Kimberly Lewis Inkumsah is a seasoned leader in the field of diversity, equity and inclusion, with a focus on their impact on health, sustainability and climate worldwide. Her extensive experience includes 20 years at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), where she led initiatives to enhance sustainability in buildings and communities. She is the executive vice president of Equity, Engagement & Events at the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), crafting the WELL 2024 Recharge, a three-day event featuring industry leaders, inspiring human health and providing enhanced opportunities to connect and learn.

One common trait I have as a minister, a community leader and an event organizer is the ability to listen and understand with empathy. I believe fostering a sense of well-being among individuals when we gather not only boosts their self-esteem and appreciation but also allows them to recognize their own strengths.

The impact of our gatherings extends far beyond creating a sense of happiness. It can influence motivation, confidence, overall well-being and produce profound ripples of positivity among us all.

Dr. Maya Angelou, one of my favorite authors, once said: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” As an event organizer, it’s a quote I carry with me every day.

During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, when all in-person events were shut down, and the conference scene receded from calendar blocks, I took a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reimagine how I could deliver events that bring joy and inspiration. I was convening with 200 leaders from around the world to advise on the development of the WELL Equity Rating, a program that aims to advance places and organizations where everyone feels welcome, seen and heard. My listening tour with these equity experts cemented my belief that we need to cultivate experiences in places where everyone feels valued and uplifted, and that’s really the secret sauce to creating a successful and fulfilling event!

Before the pandemic altered our reality, event organizers often prioritized filling convention centers with large crowds of up to 20,000 attendees. However, this approach may no longer resonate with everyone, and not just because the pandemic prompted a reevaluation of comfort levels in crowded spaces.

Nowadays, individuals crave engagement and interaction. They want meaningful conversations with speakers rather than just being subjected to one-sided speeches or presentations from a stage. This shift towards interactive experiences suggests that event planners need to rethink their programming strategies. Personally, I’ve begun incorporating more roundtable discussions and small forums into my organization’s events, providing everyone present an opportunity to contribute and be heard.

Years ago, filling an event’s agenda as much as possible with back-to-back activities was commonplace. I was guilty of this too, because I loved packing the schedule to try to maximize value and engagement, but I began to realize that doing so can be a total experience-killer for attendees. The truth is that not everyone wants to run nonstop from session to session. Instead, I aim to help people leave an event inspired, not exhausted.

What’s more, not everyone is eager to leap into the day’s agenda right at 8 a.m. To bring people back to events, we need to turn a gathering into a worthwhile experience for both the early risers and the people who excel later in the day.

I think of these groups as the “Larks” and the “Owls,” and I found that most folks, the Owls, come alive after 12 p.m. If you really want to craft an experience with well-being at the core, one that engages, nurtures, energizes and makes everyone feel excited to come back again, it needs to be fulfilling for the early risers with the 2 p.m. slumps as well as the night owls blossoming during the evening networking sessions.

The essence of the experience lies within the intricacies of our programming, culinary offerings, venue selection and every detail aimed at ensuring all attendees feel warmly embraced and appreciated. I spearheaded the implementation of this novel experiential approach during our 2021 WELL Summit in Scottsdale, Arizona.

There, I crafted adaptable schedules and curated interactive programming that fostered inclusivity for all participants. Recognizing the importance of movement, which is incidentally a concept within the WELL Standard to support the goal of people feeling better when they leave than when they arrived, I integrated physical activity like yoga sessions, morning hikes and tours of the city into the learning journey.

During the WELL Summit in Scottsdale, I aimed to normalize delivering an equitable experience for those whose needs are traditionally marginalized by putting up a wheelchair ramp around the stage from the beginning to the end, not just before the special need speaker’s session.

As Vincenzo Piscopo, president & CEO of United Spinal Association, a keynote speaker, spoke about why we should be thinking about ADA 2.0 today, the audience totally connected with him when he, sitting in a wheelchair, shared how he often experiences PTSD whenever he travels because so many of the services — from airplanes to hotels, to even the staging at events — would often create barriers for him to get around.

The venue I chose was not only wheelchair accessible on stage but we prioritized accessibility in his assigned room, including the bathroom details. That consideration helped deliver a total well-being experience for him, and it also enabled us to make another attendee (who had unfortunately injured her knee and unexpectedly needed crutches) feel included as well. That woman told me, “Kim, you didn’t know that I would show up like this, but your planning made it so easy for me to get around!”

As event organizers, it is our job to make sure that we’re cultivating a place in a space where people feel valued. Whatever we do, we have to do it with the individual in mind. We need to get to know our community and understand what they value and measure, which will not only help them to learn but also to feel good in the journey.

The heart of reimagining events lies in providing a space where individuals feel seen and heard, and the path to reimagining events is a journey of growth driven by the desire to create impactful experiences and transformative ones that resonate long after the last session.

This is how I’ve been engineering my organization’s annual WELL Conference in Long Beach, California, in May, when the global community championing the healthy building movement will gather. If the WELL Conference can deliver one outstanding experience, it’d be the “well-being” of attendees. C&IT