NXTLVL Experience Design

ABOUT Michael Monello:Michael’s Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikemonello/Websitescampfirenyc.com/ Emailmike@mikemonello.comTwittermikemonelloBio: Mike Monello is a true pioneer when it comes to immersive storytelling and innovative marketing.In the late 1990s, Monello and his partners at Haxan Films created The Blair Witch Project, a story told across the burgeoning internet, a sci-fi channel pseudo-documentary, books, comics, games, and a feature film, which became a pop-culture touchstone and inspired legions of found-footage movies in its wake. It forever changed how fans engage with story and how marketers approach the internet.Inspired by the possibilities for engaging connected fan cultures and communities online, Monello co-founded Campfire in 2005. There, he leads an agency that has developed and created groundbreaking participatory stories and experiences for HBO, Amazon, Netflix, Cinemax, Discovery, National Geographic, Harley- Davidson, Infiniti, and more. Campfire won Small Agency Campaign of the Year via AdAge in 2013 and Small Agency of the Year via Online Marketing Media and Advertising Awards in 2012, and has been awarded top honors at the Emmys, Cannes Lions Festival, Clios, One Show, and more. Monello serves on the Peabody Board of Jurors, and regularly speaks at high-profile events. SHOW INTRODUCTION:I am not a huge fan of the horror genre of movies. As a kid I regularly covered my eyes when the Wicked Witch of the West showed up on screen in the Wizard of Oz.I saw Amityville Horror as a 13 year old and late into my adult years, looking out of a darkened home window was slightly un-nerving thinking that there was certainly something evil looking back. I saw Friday the 13th and growing up in Montreal during the reign of the Montreal Canadians and so I watched a good bit of hockey but never thought of goalie’s masks quite the same way. I sat through episodes Night Gallery, the Wolfman and Frankenstein with childhood friends trying to not look at the screen all the while putting on an air of calm remaining cool. As a 10-year-old, I scrambled under the flaps of circus show tent at a local fair when a man miraculously turned into a raging gorilla right in front of my eyes. Oh… and thank you Mr. Spielberg for making me afraid of my closet, and that a portal to the netherworld could be in there, and believing that every house could possibly be built on and Indian burial ground Oh and, of course, making sure I’d never look at open water the same way.This may have all had to do with growing up with older brothers that thought it hilarious the wear a gorilla mask and jump out at my younger brother and me with the lights off in the basement. Except in that case, I brandished a big wooden shoe polishing brush and delivered a great whack to that nasty gorilla’s head. Or it may be that I have a particularly active imagination and believe in the power of story’s ability to go deep into our neurobiology and create ‘as if’ experiences inside us. Story is so profoundly woven into our very beings that, without it, there would be a vacuum of basic understanding of our world and what to it means to part of it all.So, with all of this in mind, it’s likely no surprise that I haven’t watched the Exorcist and have kept away from The Blair Witch Project.But Blair Witch is something entirely different. It didn’t just scare the crap out of millions of people, it shifted the film industry on its axis creating a new paradigm for storytelling where film and the burgeoning internet merged, blurring boundaries between these two vehicles for connecting fans to the profound power of a story.It broke what was acceptable in terms of camera work replacing locked off cameras for a handheld approach where being all bumpy was perfectly OK. It was largely credited with creating the “found footage” technique that has become so common in years since its release.The opening scenes left you questioning what was real, was this really found footage by a group of student film makers who ventured into the woods to capture a story of a reported witch but never came back? When The Blair Witch Project premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 1999, it its promotional marketing campaign actually listed the actors as either "missing" or "deceased". It grossed over $250 making it one of the most successful independent films of all time.Michael Monello, and his partners at Haxan Films, were the creators of this paradigm shifting approach to film making, forever changing how fans engage with story and how marketers approach the internet.Inspired by the possibilities for engaging connected fan cultures and communities online, Monello co-founded Campfire in 2005, and ever since, has built an impressive and exciting career in immersive storytelling and innovative marketing.At Campfire, he leads an agency that has developed and created more groundbreaking participatory stories and experiences for HBO, Amazon, Netflix, Cinemax, Discovery, National Geographic, Harley- Davidson, Infiniti, and more. Campfire won Small Agency Campaign of the Year by AdAge in 2013 and Small Agency of the Year by Online Marketing Media and Advertising Awards in 2012, and has been awarded top honors at the Emmys, Cannes Lions Festival, Clios, and more. This is a talk that goes into Projects Beyond Blair Witch and dives into the power of story, engaging the internet in creating famdom, the meta-verse, NFT’s and more. Michael Monello has a really interesting take on immersive experiences and believes that ‘its not really a thing until someone is experiencing it. He likens creating immersive experiences to architecture saying that you can build a really beautiful building, but is it really finished if it sits unoccupied and unused.’That question is fundamentally at the core of this podcast where we focus on “DATA: Design, Architecture, Technology and the Arts.”Michael Monello’s work crosses these disciplines with the same facility and passion that had him crossing boundaries since creating The Blair Witch Project over 20 years ago. ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comTwitter: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why’, ‘what’s now’ and ‘what’s next’. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott’s “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation’s Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.He has held teaching positions at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com.  The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.

ABOUT Gwendolyn Osborne:Gwendolyn’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/gwenosborneWebsitesgwen-osborne.com  (Portfolio)lomoliqueskin.com  (Company Website)soundcloud.com/tea_with_gwen  (RSS Feed)Emailhello@gwen-osborne.com Bio: Gwen is an involved mother to her 3 talented kids ages 9-25. Leading a successful career in the modeling industry on the runway, print, and commercials, Gwen transitioned into a spokesmodel on the television game show The Price Is Right, gaining the historical accolade of the longest-running woman of color to work on a daytime game show. Continuing her acting career, she has played various roles such as an Amazonian in Wonder Woman 1984 toGeneral Hospital playing the fierce role Police Chief Vic.Drawing from her acting talents, Gwen brings her most dynamic, comedic self as host of her podcast Tea with Gwen.Committed to bringing diverse stories of how real-life Wonder Women balance their own health, wellness, and beauty journeys.When Gwen isn’t behind the microphone or filming on set, she’s promoting and building Lomolique, her revolutionary luxurious anti-aging facial oil - lovingly combining the names of her 3 children.Gwen is a recent graduate of The Path and now a certified Meditation Teacher, under the renowned Dina Kaplan, bringing a new level of spiritual guidance to her audience.  SHOW INTRODUCTION:Everybody faces adversity at some time in their life. Some may seem to face them more than others. Some collapse under the stress and others seems to have built in resilience to keep going despite what, at the time, may seem to be insurmountable odds. I have often wondered what it is that some have to keep them moving forward, building a life despite roadblocks.I don’t know, maybe its ego strength – that ability to maintain their identity and sense of self in the face of pain, distress, and conflict. Maybe it’s a great support system of friends and family who prop you up when you need it most.Maybe it’s a desire to not accept the status quo, to want more and believe you can craft a life in which the things you want you can make happen.The American motivational author William Arthur Ward said “If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it.”Maybe today’s guest heard that somewhere along the line, but not likely prior to being ten years old, when she petitioned classmates and marched into the headmasters office to change the policy of school uniforms in her elementary school so that all girls could wear trousers.That event was part of a trajectory of hurdling over roadblocks, or just believing that there was no barrier that would stop her forward motion.As a single teen mother, Gwen focused her life energy on the performing arts, making a plan and then finding her way to Los Angeles where she wanted your young daughter to go to school. With passion for growth and perseverance she broke another barrier to be the longest running women of color on a daytime game show and the first to show pregnancy and return to work on the Price Is Right after her delivery of her son.Strength of will and of character and saying yes to moments of serendipity lead to being one of the Featured Amazon Women in the Wonder Woman 1984 movie directed by Patty Jenkins.The path was not straight. But then again, growth is not found on Easy Street but on the Slip ‘n Slide-bumper car-rollercoaster of occasionally scary life experiences, and Gwen Osborne has never been one to shy away from life’s ups and downs.ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comTwitter: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why’, ‘what’s now’ and ‘what’s next’. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott’s “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation’s Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.He has held teaching positions at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com.  The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.

ABOUT Caspar Schols:Caspar's LinkedIn profile: linkedin.com/in/caspar-schols-12687470Email: cs@casparschols.comWebsites: https://www.cabin-anna.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/casparschols/Articles: Dezeen: https://www.dezeen.com/2020/10/27/anna-stay-meet-caspar-schols/Archdaily: https://www.archdaily.com/952580/cabin-anna-caspar-scholsA Home Is Not A House: https://socks-studio.com/2011/10/31/francois-dallegret-and-reyner-banham-a-home-is-not-a-house-1965/Bio: Cabin ANNA is created by Dutch designer Caspar Schols, who design and built the first cabin for his mother. Without any architectural education, but with a fascination for architecture and design, he was looking for a concept to bring people closer to nature.Cabin ANNA won various awards, among which the prestigious Architizer A+ Project of the Year Award 2021, one of the world’s largest awards program for architecture and building-products. Cabin ANNA's mission now is to structurally connect every human being with nature once again.  SHOW INTRODUCTION:Are Physics and nature different things?I suppose they aren’t given that all things in nature, the universe, are bound by the laws of physics.So maybe it’s not so surprising that a young physicist, who loved architecture - also bound by the laws of physics - should find himself in the position of a major career path change when asked by his mother to build a small cabin in her back yard so that she could be in nature. Not a place to necessarily do something in nature but ‘be’ in nature, to experience it, connect with it, and get back to it, in a profoundly embodied way. There is a Dutch term for what she wanted to do - Niksen “nik-suhn” – it’s a noun that means:“…the practice of doing nothing as a means of relieving stress; idle activity, as staring into the trees or listening to music, with no purpose other than relaxation.”She could spend all day in the backyard, relaxing but noticing all of the details – birds, sounds of wind and birds, shapes of leaves on tress, passing of the clouds, changes in the quality of light…As a young boy he too felt deeply connected to nature. With his family, he had slept out under the stars, exposed the elements, but connected with the universe and protected by his family who slept beside him.With a budget of 20,000 Euros, Caspar Schols set off to design and build Cabin ANNA. Which by the way takes its name from his mother. Cabin Anna does more than just physically transform engaging the inhabitants to live different experiences in varying degrees of connectedness with nature. It expands as if taking a deep breath, opening up to the elements allowing the interior to become at one with the exterior. You can literally sleep under the stars as Caspar once did as a young boy.It is both simple and impeccably detailed, everything counts.It is beautiful and balanced so that nothing can be added or taken away but for the worse. And with a gentle but deliberate push its envelope slides open along beautifully engineered tracks like shedding your clothes to bathe in nature.For Caspar, Cabin ANNA it is not really about increasing space, but about changing space, changing atmosphere, changing utility and always about bringing us back to nature and the laws of the universe and where we stand among the stars.Cabin ANAA is Fallingwater, Phillip Johnson’s or Meis Van Der Rohe’s glass houses, Henry David Thoreau’s cabin in the woods and a Transformer all in one. For many of us Caspar suggests, “… this requires a different attitude, you have to be willing to change your customs, how you live…” Being in, and with, nature is a way of living from which modern society has immerged. Cabin ANNA is an invitation to remember where we have come from.ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comTwitter: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why’, ‘what’s now’ and ‘what’s next’. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott’s “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation’s Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.He has held teaching positions at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com.  The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.

ABOUT Serdar Kutucu:Serdar's LinkedIn profile: linkedin.com/in/serdar-kutucu-0808021bWebsites: https://slowness.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/slowness/Bio: Since April 2020, Serdar is Chief Executive Officer of Slow, a collective of people, places and projects around the world that reframe the ways we live, work and interact. Based in Berlin, Serdar oversees the strategic & brand development as well as all operational efforts. The portfolio of Slow currently includes a farmstead in Ibiza and a treehouse in Tulum and will soon add a creative campus in Berlin as well as a little palacio in Lisbon, providing not mere physical spaces but a journey to an altered state of being.Previously, Serdar was Chief Operating Officer of Design Hotels, a global hospitality brand based in Berlin. He oversaw various business units, including business & portfolio development and brand management. Serdar had joined Design Hotel in 2008 as Director of Business Development and played a vital role in shaping the company’s collection of 350 independent and design-driven member hotels – in over 60 countries. An aesthete with a natural affinity for brand narrative, architecture, and design, Serdar soon assumed leadership of Design Hotels’ brand strategy and continuously developed the company’s business in alignment with its vision to create original hospitality experiences. With his deep understanding of the travel industry, gastronomy and hospitality, paired with a wealth of experience in marketing, communications and business innovation, Serdar aims to strategically develop the Slow brand … Serdar holds a master’s degree in international business administration from the University of Vienna. SHOW INTRODUCTION:I have heard it said that travel changes us, mostly for the better. We go and return with a different view on things, new learnings and realizations. It draws us together and often can shed light on the differences of our human experience. Hopefully, a new awareness brings us all together in the shared meaning of being human.We all expect good design in the hotels we visit but the experience of a hotel stay is more than the architecture. More often these days guests are looking for something deeper. A hotel stay that aligns with the search for meaning and a purpose driven approach to deciding to go out and go far. What if we sought out hotel destinations where a stay was not only about a good night’s sleep – though that should be a given – but where the place was a collective of people, places and projects around the world that reframed the ways we live, work and interact.Perhaps the place you would go to is a farmstead in Ibiza or a treehouse in Tulum or maybe it’s a creative campus in Berlin as well as a little palacio in Lisbon, and each of these provided not mere physical places but a journey to an altered state of being.And then there is the hospitality company called SLOW who dares to be slow in the face of everything around us that seems to be speeding by. SLOW chooses to create places that not only creates memorable locations and does more than shift the velocity of experience, it seeks to alter a guests’ state of being. SLOW conscientiously defies conventions, and embraces the imperfect, the strange and the indigenous. Serdar Kutucu is the Chief Executive Officer of Slow. Based in Berlin, Serdar oversees the strategic & brand development as well as all operational efforts. Serdar was Chief Operating Officer of Design Hotels, a global hospitality brand based in Berlin. He oversaw various business units, including business & portfolio development and brand management. Serdar had joined Design Hotel in 2008 as Director of Business Development and played a vital role in shaping the company’s collection of 350 independent and design-driven member hotels – in over 60 countries.With his deep understanding of the travel industry, gastronomy and hospitality, paired with a wealth of experience in marketing, communications and business innovation, Serdar now aims to strategically develop the Slow brand by taking a localized, conscientious approach to every element in the creation of integrated aesthetic environments that are design to enrich wellbeing and provide a model for a more sustainable future. ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comTwitter: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why’, ‘what’s now’ and ‘what’s next’. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott’s “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation’s Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.He has held teaching positions at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com.  The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.

ABOUT CHRISTIAN DAVIES:Christian's LinkedIn profile: linkedin.com/in/christian-davies-fcsd-3728a513Websites: https://www.bergmeyer.comemail: cdavies@bergmeyer.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/christianthdavies/ Bio: Davies brings 30+ years' experience as a creative leader, working with brands across the globe, from disruptive startups to the very top Fortune 500 contenders in retail, experiential, beauty, fashion, hospitality, technology, luxury, and more. His veteran status includes over 100 national and international design awards (15 of which earned top honors for Store of the Year Awards), including a five-time winner of design:retail’s Retail Design Influencer as well as a coveted Retail Design Luminary award.  As a Design Practice Leader for Bergmeyer, Davies will bring a thoughtful and provocative approach to leading and inspiring its teams, projects, and clients through purposeful brand identity exploration and the shaping of meaningful and memorable physical environments.Prior to Bergmeyer, Davies served as Managing Director of the Creative Marketing Group at Verizon, Creative Vice President of Global Design and Innovation for Starbucks, Executive Creative Director of the Americas at Fitch, and Vice President/Managing Creative Director at FRCH Design Worldwide.Also See: https://www.bergmeyer.com/people/christian-davies Also See: https://www.retaildive.com/press-release/20210506-from-corporate-to-collaborative-storied-industry-vet-christian-davies-join/Articles: https://www.bergmeyer.com/trending/the-shock-of-the-new https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/which-way-experience-design-time-chaos-christian-davies-fcsd/ Sir Ken Robinson TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_do_schools_kill_creativity?language=en On Creativity: See: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mihaly_CsikszentmihalyiSee: "Creativity: Flow and The Psychology of Discovery and Invention" by Mihaly Csikszentmihaly SHOW INTRODUCTION:Back in the early 2000’s the International Retail Design Conference came into being. The event sponsored by VMSD magazine and STMedia Group – now owned by SmartWork Media – wasn’t your typical tradeshow. They tried booths by vendors early on and then abandoned them for a fully educational event. Retail industry leaders and some of the best retailers and visual merchandisers have since gathered every year – but for 2020 due to the COVID pandemic – to talk all things retail. There were always great presentations about projects that pushed the boundaries of retail design, awards galas, the requisite cocktails and spontaneous conversation in the hallways where ideas flowed naturally.As a member of the VMSD Editorial Advisory Board, I have attended all but 2. And over the past 20+ years I recall a few speakers that simply captivated the audience. Christian Davies was a ‘standing room only’ presenter that drew crowds to hear insightful, thought provoking and slightly cheeky commentary that he seemed to get away with – perhaps because his English accent gave him some slack – but mostly because he was on target and freakishly smart.Christian didn’t hold back. He went to the heart of the matter.Sometimes critical, sometimes satirical and often emotional. Too this day frequent attendees will recall a session he presented on Compassionate Capitalism where he and the audience shared a tear over the profoundly moving actions of some global retailers who stepped beyond the bottom line and reached out in support of people in need.I was always one of the ‘standers’ – not because I needed an easy way out if the presentation was not meeting my expectations but because people had rushed the room to be creatively inspired and challenged in their thinking.I have worked with and competed against Christian for design gigs with national and international retailers but mostly studied him as a retail design, brand experience place-making leader who has had a career working on both sides of the line – as a design consultant and big brand retailer. Honestly, I have been at times envious but mostly admiring of him.Christian is a visionary creative leader with over 30 years working in the retail and experiential industry across the globe. He is Skilled in Strategy, Innovation, Design and Implementation.He gets it done.He has amassed over a 100 international design awards working for everything from disruptive startups to the very top of the Fortune 500. And… he continues to be a keynote and session speaker at every major retail conference in the US. Christian is now the Design Practice Lead for Bergmeyer – a Boston based design firm.A recent favorite topic for his speaking sessions these days? “Navigating the future in this time of seismic change.”Love it…Right up my alley…. ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comTwitter: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why’, ‘what’s now’ and ‘what’s next’. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott’s “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation’s Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.He has held teaching positions at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com.  The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.

Contact InfoEric’s Profilelinkedin.com/in/eric-schick-73b72117Emaileric@pantheontile.comBio:Eric Schick is an entrepreneur and business strategist whose passion and enthusiasm for restoring the natural environment through the built environment are palpable when you meet him. Eric’s 23 year background as co-founder and CEO of Pantheon Floor Solutions, a popular commercial tile brand specified by the architect, engineer and design community, led him to discover a variety of innovative and futuristic building technologies he has helped co-found, fund and steward. Two of the most exciting technologies are Hover Energy and Eden Green, which have both recently hit commercialization stage.Eric recently formed the company CEED with his wife of 25 years, Elizabeth Schick, who is his partner in marriage, business and all things important in his life. “CEED” is an acronym for Consumables, Energy, Environment and Design, and CEED’s mission is to deploy distributed infrastructure technologies that are good for mankind, mother earth and the marketplace.Eric is also a reverend, and enjoys encouraging people with the gospel to find their purpose for their life so they can share it with the world and live the abundant life.SHOW INTRO:It’s not often that I talk to a business owner who lives by the simple rule of growing his business in service of “MANKIND – MOTHER EARTH - and the MARKETPLACE.” This is a “triple bottom line” that keeps on repeating, over and over in my head. Perhaps it has become more front row center in my conscious awareness over the past couple of years because I have become more convinced that what we humans are doing to our planet, and each other, needs urgent attention.My sons will tell me that they, at times, lose hope that what is happening now with climate change will mean that the planet is unsave-able. This was never a consideration when I was growing up. I grew up in a world where plastics were a savior – think the joy of Tupperware parties and how plastics would revolutionize almost everything. Plastics, another use for the black gold buried deep in the core of our little blue dot spinning around one of the billions of stars in the universe. Plastics also form a floating island growing to be twice the size of Texas in the Pacific Ocean. It is estimated that the mass of the plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) was estimated to be approximately 80,000 tonnes, which is equivalent to that of 500 Jumbo Jets.Let that sit for a moment. Our relationship with our planet is broken.And we can’t simply do what has been on the rise for years in marriages and divorce it. As far as we know, and despite some brilliant thinking and creative and brilliant engineering and visionary leadership, we are still a number of years away from getting off Mother Earth and colonizing Mars. And, what a tragedy to simply suck this planet dry of natural resources and leave the scorched earth to maybe do the same somewhere else. Divorcing our planet is not an option.My guest on this episode of NXTLVL Experience Design believes that “Right now we are suffering from bad relationship” – with the earth, each other.” Energy and food production are part of the complex system that is contributing to our planet literally being on fire. We have got to have our “Come to Jesus moment” with climate change and not rely on teenagers like Greta Thunberg  (God bless her) to be ringing the alarm. Generations prior to Greta and my Sons’, have made the mess, and we can’t avoid the responsibility for cleaning it up. Corporations have to up their game in producing clean energy solutions, reducing waste to landfills and the food production industry must look for sustainable solutions to not pumping more carbon into the atmosphere.I use the ‘come to Jesus’ phrase because it is time but also because my guest on this episode is a business owner, investor, philanthropist, and Reverend.Erik Schick has a mission of “Restoring the environment through the built environment.” He knows that a good deal of the damage being done to our planet’s ecology is from the building industry. Building buildings, and operating them, puts a lot of carbon into the atmosphere. And so, Eric believes that “Wherever we create an economic impact we have to leave a social footprint.” Eric’s 23-year history as founder and CEO of Pantheon Floor Solutions led him to discover a variety of innovative and futuristic building technologies he has helped co-found, fund and steward. Two of the most exciting technologies that we will talk about are Hover Energy and Eden Green, which have both recently hit commercialization stage. Eric recently formed the company CEED with his wife of 25 years, Elizabeth Schick, who is his partner in marriage, business and all things important in his life. “CEED” is an acronym for “Consumables, Energy, Environment and Design.”CEED’s mission is to deploy distributed infrastructure technologies that are good for mankind, mother earth and the marketplace. There is the mantra: do good for - mankind- mother earth and the marketplace.A note to our listeners about this episode:This conversation with Eric Schick is powerful and inspiring. It is also challenging at times because we talk about some of Eric’s work while on a medical mission trip to Romania during the revolution and El Salvador where atrocious acts of violence were being committed. So, I feel I need to let you know that some listeners may find this particular content during the episode disturbing. ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comTwitter: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why’, ‘what’s now’ and ‘what’s next’. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott’s “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation’s Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.He has held teaching positions at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com.   The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.

Contact InfoVince’s LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/vince-kadlubekEmail: vince@meowwolf.comWebsite: https://meowwolf.com Twitter: @VKadlubek Vince Kadlubek Bio:Vince Kadlubek is a Founder of Meow Wolf, an art collective that has transformed into an award winning Art and Entertainment Production Company that specializes in immersive, open-world walk through experiences. Vince acted as leader and CEO for Meow Wolf though its formidable years, having created the business plan for Meow Wolf’s House of Eternal Return and leading the team towards the project's completion in March of 2016. In January of 2017 Kadlubek formed Meow Wolf, Inc as a full fledged arts production company and creative studio positioned to create the largest, most innovative and audacious monumental art exhibits in the world. After raising series A funding he announced two new Meow Wolf exhibits in Las Vegas and Denver, opening in 2021. Kadlubek has been a force of vision in the realm of experiential art, and in 2020 launched a creative consulting agency called Spatial Activations as a platform to usher in a new era of experiential art in modern developments and everyday life. Vince is most passionate about co-creating fully-realized alternative realities that bring paradigm-shifting transformation and inspiration to the world.Show Intro:I have been fascinated with immersive experiences for years. Since studying architecture and sitting in on History Theory classes taught by Alberto Perez Gomez at Mc Gill University in the 80’s, I have deeply believed that there is a profound experiential difference between directly participating in ‘rituals’ rather than doing so at arm’s length, as a 3rd person observer.I think we have lost the connection to significant rituals over the years. We don’t dance around the fire, stamping out patterns that bring into being place through the markings of our feet in the dust. The embodied enactment of rituals created context and meaning from our experiences. We came to better understand who we were in relationship to our community, culture, nation and cosmos through directly participating in the experience – the ritual enactment. Even now when we do go to church, synagogue or the mosque, to public events, musical productions, and movies, we observe more than we physically participate. When we do participate in an embodied way, time and space collapse. New constructs emerge. We create a crucible for experience, and we are changed, certainly for the duration of the ritual, but perhaps long afterwards as well. We have become a culture of watchers – be it watchers of TV, social media feeds, sports, entertainment or standing behind a red velvet stanchion at the museum and being ushered along past the Mona Lisa. In many ways, art, and our experience of it, has become a thing to view, at a distance, not something to directly participate in, to make.In making art we express our collective need for self-validation. Art is an expression of who we are, at a very profound level.It provides a sense of agency and empowerment of bringing things into being that have not been there before. We are Homo Faber – Man the Maker as well as we are Homo Sapiens – Man the Wise. We are not unique among the creatures of the planet in that we make things, but we are unique in that the things we make, make other things. And, the things we make are often done for the purpose of conveying concepts, ideologies and emotion – to make others feel something.Another idea that we dig into in this episode about is it ‘the unknown’ and how we deal with the ambiguity and uncertainty of what has not yet come to pass. Within the context of the recent global pandemic this issue has been particularly acute in my mind as pathways and strategies for moving into my future, that believed were thoughtfully crafted and reliable, became immaterial and largely uncertain. What I thought was going to be course, changed and I found myself, over this past 20 months, looking into the idea of change, how we adapt to it, how it's transforming the world around us, our ability to remain resilient in the face of it and how we navigate this space of the unknown and consider it less foreboding and more an opportunity for creative possibility.For many being in a constant state of change can be incredibly unnerving. We don't like it. It makes us feel uncomfortable and often, we would rather it not happen, but here's the thing, change doesn't much care if you're uncomfortable. It keeps moving on, along an exponential path that is rocketing skyward.The unfamiliar signals potential danger and our biology is geared to sounding the alarms when the unfamiliar lurks near the edge of uncertainty. The paradox is that we both seek to avoid the perceived danger of the unknown while being driven toward the novel and unexpected because that is where learning lives. And so we slip into nostalgia remembering the good old times because it delivers a cozy sense of familiarity. On the other hand, change and the unknown is at the root of our shared neurobiology - our brains are made for change. We are incredibly adept at picking up even the slightest changes in our environment relationships and experiences because it has been built into us as a survival mechanism. To quickly attend to that which is the unknown to determine friend or foe. Whether we would be lunch or have lunch.Enter Vince Kadlubek and Meow Wolf.Vince is undeterred by the unknown. In fact, he finds stepping into the unknown unnecessary component for understanding himself, his context and how art can be transformative. Vince Kadlubek is a Founder of Meow Wolf, an art collective that has transformed into an award-winning Art and Entertainment Production Company that specializes in immersive, open-world walk through experiences. Vince acted as leader and CEO for Meow Wolf though its formidable years, having created the business plan for Meow Wolf’s House of Eternal Return and leading the team towards the project's completion in March of 2016. In January of 2017 Kadlubek formed Meow Wolf, Inc as a full-fledged arts production company and creative studio positioned to create the largest, most innovative and audacious monumental art exhibits in the world. After raising series A funding he announced two new Meow Wolf exhibits in Las Vegas and Denver, opening in 2021. Kadlubek has been a force of vision in the realm of experiential art, and in 2020 launched a creative consulting agency called Spatial Activations as a platform to usher in a new era of experiential art in modern developments and everyday life. Vince is most passionate about co-creating fully-realized alternative realities that bring paradigm-shifting transformation and inspiration to the world.Meow Wolf’s mission?…TO INSPIRE CREATIVITY THROUGH ART, EXPLORATION, AND PLAY SO THAT IMAGINATION WILL TRANSFORM THE WORLD…Vince Kadlubek likes the unknown and he sees Meow Wolf as a place of exploration where people can for an hour or two lose themselves and enter the world of creative imagination to perhaps find something that they've always been looking for.And with that, I welcome Vince Kadlubek, Founder and Director to the show…ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comTwitter: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why’, ‘what’s now’ and ‘what’s next’. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott’s “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently brings his creativity and insight on brand experiences to an international audience as a member of VMSD magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board, as a Board Member of the Interactive Customer Experience Association (ICXA) and Sign Research Foundation’s (SRF) Program Committee.He has held teaching positions at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com.   The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.

Sara’s Profile:linkedin.com/in/sara-duffy-79b43617website: https://stonehilltaylor.com email: sduffy@stonehilltaylor.comBio:Sara Duffy graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and received her Associate of Applied Science in Interior Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology. With a background in art history and television, Sara crafts a unique, immersive narrative for each of her projects with a focus on thoughtful, classic design. Her impressive variety of projects includes the Nomad Hotel and Bar in New York and its re-iteration in Las Vegas, the J.W. Marriott Nashville, and the iconic TWA Hotel at JFK Airport’s historic TWA Flight Center. She has worked with renowned hospitality developers such as the Sydell Group, Eleven Madison Park’s Chef Daniel Humm and Will Guidara, Marriott International, Turnberry Associates, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, and Hilton Hotels & Resorts.Show Intro:The Algonquin Hotel in New York was opened in 1902. Stories abound of the guests that stayed there and the fabled “Round Table” around which literary luminaries met daily to talk about all thing literature.The TWA terminal designed by the masterful architect Eero Sarinen opened in 1962 and has a history of its own aside from the groundbreaking design that made it an icon of the era.The Marriott Marquis in Time Square New York was the work of architect John Portman who created monumental interiors in concrete. The hotel's construction was first disclosed on November 3, 1972, and opened a little over ten years later.These projects have stood the test of time but been reinvigorated with major renovations in the past couple of years to bring them into a new era of hospitality that caters to an evolving cohort of travelers. It’s no small thing to take a building and breath new life into it while not diminishing their cultural significance. Making them more effective in meeting the new need of guests while also paying due respect to the architects and histories they have lived has a plethora of challenges. Consultant teams can be as large as 100 different organizations, each with a specific mandate and areas of work. Building methodologies have changes, codes and regulations are stricter, materials and furniture options have proliferated. All of this adds to the challenge. And, when considering big design changes, board rooms are filled with questions like, “can we actually do that?”, “Should we do that”” “what message are we sending if we do that?”Sara Duffy is a principal at the hospitality focused design firm of Stonehill Taylor. Sara Duffy graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and received her Associate of Applied Science in Interior Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology. With a background in art history and television, Sara crafts a unique, immersive narrative for each of her projects with a focus on thoughtful, classic design.It is perhaps not so surprising that she was charged with playing a prominent role in leading the Algonquin, TWA, and Marriott Marquis projects through their revitalization bringing their stories from the past to the present. ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comTwitter: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why’, ‘what’s now’ and ‘what’s next’. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott’s “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently brings his creativity and insight on brand experiences to an international audience as a member of VMSD magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board, as a Board Member of the Interactive Customer Experience Association (ICXA) and Sign Research Foundation’s (SRF) Program Committee.He has held teaching positions at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com.  The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.

ABOUT YORAM ROTH:Yoram’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/yoramrothwebsites:yoramroth.com  (Personal Website)cultureworks.com  (Company Website)fotografiska.com  (Company Website)Social Media:Twitter: https://twitter.com/yoramroth Instagram: yoram_rothLinkedIn Article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/looming-arms-race-cultural-experience-economy-yoram-roth/?trackingId=awEYFGPlTHShS8wDRg1OqQ%3D%3D Email: yoram.roth@cultureworks.comBIO:Executive Chairman: CultureWorks is the holding company, management and development platform for culture, experience and hospitality brands. Fotografiska is redefining the modern museum experience. NeueHouse is the place where culture works. Through Clärchens Ballhaus I am bringing a 19th century jewel with strong traditions into the 21st century. As a cultural investor I believe that community matters, and culture works. Artist on Sabbatical, father to three young men.SHOW INTRO:Art and culture are connected in an intimate dance. Art, it could be said, is an expression of culture, and it’s kaleidoscopic manifestations are emblematic of the subsets of ideologies adopted by likeminded members of communities. Art, in its myriad forms, comes to represent the meaning of experience and the values communities share. Art challenges us. It poses questions and it seeks answers. Art and design is all around us. As we shape the world through art, architecture and design, it shapes us back. We both make and are made by the things we create. In a digitally enabled world, we are increasingly exposed to a plethora of images we both make and share that shape our experience and understanding of the world.The ubiquity and democratization of the image equally suggests a need for greater visual literacy – a common lexicon for understanding and discussing the power of images and the relationship to culture and community building.Museums have a role to play, and there has been a movement to providing cultural experiences beyond the white wall for the past 40 some years. Traditional museum formats face challenges with the emergence of more immersive experiences that can be extraordinary. According to Yoram Roth – Executive Chairman of Fotografiska | NeueHouse and the newly formed Culture Works, “…Over the last ten years, there has been a substantial growth of “culture as an experience.” For Roth, “Culture Matters. And, Culture Works.”He suggests that “…The most recent development is driven by artists and collectives creating site-specific immersive cultural experiences that reside on a spectrum between fine art and the spectacular…” Yoram Roth is on a mission to build a global cultural business and reinvent the museum experience for the modern world. He takes on this challenge with the awareness that there is as he has recently outlined in an article posted to LinkedIn, a “Looming Arms Race in the Cultural Experience Economy.” In this well referenced piece, Yoramoutlines some of the inherent complexities of building a global cultural business within the context of an experience-seeking-consumer-world that is deeply immersed in the making of digitally-based images. ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comTwitter: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why’, ‘what’s now’ and ‘what’s next’. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott’s “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently brings his creativity and insight on brand experiences to an international audience as a member of VMSD magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board, as a Board Member of the Interactive Customer Experience Association (ICXA) and Sign Research Foundation’s (SRF) Program Committee.He has held teaching positions at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com.   The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.

About Tracy,Tracy Lee’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/tracyleestumWebsite: tracyleestum.com  Email: info@tracyleestum.comTwitter: tracyleestumInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/tracyleestum/ Tracy's Bio:Tracy Lee Stumis an American artist best known for her 3D street paintings orchalkdrawings. She at one point held the Guinness World Record for the Largest Chalk Painting by an Individual.[1]Tracy Lee Stum began drawing as soon as she could clutch a crayon. She studied privately as a child and earned a bachelor's degree at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. She continued her studies in naturalism at the Florence Academy of Art in Italy.A gregarious graffiti lover, Tracy began street painting in 1998 and is considered by Madonnari peers, festival directors and viewers alike as one of the finest street painters today.  Known for splashing color in festivals and events in all corners and crevices of the globe, her paintings have won numerous awards & accolades – her only regret is that her masterpieces rarely fit on the fridge.In 2006 Tracy added the Guinness World Record to her collection of vinyl for the largest street painting by an individual.  In 2013 she was honored to be a contributor on the Cannes Gold Lion award-winning team for their work in the now iconic Honda CRV commercial.Experienced in multi-city campaigns for such clients as Cadillac, SoBe, and Dos Equis, Tracy is continually creating commissioned 3D and 4D works in chalk for advertising, public and private events, corporate PR and educational sectors. Her international team building skills have been utilized in developing street painting festivals in China, Mexico, India, Russia and throughout the United States.  Her art travels well and is always up to date on all of its shots.Tracy has been privileged and honored to serve as the US State Department's 2012 cultural ambassador.  She's toured Tajikistan and India creating 3D street paintings and teaching workshops at distinguished universities and art colleges to promote education, awareness and positive cross-cultural communication.In 2013 Tracy put on clean pants and stepped effortlessly into management as she curated the first annual DO/AC 3D Chalk Festival in Atlantic City, New Jersey, showcasing 14 renowned international 3D street art & chalk artists.Tracy's chalk conversations speak to her vast audience with imagination, beauty and playfulness – often with a thick Italian accent.Show Intro:When was a kid, I loved going to the mall when they had artists exhibitions. I could watch for hours as artist of all stripes created magic in front of passersby. I was mesmerized as the sweep of a had could create a deep forest with a shaft of light cutting through the green, a galloping horse, or a crowded street scene.When living in New York and the Philadelphia area I marveled at the graffiti artists whose mural paintings stretched the full height of buildings. Not only was I awestruck with the subject matter but the sheer size of these creations always left me wondering …How do they do that?I remember going to a Bougereau exhibit in Montreal where the paintings were huge and seeing the Night’s Watch at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and being transfixed as people jostled for position all around me.A few years ago, I started tuning into street art where skilled painters would use chalk to create masterful illusions of 3 dimensions on the pavement. These works, when viewed from a specific place, seemed to magically transform the warped image into a 3D experience into which you could place yourself. I have spent years teaching perspective drawing where the size of the image fits on a drafting table. This took perspective to a whole new level for me.Tracy Lee Stum is an American artist best known for her 3D street paintings made with chalk. At one point, she held the Guinness World Record for the Largest Chalk Painting by an Individual.[1]She began drawing as soon as she could clutch a crayon. She studied privately as a child and earned a bachelor's degree at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. She continued her studies in naturalism at the Florence Academy of Art in Italy.A gregarious graffiti lover, Tracy began street painting in 1998 and is considered by festival directors and viewers alike as one of the finest street painters today.  In 2013 she was honored to be a contributor on the Cannes Gold Lion award-winning team for work on the iconic Honda CRV commercial and is she continually creating commissioned 3D and 4D works in chalk for advertising, public and private events, corporate PR and educational sectors. Tracy has travelled the world creating beautiful street art and been privileged and honored to serve as the US State Department's 2012 cultural ambassador teaching workshops at distinguished universities and art colleges to promote education, awareness and positive cross-cultural communication.We share a love of art and making paintings, though mine are still on canvas resting on an easel, and I am delighted to have Tracy share her passion and craft with us.About David Kepron:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comTwitter: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why’, ‘what’s now’ and ‘what’s next’. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott’s “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently brings his creativity and insight on brand experiences to an international audience as a member of VMSD magazine’s Editorial Advisory Board, as a Board Member of the Interactive Customer Experience Association (ICXA) and Sign Research Foundation’s (SRF) Program Committee.He has held teaching positions at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com.   The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.