experience-research

Experience Research

Invocation rules

This skill is not a general-purpose entry point. It is invoked in two ways:

1. Delegated from venue-research — after that skill collects intake (budget, persona, event goals, expected turnout, location) and determines the request is for an experience, not a fixed-location venue. The intake is passed in via args.
2. Direct user invocation — the user types /experience-research or explicitly references this skill.

When invoked directly (case 2) without intake context, gather the same five inputs first (Step 1 below). When delegated from venue-research (case 1), the inputs are already in the conversation — skip the intake step and use them.

Step 1 — Confirm inputs (only if invoked directly)

Required:

1. Budget — total or per-person
2. Persona — role, seniority, industry, demographic detail
3. Event goals — what success looks like
4. Expected turnout
5. Location — city, region, or anywhere (valid for experiences not tied to a city)

If anything is missing, ask for all missing items in a single message.

Step 2 — Read the audience research file

The persona research file lives at a user-level path so it persists across projects and survives plugin updates:

Path: ~/.claude/event-marketing/audience-research.md

Always reference this exact path. Never write to a copy inside the plugin folder — the plugin is git-distributed and any writes there will be lost.

1. Read the file at that path.
2. If the file does not exist, create the directory (mkdir -p ~/.claude/event-marketing) and seed the file with the template that venue-research defines (see its "Audience research file template" section). Then proceed as if empty.
3. If the persona is documented and Last researched is within ~6 months, use the existing entry.
4. If not, do fresh research via Luma (lu.ma/discover), Eventbrite, and LinkedIn (search competitor companies + "hosted" / "thank you to everyone who joined us at"). Append findings using the entry template.
5. For general-appeal experiences (F1, Sphere, Taylor Swift, weekend retreats, helicopter, golf), skip persona-specific research — reason from demographics. These cross industries.

Step 3 — Classify the experience type

Two parallel jobs:

• A. Known experience — user has named something specific ("F1 Miami suite", "Sphere group package", "Taylor Swift Eras Tour", "Pebble Beach golf with a pro"). Go direct to the official hospitality program or broker.
• B. Novel discovery — user wants ideas they haven't thought of. Browse curated sources for 2–4 unexpected, defensible picks.

Most briefs need both. Even when the user names a specific experience, add 1–2 novel options they can react to.

Step 4 — Source playbook

A. Known experiences — go direct to official programs / brokers

Suite hospitality (any team, any venue):

• SuiteHop
• Suite Experience Group
• Premier Sports & Concerts

Premium ticketing:

• Vivid Seats Premium
• StubHub Premium
• Ticketmaster VIP

Event-specific official hospitality programs (better inventory + on-site treatment than third-party):

• On Location Experiences — NFL, World Cup 2026, Ryder Cup, Olympics, Masters
• QuintEvents — F1, Kentucky Derby, Super Bowl, NBA
• F1 Experiences / Paddock Club — official F1 hospitality
• PGA Tour Experiences — corporate hospitality at tour events
• Keith Prowse — Wimbledon, Six Nations, Royal Ascot (UK-strong)
• USTA premium hospitality — US Open

Motorsports / Velocity Invitational tier (go to the event's own "Corporate Hospitality" page):

• Velocity Invitational
• Goodwood Revival / Festival of Speed
• Monterey Car Week (The Quail, Pebble Beach Concours — direct to their corporate sales)
• Rolex 24 at Daytona
• Le Mans (via ACO hospitality)

Golf with a pro:

• Excel Sports Management, Wasserman Golf, GSE Worldwide, IMG Golf — book tour pros and retired majors winners
• Charitybuzz — auctioned rounds with named pros
• Resort corporate days — Pebble Beach, Pinehurst, Streamsong

Sphere (Las Vegas):

• Sphere Entertainment corporate events team (direct)
• Suite packages via SuiteHop

Aviation / scenic:

• Blade — NYC, LA, Miami, Hamptons
• Maverick — Vegas, Grand Canyon
• Wheels Up — fixed-wing charter
• Local charter operators in target city

Museum after-dark / cultural buyouts:

• Direct to the museum's private events team. Every major museum has one:
  • Met, MoMA, Whitney, AMNH (NYC)
  • Getty, LACMA (LA)
  • SFMOMA, de Young (SF)
  • Art Institute of Chicago, Field Museum (Chicago)
  • Smithsonian (DC)
  • V&A, Tate (London)

Celebrity-led dinners / fireside chats / surprise appearances:

• Mid-tier speaker bureaus: Harry Walker Agency, Washington Speakers Bureau, Keppler, BigSpeak, Leading Authorities
• Talent agencies (A-list, athletes, musicians): CAA Speakers, WME, Wasserman, Octagon, 160over90
• Auctioned experiences: Charitybuzz

Luxury weekend retreats:

• Top-of-market hotel groups (direct to corporate events team): Aman, Rosewood, Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, Six Senses, Auberge Resorts, Belmond
• Bespoke design: Black Tomato, Inspirato Experiences, Brown + Hudson, Original Travel

B. Novel discovery — browse curated sources

Pattern-match across these for unexpected ideas:

• BizBash — best single source for novel B2B activations. Quarterly "10 unique venues in " and "innovative activations of the year" features.
• Bespoke experiential agencies' case studies (and many will custom-build): 160over90 (Endeavor), Engine Shop, Magnetic Collaborative, Inspira Marketing, Jack Morton Worldwide, George P. Johnson, Octagon, Wasserman Experiential
• Luxury-experience marketplaces: VeryFirstTo, Sotheby's Experiences, Christie's Lots, Inspirato Experiences, Cloud9 Living
• Lifestyle / wealth media (HNW psychographic = senior B2B exec psychographic): Robb Report, Departures (Amex Platinum), Bloomberg Pursuits, WSJ Off Duty, Condé Nast Traveler, Town & Country
• Concierge service published content: Quintessentially, Ten Lifestyle Group, Knightsbridge Circle, John Paul (Accor)
• Atlas Obscura + city culture press: Atlas Obscura for unusual + bookable (private observatories, hidden libraries, working scientific sites); NYT Style, LA Times, Time Out, The Infatuation Hit List, Eater "best new openings"
• Members-only clubs' programming / buyouts: Soho House, NeueHouse, Casa Cipriani, Core Club, The Battery, Chief
• Pop-ups, residencies, time-limited: Chef residencies, immersive theater + art (Meow Wolf, Punchdrunk descendants), major museum special exhibits with buyout potential
• Competitor signal on LinkedIn: search competitor companies + "hosted" / "thank you to everyone who joined us at" / "had a great time at". Shows the bar competitors are setting.

Vertical-specific angles (match the audience's identity)

Always check these for the user's vertical. These differentiate because competitors can't easily copy live:

• Security / CISO: private threat-intel briefings, Spy Museum buyouts, lockpick villages, custom CTF nights, hacker history tours
• Finance: NYSE bell ringing, trading-floor tours, private art-collection viewings, central bank archive tours
• Tech / AI: SpaceX or vintage Apollo hardware tours, AI lab visits, observatory nights
• Aerospace: private hangar dinners, vintage aircraft rides, flight-simulator sessions
• Healthcare / biotech: private lab tours, medical-history museum buyouts, Cold Spring Harbor-style retreats

Step 5 — Build the candidate pool

Aim for 8–15 options mixing:

• All user-named experiences (verified through the direct sources above)
• 2–4 novel discoveries you'd defend

For each, capture: experience name, vendor/provider, location, format (suite vs. buyout vs. private session vs. retreat), rough capacity, rough price tier.

Step 6 — Filter to 5–8

Experiences mostly lack Google Maps review pools, so filter on:

• Vendor reputation — years operating, named clients they've delivered for
• Recent press / case studies — within last ~18 months. A glowing 2019 write-up means less than a quiet one from last quarter.
• Attendee chatter on LinkedIn / X — search the experience name + "thank you" / "had a great time"
• For agency-built custom experiences, the quality and recency of public case studies

Step 7 — Persona-to-experience fit

Before finalizing, for each candidate:

• Status signal — does it tell the guest "we respect your time and seniority"?
• Peer density — will the rest of the room (other companies' guests, fellow attendees) read as peers?
• Conversation quality — can people actually talk during the experience, or is it pure spectacle? (Tradeoff is real: an F1 race during the race is loud; the paddock walk before is golden.)
• Photo-worthiness — will the guest want to post? Often matters for marketing reach.
• Logistical respect — travel logistics handled, dietary needs covered, no awkward gaps in the agenda
• ICP preferences — if the audience-research file or user input flags hobbies (whisky, classic cars, jazz, golf), lean into them.

Rank for fit, not for prestige. A perfectly-matched mid-tier experience beats an over-the-top one that signals "we're trying too hard".

Step 8 — Output

Markdown report in chat. Don't write a file unless asked.

# Experience shortlist: <event> — <city or "various">

**Brief:** <one-line restatement: format, persona, headcount, budget, location, goal>

---

## 1. <Experience Name> — <Vendor / Provider, Location>
**Why it fits:** <1–2 sentences tying to persona + goal>
**Format:** <suite | buyout | private session | retreat | hospitality package>
**Capacity:** <X guests>
**Estimated price:** <$X–Y per head | $Z total> — *confirm directly*
**Notable features:**
- <signature element>
- <on-site treatment / hospitality detail>
- <photo / story moment>
- <logistics: travel, lodging, dietary handling>
**Booking:** <vendor link / contact path>
**Caveats:** <lead time, blackout dates, contract minimums, weather risk, etc.>

## 2. <Experience Name> — ...
[same structure]

[5–8 total — mix of user-named + novel discoveries]

---

## How to proceed
**Top picks:** <top 1–2 with one sentence each on why>
**Confirm via direct outreach:** exact capacity, pricing, date availability, lead time, dietary, travel/lodging block
**Logistics flags:** lead time on premium hospitality (often 3–6 months for F1/Masters), weather risk, blackout dates, deposit and cancellation terms

Rules of thumb

• 5–8 experiences, not 15.
• Position 1 is your real recommendation.
• Always include at least one novel discovery — that's the value of this skill over a brokerage site.
• Don't fabricate prices, dates, or vendor names. "Estimated" and "confirm directly" preserve trust.
• Respect the stated budget. Premium hospitality blows past budgets easily — if the budget is too tight for the named experience, say so once at the end with a downgrade suggestion.
• Lead times matter: F1/Masters/Ryder Cup hospitality often sells out 3–6+ months out. Always surface lead time in caveats.