One of the most thought-provoking sessions I attended at The Meetings Show focused on neuroinclusive event design, and if I’m honest, it completely reframed the way I think about attendee experience.
Going into the session, I expected a conversation primarily centred around accessibility and supporting neurodivergent attendees. Instead, what emerged was a much broader discussion about how we design events, who we design them for, and whether many of our long-standing assumptions about networking and engagement still hold true.
The biggest takeaway? Many of the changes that make events more neuroinclusive also make them better for everyone. As event professionals, we’re constantly looking for ways to improve engagement, increase attendee satisfaction and create experiences that people genuinely remember. Yet some of the research presented suggested we’re sometimes overlooking the simplest barriers standing in attendees’ way.
We Have a Networking Problem
Networking has long been one of the biggest selling points of live events. It’s often what attendees say they’re looking forward to, what clients want to deliver, and what organisers use as a key measure of success. Only, when the data was presented, it quickly became clear that networking isn’t working quite as well as we might think.
Research shows that on average, 81% of attendees dislike networking, more than 60% report feeling uncomfortable doing it, and 73% identified unstructured mingling as the networking format they dislike most.
For years, the industry default has often been to put people in a room with a coffee, a glass of wine and a name badge and assume meaningful connections will happen naturally. But if the majority of attendees (not just neurodiverse individuals!) are telling us they feel anxious, uncomfortable or overwhelmed in those situations, perhaps it’s not the attendees who need to change… it’s the format itself.
The Problem With Designing for the “Average Attendee”
A striking example from the session came from an unexpected source: the redesign of Air Force cockpits. Engineers originally designed cockpits around measurements taken from the “average” pilot, assuming that this would create the best possible experience for the greatest number of people. The problem was that when they analysed the data, they discovered that not a single pilot actually matched all of those average measurements at the same time.
In trying to design for everyone, they had accidentally designed for nobody, so they created the solution: the adjustable seat. In turn, that raises the question… are we designing flexibly? Are we creating room for empathy and understanding? So much of the industry still talks about the “average attendee”, but the reality is that every attendee arrives with a different communication style, confidence level, energy for the day, sensory preference and personal circumstances. Some people thrive in busy networking environments, while others prefer smaller group conversations. Some want lots of interaction, while others need time and space to process information before engaging. The more flexibility we build into events, the more people can participate in ways that feel comfortable and meaningful to them.
Some quick wins included:
- Guided Conversations – leaving conversation prompts and questions for delegates to really engage with the content and each other
- Networking Zones – using a physical mapping of the space to guide attendees to quiet spaces, or social spaces, ensuring they felt they could ‘find their tribe’ among a sea of peers
- Matchmaking – AI-powered matchmaking, curated seating, and structured introductions should be treated as design disciplines
Reducing Uncertainty Starts Long Before Registration
One of the recurring themes throughout the discussion was uncertainty. For neurodivergent attendees, uncertainty can create a significant barrier to participation, but when the examples were given, it became apparent that many of us experience those same concerns before attending an unfamiliar event.
Questions start forming long before arrival:
- What should I wear?
- How formal is the event?
- Where exactly do I need to go?
- What will networking look like?
- Will there be places to take a break?
- What happens when I arrive?
These might seem like small considerations, but collectively they can influence whether someone feels excited about attending or anxious about the experience. Thankfully, solutions are incredibly simple – you can start implementing these changes immediately!
Clear joining instructions, venue maps, photographs of the space, examples of dress codes, explanations of session formats and short videos showing the route from nearby transport hubs can all help reduce uncertainty before attendees even arrive. One comment from the session really stayed with me: neurodivergent attendees aren’t only neurodivergent once they enter the venue. They’re navigating the entire journey.
The attendee experience begins at home, continues through the journey to the venue, and extends far beyond the closing session. Thinking about accessibility and inclusion purely within the event space means we’re often missing a huge part of the attendee journey.
Plus, think about how relaxed you would feel if you knew:
- Exactly where to walk as soon as you got off the tube (and didn’t have to check your phone for directions)
- Had seen photos of the event entrance, cloakroom and toilets (so didn’t waste time wandering in the venue for the first 5 minutes of the day)
- And you knew there was a dedicated quiet zone where you could charge up for the day ahead (and didn’t feel you had to sneak off to find a quiet space).
All of these small changes help keep you engaged, paying attention, and clear-headed. The less questions, the better the experience is for everyone.
Personalisation Is Becoming an Expectation
Across many of the discussions at The Meetings Show, personalisation emerged as a recurring theme, and neuroinclusive design feels like one of the most practical ways of delivering it. We’re increasingly moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach to events and towards experiences that offer attendees greater choice and flexibility.
That might mean providing multiple ways to participate in discussions, offering reserved seating areas, creating quiet spaces away from busy networking zones, introducing colour-coded lanyards that indicate communication preferences, or allowing early arrival options for attendees who prefer time to familiarise themselves with a venue before crowds arrive. None of these ideas require huge budget, in fact, many of them cost little or nothing to implement. What they require is intentionality; they require organisers to recognise that attendees experience events differently and to create enough flexibility for those differences to be accommodated.
For a corporate conference, where the goal might be to inspire, educate, launch something new or bring a business together, every one of those details contributes to the overall story.
Production becomes part of the experience rather than something that sits behind it.
Designing Better Events for Everybody
What I loved most about this session was that it reframed neuroinclusion as an opportunity rather than an obligation. Whether the challenge is sensory overload, unclear expectations, poor wayfinding, networking anxiety or a lack of flexibility, these are barriers that affect far more attendees than we often realise. As the events industry continues to focus on engagement, experience design and attendee satisfaction, neuroinclusive thinking feels less like a niche consideration and more like a natural evolution of good event planning.
Because at the end of the day, successful events aren’t simply about getting people through the door, they’re about creating environments where people feel comfortable, confident and supported enough to fully participate once they’re there.
