The Friendship Metric in Hospitality

The Role of Guest to Guest (G2G) Engagement in Shaping Memorable Experiences

We’ve all heard of B2B and B2C. Well, I have a new acronym for the hospitality industry - G2G, or Guest to Guest value co-creation.

It came out of some reading I was doing on C2C or customer-to-customer value. Birthed by the sharing economy, C2C is created when people buy and sell from each other, typically facilitated by open platforms like Craigslist.com or Etsy.com.

It struck me how transferable this concept is to events because the value of an event whether it’s a large conference or a small transformational retreat is the energetic exchange or friendly connections people make with the other people who show up, facilitated by the event.

I thought I’d therefore tweak C2C and create a new abbreviation for all of us in hospitality called G2G for Guest to Guest value co-creation.

Here’s an example: Some of my favorite moments at the Alma Festival at Six Senses Ibiza this past November were the conversations I had with other guests: at meals, in between sessions, and even with the stranger sitting next to me during the moments before a speaker came on the main stage.

Like Burning Man, this is true of all festivals and gatherings where the community is what we’re signing up for because the exchanges between people are rich, open, and high-value. When Sophia Amoruso used to host her Girl Boss events in NYC, her marketing pitch was, “Meet Your Next Co-Founder Here”. The High-Quality Others (here’s another new acronym: HQO) is what she was selling.

G2G also underlies the very slow-growing but wonderful trend of un-conferences, which are participant-driven events where the format emphasizes the exchange of information and ideas among participants as opposed to a formally structured schedule with talking heads at the front of the room.

At a Mindful Leader event I attended a couple of years ago, we - all the participants - broke up into small groups and set the agenda for the afternoon. Not only did I get to really know other participants as we sat around a table hashing out important themes to discuss. I also felt connected to the event and event organizer more deeply as I was part of the process.

As an event designer, giving up this much control to the group can be frightening as G2G can lead to not only value creation but also value destruction if things don’t go well. This may explain why it doesn’t happen more often. From all my experiences with it, though, I’ve learned that a well-facilitated un-conference works beautifully and you can trust your participants to be thoughtful and care just as much as you do about creating a meaningful experience.

Considering all this, G2G value co-creation is important for festival and event organizers to design into their schedules, along with that amazing menu and curating your transformational speakers.

So first, let’s define G2G value co-creation. It’s when each person’s needs and wants in an experience are met or exceeded, which can increase the quality of interactions and experiences. An important element is role clarity - the guest needs to understand the social norms at an event to know what’s expected and acceptable. This makes it easier to understand the rules of engagement. When there is confusion, the overall experience evaluation can go down.

For those of us in highly experiential hospitality (another one, HEH?), how can you leverage G2G to intentionally create opportunities to build relationships among guests and help guests connect with each other?

Retreats and personal growth workshops are the ultimate in friendship-forming experiences with their immersive format. Pioneered by retreat centers like Esalen, The Omega Institute, and the Kripalu Center, retreats are designed to create bonds among participants through daily practices of self-discovery, self-disclosure, and group meals.

But you don’t have to go all in with retreats to create moments of meaningful connection at your event or resort. Experiential group activities and classes are a great start. At Canyon Ranch, a brand that has many solo travelers, friendships blossom in classes and then extend to meals and many of these new friends return every year together for their Ranch trip with their Ranch friends.

Instead of just a straight yoga class or an expert in front of the room giving a presentation, make sure the teacher adds a short sharing circle at the end where participants can share one word to describe how they feel at the end of the class. This way, people can learn a little bit about the others in the room. This can prompt conversations outside of class.

Festivals are another great way to build community by bringing a large group of like-minded guests together. Scheduling in networking or socializing sessions is key. You can take it one step further by adding some partner work where guests are asked to break up into pairs and take a moment to share what they’re learning at the event with each other. By providing clear directions, people understand what’s expected of them which creates safety. Also, this ensures that guests are connecting in a deeper way with each other.

This type of G2G value co-creation is essential and if you do it well, you’ll see the result in the positive experience evaluations you’ll receive at the end of your event.

As event organizers, we spend months and months working on having the right speakers for our events. However, what writer, Maya Angelou, says about relationships is also true about events. She wrote, “…people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

For events too, the memories are equally somatic and emotional. I may not remember anything I learned but I will always remember the people I met and if it’s a good event, the warm glow that comes up as I think back on it.

For me, I want my guests to leave feeling inspired and elevated at the end of an event but I also want them to have connected deeply and authentically with themselves and with each other. So as you’re planning your event or retreat, make sure to design some moments that facilitate G2G connections. This way, at the end of your event, when your guests are checking out, they’re full of those good vibes and stretching out their goodbyes with hugs with all the new friends they’ve made.

The nice secondary benefit is that these positive sentiments will translate into higher evaluations, which means they’ll be more likely to share about your event when they get home but most importantly, you’ve done what we all set out to do in transformational travel: create memorable experiences that transform peoples lives.

So my question to you: how many friends do your guests make when they are at your resort or event? What can you do to grow that number?