Grassroots Gathering 101
Grassroots Gathering 101
Learn the fundamentals of experience design!
A hands-on workshop for community builders, business owners, or anyone who wants to design intentional, unforgettable experiences with heart and strategy.
Gone are the days of mass-produced events with no thought of the people they serve or the positive outcomes they could produce. Grassroots gatherings are crafted by the people for the people. In a world craving connection, become the person who can intentionally design for it!
What is experience design?
Experience design is the intentional crafting of every element someone encounters in a journey—from the first impression to the lasting memory.
It’s not just about planning logistics or throwing together activities. It’s about designing how people feel, connect, and remember.
In experience design, we consider:
Who the experience is for
What journey we want them to go on
How the environment, interactions, and surprises can support that journey
And how to create something that sticks with people long after it’s over
Whether it’s a retreat, birthday bash, launch party, fundraiser, board meeting, farmers market, or funeral…
you'll learn the principles and tools to craft each moment with intention!
You’ve felt it before—that moment at an event where everything is just working. The people, the energy, the details. It’s magic... but it’s not an accident.
This workshop combines research-proven frameworks and psychological principles with personal learnings and examples to teach the art and science behind gatherings that are meaningful, memorable, and transformational.
In this workshop you will learn:
👀 How to recognize delight and design in your own life — and reverse-engineer it to create moments that truly resonate with others.
👨🎨 How to curate the right audience and design with their desires, hesitations, and emotions in mind.
🪩 How to nail the ambiance, activities, and personality of your event so that it feels cohesive and unforgettable.
📣 How to market your experience in a way that primes people to show up with the right energy and expectations.
✨ How to add spark and novelty that surprises and delights without overwhelming.
🗺️ How to map each touchpoint of your guest’s journey—from the invite to the follow-up—for maximum emotional impact.
🤩 Plus: My best tools, tips, and templates for creating events that leave people saying “That changed me.”
Explore all of this while ALSO connecting with a vibrant, diverse cohort of grassroots gatherers!
There is power in learning side-by-side, sharing experiences, engaging in insightful discussions, and exchanging ideas and energy abundantly with one another!
Who is this workshop for?
Who is this workshop for?
There are plenty of resources out there for full-time corporate event planners—this workshop isn’t one of them.
This is for anyone who wants to create meaningful, intentional gatherings—especially for niche audiences or intimate groups. You don’t need a giant budget, a huge team, or an arena to create something unforgettable.
This workshop is designed for:
Community builders who bring together friends, neighbors, or citizens
Small business owners designing launches, pop-ups, or customer experiences
Creative entrepreneurs looking to build connection through workshops or retreats
Cause-driven leaders organizing experiences that inspire action, promote healing, or highlight cultural significance
Anyone who feels drawn to bring people together in a meaningful way.
I’m a member of the World Experience Organization and host of the podcast Getting Together Better, interviewing people with boots on the ground creating amazing experiences, and pulling out the principles you can apply.
Currently, I also work in the BYU Experience Design & Management program and continue to explore the latest research and best practices coming out of this discipline.
I intend to make this workshop its own experience for YOU and invite you to come prepared to learn, practice, get courageously creative, and lean into connecting with others.
Hi, I’m Nikki
For the past 8 years, I’ve studied “experience design” voraciously and executed over 100 niche experiences. Some of my favorites have been:
The Valentine’s Museum: A 2-week pop up exhibit exploring all types of love.
Sticky Note Networking: A unique take on networking which—instead of awkwardly pitching yourself all night—focuses on asking for help and serving others.
Reverse Piñata: Picture this: candy scattered all over the ground; children racing to pick it up; adults dressed as piñatas, chasing the children with inflatable baseball bats.
FAQs
When is the next Grassroots Gathering 101 workshop?
The next workshop will be the week of June 16 - 20, 2025!
There will be live sessions at 11 am - 12 pm Pacific Time on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with “homework” in between. Tickets are limited, so if you want to participate, snag your spot before they sell out!
Is the workshop in-person or online?
In order to bring together gatherers from all around the globe, the workshop will be hosted on Zoom. However, unlike pre-recorded, stale webinars, THIS workshop will be:
A live training, reacting to the questions and flow of the audience
Highly interactive, with plenty of chances for conversation and breakout chats
Packed with value, and re-watchable later!
Why is the workshop live? Will it be recorded?
We all know there is a difference in what you give and receive from an interactive, live experience versus just another recorded training.
Because of that, I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE you to block out time to attend the live workshop on Zoom. Although it will be recorded for you to reference later, you will get the most benefit from participating and interacting in real time.
Is there homework?
Youbetcha! But also, the most engaging, enjoyable you’ve ever had ;) Some of these assignments include:
Spending a day observing all of the experience design in your own environment
Gathering “empathy data” from people you care about
Testing out a smorgasbord of brainstorming activities