While anyone can cobble together a series of keynote presentations and call it an online conference, crafting an emotionally resonant experience requires, at a minimum, strategic design and an understanding of human connection, ideally infused with some out-of-the-box thinking. In other words, can we incorporate psychedelic principles into designing an online event?

This article will explore key strategies for online event design, emphasizing the creation of engaging, unforgettable experiences that align with our vision of turning contemporary challenges into opportunities.

Drawing from my expertise in delivering effective creative solutions that emotionally connect with people, as well as some epic and some average failures in event direction, I’ll share learnings from this year’s Psychedelics Design event series.

Virtual event design always starts with a solid event strategy. The event strategy outlines why you are hosting the event in the first place and what you hope to achieve. For some, this is profit-driven. For me, the challenge was to bring together interesting speakers to discuss topics I was personally curious about and to see what resonates—does anybody even care?

As a side note, I started Psychedelics Design in March/April 2022 when I felt like a very lonely designer on the fringes of the psychedelic world. As I found myself metaphorically shouting, "Is anybody here?" I decided to create a space where, eventually, creative people might gather to exchange ideas and knowledge. I called the space Psychedelics Design—encompassing more than just one compound or adjective but focused on design for functional purposes.

So, why events? The short answer: because I felt inspired to do so. The long answer: that inspiration, combined with my experience from when I first initiated and ran an event series for the Victoria & Albert Museum as a side project. That series explored the core of what digital fashion means, bringing together pioneers to share their insights; and today I am honoured to host pioneers in psychedelics and design at our events.

Event strategy doesn’t have to be a long, drawn-out process; it can also be a gut feeling combined with an awareness of new nuances. As I prepare to run the third event of the year and reflect on the past two, one key thing to remember is that I am 100% self-funded. I am the design and management team (with Floris from Blossom kindly navigating the actual event day and serving as an invaluable sounding board).

This isn't just about designing an event—it's about creating a human experience. There are living, breathing people on the other side of that screen, and they need to be fully immersed in the event experience to stay engaged for five solid hours.

I'm a big fan of asking questions, so here are some:

After spending almost all your spare time, energy, and resources on the event, was it worth it? How will we measure its success?
What do you hope to get out of the event?
What do speakers, attendees, and potential sponsors hope to get out of it?
How will we keep attendees engaged and prevent them from zoning out halfway through?
What topics have been coming up repeatedly in recent conversations, and can we curate content around these?
How can we bridge the gap between psychedelics and design?
Can we test the integration of psychedelic learnings (psychedelic design principles) into the event flow?

The responses to these questions will shape your event strategy and guide your decision-making throughout the planning process. Every experience—whether for attendees, sponsors, or speakers—should align with your overarching goals and objectives for the event. In essence, your strategy serves as a roadmap, directing your event design and management.

Develop a Cohesive Theme and Visual Identity

Create a unique theme that resonates with your goals and audience, enhancing the overall atmosphere. Establish a visual identity with a style guide encompassing colors, fonts, and imagery to ensure consistency across all event materials.

In our case, I met Agnes Jonas through an article I wrote titled 7 Ways Psychedelics Impact Creative Thinking, where she did the illustrations that truly moved me. Her clean and simple style, combined with the use of just the right amount of noise and blur in the visuals, aligned perfectly with my aesthetic and captured just the essence of "psychedelic." I reached out to her to see if she would be interested in collaborating to create visuals for the event series. The basic idea was to communicate the flow state and the heightened sense of colours of a psychedelic journey. Each key visual would be a stand-alone work of art, but together they would represent the three stages of a psychedelic journey: onset, peak, and come down.

For example, the onset visual for the first event in April has a fluid yet somewhat heart-shaped, solid object, mostly orange, and starting to blur. The July visual is wild, defying boundaries, very organic and fluid. The December visual combines these colours into one harmonious stream of consciousness, if you will, while still maintaining a sense of flux and movement. Additionally, we used the "liquid" image effect in Squarespace to further mimic the psychedelic feeling through simple animation.

This was just one idea, and next year might be completely different. If you approach events not as a way to make money but as a creative project in itself, it becomes a creative act—unpredictable, yes, but also exhilarating and enjoyable.

Technical Planning and Platform Selection

The success of your online event heavily depends on the technology you use and the team managing the event behind the scenes.

Choose the right platform: Select a virtual event platform that offers the features you need. In our case, this was Zoom. We chose this platform because people are already very familiar with it, and we wanted to make the day as easy as possible for both our speakers and audience to navigate.
Test thoroughly: Conduct multiple run-throughs to identify and resolve any technical issues before the event. (And yet, I still managed to have my virtual background mirrored incorrectly as the July event kicked off—a minor fail. When we played a video, the sound didn't work at first, which was a slightly bigger issue.)

Design Spaces that Feel Connected

Utilize virtual event platforms to create branded environments that reflect your event's theme. Incorporate interactive elements like chat rooms and Q&A sessions to encourage participant engagement.

At our first event, we didn't include a Q&A session, and its absence was noticeable. For our most recent event, we incorporated this feedback by adding Q&A sessions at the end of every talk.

For the upcoming event, we also decided to introduce an additional "virtual event floor," where participants could learn more about our community partners, potential sponsors, and speakers. Let's not forget this is a small, self-funded event, but the ideas and possibilities for the future are endless!

Foster Diverse, Fresh and Engaging Content

Deliver high-quality content that keeps your audience engaged:

Plan diverse session formats: Mix live presentations, pre-recorded content, and interactive panels to maintain interest.
Use professional production: Offer support to speakers for their presentations if needed.
Prepare speakers: Provide guidelines and training to ensure presenters are comfortable with the virtual format. We conducted test webinars with any speaker who felt it would help them navigate the live event, and we also tested between ourselves.

At our first event, we started with the classic format of four keynote presentations but introduced some innovation with a closing panel discussion that included all the speakers, along with some new faces. We quickly realized the value of mixing live presentations, pre-recorded content, and interactive discussions to maintain interest. Bringing speakers from multiple locations to the center stage made the entire experience more dynamic for the audience.

For our most recent conference, we went one step further and broke away from the limiting structure by including new formats, such as a keynote paired with a discussion and a conversation between two people.

Integrate Psychedelic-Inspired Design Principles

Drawing further from our work with Psychedelics Design, I considered how altered states of consciousness might inform our event design. Beyond the key visual design we discussed earlier, I thought deeply about how to curate the event formats and flows to integrate our evolving design philosophy and the classic phases of a psychedelic journey: onset, peak, and come down. Thanks to a little nudge from Jalen Salazar, a valued friend and advisor, who encouraged me to start testing my design philosophy more actively. His comment "This is not very psychedelic of you." pushed me to explore whether I could structure the event to mimic the journey of a psychedelic experience.

We began with an introductory conversation, followed by a classic keynote presentation paired with a discussion during the onset phase. After that, we reached the peak with three solo keynote presentations and then phased out with a two-person conversation during the comedown, which seamlessly led into our concluding panel—a sort of first integration.

Of course, I understand that follow-up video clips and other engaging content would be ideal, but again—this is a one-woman show.

Still, by applying these strategies, especially psychedelic event organizers can create online experiences that not only meet their objectives but also provide attendees with a memorable and genuinely "psychedelic" experience. The goal is to design an event that emotionally connects with participants, building sustained engagement while offering innovative solutions to the challenges of virtual gatherings.

Community

Design interactive sessions that foster a sense of unity and connectedness among participants through Q&A. Encourage interaction among attendees to build a sense of community. Instead of using breakout rooms, we chose to keep the event focused while encouraging conversations in our new WhatsApp group.

Post-Event Follow-up

Maximizing the impact of your event after it concludes means to:

Gather feedback: Use surveys to collect attendees' opinions and suggestions for improvement.
Share recordings: Make session recordings available for those who couldn't attend or want to revisit the content.
Analyze data: Assess engagement levels, popular sessions, and overall event success.

We haven’t had much success with surveys immediately following the event. Neither the audience nor the speakers simply have the time to fill them out, no matter how short or whether there’s an incentive. However, we've learned from this experience.

Instead, we prefer to follow up a couple of months after the event via direct messaging and even calls. This approach is more labour-intensive but also much more personal and enriching. We love curating events with content that speakers are genuinely interested in and excited about—content that is fresh for the audience or offers a different perspective from what they typically encounter; conversations help understand what matters to the speakers, partners and the audience.

Psychedelics Design Event Integration and Reflection Space:

I decided to also offer a virtual space dedicated to reflection, integration of the event experience, and creative exchange of thoughts and ideas. This mirrors the important integration phase of psychedelic experiences. It will be a very intimate gathering, reserved only for the speakers of this year’s event series, with access to our potential premium sponsor. (And here is to that “very subtle” nudge 🙌.)

Summary: Incorporating Psychedelics into the Events Design

Here is a summary of some creative ways to incorporate psychedelic-inspired design principles into an online event:

Immersive Visual Design: Create a visually stimulating virtual environment by using a key visual that mimics the enhanced sensory perception associated with psychedelic experiences. Incorporate vibrant colours, fluid animations, and fractal-like patterns in your event’s visual design to craft an engaging and otherworldly atmosphere.
Altered States of Consciousness Transitions: Design the event flow to mimic the journey of a psychedelic experience. Start with an onset preparation phase, gradually intensify the experience, transition into the comedown, and conclude with an integration period. This structure may help attendees mentally transition into and out of the event’s headspace.
Community-Building Activities: Design interactive sessions that foster a sense of unity and connectedness among participants through Q&A. Instead of breakout rooms, encourage ongoing conversations in a WhatsApp group.

I hope you found this little excursion into our online event behind the scenes inspiring. The trick is to remember to balance creative elements and ideas with the practical needs of your event and audience to ensure an engaging yet accessible experience. If you have any questions, feedback, advice, or ideas, or if you'd simply like to get involved, let’s have a virtual coffee—I’m all ears.

Learnings from Creating Psychedelic Online Events