NXTLVL Experience Design

ABOUT Michael Monello:Michael’s Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikemonello/Websitescampfirenyc.com/ [email protected]: 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, Na

ABOUT Gwendolyn Osborne:Gwendolyn’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/gwenosborneWebsitesgwen-osborne.com (Portfolio)lomoliqueskin.com (Company Website)soundcloud.com/tea_with_gwen (RSS Feed)[email protected] 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: [email protected]: 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 techn

ABOUT Caspar Schols:Caspar's LinkedIn profile: linkedin.com/in/caspar-schols-12687470Email: [email protected]: 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: [email protected]: 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 socia

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: [email protected]: 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. Dav

ABOUT CHRISTIAN DAVIES:Christian's LinkedIn profile: linkedin.com/in/christian-davies-fcsd-3728a513Websites: https://www.bergmeyer.comemail: [email protected]: 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: [email protected]: DavidKepronPers

Contact InfoEric’s Profilelinkedin.com/in/[email protected]: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 marketpl

Contact InfoVince’s LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/vince-kadlubekEmail: [email protected]: 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

Sara’s Profile:linkedin.com/in/sara-duffy-79b43617website: https://stonehilltaylor.com email: [email protected]: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: [email protected]: 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 a

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: [email protected]: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: [email protected]: 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 abo

About Tracy,Tracy Lee’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/tracyleestumWebsite: tracyleestum.com Email: [email protected]: 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

About Danny Forster:Danny’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/danny-forster-4544b23Email: [email protected]: dannyforsterWebsite: https://www.dannyforster.com Bio:Architect. TV host. Producer. Director. Speaker. Professor. Danny Forster is all these things, and through them all he has become a global advocate for architecture. The field of architecture may not appear to need much help: buildings surround us. But that very ubiquity has made it almost invisible; we move in and around buildings but barely notice them. Through his persistent and passionate advocacy, Danny gets people to notice, understand, and value the built environment.This quest began when Danny was hired, while still pursuing his master’s in architecture at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, to host a television show about impressive feats of construction and engineering. The show would become Build It Bigger, one of Discovery Channel’s most popular series, and run for nine seasons, during which Danny traveled to more than fifty countries, exploring everything from record-breaking skyscrapers to cutting-edge sports stadiums, from airports to tunnels to impossibly long bridges. Besides offering a matchless education for an aspiring architect, Build It Bigger taught Danny how to talk about architecture so an audience wouldn’t just understand how and why a building was designed a certain way, it would care. The key was inviting them inside the process–not just saying what’s important, but showing them in concrete and engaging ways.For inquiries regarding film and television work, please contact Danny’s agent at William Morris Endeavor, Jim Ornstein: [email protected] domestic speaking engagements, contact Julie Leventhal: [email protected] international speaking engagements, contact Hugo Chittenden at The London Speaker Bureau: [email protected] purchase Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero, click here. To purchase episodes on iTunes, click here.To watch selected episodes of Build It Bigger, click here. To purchase episodes on Amazon, click here. To purchase episodes on iTunes, click here.Show INTRO:Architecture is pretty complex and despite the fact that we spend most of our days inside buildings, I would hazard a guess that not many people know how great architecture actually comes into being.After a number of years in university programs and then internships, architects follow years of practice. It said that architecture one of those professions that takes a long time to really begin to flourish. The great American architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Guggenheim museum in New York late in his career and it opened six months before, Wright died at the age of 92.With buildings all around us, some of which we pass by every day not paying them any concern, where do we go to find out what it really takes to make great buildings or why they should be particularly interesting in the first place?Well, you could go to books, movies or even podcasts like this one. Or you might also tune into television shows whose purpose it is to bring some of the great buildings of the world into your living room.By some way of unscripted serendipity, my guest on today's show did exactly that. As a student in the Graduate School of architecture at Harvard University Danny Forster was exhausted and looking to, as he explains, “run away from architecture.” In a strange twist of fate, he landed a job as the host of one of Discovery Channel’s most successful shows.Build It Bigger ran for nine seasons and became the highest rated show on the Science Channel, and won a 2010 Directors Guild of America Award.[8] The show took Forster and a camera crew around the world to investigate pioneering architectural and engineering projects, and put them in cultural, historical, and environmental context.Through his persistent and passionate advocacy, Danny gets people to notice, understand, and value the built environment.Besides offering a great education for an aspiring architect, Build It Bigger taught Danny how to talk about architecture so an audience wouldn’t just understand how and why a building was designed a certain way, it would care.Danny Forster ‘ran away from architecture’ to find he could bring architecture home to all of us.Today he wants us to care as much as he does about buildings and the effect it is having on our planet.Danny has put a spotlight on modular building and has partnered with MiTek Inc., a construction company owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, on something called the Modular Activation Platform, a system designed to clear away some of the obstacles to widespread modular construction.Danny Forster is a multi-hyphenate creative spirit who believes that any modest progressive change to the building industry towards modular construction would be a paradigm shift for our planet. About David Kepron:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com (

About Dorothy Di Stefano:Dorothy’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/immersivedigitalexperiencespecialistWebsite: moltenimmersiveart.com (Digital Immersive Experiences)Email: [email protected]: MoltenImmersiveGlobal thought leader, speaker, creative strategist, founder and director of Molten Immersive Art, Dorothy Di Stefano leads an international collective of experiential artists who create large-scale, site-specific, digital immersive experiences. As an ambassador for the arts, Dorothy sits on many cultural committees and is a Founding Circle Member of the World Experience Organization (UK) a Visual Arts Committee Member of the Della Leaders Club (NYC Chapter), Director of Research – Immersive Arts for the Digital Placemaking Institute and an International Partner on the Global Science, Technology and Innovation Committee for the World Business Angels Investment Forum (Istanbul).She was the only Australian representative on the 'Experiential Design' judging panel for the prestigious ADC 99th Annual Awards in New York and was awarded LinkedIn's Top Voice for 2019.Show Intro:Art, be it analogue – created in the real 3d world - or digital - created in the virtual world of data and algorithms - is part of who we are. For millennia, art has told the stories of our lives. It has recorded our human condition and served as an expression of culture, of ideas and helped to give context and meaning to our often unpredictable lives in an seemingly chaotic world. We are equally Homo Faber – Man the maker as we are Homo Sapiens – Man the wise.Art is powerful because it is empowering. In making things we share life energy with the objects of our creation. The lump of clay is just a lump of clay until the sculptor touches it transferring energy from the hand to the malleable mass. Bringing things to life, as if by some form of alchemy, artists make magic and meaning. They become connected to world of their inner selves and the things of their creation which by bringing them into being also become part of who they are - a true expression of being relevant in this world.Artforms have transformed over the ages with technologies changing the media used in artistic expression. We have moved from pigments to pixels and the way environments can now be created digitally is the way people experience art.On this episode of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast my guest is Dorothy Di Stefano – Dorothy is a Global thought leader, speaker, creative strategist, founder and director of Molten Immersive Art where she leads an international collective of experiential artists who create large-scale, site-specific, digital immersive experiences. As an ambassador for the arts, Dorothy sits on many cultural committees and is a Founding Circle Member of the World Experience Organization (UK), a Visual Arts Committee Member of the Della Leaders Club (NYC Chapter) and the Director of Research of Immersive Arts for the Digital Placemaking Institute.She is extraordinarily active on social media platforms like LinkedIn – where she was selected as one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in 2019 - and on Instagram where she wields the power of the image in showcasing arts of all kinds from around the globe.I have followed her for some time now and look forward to her content because I both learn about who’s doing amazing things in the art world and because I am inspired by the artistic magic-making of human kind. I look to Dorothy’s posts because they are an elixir to the mundane and provide hope in our human potential to change the world through the arts. About David Kepron:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)Email: [email protected]: 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 intern

About Peter Dixon:Peter’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/peter-dixon-b73ba98Website: prohpet.com (Company Website)email: [email protected] Dixon Bio:Peter brings his clients a unique blend of perspectives as an architect, designer and brand consultant. It translates into an imaginative take on branding, customer experience and retail innovation, expressed in both high-level thinking and visual, verbal and spatial representations.Peter’s award-winning programs have spanned all areas of the brand experience, ranging from brand strategy development to prototype design, customer experience concepts and merchandising approaches. He has worked for such notable clients as BMW, Citibank, ConocoPhillips, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Delta Airlines, Emart, Fiat Chrysler, Mayo Clinic, McDonalds, Nissan, Sprint, Samsung, United Airlines, United Health Group and Walmart.Peter helped lead the consulting team on Walmart’s new brand strategy, including its new visual identity and store experience concepts. He also was instrumental in designing Nissan Motors' new dealership concept being implemented worldwide, and a new dealership design for its Infiniti brand. He led the team designing a new customer experience for Delta Airlines. And for McDonald’s, he directed the development of a revitalized restaurant concept being executed across the U.S. and many parts of the world.Peter is a popular public speaker and has been tapped as a source by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Brandweek, Newsweek, Visual Merchandising & Store Design, Convenience Store News and Advertising Age.He serves on the editorial board of VM+SD magazine, and is a past national president of the Society for Experiential Graphic Design (SEGD). He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Louisiana State University and a Masters of Architecture degree from the University of Texas.Show Intro:Do you have brands you love?Do you always get the same detergent, toothpaste, only shop in a certain store. Do you choose on car, hotel, liquor or restaurant over another.With so many options in the shopping world how do we choose?Well…we adopt brands into our lives because they do what there are supposed to do. They clean your clothes, make your teeth whiter, make you feel safe and or powerful behind the wheel or they deliver impeccable service and they are reliable. But more than that, they create a relationship with us. For my guest on this episode of NXTLVL Experience Design the 'Brand' is about the relationship and 'Branding' is all of the stuff that you do like creating logos, store environments, digital experiences and more.Brand-ing brings brands to life. In creating brands, you are bringing ideas and values to life. Peter Dixon is the Chief Creative Officer at Prophet, a globally recognized branding agency that combines insight, creativity, data and technology to help their clients to unlock growth that is human centered, transformative and durable. Peter brings his clients a unique blend of perspectives as an engineer, an architect, designer and brand consultant. It translates into an imaginative take on branding, customer experience and retail innovation, expressed in both high-level thinking and visual, verbal and spatial representations of places the brands want you to be in and buy from.He has worked for such notable clients as BMW, Citibank, Delta Airlines, Fiat Chrysler, Mayo Clinic, McDonalds, Nissan, Sprint, Samsung, United Airlines, and Walmart.He is is a popular public speaker and has been tapped as a source by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Brandweek, Newsweek, Visual Merchandising & Store Design, Convenience Store News and Advertising Age to share his insight on what makes great brands.He serves on the editorial board of VM+SD magazine, and is a past national president of the Society for Experiential Graphic Design (SEGD). He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Louisiana State University and a Masters of Architecture degree from the University of Texas. About David Kepron:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)Email: [email protected]: 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 Merid

About Royce Epstein:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/royceepsteinInstagram: @madame_duchampInstagram: @dissent_by_design About Mohawk Group:Website: www.mohawkgroup.comInstagram: @mohawkgroupData Tide: https://www.mohawkgroup.com/carpet/collections/data-tideRelaxing Floors: https://www.mohawkgroup.com/carpet/collections/relaxing-floors Royce Epstein Bio:A veteran materials and product specialist for interior design and architecture, Royce spent two decades working in A&D firms before working in product design and development. Specialties include: visioning, concepting, sourcing, design development, and marketing of materials, finishes, and products, in addition to interior design work focused on material palettes and FF&E. LEED AP. Trend hunter. Design strategist, writer, lecturer, teacher, juror, and thinker, always putting design in context. Interiors & Sources Designer of the Year 2015. Collab Board Member at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Textile instructor at Drexel University. Show Intro:For 1000s of years we have painted on cave walls, carved statues, woven tapestries, molded clay and drawn and painted our human experience. Images have depicted the sacred and the profane. Images created by the hand of the artist are like making magic - from nothing, something. And that ‘something’ tells a story. It tells the story of who we are as individuals and a part of a community, culture a collective with shared vision. Creating is the truest expression of who we are because when we make art, we truly put ourselves into it. Our life energy changes a lump of clay into a teapot and blank canvas into a masterpiece. Color, form, geometry, texture, light – these are the base element of the image.In the context of contemporary image making, almost everyone with a smartphone becomes and image capturer. Recording the moments of a life that races by. It seems that more now than ever the image is the language we use to share our life stories. The ‘Instagramable moment’ has become a requirement in creating places. The image of that moment is the memory residue of something that mattered. A moment to express oneself, to say to the world that I mattered because I was there. The egocentrism of the image changed in the Renaissance with the invention of perspective. Until that time, images were quite two dimensional. The perspective view positioned the observer of the scene at the center - everything was to be viewed form the singular position of the individual.And so, our propensity to take selfies or Instargramable moments as first--person narratives of experience is really only a development along a trajectory of the image in the now digitally enabled visual age.Images are becoming so ubiquitous that some fear the devolution of language in preference for pictures. Is the expression “a picture is worth a 1000 words more true now than ever before.” Will texting replace articulate spoken language or is is as the linguist John McWhorter says simply the development of a new language?The design of these images is critical – overlays, filters, re-coloring, cropping, and all of the other image composing tools speak to the nature of design in a visual age. The image can be crafted to delight over dessert or stand as a symbol of dissent.Everything is designed says my guest on this episode of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast. And when we listen to her talk about design we find that it is taking on new meaning and expression in the visual age.Royce Epstein is a veteran materials and product specialist for interior design and architecture who spent two decades working in A&D firms before working in product design and development.Royce is an art history major who has focused her attuned creative skills as a Trend hunter, Design strategist, writer, lecturer, teacher, juror, and thinker into always putting design in context.She is a design activist, cares deeply about social causes and is the A&D Design Director for the Mohawk Group a company that creates some of the best flooring solutions on the planet. About David Kepron:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)Email: [email protected]: 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 inclu

About Bill Browning:Bill’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/bill-browning-a6b29227Website: terrapinbrightgreen.com (Company Website)Email: [email protected]:Bill Browning is one of the green building and real estate industry’s foremost thinkers and strategists, and an advocate for sustainable design solutions at all levels of business, government, and civil society. His expertise has been sought out by organizations as diverse as Fortune 500 companies, leading universities, non-profit organizations, the U.S. military, and foreign governments.Early in his career, Bill helped build Buckminster Fuller’s last experimental structure. In 1991, he founded Green Development Services at the Rocky Mountain Institute, an entrepreneurial, non-profit “think and do tank”. His consulting projects at RMI included new towns, resorts, building renovations, and high-profile demonstration projects including Wal-Mart’s Eco-mart, the Greening of the White House, the National Aquarium, Disney Hong Kong, the Pentagon, Lucas Film, Grand Canyon National Park and the Sydney 2000 Olympic Village. In 1999 Green Development Services was awarded the President’s Council for Sustainable Development/Renew America Prize.Beginning in 2004, Bill was the Director of Design and Environment for Haymount, a New Urbanist community in Virginia. In this capacity he led the development’s site planning, authored a set of design guidelines, and guided development of innovative infrastructure systems. In 2005 he co-founded Browning+Bannon LLC, an independent real estate and consulting firm focused on environmentally responsive development.Bill was a founding member of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Board of Directors, and served as Chair of USGBC’s Governance Committee. Over the years Bill has served on the Boards of Greening America, the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education, RealEnergy, the Roaring Fork Conservancy, and ioby. He has also served on The Nature Conservancy Real Estate Advisory Council, ASTM Green Building Rating Committee, and the Department of Defense’s Science Board Energy Task Force, the AIA National Committee on the Environment, the Department of State’s Overseas Building Office Advisory Council, the Real Estate Advisory Council for the Trust for Public Land, the Interface “Green Dream Team.” He is a GSA national peer, and editorial advisor for Environmental Building News, Environmental Design & Construction Magazine, and Green @ Work.In addition to consulting, Bill writes and lectures widely on sustainable design and building practices. He is a co-author of Green Development: Integrating Ecology and Real Estate; A Primer on Sustainable Building; Greening the Building and the Bottom Line; and Biophilic Design; The Economics of Biophilia and Midcentury (un)Modern. He has published articles in Architectural Record, Progressive Architecture, Urban Land, and AIA’s Environmental Resource Guide. His work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Elle and Popular Science, among others, and he has been interviewed by NPR, CNN, and PBS.Bill received a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Design from the University of Colorado, specializing in energy-conscious architecture and resource management. He holds a Master of Science in Real Estate Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was awarded the MIT Center for Real Estate’s 1991 Public-Sector Fellowship, and, in 1995, the Charles H. Spaulding Award. In 1998 Bill was named one of five people “Making a Difference” by Buildings magazine. In 2001 he was selected as an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects, and in 2004 he was honored with the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership Award.In 2006, Bill founded Terrapin with longtime partners Bob Fox, Rick Cook and Chris Garvin to craft high-performance environmental strategies for corporations, governments, and large-scale real estate developments. Our diverse clients include Cacique Resort in Costa Rica, Starwood’s Element hotel brand, NRDC, PNB Malaysia, New Songdo City in Korea, InterfaceFLOR, Bank of America and the National Geographic Society. Bill is based in Washington, D.C.BIll Browning is the co-author, along with his colleague and Catie Ryan Balagtas, of the new book "Nature Inside - A Biophilic Design Guide, available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Nature-Inside-biophilic-design-guide/dp/1859469035About David Kepron:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)Email: [email protected]: 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, educa

About Mariana Figueiro:LinkedIn Profile:linkedin.com/in/mariana-figueiro-694632150Bio:Mariana G. Figueiro, PhD, was with the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY from 1998-2020, where she served as Director from 2017-2020. She was also a tenured Professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute from 2006-2020. She was recently hired by the Department of Population Health Science and Policy at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai to start and lead the Light and Health Research Center at Mount Sinai. She conducts research on the effect of light on human health, circadian photobiology, and lighting for older adults. She is the author of more than 120 scientific articles in her field of research. She is a Fellow of the Illuminating Engineering Society. She has brought attention to the significance of light and health as a topic of public interest through her recent TEDMED talk.Show Intro:What does Lingerie worn by French Women in the late 1800’s and Gothic cathedrals have in common?You might say the remarkable detail, the silken lace spun in intricate patterns and the fine carved stone that was hewn by the hands a skilled mason.You might say the forms - compounding curves and angles.You might say that each was never really quite a good fit for human bodies – one too small and the other so soaring that it dwarfed human scale as if to make obvious the distance between man and the divine.Or you may say none of these.If you were a particularly hulking 6’2” 285 pound Frenchman living at that time, you say it had to do with light. Because for most of 1882, he stood in the window on the second floor of a building, about an hour north of Paris - a French Lingerie shop - where French women would try and buy the latest of French women’s underwear. Very much out of place, he stood there amidst the delicate lace and ladies of the time, because it was the best place to view what captivated him from that vantage point.The Cathedral of Rouen. A building stood across the road from the place where Claude Monet tried to understand light. With as many as ten canvases around him, he would move from image to image looking out of the second-floor window as light fell across the surfaces of the Rouen cathedral. From morning until dusk he worked until packing up his canvases and heading back to his home in Giverny in at the end of 1883.In all, Monet painted more than 30 canvases. Each holding light in a suspended animation. Monet had painted multiple views of the same subject before. But the paintings of Rouen Cathedral were a master stoke at seeing how light changed our perception of our surroundings.In 1894 Claude Monet finished his series of paintings. During the previous year he often fell into despair, telling his wife “‘Things don’t advance very steadily, primarily because each day I discover something I hadn’t seen the day before… In the end, I am trying to do the impossible.”Years later, the famous French Architect Le Corbusier focused on a similar fascination with light and framed the issue of understanding it this way: “Space and Light and order are the things that men need just as much as they need bread or a place to sleep.”About David Kepron:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)Email: [email protected]: 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

About David Kepron:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)Email: [email protected]: 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. In September of 2020, he launched the “NXTLVL Experience Design” podcast which brings listeners dialogues about “DATA: Design, Architecture, Technology and the Arts.” His guests include thought leaders who are driven by a passion to create the ‘New Possible’ and promote new paradigms of experiences into the mainstream. About Jonathan Cook:Jonathan’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/jonathanccookEmail: [email protected]: JonathanCCookwebsite: https://ritualcommerce.com/ The NXTLVL 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 is 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 Jonathan Cook:Jonathan’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/jonathanccookEmail: [email protected]: JonathanCCookwebsite: https://ritualcommerce.com/ Bio:Herman Melville wrote, "Some certain significance lurks in all things, else all things are little worth, and the round world itself but an empty cipher, except to sell by the cartload."​ This vision of the world inspires the core of my professional mission - to help people understand the deeper meaning of the apparently ordinary objects that they work with, and bring their work into accord with that meaning.Whether I'm working for non-profit organizations, political candidates, or corporate clients, my goal is the same: To explore the confluence of ideas that matter and tactics that work. I offer tools in research, strategic analysis and practical applications that lead to unexpected solutions to the most stubborn challenges.My expertise is in qualitative methods in market research that break through the rational justifications for behavior, to explore the deeper motivations that drive people to defy the expectations of mechanistic models. Instead of merely asking for opinions, I use techniques of interviewing, observation and analysis that are designed to create an experience that reveals hidden barriers as well as areas of unexpected potential, leading people to articulate powerful ideas that they didn't know they had.Gathering information is just the beginning of the research process. It's in the human interpretation of results that actionable opportunities are discovered. Using time-tested techniques of symbolic action, it is possible to overcome the dynamics of denial and to build sales through relationships that can transcend the trap of commoditization. To this end, I work with culturally-informed methods to help clients leverage the special characteristics of the threshold moments that move people from abstract interest into purchase and consumption. About David Kepron:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)Email: [email protected]: DavidKepron The NXTLVL 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 is 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 Marcos:Marcos’ LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/marcosterenzioWebsite: igotchamedia.comPhone Direct Line: 416.567.8957Email: [email protected] Twitter: marcosterenzioBio:Marcos Terenzio is an executive, strategist, artist, creative director, graphic designer & digital visionary. He brings 25 years of award winning experience creating integrated brand experiences for international fortune 500 clients. Marcos is a proven leader with a long history of delivering strategic and creative solutions, winning new business, building client relationships and increasing revenue. He has been focused in the retail sector for the past 15 years, delivering brand experiences that emotionally connect, empowering my clients to own the moment of purchase and build meaningful relationships with their customers.​He oversees the integration of creative solutions that converge with technology, innovation, brand, and design. Marcos provides motivational and creatively conducive approaches to my teams that inspire and nurture ideation and artistic expression. He is able to balance this culture with business minded leadership that facilitates growth and increases profitability and utilize omni-channel approaches to effectively engage, communicate, captivate and deliver results on business objectives. ​Marcos is Vice President of Creative & Strategy for iGotcha Media a leading digital experience agency. Prior to this he was Director of Digital Creative Experience at Shikatani Lacroix (SLD) one of Canada's leading branding and design agencies where he helped transform a traditional brand design firm into a fully integrated brand experience agency with digital as a new core service. Marcos was part owner and head of creative for a successful small boutique agency named Spot Digital and helped to launch a digital agency for one of Canada’s largest privately owned communications companies where he provided strategy, lead creative direction and design for omni-channel communications.Notable Accounts:Adidas, Reebok, Nike, MLB Toronto Blue Jays, Sportcheck, Bell, Rogers, AT&T, CWC, FLOW, Samsung, LG, Sharp, The Source, Glentel, Sony, TD Bank, U.S. Bank, Regions Bank, CZ Bank, National Bank, PC Financial, Thomson Reuters, Walmart, Loblaws, PC, Giant Tiger, Metro, Sobeys, Shoppers Drug Mart, Canon, BMW, Volvo, Acura, Nissan, Kraft, Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, McDonalds, Burger King and more.About David Kepron: LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)Email: [email protected]: DavidKepron The NXTLVL 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 is 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 Nichol Bradford :Nichol’s Profile: linkedin.com/in/nicholbradfordWebsites:finderscourse.com (Company Website)mskincorporated.com (Book Website)transtechlab.org (Company Website)Phone: 415-413-6521 (Work)Email: [email protected]: Nichol_BradfordTitle: Executive Director and co-founder of the Transformative Technology Lab, ConferenceBio: My purpose is to weave wellbeing, technology and science into new ground and practical possibilities for all of us. My mission is to empower humans to grow and expand by creating or curating new visions, opportunities, and tech enabled tools for all. I do this by investing in founders who build wellbeing tech through a global non-profit.I co-founded and built Transformative Tech.org, a global ecosystem dedicated to educating, gathering, and activating wellbeing tech founders, investors, and innovators. Today, we have members in 72 countries and 450 cities and our tentpole events online or in person attract 1K+ attendees. We help founders leveraging exponential tech for mental and emotional wellbeing, social and emotional wellness, and human potential and performance find feedback, funding, and friends. We help investors find the best wellbeing tech founders and companies. I help corporate innovators understand and apply these powerful tools.Prior to Transformative Tech, I served as senior interactive entertainment executive with responsibility for strategy, operations and marketing for major brands that include: Activision Blizzard, Disney, and Vivendi. Highlights included operating World of Warcraft and all of Blizzard Entertainment’s properties in China as well as holding a key role on the Vivendi Games team responsible for the Activision-Blizzard merger -- an $18B deal and an industry defining event. I believe these worlds will merge and one day games will become powerful tools of human transformation -- and I am working towards this goal today.I speak extensively on Human Transformation, Transformative Tech, the Future of Health, Work, and Human Excellence, and Flourishing Cities. I am a lecturer at Stanford University, have an MBA from the Wharton School of Business, and attended Singularity University’s Global Solutions program. I am a novelist and have written The Sisterhood, a work of transformative Afro-futuristic fiction. Outside of work, my two favorite activities are meditation and combat sports.Episode Intro:When I was growing up, watching Star Trek was a weekly happening with my brothers and father. From the early years of campy sci-fi tech to all of the years and iterations afterwards, Star Trek kept my believing in the power of technology and the opportunity, should we choose to embrace it, ‘to boldly go where no man has gone before.’I love science fiction, and today science and technology is less fiction than a reality that is fundamentally shaping our human experience. What we can do today, what we have come to understand about our selves and the universe in the past decade, has been on an exponential growth curve that is reaching a near vertical trajectory. Equally, I see the inherent challenges with humans who are not particularly well adapted to meet the circumstances of exponential rates of change. Our biology and neurophysiology weren’t made for the change of pressure we are now under. This has consequences on us personally and as a global community.I’ve taken Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction courses, I meditate, create art to get into a flow space and have done emergency shavasana’s from time to time. And, I’ve used technology to help me along the way to transform.Nichol Bradford Nichol Bradford is also fascinated by human potential and technology. She is the Executive Director and co-founder of the Transformative Technology Lab. Prior to becoming a leader in Transformative Technology, Bradford was a senior executive in video games with responsibility for strategy, operations and marketing for major brands including operating World of Warcraft China.Nichol is a graduate of Singularity University GSP15, has an MBA from Wharton School of Business in Strategy, and a BBA in Marketing from the University of Houston. She speaks regularly on Transformation, Exponential Technology, and Culture at conferences like Singularity University’s Global Summit, Exponential Medicine, Katapult Future Fest, Wisdom 2.0 and more.I’ve invite Nichol to NXTLVL to share her extraordinary, and exponential, trajectory through the world of technology to now be one of the leaders in the industry. Someone who believes that “There is no nobler use of technology than to bring peace to the minds of mankind…”And...With that I welcome Nichol Bradford... About David Kepron: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)Email: [email protected]: DavidKepron The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and

About Tim Kobe :Tim’s LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/timkobeWebsite: eightinc.com (Company Website)Phone: 1 415 8501828 (Mobile)Email: [email protected]: TimKobeBio: Sometimes called “Apple’s best kept secret” Eight Inc. is one of the most progressive design firms working today. 8 is helping to transform organizations to be relevant in the worlds most highly competitive environments by looking at the design factors that drive successful human interactions. Tim Kobe is a design leader, Founder and CEO of Eight Inc. Eight Inc. employs leading designers and strategists working across 11 offices including Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, London, New York, San Francisco, Honolulu, Tokyo, Istanbul, Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore. 8 has received international design awards and has been published in Asia, Europe, and the United States.Tim Kobe has lectured at the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena; California College of Arts and Crafts, San Francisco; San Francisco Academy of Art; and at IDSA Awards Presentation, 1997. He has lectured on behalf of the US State Department focused on sustainability and architecture in Bangkok and Los Angeles. He has lectured at the prestigious Picnic in Amsterdam, an annual design conference merging business and technology and continues speaking internationally on a variety of design subjects. In 2005 Kobe became a trustee at Art Center College of Design and currently serving as Chairman of the Academic Affairs Committee. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Grabhorn Institute in San Francisco California.In 2006 Kobe received the top award for the professional competition “High Density on the High Ground.” sponsored by McGraw-Hill Companies’ Architectural Record magazine and Tulane University School of Architecture. 8 was selected to represent the United States at the Architecture Bienniale in Venice Italy and participated in a worldwide traveling exhibition on the project.Ongoing consulting relationships with leaders in business and innovation:Apple, ANZ Bank, Citibank, Coach, Herman Miller, HP, Hyatt, Nissan, Nokia, Nike, Virgin Atlantic AirwaysEpisode Intro:I remember standing on 5thAvenue in New York and looking at a glass cube.This was a portal into a new world. While Apple stores had been around for a few years, this was the big splash that quickly became on of the most photographed of New York’s landmarks. Apple stores shifted the retail world on its access. No longer would a shopping journey be defined by SKU count – how many units you could cram on the floor - but how the experience connected you to the magic of a brand in truly innovative way. It elevated the product to fine art or fine jewelry, which was probably appropriate since is was competing for attention with some of the most recognized retailers on the planet, like Tiffany, just a block away.That paradigm shift in retail store design was born our of a white paper on why Apple should have its own stores after entering the personal computer market and bringing their products to consumers through third party sellers. After designing MacWorld events for Steve Jobs and Apple some years before, Tim Kobe and his Architecture and Design firm Eight Inc. was challenged with the task of creating the first Apple stores. They have held that relationship for the last 20+ years.Sometimes called “Apple’s best kept secret” Eight Inc. is one of the most progressive design firms working today. 8 is helping to transform organizations to be relevant in the worlds most highly competitive environments by looking at the design factors that drive successful human interactions. Tim Kobe is a design leader, Founder and CEO of Eight Inc. Eight Inc. employs leading designers and strategists working across 11 offices including Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, London, New York, San Francisco, Honolulu, Tokyo, Istanbul, Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore. Among other honors and awards, 8 was selected to represent the United States at the 2006 Architecture Bienniale in Venice Italy and participated in a worldwide traveling exhibition on the project.Now, Apple would be a pretty great client to have on the resume, but Tim Kobe has work with a list of major internationally recognized brands including Citibank, Coach, Herman Miller, HP, Westin, Hyatt, Nissan, Nokia, Nike and Virgin Atlantic Airways.Tim has just published a new book in collaboration with Roger Lehman, a psychoanalyst and senior lecture at the MIT Sloane School of Management, called “Return on Experience”.And, I am excited to talk with Tim since he really exemplifies, in one guy, all of the categories in the “DATA” acronym for NXTLVL including Design, Architecture, Technology and the Arts.Welcome Tim, About David Kepron: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645 (Blog)Email: [email protected]: DavidKepron The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD mag

About Melissa Gonzalez:LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/melissagonzalezlionesqueWebsites:lionesquegroup.com (Company Website) melissagonzalez.com (Personal Website)Email: [email protected]:MelsStylesLionesqueGroupBio: Melissa Gonzalez is a successful American entrepreneur, author and founder of The Lionesque Group, an award-winning creative strategy firm, and Clark, an interactive platform which empowers consumers to connect with digital and physical brand experiences. She draws on her success as a former Wall Street Executive, advising high-level entrepreneurs on how to grow their businesses by leading with innovation and creativity.Additionally, she shares her unique business insights in inspirational keynotes leaving audiences enlightened and energized.Building bespoke brand experiences, Melissa advises businesses on how to build custom brand experiences, converting customers to clients and creating a better brand experience for their target audience. Based on her career as a creative strategist, entrepreneur and CEO, Melissa knows the nuances of building a successful business and growing it.According to Melissa, a better brand begins with strategy. She helps businesses tell their most compelling stories through immersive experiences that both engage and elevate their brands and customers. Melissa is an award-winning innovator and a seasoned visionary. In 2016, she was awarded Design:Retail’s 40 under 40, an award for the retail design industry’s top young professionals and up-and-coming future leaders. In addition, she was awarded the Innovator of the Year for pop-up retail experiences by Retail Touchpoints in 2015. Finally, she was honored with the CLIO Image Award for experiential engagement in 2014, and she was a finalist for the New York Design Award for marketing and branded experiences.In 2019, The Lionesque Group was one of the finalists in One Show Awards for Experiential Design and Indoor Spaces. Additionally, it was shortlisted in The Glossy Awards for Best Pop-Up/New Concept Store in 2018. The Lionesque Group is a firm consisting of award-winning retail strategists and pop up architects™ who have produced and strategized over 150 brick-and-motar experiences in the United States’ larger cities since 2009. Clark is an interactive platform that empowers customers to connect their in-store and online shopping experiences using digital wireless personal shopping keys. Clark creates seamless shopping by making it possible for customers to review and purchase products they discovered in-store. Melissa Gonzalez has worked with major brands and clients counting Amazon, Estee Lauder, YUM brands, COTY, Intel and others such as property groups, including Steiner & Associates and GGP Properties (now Brookfield).Episode Intro:Back in the early 2000s the world of digital online shopping was beginning to emerge and the.com craze was all around us. Retailers were exploring new avenues into connecting with their customers including online shopping, outlet stores and looking to merge the world of digital and physical retailing. New formats like pop-up shops were emerging into the market and I remember fashion designers like Isaac Mizrahi, who had a connection with Target, created one of the first pop-up stores in the Hamptons that set this idea on a path that continues to grow today as a viable way to bring clients new experiences. Pop shops are great because they allow for experimentation, exploring new formats and creating great marketing buzz, they are emotionally connected to FOMO - the Fear Of Missing Out, and shown to increase both in store and online sales, and more than ever they’re short lifespan seems to perfectly aligned with an emerging market of consumers for whom ephemeral experiences seem to be part of their every day expectations about connecting to Brands.While all this was going on in 2009 a Wall Street executive decides to take on some more creative endeavors and launch a company that focuses on the development of pop-up shops. Melissa Gonzalez describes his departure from her role as the Vice President of Equity Sales at Merriman Capital as “a good accident.” Didn’t that has allowed her to grow an extremely successful company working with multiple international high-powered brands creating experience moments to engage guests.Melissa Gonzalez, is now the founder and CEO of the Lion’esque Group an award-winning creative strategy firm, and Clark, an interactive platform which empowers consumers to connect with digital and physical brand experiences. She is also a successful author and public speaker.Melissa has won a number of awards including Design:Retail’s 40 under 40 in 2016. In addition, she was awarded the Innovator of the Year for pop-up retail experiences by Retail Touchpoints in 2015. Finally, she was honored with the CLIO Image Award for experiential engagement and she was a finalist for the New York Design Award for marketing and branded experiences.Speaking on topics such as the

ABOUT Winston Fisher:LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/winstonfisher/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Winston_Fisher1Website: https://area15.comSHOW INTRO:If you’ve been to Las Vegas you’d think that everything happens on the strip. Vegas is the gambling and entertainment meca of the US (maybe the world). With all of its glitz, showgirls, music and magic acts, hotels created to look like they were plucked from Venice or Paris or just some other planet, it would be easy to say that the strip is were its at.But if you care to venture off the strip, you could go to say Hover dam an engineering marvel or maybe to Area 51 and try to get a glimpse of alien craft or some other secret military activity. But then you cold go not so far to Area15 a new NEXT-Gen Experiential mall that opened this past fall. Trust me thought Area 15 and Area 51 are indeed curiosities worth seeing if you are into something new.Developer Winston Fisher and a team of highly creative designers, architects, chefs, retailers, and digital experience makers transformed a 200,000 square foot lot into a playground that melds great restaurants -including a venue by Todd English, digital experiences, retail, performance spaces, a bar under a 23 foot high Japanese maple tree with dazzling LED lights woven into the canopy. You can zip line through ceiling space overlooking the facility and book the venue for your own events. This place is magical and simply fun in a way that we have not often seen before.Massive art installations are reminiscent of Burning Man and there are shows with performance artists that rival the strip. This, you could say, is the re-making of the mall experience. At Area15, retail is not dead, as is often said, it is very much alive in a whole new way.Winston Fisher, the CEO of Area 15, joins us today to talk about a new approach to story telling in a space that is a cross over from traditional… anything. This just may be the beginning of the re-definition of place making for a cohort of emerging shoppers whose expectations about what branded relationships are all about have shifted.Welcome Winston…ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:Website: https://www.davidkepron.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b/Instagram: davidkepron and NXTLVL_experience_designTwitter: @davidkepron The NXTLVL 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 is 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 JOHN VERVAEKE:LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-vervaeke-a910992/Twitter: https://twitter.com/vervaeke_john Website: http://johnvervaeke.comVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/johnvervaeke JOHN VERVAEKE Bio:Associate Professor at University of TorontoJohn Vervaeke is an Assistant Professor in Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Science at the University of Toronto where he teaches courses in three areas:1. Cognitive Psychology on thinking and reasoning, higher cognition, and cognitive development2. Cognitive Science program on integrating the work done in psychology, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, linguists, and philosophy to try and tackle central problems about the nature of cognition.3. Buddhism, Psychology, and Mental Health programon the intersection between Buddhism and Cognitive Science, and on the scientific basis of mindfulness meditation.Has 50 episode series called “Awakening From the Meaning Crisis” on YouTubeHis work constructs a bridge between science and spirituality in order to understand the experience of meaningfulness and the cultivation of wisdom so as to afford awakening from the meaning crisis.”He has won and been nominated for several teaching awards including:the 2001 Students’ Administrative Council and Association of Part-timeUndergraduate Students Teaching Award for the Humanitiesthe2012Ranjini Ghosh Excellence in Teaching Award.He has publishedarticles on relevance realization, general intelligence, mindfulness,metaphor, and wisdom.His abiding passion is to address themeaning crisis that besets western culture. SHOW INTRO:"I’m sitting across the room from my son who is listening to a Ted talk. As I listen I’m struck by the discussion with subjects from Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, ritual, cognitive science, Buddhism and the Meaning Crisis.I stop what I’m doing and I ask “who is it that you’re listening to?”Answer: ‘oh it’s this guy named John Veraeke. He’s killin,’ he’s really got it figured out.’During my years as an architecture student at McGill University I became fascinated with the idea of a ritual by attending architecture history and theory lectures by Alberto Perez Gomez. Participation in ritual establishes a sense of context and through that context meaning, meaning about who we are in relation to ourselves, our culture, nation and where we stood in some cosmological relationship to the universe.I have had a deep interest in psychology, cognitive science and in the past 10 years, as I was creating retail stores and hotels, neuroscience and why coming to understand more about the brain would lead me, and the brands I worked for, to create more effective and relevant brand experience places.Recently, studying concepts around the pace of change, our ability to adapt, and an emerging cohort of experience seekers for whom digitally immersive experience was a key driver to the adoption of Brand have occupied brain space, been the subject of lectures and presentations and blog posts. So, it is not so surprising that the work of my guest Jon Vervaeke has been so deeply resonant.John Vervaeke is an Associate Professor at U of Toronto where he teaches courses for three programs including:Cognitive Psychology on thinking and reasoning, higher cognition, and cognitive development, the Cognitive Science program on integrating the work done in psychology, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, linguists, and philosophy to try and tackle central problems about the nature of cognition, And to round things out he teaches in the Buddhism, Psychology, and Mental Health program on the intersection between Buddhism and Cognitive Science, and on the scientific basis of mindfulness meditation.It is said that his work constructs a bridge between science and spirituality in order to understand the experience of meaningfulness and the cultivation of wisdom so as to afford awakening from the meaning crisis.”Has 50 episode series called “Awakening From the Meaning Crisis” on YouTube which will blow your mind because of its depth and provocative assertions. He has won and been nominated for several teaching awards and has published articles on relevance realization, general intelligence, mindfulness, metaphor, and wisdom.His passion, is to address themeaning crisis that besets western culture.Throughout the first season of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there has always been a subtext to the discussion that has been ‘what does it all mean?’ ‘What will the component parts of emerging Brand experiences be to allow them to remain relevant to a new cohort of experience seekers who are holy different than anything that has come before them?’So, I am both honored and delighted that John Vervaeke is a guest to help us unpack some of these concepts that underpin the world of making and creating meaningful relationships to our brands, communities, and each other." ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:Website: https://www.davidkepron.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1

ABOUT AMAHL HAZELTON:LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amahl-hazelton/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Amahl1Website: https://momentfactory.com/homeVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/MomentFactory AMAHL HAZELTON Bio:Placemaking Strategist. Proven leadership in the design, build & operations of public-space digital placemaking, infrastructure and interactive multimedia activations. Looking to partner with Governments, DMO's, Cities, Business Alliances, Real Estate Developers, Architects, Event Producers & Curators to design visitor's favorite next-generation destinations and attractions.Skilled in Placemaking, Urban Design, Urban Planning, Architecture, Art Direction, Management, and Leadership. Strong business development professional with a Master's Degree in Urban Planning--specializing in Place Branding & Competitive Identity--from Montreal's McGill University. BUSINESS INQUIRIES email: [email protected] REQUESTS email: [email protected] US ON LINKEDIN: www.linkedin.com/company/moment-factory/If we do not respond immediately, feel free to contact me here on LinkedIn ;-)ORTwitter: @Amahl1, @Moment_Factory #MomentFactoryInstagram: @MomentFactory #MomentFactory www.instagram.com/momentfactory/Facebook: www.facebook.com/MomentFactory/Moment Factory is a multimedia studio with a full range of production expertise under one roof. Our team combines specializations in video, lighting, architecture, sound and special effects to create remarkable experiences. Headquartered in Montreal, the studio also has addresses in Los Angeles, London, Tokyo, Paris, New York City and Singapore.Since its inception in 2001, Moment Factory has created more than 450 unique projects worldwide, including the Lumina Night Walk series. Productions span the globe and include such clients and collaborators as Changi Airport Group and LAWA (LAX); the City Barcelona and New York City; Fremont Street Experience and Atlantic City Alliance; Related Companies, Bedrock Detroit and Millennium Partners; Gensler and AECOM.SHOW INTRO:"A number of years ago I was working as a creative director in the brand experience studio in architecture firm based in Charlotte. We are a tightknit group and we were all fascinated with the future and the possibilities and opportunities that the world of immersive digital experiences would provide to retailers and brand experience places in general.One day a colleague says to me you got a check these guys out moment factory and they’re from your hometown of Montreal.We then spent the next few hours pouring over videos of video mapping on some of the most iconic churches in the world. Video mapping was relatively new and it was transforming the idea of experience by bringing buildings literally to life with animations that were perfectly aligned with the architecture. More than just spectacles, this signaled a shift in the way digital media, architecture, design and customer experience would coalesce, shifting the paradigm and how customers would engage with brand experience places in it digitally mediated future. Since then, the world of immersive digital technologies has become more pervasive and digital visualization artists like Refik Anadol and companies like Moment Factory are changing the very meaning of experience. Digital experiences are often criticized for being disengaging and promoting social isolation but in the world of Moment Factory, sensory-based but digitally-mediated experiences fully engage users, with their bodies andminds in profoundly memorable experiences.Whether they are lighting up a bridge with social media data in Montreal or elevating the experience of the divine in the Basilica of Notre Dame in Montreal or reinventing queuing the Shangi in Singapore or LAX in Los Angeles, or lighting up our imagination on a nighttime forest walk, our guest Amahl Hazelton has been deeply involved.Since its inception in 2001, Moment Factory has created more than 450 unique projects worldwide. A sign that the digital experience economy is here to stay.Amahl is the Head of Strategy and Development of Moment Factory. He’s a strong business development professional with a Master's Degree in Urban Planning - specializing in Place Branding & Competitive Identity - from my alma mater Montreal's McGill University.Amahl is a Place-making Strategist. With a history of leadership in the design, build & operations of public-space digital placemaking, infrastructure and interactive multimedia activations I know he has a depth of knowledge on this subject that will make this a really interesting talk.I invited Amahl to share the Keynote stage with me at the 2019 BDNY show in New York and I am guessing this is going to be an energetic continuation of that talk.Welcome Amahl Hazelton…."ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:Website: https://www.davidkepron.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b/Instagram: davidkepron and NXTLVL_experience_designTwitter: @davidkepron The NXTLVL Experien

ABOUT AMAHL HAZELTON:LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amahl-hazelton/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Amahl1Website: https://momentfactory.com/homeVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/MomentFactory AMAHL HAZELTON Bio:Placemaking Strategist. Proven leadership in the design, build & operations of public-space digital placemaking, infrastructure and interactive multimedia activations. Looking to partner with Governments, DMO's, Cities, Business Alliances, Real Estate Developers, Architects, Event Producers & Curators to design visitor's favorite next-generation destinations and attractions.Skilled in Placemaking, Urban Design, Urban Planning, Architecture, Art Direction, Management, and Leadership. Strong business development professional with a Master's Degree in Urban Planning--specializing in Place Branding & Competitive Identity--from Montreal's McGill University. BUSINESS INQUIRIES email: [email protected] REQUESTS email: [email protected] US ON LINKEDIN: www.linkedin.com/company/moment-factory/If we do not respond immediately, feel free to contact me here on LinkedIn ;-)ORTwitter: @Amahl1, @Moment_Factory #MomentFactoryInstagram: @MomentFactory #MomentFactory www.instagram.com/momentfactory/Facebook: www.facebook.com/MomentFactory/Moment Factory is a multimedia studio with a full range of production expertise under one roof. Our team combines specializations in video, lighting, architecture, sound and special effects to create remarkable experiences. Headquartered in Montreal, the studio also has addresses in Los Angeles, London, Tokyo, Paris, New York City and Singapore.Since its inception in 2001, Moment Factory has created more than 450 unique projects worldwide, including the Lumina Night Walk series. Productions span the globe and include such clients and collaborators as Changi Airport Group and LAWA (LAX); the City Barcelona and New York City; Fremont Street Experience and Atlantic City Alliance; Related Companies, Bedrock Detroit and Millennium Partners; Gensler and AECOM.SHOW INTRO:"A number of years ago I was working as a creative director in the brand experience studio in architecture firm based in Charlotte. We are a tightknit group and we were all fascinated with the future and the possibilities and opportunities that the world of immersive digital experiences would provide to retailers and brand experience places in general.One day a colleague says to me you got a check these guys out moment factory and they’re from your hometown of Montreal.We then spent the next few hours pouring over videos of video mapping on some of the most iconic churches in the world. Video mapping was relatively new and it was transforming the idea of experience by bringing buildings literally to life with animations that were perfectly aligned with the architecture. More than just spectacles, this signaled a shift in the way digital media, architecture, design and customer experience would coalesce, shifting the paradigm and how customers would engage with brand experience places in it digitally mediated future. Since then, the world of immersive digital technologies has become more pervasive and digital visualization artists like Refik Anadol and companies like Moment Factory are changing the very meaning of experience. Digital experiences are often criticized for being disengaging and promoting social isolation but in the world of Moment Factory, sensory-based but digitally-mediated experiences fully engage users, with their bodies andminds in profoundly memorable experiences.Whether they are lighting up a bridge with social media data in Montreal or elevating the experience of the divine in the Basilica of Notre Dame in Montreal or reinventing queuing the Shangi in Singapore or LAX in Los Angeles, or lighting up our imagination on a nighttime forest walk, our guest Amahl Hazelton has been deeply involved.Since its inception in 2001, Moment Factory has created more than 450 unique projects worldwide. A sign that the digital experience economy is here to stay.Amahl is the Head of Strategy and Development of Moment Factory. He’s a strong business development professional with a Master's Degree in Urban Planning - specializing in Place Branding & Competitive Identity - from my alma mater Montreal's McGill University.Amahl is a Place-making Strategist. With a history of leadership in the design, build & operations of public-space digital placemaking, infrastructure and interactive multimedia activations I know he has a depth of knowledge on this subject that will make this a really interesting talk.I invited Amahl to share the Keynote stage with me at the 2019 BDNY show in New York and I am guessing this is going to be an energetic continuation of that talk.Welcome Amahl Hazelton…."ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:Website: https://www.davidkepron.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b/Instagram: davidkepron and NXTLVL_experience_designTwitter: @davidkepron The NXTLVL Experien

ABOUT GABRIELE CORCOS:Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/thetuscangun Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriele_Corcos LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gcorcos/Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheTuscanGun Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetuscangun/ Books: "Super Tuscan": https://www.amazon.com/Super-Tuscan-Heritage-Recipes-Pleasures/dp/150114359X/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&hvadid=77653071690874&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&keywords=tuscan+gun&qid=1607035612&sr=8-2&tag=mh0b-20"Extra Virgin": https://www.amazon.com/Extra-Virgin-Recipes-Tuscan-Kitchen/dp/0385346050/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&hvadid=77653071690874&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&keywords=tuscan+gun&qid=1607035666&sr=8-3&tag=mh0b-20Bio:Italian celebrity chef, entrepreneur, TV personalityCreator and cohost of “Extra Virgin” on the Cooking ChannelNew York Times best-selling book “Extra Virgin”Raised in Tuscany outside of Florence ItalyStudied medicine at the Italian military academy for several yearsPassion was music and decided to study drums so he left the military and travels to Brazil, Cuba and Morocco to study drumsRestaurant:Owned the “Tuscan Gun Officine Alimentari” in BrooklynMet Debi Mazar in Florence – moved to LA - married in 2002Starred with wife Debi Mazar in “Extra-Virgin Americana” on the Cooking ChannelThey were asked to be hosts of the Cooking Channel’s first original cooking showIn 2019 Corcos was honored “Knight” by the Italian President of the Republic for work on behalf of Italian heritage in the US (this is the highest civilian honor for an Italian citizen)Charity work:While competing on the television show chopped he competed on behalf of the charity “Feeding America”In 2014 he became a council member at the food bank for New York CityExtra Virgin Americana TV Show:Premiered 2011 and had 5 seasons until 2015Extra Virgin Book:Released in 2014Amazon’s #1 In Italian cooking ratings for 6 months and remained in top 10 until October 2015June 2014 Makes NY Time best-sellers listCrazy huge collection of knive, rides a Duccati and loves the power of technologySHOW INTRO:When I think “Renaissance man” I have images in my head of sculptors, painters, physicians, inventors… people like Leonardo, Brunelleschi and Michelangelo - all worked in Florence about 20 km away from my guest’s hometown. I don’t often think of James Beard award winning celebrity chef and restaunteur, a multi book New York Times best-selling list author, An Italian Military Academy student who decided that studying medicine wasn’t for him and went off to Morocco, Brazil and Cuba to study drums, who also loves to ride Duccati’s, has some pretty serious leaves (as in tattoos), was also Knighted in 2019 and who you can now see often on Instagram doing ‘lives’ with his wife Debi Mazar cooking up a festival of food from the kitchen of their Brooklyn home.That said, I do think about somebody who is on a continual search for the NXTLVL and not afraid of being reborn - in the true sense of the word “Renaissance.” Someone like Gabriele Corcos who seems to be in a continual search for filling his life with the adventure of the unknown. ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:Website: https://www.davidkepron.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b/Instagram: davidkepron and NXTLVL_experience_designTwitter: @davidkepron The NXTLVL 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 is 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 GABRIELE CORCOS:Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/thetuscangun Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriele_Corcos LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gcorcos/Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheTuscanGun Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetuscangun/ Books: "Super Tuscan": https://www.amazon.com/Super-Tuscan-Heritage-Recipes-Pleasures/dp/150114359X/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&hvadid=77653071690874&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&keywords=tuscan+gun&qid=1607035612&sr=8-2&tag=mh0b-20"Extra Virgin": https://www.amazon.com/Extra-Virgin-Recipes-Tuscan-Kitchen/dp/0385346050/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&hvadid=77653071690874&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&keywords=tuscan+gun&qid=1607035666&sr=8-3&tag=mh0b-20Bio:Italian celebrity chef, entrepreneur, TV personalityCreator and cohost of “Extra Virgin” on the Cooking ChannelNew York Times best-selling book “Extra Virgin”Raised in Tuscany outside of Florence ItalyStudied medicine at the Italian military academy for several yearsPassion was music and decided to study drums so he left the military and travels to Brazil, Cuba and Morocco to study drumsRestaurant:Owned the “Tuscan Gun Officine Alimentari” in BrooklynMet Debi Mazar in Florence – moved to LA - married in 2002Starred with wife Debi Mazar in “Extra-Virgin Americana” on the Cooking ChannelThey were asked to be hosts of the Cooking Channel’s first original cooking showIn 2019 Corcos was honored “Knight” by the Italian President of the Republic for work on behalf of Italian heritage in the US (this is the highest civilian honor for an Italian citizen)Charity work:While competing on the television show chopped he competed on behalf of the charity “Feeding America”In 2014 he became a council member at the food bank for New York CityExtra Virgin Americana TV Show:Premiered 2011 and had 5 seasons until 2015Extra Virgin Book:Released in 2014Amazon’s #1 In Italian cooking ratings for 6 months and remained in top 10 until October 2015June 2014 Makes NY Time best-sellers listCrazy huge collection of knive, rides a Duccati and loves the power of technologySHOW INTRO:When I think “Renaissance man” I have images in my head of sculptors, painters, physicians, inventors… people like Leonardo, Brunelleschi and Michelangelo - all worked in Florence about 20 km away from my guest’s hometown. I don’t often think of James Beard award winning celebrity chef and restaunteur, a multi book New York Times best-selling list author, An Italian Military Academy student who decided that studying medicine wasn’t for him and went off to Morocco, Brazil and Cuba to study drums, who also loves to ride Duccati’s, has some pretty serious leaves (as in tattoos), was also Knighted in 2019 and who you can now see often on Instagram doing ‘lives’ with his wife Debi Mazar cooking up a festival of food from the kitchen of their Brooklyn home.That said, I do think about somebody who is on a continual search for the NXTLVL and not afraid of being reborn - in the true sense of the word “Renaissance.” Someone like Gabriele Corcos who seems to be in a continual search for filling his life with the adventure of the unknown. ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:Website: https://www.davidkepron.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b/Instagram: davidkepron and NXTLVL_experience_designTwitter: @davidkepron The NXTLVL 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 is 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 JAY NORRIS:Website: https://guesst.co LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaynorris007/Instgram: https://www.instagram.com/jaynorrisvision/Bio:The Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Guesst Software since 2017,The Guesst software platform allows "Host" retailers to find and connect with complementary brands aka "Guesst" to display, merchandise and or sell their products or goods in their "Host" retail location. This simple process allows retailers to lower their monthly fixed cost, increase revenues and maximize both parties' brand awareness, return on investment and customer experience in a brick and mortar location.Jay Norris is a true go-to-market strategist who utilizes his innovative marketing skillset, invaluable relationships and keen understanding of the retail landscape to curate partnerships and experiential activations between retailers, landlords, media partners and brands in all sectors of retail.Mr. Norris found early success as a strategic marketing executive at Arista Records from 1994 to 1997, developing marketing strategies for Notorious BIG, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Deborah Cox, TLC, Pink, Alicia Keyes, and a long list of music artists who have scaled their careers through groundswell campaigns.Before Arista Records, Mr. Norris worked in the promotions department of Sony Music Entertainment from 1993 to 1994.Mr. Norris has further flourished as the co-founder of Detroitbuiltco.com since 2016. Norris and his partners vision was to curate a retail platform for Detroit makers and innovators.Norris's Growth Business Incubator Lifestyle Equities is a management consultancy specializing in innovative solutions for small, and medium to large size companies who aspire to either expand, streamline or become re-imagined.2015 to 2016 and both the founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Tastemakers Media from 1997 to 2007, which was a national and international guide highlighting the best lifestyle offerings in each market.Constantly in the pursuit of helping other entrepreneurs get their ideas out into the world,Mr. Norris's favorite quote is "one's imagination is everything!! If one can use it wisely, it can become a brief snapshot of life's coming attractions."In addition to his primary responsibilities, he dedicates his time to volunteer at his local soup kitchen and with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Mr. Norris holds a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from Howard University in Washington, D.C.Mr. Norris received a scholarship for swimming and in the 1980's Norris held city and state records in butterfly and freestyle from his high school, Cass Technical, in the state of Michigan.SHOW INTRO:My guest todaylaunched his multi-faceted career in the promotions department of Sony Music Entertainment (from 1993 to 1994). He was then quick to succeed as a strategic marketing executive at Arista Records (from 1994 to 1997). While at Arista, he developed marketing strategies for Notorious BIG, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Deborah Cox, TLC, Pink, Alicia Keyes, and a long list of music artists who have grown their careers through some of the insight and strategies he created. Given this, you might think that he fits neatly into the Arts part of the NXTLVL acronym DATA but that would mean we stop looking at his career in 1997. With a vision to curate a retail platform for Detroit makers and innovators, He co-founded of Detroitbuiltco.com in 2016.If that isn’t quite enough, his Growth Business Incubator Lifestyle Equities is a management consultancy specializing in innovative solutions for small, and medium to large size companies who aspire to expand, streamline or become re-imagined.When not constantly in the pursuit of helping other entrepreneurs get their ideas out into the world, he dedicates his time to volunteer at his local soup kitchen and with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.He is a true go-to-market strategist who utilizes his innovative marketing skillset, invaluable relationships and keen understanding of the retail landscape to curate partnerships and experiential activations between retailers, landlords, media partners and brands in all sectors of retail.I believe that with his new company GUESST we have the emergence of a new paradigm in retail experience making. One of Jay Norris’ favorite quotes is "one's imagination is everything!! If one can use it wisely, it can become a brief snapshot of life's coming attractions."This discussion will be like sitting through the “coming soon” trailers at a blockbuster (retail) movie.Jay Norris holds a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from Howard University in Washington, D.C., received a scholarship for swimming and in the 1980's (Norris held city and state records in butterfly and freestyle from his high school, Cass Technical, in the state of Michigan.)ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:Website: https://www.davidkepron.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b/Instagram: davidkepron and NXTLVL_experience_designTwi

ABOUT MARTINA OLBERTOVA:Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MartinaOlbertova The Luxury Renaissance Show: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAybA0SjexNmAT_48S_0jUA/videosThe Luxury Report:https://www.meaning.global/the-luxury-reportWebsite: https://www.meaning.globalLinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinaolbertova/Twitter: https://twitter.com/MartinaOlbMedium: https://martinaolbertova.medium.com/ Bio:Dr Martina Olbertova is the world's leading expert on creating meaning and cultural relevance in business. She is a social scientist, brand advisor, cultural strategist and a semiotician on a mission to redefine the role of meaning in business. As a writer, speaker and cultural consultant, she educates brand and business leaders on how to be more culturally savvy and lead brands with meaning at the core.​Martina is most interested in social and cultural change. She focuses on how the shifts in society redefine the perception of meaning in our culture today. In her work, she helps brands navigate the quickly evolving symbolic meanings in the world around us to help her clients understand how to capitalize on culture change. She works with brands from across all sectors to restore or redefine their meaning, reconnect to their essence and create real value that resonates with people in the context of culture and their needs. Her goal is to bridge the gap of meaning between brands and society to restore real value, trust, integrity and long-term growth and offset the ongoing crisis of meaning.​With 15 years of international experience from the UK, Ireland, USA and Czechia, Martina has had a chance to work on diverse strategy, insight and innovation briefs for global brands, such as Kantar, Unilever, Vodafone, IBM, ICAEW, London Gatwick, British Land, KBC, Visa, Lloyds Bank, Bank of Ireland, Heineken or Pernod Ricard among many others.​She holds a doctorate in Media Studies from the Charles University in Prague and also studied at Georgetown University (USA) and University of Glamorgan (UK). As a visiting lecturer, she taught Semiotics and Cultural Branding at universities in Czechia, Trinity College Dublin and spoke at conferences in London, Paris, Toronto, Istanbul, Manila, Shanghai, Amsterdam, Prague, Berlin, Slovenia & Morocco.​Martina is a contributor to Branding Strategy Insider, a commentator for Forbes, WARC AdMap, Luxury Daily, Luxury Society, the author of The Luxury Report on Redefining The Future Meaning Of Luxury, and a fellow of the RSA.​She is passionate about seeing the invisible layers of reality and tapping into unseen opportunities to unlock new value and meaningful growth, about humanising business, social change, semiotics, anthropology, behavioural science and all things culture. She is based in Europe and available for strategy, consulting, speaking and workshops worldwide. SHOW INTRO:"I have often said that a $5 paper bag from Bloomingdale's and a $5000 bag from Louis Vuitton do the same thing. They carry stuff. And you could be pretty much guaranteed that at the bottom of each of those bags there's going be some loose change, an eyebrow pencil, maybe some folded Kleenexes and maybe even a breath mint, with the wrapper taken off, that’s stuck in the corner. There’ll be keys, a wallet, and a number of other personal effects. But when it comes to what these bags do in terms of providing meaning and assigning values, they are entirely different. The goods and services that we buy should do the things that they’re purported to do - get your teeth whiter, get you from point A to point B in a comfortable and safe car, they should make you feel better, stronger, happier, safer. But beyond all those functional things – these functions or qualities that are the baseline that these products or services should deliver on – they deliver much more than that.They deliver meaning and context and they establish values and relationships with the cohort of like-minded consumers. In the end. meaningis what is ultimately driving purchases and brand affiliation. I buy the products or services of one brand over the other and not just because of what it does, but because of how I feelwhen I know that I’m connected to the ideologies of that brand. What brand relationships give me is much deeper. It’s emotional and adds to our understanding of the world we live in in a way that cultural institutions, religion, political parties, or in the way that Shaman and dancing around fires for thousands of years in song told stories about us and the world and what it meant to be in it.It’s something that is foundational and that establishes who we are in the greater context of our family, our culture, our nation and maybe even some cosmological relationship to the universe.The work of my guest on today’s episode of NXTLVL Experience Design has spent years focusing on this very idea. Meaning in the relationships that people have to brands and what value is in a quickly moving and dynamically shifting consumer-buying-

INFO ON PETER COLE & DESIGN HOTELS:Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=design+hotels+original+experiences Website: https://design-hotels.marriott.com/ LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-cole-2877b76/ Instgram: https://www.instagram.com/design_hotels/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/designhotelsBio:Peter Cole joined Design Hotels™ as CEO in December 2018 with a commitment to future growth and the creation of long-term value for hoteliers and stakeholders.In his previous role as Managing Director of Business Integration at Marriott International, Peter lead the company’s integration of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, overseeing a wide array of activities including hotel operations, organizational design, talent management, loyalty programs, system integration, financial management, and unit growth.Peter was also Chief Financial Officer for the Americas for Marriott, as well as global CFO of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC; both positions that attest to his erudition when it comes to steering the financial rudder of a large multinational.Peter is also an ardent runner and swimmer and likes to ride his Peloton bike.He holds a BBA in Real Estate Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA from the University of Maryland.Peter carries out duties that matter to his heart and mind and sits on the Advisory Board of the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and the National Board of Directors for Back on My Feet, an organization dedicated to helping change the lives of those experiencing homelessness.EPISODE INTRO:How do you define “Original”? Is it the ‘first’? – maybe.Is if the most ‘unique’ or ‘eccentric’? – perhaps that too.Is it something to that serves as a model or basis for imitations or copies? Well, it could be that, except for the fact that every one of the over 300 properties in the Design Hotels brand are completely different. How do you copy ‘different?’Since different could be a monastery in Eremito, Italy,a revived printing factory in Tiblisi Georgia, or a modern outcrop in Selfoss, Iceland.Design Hotels are all of these things that you would define as “original” and their CEO Peter Cole has the extraordinary task of helping to provide leadership to a band of brothers, and sisters, who march to the beat of a different drum but hold a couple of traits in common…Compulsive curiosity and a willingness to find comfort in change. In fact they are challenged and expect to be presented with things they don’t expect or reference what they already know.Peter Cole’s trajectory through the leadership of Marriott International includes holding positions as:Chief Financial Officer for the Americas for Marriott, as well as global CFO of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC; Managing Director of Business Integration at Marriott International, Peter lead the company’s integration of Starwood Hotels & Resorts,And in 2018 Peter joined Design Hotels™ as CEO with a commitment to future growth and the creation of long-term value for hoteliers and stakeholders. He is a business minded leader who finds it equally engaging to be amongst some of the most creative hoteliers in the industry. Welcome Peter…. Did you run this morning?INFO ON DAVID KEPRON:Website: https://www.davidkepron.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b/Instagram: davidkepron and NXTLVL_experience_designTwitter: @davidkepron The NXTLVL 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 is 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 STACY GARCIA:Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwuGSwfSFoMoc4iM6WWnu7AWebsite: https://stacygarcia.com LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacygarcia/Twitter: https://twitter.com/stacygarciaincInstgram: https://www.instagram.com/stacygarciainc/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stacygarciainc/ Bio:THE WOMANAn established leader in the world of design, Stacy Garcia is a successful creative entrepreneur and founder of multiple business enterprises: LebaTex, Inc., a distinctive textile supplier and Stacy Garcia, Inc., a licensing firm and design house.Stacy is an internationally renowned designer and forecasting expert has partnered with some of the world’s leading manufacturers to create products that span from floor to ceiling for resorts and homes all over the world.She was voted one of the 10 leading voices in the hospitality industry and honored by the American Society of Interior Designers - ASID for Design Excellence.Her work has been featured in Interior Design, Boutique Design, New York Spaces, LUXE, Rue Daily and Architectural Digest.Stacy has an established reputation as a preeminent forecaster of color and design trends, and is a Chair-holder of Color Marketing Group, the premiere international color forecasting association.Stacy is also a dynamic public speaker with experience hosting panels, workshops and keynotes.Renowned for her distinct, lively and fashion-centric patterns and product designs, Stacy is the founder and creative forceTHE COMPANYStacy Garcia is a leading licensing and design company with a collection of global lifestyle brands that add a well-traveled and sophisticated edge to the ever-evolving world of fashion and interiors.With roots in hospitality design, they offer inspired product lines across a number of markets and in categories including textiles, carpet, wall-covering, furniture and lighting.Our brands include:Stacy Garcia Commercial,Stacy Garcia | New York,Stacy Garcia HomeStay by Stacy Garcia.Founded in 2004 and headquartered in New York, the privately held company is led by Founder and Chief Inspiration Officer, Stacy GarciaEp.9 INTRODUCTION:I'm an architect and of course I am always tuned into my physical environment. My home however has somehow never been the focus of my creative output at least until recently. Being more involved in the hospitality space, I've turned my bedroom into a nest that I would be delighted to spend any night number of nights in if it were a hotel and I’ve begun to focus more on the use of color and textures and furniture as a way to express myself.I’m moving beyond my mid century modern black Mies Van der Rohe Barcelona chairs, le Corbusier chaise and Noguchi tables to considering textures and that are drawn from different cultures and geographies.My guest today finds the world of travel a never-ending experience of inspiration from which she draws colors, patterns, and textures and turns them into textiles, furniture and home Décor. She describes her aesthetic as “global eclectic with a refinement to it.”She is “…an authoritative, informational and entertaining speaker. She does her research, backing up her contentions with facts and figures. But she also knows how to connect the dots to give her audience the big picture. She’s organized, thorough and responsive—a pleasure to work with throughout the process.”Mary Scoviak, Executive Editor Boutique DesignStacy Garcia is a successful creative entrepreneur and founder of multiple business enterprises: LebaTex, Inc., a distinctive textile supplier and Stacy Garcia, Inc., a licensing firm and design house.Stacy is an internationally renowned designer and forecasting expert has partnered with some of the world’s leading manufacturers to create products that span from floor to ceiling for resorts and homes all over the world.She was voted one of the 10 leading voices in the hospitality industry and honored by the American Society of Interior Designers - ASID for Design Excellence and she is the Chairperson for the Color Marketing Group.INFO ON DAVID KEPRON:Website: https://www.davidkepron.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b/Instagram: davidkepron and NXTLVL_experience_designTwitter: @davidkepron The NXTLVL 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 is 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.

INFO ON EUGENE ROMAN:LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eugene-roman-45274410/ BIO:Served on the board of the Ukrainian Credit Union limited for 20 years.Canadian CIO of the year in 2015.Helped Ukrainian credit union significantly grow base and adopt a new technologyScholarship named after him “Ukrainian Credit Union Limited Eugene Roman Scholarship”EVP Digital Excellence at Canadian Tire CanadaCurrently the principle of “Design.ai, Ltd. focused on applying design intelligence to business opportunitiesFrom 2012 to 2018 Eugene was the EVP of digital excellence and tech advisor for the Canadian Tire CorporationCurrently serves on the board of the The Stars Group Inc.Currently serves on the board of EPM Systems Inc.Owns Rosewood Estate Winery – a family winery with wife Renata and children Krystina (marketing) and William (production), a boutique production vineyard producing 5000 cases of wine and 1500 cases of meade a year.Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet Franc are the products of the vineyard.2015 Canadian CIO of the year for creating a strategic plan to transform Canadian Tire into an innovator in digital marketing and overseeing the development of three digital centers including “Cloud 9 Digital Innovation Center” in Winnipeg and the “Digital Garage” in Kitchener Waterloo Ontario.Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Monk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto.Responsible for integrating critical technology and business processes to better deliver innovative programs.Has led efforts to increase productivity and improve performance in order to deliver current “next GEN” services more efficiently in large organizations.Started career and telecom working for the Nortel Networks corporation and then went onto work with Bell Canada Enterprises Inc.Eugene is a frequent speaker on the “hyper connected digital world.”He is also on the board of governors at York University.Today Eugene is the Executive in Residence for AI at the Schulich Business School.SHOW INTRO:When I grow up in Montreal there was Expo 67,I still remember Moshe Safdia and his McGill architecture thesis project that became the incredible housing development called Habitat and the Yugoslavian pavilion which was a pyramid upended and standing on his point.Ken Dryden, Guy La Fleur and Rocket Richard we’re all part of the Canadiens hockey team as they won the Stanley Cup after Stanley cup every year. We even got the day off school when the first Canada Russia hockey series was played.There was the Olympics in 76 and I watched as Nadia Comaneci get the first ever perfect 10 in gymnastics.And every weekend throughout the winter my four brothers and I along with my parents we drive north to Mont Tremblant and ski. And it seemed like every Friday night there was a stop at Canadian tire. No if you don’t know Canadian tire it was a kind of a mix between REI, Dick’s Sporting Goods and AutoZone. I remember it had a very specific smell something like a mix between tires and travel. Canadian tire, next to Pascal’s the hardware store, was one of our favorite places.My guest on today’s podcast grew up during the same time and went on to become the Canadian CIO of the year in 2015.The Ukrainian credit union has a scholarship named after him and he sits on a number of boards of tech-based companies. He’s also the owner of a vineyard and, by consequence of making meade, a beekeeper producing thousands of gallons of honey every year and is Executive in residence for AI at the Schulich business school.And that CIO of the year award that Eugene Roman won in 2015 well, it was for creating a strategic plan to transform Canadian Tire into an innovator in digital marketing and overseeing the development of three digital centers including “Cloud 9 Digital Innovation Center” in Winnipeg and the “Digital Garage” in Kitchener Waterloo Ontario.INFO ON DAVID KEPRON:Website: https://www.davidkepron.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b/Instagram:davidkepron and NXTLVL_experience_designTwitter:@davidkepron The NXTLVL 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 is 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.

INFO ON TOM MIDDLETON:Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_MiddletonWebsite: http://www.tommiddleton.com LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommiddletonmusic/Twitter: @djtommiddleton Instgram: tommiddletonmusicFacebook: tommiddletonmusicBIO:Tom Middleton is an award winning sound designer, creator of science-based functional music and soundscapes for wellbeing and wellness. To mitigate anxiety, aid relaxation and improve sleep, boost productivity, motivation and focus. Tracks featured in Calm the #1 meditation and sleep app.Tom is a Co-Chair on the AFEM Health Group.A pioneering Electronic musician (Global Communication / Cosmos) and former DJ, he has toured the world and performed to millions over 3 decades observing the positive affects of sound, and has shared the stage with Mark Ronson, Lady Gaga and Kanye West.After a radical reassessment of his creative motivations he has embarked on a new mission to help rescore the soundtrack to life and positively benefit our wellbeing in a world of increasing anxiety, stress and burnout.Applying principles of the neuroscience and psychology of sound, listening, breathwork and nature sounds to create impactful, transformational soundscapes, music and immersive experiences to help with focus, stress, anxiety and sleep deprivation.Tom believes the science of sound can help us to be more happy, healthy and productive.Certified in Mental Health First Aid sleep science coaching.Delivers Sleep Better workshops on sleep science, health and hygiene best practices.INFO ON DAVID KEPRON:Website: https://www.davidkepron.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b/Instagram:davidkepron and NXTLVL_experience_designTwitter:@davidkepron The NXTLVL 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 is 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.

INFO ON BRUCE BARTELDT:LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bruce-barteldt-b625b410/Website: https://littleonline.comTwitter: @BruceBarteldtInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/bbarteldt/ Bruce Bartlett Bio:Chief Innovation Officer – Little: An experienced design thinker and senior leader for over 30 years, Bruce’s role as Chief Innovation Officer is aimed at maximizing the impact of Little’s diverse, multi-disciplined resources applied to their client’s deepest challenges. While his role is to provide guidance and strategic input for the company’s centralized consulting specialties, Bruce will also impact all practices nationwide (Community, Healthcare, Retail & Workplace) with strategy, experience design, problem definition, brand strategy and business consulting services.Senior Partner, Global Practice Leader - RetailBruce's leadership of Little’s retail management team results in lasting relationships with clients such as Capital One, Nautica, The Home Depot, CVS/Pharmacy, Rite Aid, Von’s (a Safeway Company), Lucky Brand Jeans., Concentra, Majestic Athletic (a VF Company), Publix, JC Penney, BB&T, Wells Fargo, Comerica, and Bank of America. Recent speaking experience includes Retail Asia Expo & Omni-Channel Retail Conference/Hong Kong, the international Perakende Tasarim Konferansi retail conference/Istanbul, BrazilShop/Sao Paulo, NASFM’s GlobalShop, the EPA’s national Smart Growth conference, TREX Total Retail Experience, ICSC CenterBuild, the National Retail Federation Conference and the Retail Construction Expo. He has also presented for the American Institute of Architects on facilities management strategies and served as a judge for Retail Traffic’s SADI awards and the Association for Retail Environments awards. Bruce is currently a member of the DDI editorial board, the Association for Retail Environments Board of Directors. He has authored numerous expert articles for Retail Environments Magazine, Retail Traffic, Expanded Retail Solutions, ABA Banking Journal, Shopping Center World, Healthcare Design and many other national and international publications.SHOW INTRO:As an experienced architect, musician, documentary short-film maker, design thinker and retail industry leader for over 30 years, my guest’s role as Chief Innovation Officer is aimed at maximizing the impact of diverse, multi-disciplined resources applied to his client’s deepest challenges. While his role is to provide guidance and strategic input for the company’s centralized consulting specialties, he also impacts all practices nationwide (Community, Healthcare, Retail & Workplace) with strategy, experience design, problem definition, brand strategy and business consulting services.His leadership has resulted in lasting relationships with clients such as Capital One, Nautica, The Home Depot, CVS/Pharmacy, Rite Aid, Von’s (a Safeway Company), Lucky Brand Jeans., Concentra, Majestic Athletic (a VF Company), Publix, JC Penney, BB&T, Wells Fargo, Comerica, and Bank of America. He has spoken all over the world at international retail conferences. He is on a number of retail industry trade and magazine boards and has authored numerous expert articles focused on retail design and customer experience in general and there has never been a time where we have spoken and I have not been challenged and learned something new.Bruce Barteldt inhabits three worlds he is a ‘futurist/future thinker’ - He’s a ‘pragmatist realist’ who lives in the present moment and understands the functionality of design in the current era as it’s always changing. And... his thinking is ‘rooted in old Socratic ancient Greek teachings - The School of Athens.’When I talk with him he’s always operating from these 3 worlds - They are less three distinct worlds than functional parallel universes that are intertwined. Think Tesseract from Interstellar.Because he is this kind of thinker who operates at the intersections of these temporal worlds of past present and future, He’s the ideal person to talk about where we stand right now and where he thinks we’re going and what we’re going to need as we navigate this journey.INFO ON DAVID KEPRON:Website: https://www.davidkepron.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b/Instagram: davidkepron and NXTLVL_experience_designTwitter: @davidkepron The NXTLVL 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 is 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

INFO ON JILL DVORAK:Website: https://nrf.comLinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillsalomon/Twitter: @JillDvorakJILL'S BIO:Jill Dvorak is Vice President of Content and Retail Strategy at the National Retail Federation.In this role, she manages the strategic development and delivery of relevant content for all NRF platforms.She oversees the team responsible for bringing the retail content to life.She also leads the executive level NRF Digital and NRF Marketing Executives Councils.Before joining NRF, Dvorak helped lead e-commerce at National Geographic where she consistently achieved revenue growth.She was also responsible for partner relations with Fox TV Network and other groups to increase product sales.Prior to that, Dvorak worked as a senior retail consultant at the consulting firm FitForCommerce.Dvorak’s previous roles include leading North American consumer e-commerce for Encyclopedia Britannica.Before joining Britannica, she worked at Discovery Channel in the commerce department.In addition to merchandising for Discovery Channel online and retail stores, she also led the branded merchandise department.She has significant expertise in e-commerce, mobile, merchandising, UX and marketing.Dvorak holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Maryland with specializations in strategy and marketing, and a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University.INTRO TO THE SHOW:The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the shut down of industries like the hotel and hospitality business including food and beverage - restaurants bars, entertainment – movie theaters – and sports venues, and of course one of Americas past-times – shopping at retail stores.Mom and pop shops or international mega brands it doesn’t matter, they all closed their doors. They may now be slowly beginning to reopen depending on geography or the company’s position on how to maintain a safe shopping environment. In some cases only to shut down again as COVID cases surge.With occupancy rates in the hotel industry still hovering around to 40% is equally true that shoppers are choosing to stay home and buy more online and limit, or simply forgo, trips to Main Street or the mall.Some retailers like those whose businesses were fundamentally online have thrived some retailers have barely survived another large name brands have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.None of this is particularly good news if you are an organization like the National Retail Federation whose mission is: “to advance the interests of the retail industry through advocacy, communications, and education. “ For over a century the National Retail Federation has represented the retail sector ‘standing up for the people, policies and ideas that help retail thrive.”And within those more than 100 years, there has probably never been a time when standing up for retail in the face of an invisible foe - the COVID-19 virus - has been so difficult. So for someone like Jill Dvorak - the Vice President ofContent and Retail Strategy at the National Retail Federation, “managing the strategic development and delivery of relevantcontent for all NRF platforms” has undoubtedly beenthe challenge of a career. Jill oversees the team responsible for bringing the retail content to life – but in the current crisis it may just be keeping retail alive is a key focus.She probably has had to develop some Wonder Women-like powers of the past few months. And so I have invited Jill to talk with us about retail – the COVID crisis and leading into a changed retail future... welcome Jill Dvorak…INFO ON DAVID KEPRON:Website: https://www.davidkepron.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b/Instagram: davidkepron and NXTLVL_experience_designTwitter: @davidkepron The NXTLVL 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 is 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.

INFO ON DAMON LAWRENCE:Website: https://www.anewkindofhospitality.com LinkedIn profile:https://www.linkedin.com/in/hauspitality/ Instagram: @hauspitalityTwitter: @hauspitality, @stayhomageMartin Luther King, Jr. said:“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”Well, the dream of Damon Lawrence is one of perseverance in the face of recurring challenges that would have made most simply decided to choose a simpler path. It is one of where the content of one’s character is evident. Originally from Pasadena, CA, Damon has always had a passion for entrepreneurship. In high school Damon was voted most likely to become a CEO and his classmates proved to be prophetic as the currently helms as Chief Executive Officer of Homage Hospitality.Like many hoteliers, he grew to love hospitality as he rose through the ranks. Damon began his hospitality journey as a front desk agent at the Donovan House Hotel in Washington, DC while attending Howard University. He then moved into management at companies such as The Ritz-Carlton, InterContinental Hotels Group, and Dusit International. After noticing a lack of African American brand ownership and leadership in higher management ranks, Damon created the Homage Hospitality brand in 2014 and currently oversees operations and creative direction.In July of 2018 Homage Hospitality opened their first property “The Moor” in New Orleans, LA. The small property stands out with an emphasis on the culture of New Orleans and its relation to multicultural heritage of the North African Moors in its design and architecture. The nearly 100-year-old facade sports Spanish Colonial features, while inside, the four suites have rustic elements of exposed brick and hardwood floors softened with Moroccan patterned textiles. Damon Lawrence's dream is impassioned, authentic and genuinely focused on providing a hotel experience that is geared towards creating like something you’ve never seen before. It will feel like a new kind of experience - a new kind of hospitality. FINALLY. INFO ON DAVID KEPRON:Website: https://www.davidkepron.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b/Instagram: davidkepron and NXTLVL_experience_designTwitter: @davidkepron The NXTLVL 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 is 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.

INFO ON GEORGE GOTTL:Website: https://uxus.com LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/uxusdesign/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/george_gottl/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/uxusbv Video:George Gottl was born in Los Angeles, California.He is the Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder of UXUS, a leading global strategic design consultancy that re-imagines consumer experiences for the 21st century.UXUS creates innovative consumer experience solutions for clients such as McDonald’s, NIKE, InterContinental Hotels Group, Tate Modern and Bloomingdale’s Dubai.Prior to UXUS, George was the Creative Director of Apparel at Nike and the Global Creative Director at Mandarina Duck.George is a Graduate of Parsons School of Design, winning the Silver Thimble Award for design excellence.He has spoken at various prestigious locations including Harvard-sponsored DMI Conference in New York, Microsoft-sponsored DMI Conference in Helsinki, Amsterdam Fashion Institute and Willem de Kooning Academy.at UXUS they design with a psychological and emotive approach, for example, looking at the role of social media as it affects brand experience. The creative market is driven by “shareable moments”, which UXUS nurtures in order to drive engagement and interaction from services to interiors.INFO on David Kepron:Website: https://www.davidkepron.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b/Instagram: davidkepron and NXTLVL_experience_designTwitter: @davidkepron The NXTLVL 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 is 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.

INFO on Ari Peralta:Peralta launched Arigami ( https://www.arigami.co.uk ) in 2019 an independent innovation consultancy dedicated to helping organizations design healthier and happier environments.Today Peralta and his company is a Forbes recognized provider for wellness and sensory-based strategies within hospitality, mobility retail and healthcare.Arigami powers holistic innovation programs for start ups, corporate and academic labs seeking to mitigate anxiety by developing transformative immersive and service design solutions for complex human problems within the wellness, sleep and human performance.Peralta is a guest lecturer at universities, international conferences and volunteering for organizations that promote "STEAM" education for childrenPeralta was involved in the explore Mars summit and a speaker at the 2020 human to Mars summit.Multi sensory research and experimental design is one of Ari Peralta's core skills.Peralta began his career at Nielsen media research leading the way in measuring millennial media consumption from TV to mobileHe now focuses on building the connection between multi sensory cues, emotions and memory.Peralta’s niche agency works in the area of wellness with a focus on:Intelligence – case studies, design, tech, scienceAgency – design and architecture firms, IOT connections, evidence-based designVentures – research teams prototypingINFO on David Kepron:Website: https://www.davidkepron.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b/Instagram: davidkepron and NXTLVL_experience_designTwitter: @davidkepron The NXTLVL 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 is 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.

David Kepron website: https://www.davidkepron.comDavid Kepron Instagram: davidkepronNXTLVL Experience Design Instagram: NXTLVL_experience_designTwitter: @davidkepronLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582b/ INFO ON BILL BENSLEY:Bensley website: https://www.bensley.com/studio/bill-bensley Shinta Mani Wild: Bill’s passion points are sustainability, conservation, wildlife protection and education. His Shinta Mani Wild tented camp in Cambodia is a living case study of his recently launched white paper “Sensible Sustainable Solutions.” Another upcoming project which hits all his passion points. Each of Bill’s designs tells a story and he is also doing a new project in Antigua. Upcoming properties in Asia scheduled to open this year are the Intercon in Khai Yao, Thailand, using upcycled train carriages from the 1930’s and the Capella Hanoi in Hanoi, Vietnam. https://www.bensley.com/media/sensible-sustainable-solutions/Capella Hanoi Location: Hanoi, VietnamNumber of Keys: 49Proposed Opening: Late 2020 (exact month TBA)Design Story:Many decades ago, before the war and all that preceded it, this was a small boutique hotel - “une petite auberge”, for those passing through Hanoi to see the Opera. With the charming opera building only steps away, it was perfect. One guest (who brought with him a new courtesan at every visit) was so enamoured with the building, he decided to buy it. With the help of his favorite operetta and lady of the night, Anna Held, it turned into a Maison Close of the highest caliber.The investor turned panderer was not a skilled gambler, and on a night of bad luck he lost his beloved house of ill-repute to an army man. During the war it became a depot, crates of dynamite shuffling in and out while dust gathered on velvet chaise longues and crystal chandeliers. After the war, the general sold his property to a wealthy Vietnamese man - a lover of Opera.This gentleman began a vast renovation, returning the building to its former glory as a five star -miniscule- hotel of great taste and a little madness. This little palace, Le Petit Fairmont, tells the story of the actors, opera singers, composers, stage and costume designers, and spectators who have passed through Hanoi over the last 150 years. Each suite trumpets the wonderful stories of the mischievous high society which passed through its doors. The story is told with over a thousand pieces of original memorabilia, costumes, theatre programs, photographs, set, opera spectacles, and original portraiture art by the incredible Kate Spencer. All of this fanfare on display in what was Asia’s most gay, in the traditional sense, place to frolic, to carouse, and then, just before sunrise, to put one’s head down.*****************Eco-Warrior Bill Bensley Re-affirms Strong Commitment to Daily Wildlife Alliance Patrols at Shinta Mani Wild Despite Temporary ClosureIn line with its total commitment to the protection of the forest and wildlife in the South Cardamom National park, Bensley Collection – Shinta Mani Wild continues to fund the team of 8 Wildlife Alliance Rangers and the ranger station at the camp to support them in their important mission, despite the luxury tented camp being temporarily closed to guests.Eco-warrior Bill Bensley and his business partner Sokoun Chanpreda, purchased the 350 hectare or 800acre piece of land at a logging auction – ironically to STOP the property being logged to build a mine, in order to protect the forest and its inhabitants. Shinta Mani Wild is a living and educational case study of the things he is deeply passionate about, conservation, sustainability, wildlife protection and unique design. Wildlife Alliance was founded in 1996 by the amazing Suwanna Gauntlett who has dedicated her life to wildlife protection around the world. The partnership between Shinta Mani Wild and Wildlife Alliance is paramount to the camp’s ethos. Sangjay Choegyal, the camp’s former General Manager joined the rangers as a volunteer and in a recent 4 day patrol deep inside the National Park, they confiscated 8 chainsaws, 2 mini tractors, dismantled 16 logging camps, found remains of numerous poached animals and confiscated nearly 20 cubic meters of luxury timber that was on it’s way to the black market.Bensley and his team have worked tirelessly to support the Wildlife Alliance Rangers at Shinta Mani Wild and continue to raise funds to support their critical work at the front line. Last year Bensley created a range of trendy one-off bejewelled upcycled denim jackets which sell at USD500 each with all proceeds going to Wildlife Alliance. These pair nicely with the ‘trashion’ bracelets refashioned out of confiscated snares. He is currently working with an Australian designed jewellery designer and gemmologist who has an exquisite bespoke collection of jewellery inspired by the forest and nature at Shinta Mani Wild which will be launched soon. Bill is currently preparing for his first ever exhibition of his own artwork which will

These quote share ideas form their individual interviews about how important the 'concept' is for hotels as a driver to experience, how the nature of the digital world has influence across the experience moment s of our day and how retails are now having to face the discussion about racial inequality in the US and how this message is being considered as a means of remaining relevant. The NXTLVL 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 is 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.

George Gottl is the Chief Creative Officer at UXUS, a multidisciplinary design agency specializing in strategic design solutions for: Retail & Marketing, Architecture & Brand Experience. Checkout the work and smart thinking about brand experience design that George Gottl and his team have created at: https://uxus.com Ari Peralta is the Co-Founder and CEO of Origami International an award-winning strategic research consultancy dedicated to wellness. See more about the amazing work that Ari does bringing together neuroscience and experience design at: https://www.arigami.co.ukDamon Lawrence is the CEO of Homage Hospitality - a new kind of hospitality that the industry has not seen before. Purpose-driven and geared toward celebrating the stories of African American experience through hotel design, Damon and his vision are an important new development in the hotel business. See more at: https://www.anewkindofhospitality.com The NXTLVL 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 is 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.

David Kepron explains that the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast will bring you daring and different dialogues about “DATA: Design, Architecture, Technology and the Arts.”David Kepron establishes the nature of the show suggesting that he will have spirited conversations with some of his favorite creators of places and things.You’ll hear from provocateurs for whom disruption and transformation are a way of engaging in work and play everyday.Guests will include thought leaders who are driven by a passion to create the ‘new possible’ and promote new paradigms of experience into the mainstream. The NXTLVL 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 is 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.