The Experiential Edit, Vol. 1: John Gilson, Head of Experiential and Live Events at MC²
At MC², experiential and live events are about more than just production. They’re about creating meaningful human connection through moments people remember long after the event ends.
We sat down with John Gilson, Head of Experiential and Live Events at MC², to talk about career beginnings, creative processes, audience impact, and why experiential and live events continue to matter more than ever.
What is your role, and how would you describe it to someone outside the industry?
I’m the Head of Experiential & Live Events at MC². I oversee a super-talented team of individuals that plan and produce events of all kinds for some of the world’s biggest brands!
I joined MC² about two and a half years ago and built a core Experiential team to complement what was already in place here with our Consumer Events & Live Events divisions. We now all collaborate and sit under one umbrella known as the E+LE team (Experiential & Live Events).
What drew you to experiential work specifically?
I graduated with a degree in Marketing but wasn’t sure what I wanted to do within the industry. A friend asked if I wanted to be his Assistant Tour Manager on a summer sampling tour for Surge soda, a former Coca-Cola product. That experience went well and led to an opportunity to join the CBS College Tour with 11 other team members, building and activating an experiential village across 20 universities each semester.
The tour promoted CBS shows and their sponsors, and I was responsible for setting up and emceeing the David Letterman stage, where I would read Top 10 lists while students tried to guess the category. If they guessed correctly, they won a free can of Campbell’s Chunky Soup — making our tent a popular stop.
I stayed on for three tours in total and eventually took what I learned on the road and applied it on the agency side, managing mobile tours and experiential activations for the next 10 years.
Where do you usually find inspiration when developing experiential concepts?
Inspiration can come from anywhere, but the best experiential concepts are always rooted in a strong brief and a clear strategy. Once those foundations are in place, creativity tends to follow naturally.
A lot of inspiration also comes from the people we’re creating for. Seeing the reactions of clients and attendees when an experience truly resonates; when people are engaged, excited, and connecting in real time is often what inspires the next great idea.
What’s the most unusual ask you have received / pulled off for a client?
Probably building a replica West African chicken coop and art installation inside One World Trade Center for a corporate event, complete with live chickens sourced from a farm in Pennsylvania.
The experience was designed to change attendees’ perceptions of chickens by highlighting their role in helping families in developing countries rise above the poverty line. Through immersive storytelling and design, the event demonstrated how raising chickens can provide sustainable food, income, and long-term economic opportunity for communities around the world.
It was an ambitious project with a meaningful purpose and ultimately a huge success. The event helped drive donations of thousands of chickens to families in need all over the world.
What excites you most about the future of experiential marketing?
In a world that can often feel divided, or filled with people moving in different directions, experiential and live events create rare opportunities for genuine human connection. They bring people together in meaningful, shared moments that can be truly transformational.
Not everyone gets the chance to create experiences like that, which is why I feel incredibly fortunate to do this work and to be part of an industry that has the power to connect people in lasting ways.
For John and the E+LE team at MC², experiential and live events are more than a discipline. They are an opportunity to create real human connection through shared experiences that leave a lasting impact. Whether launching international mobile tours, designing immersive pop-ups, or creating unexpected installations that stop people in their tracks, the work is driven by creativity, strategy, and emotion. As the industry continues to evolve, one thing remains constant: the most meaningful experiences are the ones that make people feel something long after the moment itself has passed.
