The View From The Top — A Day at the IEN Summit ‘24

This October saw what may indeed be THE social event of the season in the UK/EU industry: the annual IEN Summit which brings hundreds of immersive makers, producers, investors, marketers, and participants together under one roof to spend a day discussing the topic near and dear to our hearts: how do we make and maintain the best version of an experience?

Welcoming visitors from all over the globe, this year’s one-day summit boasted a wide array of panels for all walks and interests. I managed to sit in on a spectrum including topics like the curation of 24-hour-long productions, insight into LARP participation format, structure of horror experiences, and how to design in-world food & drink, all from some of the biggest names in the game. Presentations were detailed enough to teach industry veterans a more nuanced vocabulary with which to examine & design productions (“alibi vs. agency” being my favorite takeaway concept from Avalon Larp’s panel) while still being accessible from a layman’s perspective for the developing enthusiast, such as best practice for food/drinks service timings during narrative vs. open-world shows.

In between sessions, I browsed the ERIC Games & partner hall (a cross between a mini trade show and artists’ alley) where I had the opportunity to visit company reps at their stalls at my own convenience and see firsthand the emerging trends and technical tools within our realm. And I didn’t even manage to visit a quarter of what was on offer simply because of how packed the lineup was with solid options.

While panels could easily have occupied an enthusiastic maker/learner all day, I only made it to four of them because I was taking full advantage of what I personally considered to be the most valuable aspect of the event: the time in between which I simply spent networking getting to chat with folks from all corners of the industry and from all over the world, from the emerging to the established to the wide-reaching international, about our mutual passion subject (without ever even once having to explain “what immersive theater is”, which is a treat on its own).

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At times it felt like everyone I had ever met or wanted to meet was there: a real Who’s Who of the UK/EU immersive market with most folks eager to chat one-on-one, unfailingly generous with their time and attention. For an event with about 750 attendees on-site across 7 spaces it felt surprisingly intimate, no doubt due to how the venue (Woolwich Works) is laid out and encourages physical mixing & crossover between sessions. And then of course there were drinks afterwards, for folks to linger into the night exchanging notes and catching someone passing by to go “Oh, you simply must meet…” On such happy accidents, great partnerships might be formed.

Personally, I could have easily spent two or more happy days if the Summit series eventually evolves into a conference, and given how the attendee numbers are expanding annually (Woolwich Works can welcome up to around 1600 so there’s plenty of room) that might not be too far in the future, particularly if the planners consider adding panels targeted on immersive acting practice: a trending subject unto itself, one particularly near and dear to my heart and woefully under-supported in the local drama schools/classes. In general, the IEN Summit feels like a centering exercise for the regional industry: the place to go to get the current lay of the land and an accurate cross-section of the market expectation (VR/AR, in-person, box games/puzzles, escape rooms, in-person experiences) — and therefore the Summit serves as the annual baseline update from which new projects may seek to expand and develop upon, and a re-energizing experience for the burnt-out or overexposed professional who might be seeking invigoration.

An absolutely worthwhile investment of time & funds for serious and/or exploratory folks in the industry, the IEN Summit series is something I absolutely plan to be at: the next one and the one after that, for as long as they run.

Hope to meet you there!

Please note that Shelley Snyder is currently appearing in Bridge Command, produced by Parabolic Theatre which is a partner company of the Immersive Experience Company.

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