Great. We're gonna go ahead and get started. Thank you all for joining us. We're here to talk about DEI today, but most specifically about inclusivity, and embracing neurodiversity.We'll get a little more into that and talk about our science behind it and our research and work in this arena. So the most important thing to think about is that neurodiversity is natural. The neurological variations are natural forms of human diversity, and that can include autism, ADHD, dyspraxia, and dyslexia. Those are just some of the more common variations. About fifteen to twenty percent of The US identifies as neurodivergent. And it's not as rare as you think. You can see diverse diversity all around us in in a lot of different formats.

Many of them, much more recently come to the forefront, you know, with Simone Biles and a lot of, incredible people in our world that are pushing the envelope in their respective areas of, of experience and expertise, if you think about it, a lot of that genius and that achievement, right, comes as a balance with, the other parts of our brains and our beings.

Inclusivity, really involves constant communication. In our event production and, in our pre work in designing all of our event experiences, we really wanna make sure that we're delivering clear communication across the board that it starts before the event, during the event, and after. This intentionality and this mindfulness can help reduce anxiety and really supports preparation. The things that we do include outlining schedules, early bird's eye views of the schedules and the timelines, the expectations, the layouts of the venues and the areas where your event is going to be so that people can set their expectations about how they're gonna move through the space and what components of the program they're going to participate in, as well as the available accommodations that we're providing as event producers and as hosts.

And being able to communicate all of that so everyone understands what's what lies ahead of them for an event is paramount. This can come over in multiple formats. That can include, email pre event emails and chat, like live support, as well as when people arrive receiving printed guides with the latest information and sort of in hand, information so that they have that at their fingertips at all times and not just sort of, like, beyond an in the email login or a event app login.

We really wanna give people access to the information and what's available to them at every turn. In addition to that, offering discreet options for the individuals to participate in these things, helps for them to have ease and comfort level when, when, joining those options. One of the other things that we like to do is really think about the layout of the space. You know, events are not just about the biggest, loudest, baddest, show that you can put on. A lot of times, you know, you wanna create different sensory spaces because the large crowds and the overwhelming visual and audio effects can be overstimulating for neurodivergent individuals. So consider those who are who are sensitive to light and to noise and also to crowds.

One of the things you can do in this image you see here is a reference that we produced for Adobe Summit, is a quieter space, you know, that has a a different vibe and a different, level of, human density. Right? So that you can people can watch the program, even the keynotes and the large sessions or breakout sessions, over livestream. And this is much more accessible to people today than it was a few years ago just because of technology. Right? Having Wi Fi robust Wi Fi in these spaces and the fact that through pandemic, you know, we integrated hybrid and virtual programming like what we're doing here today. And having that live stream going out to the web is an automatic way for people, an instant way for people who even who are on-site or who are elsewhere to be able to watch the content in a different environment. So they could settle into one of the booths here as an example and be able to log in and watch the programming and participate in the program, but in a way that meets what their needs are.

Another thing that we can offer in these spaces, beyond folks using their own technology that they are familiar with, their own iPads, their own computers, and their own headphones, you can also provide, you know, silent disco headphones or broadcast or additional noise canceling canceling headphones in addition to the overall setting that is, is calming and a just a different vibe and spirit.

All these different participation options give neurodiverse folks access to your programming. So being flexible and having different types of options recognizes that everyone engages differently. Providing these options for virtual attendance, or live streaming sessions really opens up worlds, right, for these people. Some of the things that you can consider are offering closed captioning. You know, sometimes it's really great for people to be able to download the PDF or the presentations themselves. They can have that information visible and readable, like, at their own pace on the side of, say, the keynote presenter that's also, presenting that information. And, you can also offer things like closed captioning. I know that I myself, sometimes when I see the, the the speaking, you know, the the closed captioning on the bottom helps to reify and reaffirm what I'm hearing, right, and also allows me to intake that information in multiple modalities.

It also can help us move through not being able to hear them very well or if English or that that particular language isn't one's first language. You know, if people are presenting very speaking very quickly or, you know, have a hard to hear voice, soft talker, something like that, it, it allows you to intake the information and what they're saying in in multiple modes. This also goes for, ASL or AI generated, subtitles. They can also provide access in foreign language subtitles. All of these things are much more accessible today via AI. It's not perfect, but it certainly allows a more financially accessible way for us to offer these, options of programming to our attendees. Embracing these individual needs allows people to control their interaction levels without worrying about or being afraid of being judged or being excluded or, like, falling into a particular bucket of having a lot of special needs. You know? Instead, we really meet them where they are and are able to deliver the content in a way that's most comfortable for them and successful for them.

Some of the things that we find, you know, we're we're, at Trademark, we work very closely with a lot of top tier technology companies, disruptor companies, folks that are programming. You know, they're in the software business. And I think one of the tones that you'll see with, some of those clients is that they like to iterate really, really quickly. You know, they have they wanna make changes. They want everything to be, to conform to the changes that they want to make. And sometimes the, the the danger of that is they wanna make changes a lot. Right? And even last minute. It's not just the, long tail effect of everything that you're printing and doing hard prints of, like programs or signage, you know, expensive components, like big agenda signs, etcetera.

You know, making last minute changes to that has a big financial impact, And it also is destabilizing to attendees, you know, to make changes to where things are happening, when they're happening. That's destabilizing to those attendees. And, honestly, it comes across as disorganized. So we really encourage and hold strong to the line of planning and being real very mindful of the agenda, plotting it, with the right amount of flexibility so that we can hold strong to or firm to the locations, the timings, and all the plans that we've made, especially at a venue where there are a lot of different sessions, different tracks, etcetera.

Allowing and providing clearly displayed visual schedules throughout the venue, are are very, helpful to everyone and then also can be act as a reminder and additional modalities for people to receive the information. And then also within the within the calendar, within the schedule, providing a lot of detail about breaks, session lengths, and transition points allows individuals to plan their day and to be able to anticipate where they're gonna be needed and what they're gonna be doing. So this type of predictability and structure supports the comfort and the confidence of all of your attendees. Thoughtful communication techniques include making content approachable and accessible. We like to adopt very clear and straightforward language, avoiding jargon and a lot of acronyms. And in addition, this would include the visual supports, like captioning, as I'd mentioned, sign language interpretation whenever it's possible. We also work very closely with all of our storytellers and our presenters, and we encourage them to streamline their presentations, to optimize for smooth transitions that focus on the content and that are not distracting.

In addition to that, managing noise, sound effects, distractions, gimmicky approaches, or, like, bells and whistles as it were, really allow your, audience to focus on what your message is. High impact can be big and loud, or it can be subtle and incredibly effective. I'm gonna, bring on a video that I'm gonna talk about speak to a little bit. This is an activation that we did at Unreal Fest last year in Seattle for Epic Games. There were 2,500 attendees. And in the, expo area, we collaborated with one of their big sponsors, Weta Studios, to create an octopus augmented reality aquarium. They stepped into this box, into this room, and, they would stand in front of it. The octopus would sense that they were there.

It would he would swim in front of you, and they would mimic, like, the chameleons that they are, and they're incredibly brilliant. Right? They would mimic the patterns and the, the colors of the attendees' shirts that were standing in front of them. Here you can see the octopus, you know, well, actually, just in this next shot, you'll see the the octopus mimicking the bright colors of, this person's shirts right there. And we think that it was a really clever and very, very memorable, highly successful activation where people had a very intimate experience, with the octopus and this aquarium that really celebrated their creativity and, individuality of, the attendees in this gaming audience.

So it was a really great success. People were be able able to enjoy it sort of in a quiet way, right, but also have that collective. You can see how many people approximately moving through there at any given time. It was, it was a very memorable thing that had a quiet confidence about it. Other ways to celebrate neurodiversity and to, appeal to a larger, broader audience is to think about including neurodiverse speakers or facilitators, on your stages. You know, this automatically champions inclusion by featuring these neurodivergent voices, as keynote speakers or session leaders. They can speak from their firsthand experience about the challenges and, and victories that they've had, in addition to the things that we know from seeing them as, public facing individuals in in our sphere. They really can talk from a firsthand basis about the things that were challenging to them, and I think that's very relatable. Right?

I've we beyond, being able to relate to BIPOC, you know, or female people of color on your stage, we really are looking at the success of having neurodivergent heroes on the stage. This brings a lot of understanding and empathy to another segment of your audience that you may not have expected or identified as such. And then, ultimately, it's key to recognize that the experience is always evolving. The thing some of the things that are really important for us is to continually gather specific feedback, right, about inclusivity and accessibility after our events. I would say that today, versus, like, fifteen years ago or ten years ago, you never would expect an event to to be shaped the way that they are and these experiences to be as accessible or mindful as they are. And that's always changing. Right? Our audiences are changing. Our audiences aren't the same when they are our age or when they're, one generation younger.

And so it's really important to continually bring in that feedback and be honest and, introspective about the success of the events so that we can continue to evolve them and, expand on where we are, creating a dialogue that fosters trust, engagement, and continual improvement.

And, that's you know, I think it's really honoring different kinds of, attendees that we have, and it makes for the diversity to be, even more successful as, we are managing and designing our events to be enjoyed and understandable by all audiences. So I was meant to do this presentation and then allow for a little bit of q and a. I don't know if we have some some questions that we can start off with or if anybody wants to, post some questions into chat, I'd be happy to address those or try to answer any way thing that I can. Come on. Somebody's gotta have a question. One of the things that I'll just chat about I'm gonna go back to our, octopus example here. Maybe it will play. Uh-oh. Here we go. As it loops, I'll just chat through this a little bit. You know, bringing bringing a experience like this into fruition involves a lot of different stakeholders and a lot of relationships that you have to navigate.

This is a very important partner for, Epic Games and Weta Studios. And, you know, we were really looking to deliver this at the level and the requirement that they had asked for. And at the same time, being never letting go of the hand of our attendee base and knowing the types of attendees that we have coming, being able to celebrate people's creativity and their diversity. You know, there a lot of gamers are, run like they, they march to a different drum. Right? The beat of a different drum. And, I think that this type of an experience really recognizes individuality, and it celebrates individuality. So knowing that that was a a really great way to lean into this partnership and this opportunity made Trademark work extra hard at being able to make this happen.

You know, the feasibility, the installation, the scope of this project, both technically and creatively, as well as for logistics, was fairly complex. We had another partner that delivered, that provided this video screen that was super high resolution. And on the design side, we were really looking for it to mimic the feeling of an aquarium. Right? So when you walk in, you don't want it to be revealed that it's not aquarium. You want it to feel like you're at an aquarium, and that adds to the realism of it and the magical nature of it as well as the intimate experience that people had. You know, they walked in, they waited in line, there was a sense of anticipation and a teaser because of the artwork on the outside was that octopus as part of the logo.

There was this teaser about what octopus as part of the logo. There was this teaser about what was gonna happen when you went in there, and they really didn't know that it that what it was going to be. So there was a lot of surprise and delight involved. I can see a question from Yahaira in, in the chat. So she's asking, how do you help your clients understand that they should be thinking about appealing to neurodiverse audiences? So this is a really interesting question, and thank you for asking it. We've actually been addressing this, and we've had requests from some of our tech giant come clients, asking for, to accommodate spaces and to keep this in mind for their events.

So they don't just want the the same old, you know, like, a conference party to be loud and flashy and some name brand, name brand band or some, a headliner band, but they're really looking for very clever technology forward interactions. The Octopus is a very good example of something that was perfect for that client. So, it's it goes both ways. You know, we bring this up when we're talking to clients to consider who their audience is, and we've been doing it for decades. One of the first events that we did this for was, did something like this for was VMware, and that was their first user conference in, 02/2004. And we actually, designed a different type of, interaction and activity at their conference party, kind of bucking the trend of the bigger and badder bands, you know, and having just these big headliners that were very, very expensive for, an audience for that particular tech conference that was 85% male.

And we thought, oh, they don't just wanna stand there and listen to this band. It's just not what people wanna do necessarily. Sector of your audience wants to do that. And so we designed something that was much more interactive, and we proposed battle bots and bringing battling robots, which is a subject matter noise, and an engagement that is a completely different vibe, right, and a completely different energy than, like, watching a band with a bunch of other people.

Right? So, we've been experiencing this, for decades. Right? Peep our clients asking for or us us recognizing the need, for, alternative types of engagements, alternative types of of, entertainment, excuse me, and to sell that to our clients, right, and let them know this is what people need. Right? Don't just follow the trends, right, but really think about who your audiences are, what they're interested in, and how you can meet them with those interests. Another question from Jamie is, how can neurotypical allies in a workplace setting better support their neurodivergent peers? So I think this is a really great question, and, I would say, you know, using this example that we have on the screen of neurodiverse heroes and being able to bring these issues to light. Right? And that it's very, very typical. Right?

Instead of feeling like they're in a corner or they're, you know, they're an exception to the rule, instead recognizing, what people's needs are and voicing those within the marketing department and talking about and recognizing who your audience is for whatever event that you may have, allows people to value that and respect that.

And then also having some of these tools as we've mentioned here, and we'll make this this, record the recording of the session will be available including the slides, you know, to be able to think about what those tools are, how how accessible and attainable a lot of those are, when you're starting the planning from the get go.

Right? So keeping in mind this audience from day one as we design the agenda, as we plot the layout of an event, where everybody's gonna be flowing, and what all those priorities are. Right? It's not just a big loud stage. Right? But there's a lot of different types of programming, and there are a lot of different ways that you can make that happen so that you can be a champion for all of your attendees. I'm gonna move back and just see if anybody else has any questions. One example too I have here, I was talking about clients making, changes and, like, expecting really fast turnaround and and sort of not having space, right, for for us to wanna hold firm to the plans that we've been publishing and printing in in all of the the weeks and months leading up to an event.

This is really where we are called upon as experts in our fields, right, in our industries. They have hired us because we're professionals. Right? So we really need to speak strongly and and defend, where we are with the information so that we're not kind of or radically changing things, right, in with in an unexpected way in the days leading up. And I'm, as I mentioned, that kind of those kinds of changes to your schedule, space, etcetera, not only is it destabilizing to attendees, but I would say it it comes across as very disorganized, and it seems like you don't know what you're doing. So, you know, we press our clients and these hosts to really make decisions, think them through, right, and then be able to hold to them because that comes across as the most organized, thoughtful, and intentional programming that you can have that's accessible for all of your attendees.

I think we're almost out of time, but if I can take one more question if anybody has a question. You know, one of the things I was hoping to have a photo here of it, but I I we opted for this one because I think it really demonstrates the kind of space that we're looking at. But, for some of our, you know, tier one tech clients, you know, they've been looking for us to design these experiences that are, about a a different pace of musical experience, like, hi fi listening sessions or rooms that have audio experiences. And it's interesting because we can build and carve out spaces like this that can be quiet spaces or at a different time on the agenda, they can be a different type of sensory experience. And then at yet another time of the of the day, as this is an example for Adobe, we had attendees coming here just to work and to have a little bit of breathing time, right, and be able to have meetings or sales meetings. So there are a lot of ways that this type of space can offer double duty, for your attendees and, even different attendee sectors, which makes it accessible and possible for you to sell these ideas of the cost that it is to implement a space like this, but the usage of it.

Right? And a lot of times, it's easier to sell that, concept to the clients that we need to have a quieter space if it also serves as a sales meeting space in these little, cubbies and that there could be certain times where we're scheduling sales meetings in those areas that could be revenue generating.

So being able to meet a lot of different stakeholders, requests and and needs for any event, can help us have success for all different kinds of audiences and to be able to be as accessible as we can, especially to our neurodivergent audiences. I wanna thank you all for joining me today, and, I encourage you all to get in touch with us in the future. Again, I am Elle Chan. I'm a cofounder and CEO of Trademark. Our website is we are