01 — Live Event Experience Design

Executive
Insights

I collaborated with the keynote speakers and led the content design for the Executive Insights session, an exclusive invite-only event for senior technology leaders attending Appian World.

02 — Role

Content Designer & Executive Partner

Owned full-session slide design, collaborated one-on-one with the customer keynote speaker (CTO, Tricon Residential), designed a themed promotional postcard, and authored the post-event recap for sales-followups.

03 — Impact

Record Turnout

Customer attendance grew from 21 to 76 executive customers — a 262% increase from the previous year. Customer satisfaction also showed a meaningful increase, with 89% of attendees rating the session as "Excellent." It was separately recognized as the best Executive Insights session to date.

Executive Insights promotional postcard, front — Appian World 'Be part of the process' branding adapted for the Executive Insights track
Promotional postcard (front) — Designed with an Appian founder and adapted from the "Be part of the process" branding, the card was left with every attendee as a tangible takeaway reinforcing the session's key messages.
Executive Insights promotional postcard, back — affixed with a real postage stamp customers could mail back to request an HQ visit with an Appian founder
Promotional postcard (back) — Affixed with a real postage stamp, the card doubled as a reply device: attendees could hand it back or mail it themselves to signal interest in an HQ visit with an Appian founder.
04 — Context

The Challenge

Executive Insights was still a relatively new session for a key executive audience, but it had built enough momentum that two of Appian's founders now wanted to be involved — raising the bar for what the session needed to be. My part to play was to help the team meet that elevated expectation across all content for the event, which also included working closely with the customer keynote speaker. I needed to ensure their story was told in a way that would resonate with the audience, while remaining true to their own experience and mission.

05 — Strategy

The Approach

I wanted to anchor the visual identity of the session in the Colorado landscape where the event was being held, creating a sense of place for the audience, and leaving them with unique touchpoints that would distinguish this session from others they would be attending that week. I applied this aesthetic direction across the event slides, building a visual system that contrasted photographic mountain imagery with the sharp, geometric line work of that year's Appian World branding.

As a special touch, I also worked with one of the company founders to design a postcard that would be left with customers at the end of the session, providing a tangible takeaway that reinforced the session's key messages and served as a lasting memento of the event. The postcard was also adorned with a real postage stamp that customers could either leave with us or mail themselves to signal that they were interested in setting up an HQ visit with one of our founders.

06 — Output

Deliverables

Full-session slideware across six segments, the Tricon "TriApps" customer spotlight built with their CTO, a founder-designed promotional postcard, and a field sales recap. Praised by an Appian founder and the Tricon CTO as the best Executive Insights session to date.

Recognition

What People Said

“Joel's support on the Appian World Executive Insights session was a great help. He designed slideware, collaborated directly with our executive customer speaker, who praised his adaptability, added a postcard, and produced a write-up of key takeaways for the field. I hope to see his future involvement in executive insights initiatives.”
Marc Wilson — Founder & Chief Executive Ambassador, Appian
“You are definitely very talented and fast! I so appreciate your support in making the discussion that much more effective.”
Reshma Block — Chief Technology Officer, Tricon Residential
“Joel didn't have to step up to support this work, but he went above and beyond — contributing to what customers, management, and stakeholders agreed was the best Executive Insights session ever.”
Jonathan Green — Customer Marketing Global Lead, Appian