opportunity to catch up with old friends, meet some new ones, and of course, grill Joe with any questions you might have!