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Live events give us an extraordinary opportunity to create the conditions for belonging, according to Caitlin Krause.

“There is something powerful about sharing physical space, sensing the energy of a room, making eye contact, laughing together, moving together and discovering something alongside other people,” says Krause, a globally recognized experience designer who bridges timeless wisdom with modern technology. “Our bodies are part of the experience. That embodied dimension matters. It’s also a form of awe, collective effervescence.”

Krause, who will present the keynote session “Empowered Connection in a Digitally Layered Landscape” (sponsored by Visit Anaheim) during MPI’s Smart Monday in Las Vegas on Oct. 12, the day before IMEX America begins, believes the real opportunity for event designers is to ask: “What will help people feel safe enough to be curious?” “What invites participation?” and “What helps someone move from being an attendee to feeling like a member of a community?”

“Some of the most meaningful experiences can be beautifully simple,” she says. “A thoughtful exchange between two people, a shared moment of awe, a conversation that continues after a session or an experience people create together can become the memory that lasts.”

We spoke with her about becoming more intentional, mindful engagement with technology and what attendees can expect from her IMEX America session.

Learn more about Krause and MPI activities at IMEX America—from education to connecting with peers at the MPI member meet-ups and networking events and how you can support the MPI Foundation at Rendezvous.

What are some simple ways professionals can become more intentional about where they direct their focus?

I like practices that are simple enough to use in real life.

Start with this question before entering a space: “What am I here for?” Give yourself a clear intention.

Then create small boundaries around that intention. Turn off unnecessary notifications. Protect periods of focused work. Keep the phone away during a meaningful conversation. Create a few places or moments in the day where your attention gets to belong fully to you.

I also recommend a brief check-in after using a technology: “How do I feel now?” Notice your energy, mood, body and sense of connection. Over time, those observations become incredibly useful data.

Another practice is simply looking up. Look across the room. Look out a window. Make eye contact. Move your body. Notice something new in your environment.

Attention is precious. Every time we consciously direct it, we are participating in the design of our own experience.

You’ve spent years studying digital well-being and mindful technology use. Has the rise of generative AI changed your perspective on how humans should engage with technology?

Generative AI has made the questions I’ve been exploring throughout my career feel even more urgent and alive.

I think a great deal about what I call “the space between.” It is the space where we reflect, imagine, discern and choose. With AI becoming increasingly fluent and responsive, protecting that human space becomes incredibly important.

I want people to experience AI with curiosity, creativity and a strong sense of their own sovereignty. While we can ask AI to help us organize and prepare for meaningful human interactions, the AI interactions might not add to our well-being or creative joy. We need to keep cultivating our own intellect, intuition, imagination, judgment and relationships at the same time. 

I’m especially interested in the quality of the relationships we create with these systems. Transparency matters. Consent matters. Data dignity matters. Knowing when an AI system is present matters.

Generative AI has strengthened my conviction that digital wellbeing, wonder and creativity are all fundamentally about attending to agency. We have choices in how these systems develop, how we design with them and how we invite them into our lives.

As attendees arrive at IMEX America looking toward the future of meetings and events, what’s one mindset shift you hope they leave with after hearing your keynote? 

I hope people leave feeling inspired and empowered to savor the human experience.

The future of meetings and events gives us an incredible canvas. We have AI, immersive media, spatial technologies, new forms of storytelling and extraordinary creative tools available to us. The most exciting question for me is: What kind of human experience do we want all this possibility to serve?

That brings us back to intention.

How do we want people to feel when they enter a room? What do we want them to notice? Who do we hope they meet? What might help them feel that they belong? Where can we create more wonder, generosity, curiosity and meaning?

When we begin there, technology becomes part of a larger landscape of experience.

My hope is that people leave IMEX feeling energized by their own agency and imagination. We are participants in creating this future. Great experiences begin with human intention, and each of us has a role in shaping what meaningful connection can become.