Get the Scoop on Creating Unique Experiences
Thursday, July 18, 2019
ILEA Live 2019 has a sweet treat for attendees — an interview session with Maria Moyano, senior experiential producer at the Museum of Ice Cream. If you’re attending ILEA Live, 8–10 August in Minneapolis, we know you’re hungry for the inside scoop about everything that’s planned for this year’s conference. Experience had the chance to talk with Maria to hear all about her session, “Get the SCOOP: An Interview With Maria Moyano of the Museum of Ice Cream.” Look forward to diving into the joy of ice cream and the belief that with imagination, anything is possible at ILEA Live.
ILEA Experience: Let’s hear the “scoop” on your ILEA Live session. It’s a Q&A. What do you expect to hear from attendees, and what would you like to share with them?
Maria Moyano (MM): Hopefully a lot of questions about ice cream — it’s my favorite topic! I would love to share key items we have found to create the most impact in our experience. From the power behind ice cream to the sciences that drive the design of our installations.
ILEA Experience: The Museum of Ice Cream was founded under the premise that ice cream is a universal symbol of joy. How do you follow that philosophy when creating experiences for museum visitors?
MM: Joy is the key word! We invite our visitors to leave the outside world and all the worries they carry at the door. Inside our spaces, we curate experiences that ignite imagination and connection with loved ones and our community.
ILEA Experience: In a recent discussion with ILEA, you mentioned that you built your team from four to 20 people in a year. What strategies did you use to do that, and how has your team evolved?
MM: It hasn’t been easy, being that we are part of a new industry, and there are not many people who have done this type of work before. However, we look for individuals who have a passion for people. We mostly have done it through recommendations from our internal team, and now we actually have teams! Prior to this, we all wore every hat, whereas now we can distribute the work and let each team member shine in their strength.
ILEA Experience: ILEA Live 2019 is all about cultivating creativity. How do you cultivate creativity for your team, for the Museum of Ice Cream and for its visitors?
MM: At Museum of Ice Cream, creativity is at the root of it all. We believe in the power of imagination and that anything is possible. We push this strongly in the initial concept stages. We start with the craziest idea first — nothing is off the table. Then we take the idea and bring it all the way to the logistics. Doing this really pushes our team to explore all of our possibilities.
Then, this is easily transmitted into our museum where we encourage our visitors to engage with our spaces and create their own worlds.
ILEA Experience: What do you hope ILEA Live attendees take away from your session?
MM: I hope they leave with a few key points they can put into application for their future events. From how to bring an idea from concept phase to execution, to easy wins that can have a dramatic impact on their guests.
There’s still time to cultivate creativity with ILEA in Minneapolis! Register for ILEA Live, and prepare to be inspired to create experiences that encourage your audiences to leave their troubles at the door. Don’t forget to come prepared to talk about all things ice cream, too.
Maria Moyano is the senior experiential producer for the Museum of Ice Cream, taking high-level concepts from ideas to reality. She acquired her Masters of Architecture from Florida International University where she focused on how architecture can ignite human interaction. She started with the Museum of Ice Cream in 2017 during the design phase of the Miami museum. She currently resides in New York City, where she continues to bring dreams to life with the rest of TEAM MOIC. Her favorite ice cream flavor is mint.
Tags: event planning , entertainment , ILEA Live , creativity , ILEA Live 2019 , experiences , imagination