Three Reasons to Arrive Early: Pre-Conference Opportunities at the SEGD 2026 Conference Experience Kansas City

August 5, 2026

Cybelle Jones

Whether you are a registered conference attendee or joining us just for the day, these pre-conference offerings are open to all. Join us Wednesday, October 21 for one of three pre-conference experiences.

The SEGD 2026 Conference Experience in Kansas City officially kicks off Thursday, October 22, but arriving a day early unlocks three exceptional opportunities designed to deepen your practice, expand your perspective, and invite you to tour a newly expanded museum facility that you might otherwise never have the chance to visit.

Whether you are a registered conference attendee or joining us just for the day, these pre-conference offerings are open to all. Each requires separate registration, and space is limited, so read on and sign up early.

Bootcamp: Wayfinding, Planning, and Design

Wednesday, October 21  |  Check-in 12:30 PM  |  1:00 PM – 5:00 PM CT

Building on the success of SEGD’s inaugural Bootcamp series launched earlier this year at ISA Sign Expo, we are proud to bring a new certificate-of-completion-based intensive to Kansas City, this time focused on one of the most foundational disciplines in our field: wayfinding.

This four-hour, hands-on workshop offers a sequential, user-centered framework for understanding how people navigate complex environments and how designers can respond with clear, effective wayfinding systems. Each segment builds on the previous one, moving participants from research through strategy, design systems, and typographic communication with hands-on exercises woven throughout.

What Participants Will Learn

Part 1: Ethnographic Research — Using observation, interviews, and journey mapping to understand how people actually experience and navigate a place, revealing behavioral patterns, accessibility needs, and gaps between intended and real-world conditions.

Part 2: Strategy — Translating research into actionable wayfinding strategy, including sign-location planning principles, decision point identification, information hierarchies, and coordination with the built environment.

Part 3: Design Systems — Developing clear, scalable wayfinding systems that balance creative vision with operational clarity, ensuring solutions are both impactful and practical to implement at scale.

Part 4: Typography and Communication — Creating legible, accessible, and intuitive typographic systems that help people in motion interpret information quickly and navigate with confidence.

Each segment is led by a Populous specialist, bringing deep, focused expertise:

• Jonathan Mugmon, Principal and Wayfinding Director— author of The Science of Wayfinding, forthcoming from Routledge in 2026
• Ashley Wysong, Senior Wayfinding Planner — specializing in complex signage and wayfinding systems rooted in user needs and the built environment
• Ezz Osman, Senior Wayfinding Designer — focused on visual systems, strategic storytelling, and user experience across major venues and public environments
• Pan Hu, Senior Wayfinding Designer — specializing in typography and information systems for stadiums, campuses, hospitals, airports, and transit networks

Participants who complete the full session will receive a Certificate of Completion from SEGD. SEGD membership is not required to attend.

Bootcamp: Technology Is Not the Experience – Designing for Impact, Engagement, and Meaning

Wednesday, October 21  |  Check-in 12:30 PM  |  1:00 PM – 5:00 PM CT

As immersive technologies become increasingly central to experiential design, one question grows more urgent: when does technology serve the experience and when does it become the experience? This workshop gives designers a practical, audience-centered framework for answering that question with intention and confidence.

Structured as a combination of lecture, case study analysis, and collaborative hands-on exercises, the session moves from historical context to real-world application, equipping participants to make smarter, more grounded decisions about technology’s role in the work they design.

What Participants Will Learn

• Develop a shared vocabulary for discussing immersive experiences, technology, storytelling, and audience engagement
• Understand the historical evolution of immersive exhibit design and its influence on contemporary brand and public experiences
• Examine the behavioral principles behind what makes experiences memorable
• Apply audience-centered design principles when selecting technologies, media, and interpretive approaches
• Understand how to evaluate the impact and ramifications of technology during Concept Design/ Schematic Design process
• Evaluate technology as one component of a broader experiential strategy, not an end in itself
• Use a practical decision-making framework based on client goals, budget, audience, timeline, and permanence

Workshop Structure

Part 1: Foundations and Historical Context — A facilitated presentation tracing the evolution of immersive design from early interpretive environments to today’s technology-enabled experiences, with case studies from museums, cultural institutions, and branded environments.

Part 2: Interactive Design Workshop — Participants develop a Discovery Workshop deck for a real design brief, then break into groups to pitch solutions and present outcomes for collective critique.

Part 3: Real-World Case Studies and Summary — Facilitators share how similar projects have been realized, using attendance and audience response metrics to evaluate effectiveness.

Facilitated by:

• Sarah van Haastert, Global Director of Strategic Partnerships, AVI-SPL XTG — connecting creative, technical, and strategic partners to deliver innovative, human-centered experiential environments worldwide
• Nathan Lachenmyer, Co-Founder & Technology Lead, Sitara Systems — helping institutions make informed technology decisions during planning that shape how systems are built, operated, and maintained over their lifetime
• Cheryl Catterall, Curated Technologies Strategy Lead, HKS, Inc. — 30 years at the crossroads of architecture, performance design, and digital media, blending analog and digital worlds to create experiences that transcend the expected
• Joe Whitesides, Director of Experience Technology, AVI-SPL XTG — leading experiential, immersive, and mission-critical design and engineering solutions that transform complex technology systems into impactful, human-centered experiences

Participants who complete the full session will receive a Certificate of Completion from SEGD. SEGD membership is not required to attend.

Bootcamp Pricing & Registration

Note: Bootcamps are concurrent, so only one can be selected to attend.

• $75 — 2026 SEGD Conference Registered Participants Only
• $150 — SEGD Members
• $200 — Non-Members

Pre-Conference Tour: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Wednesday, October 21  |  Departure 7:30 AM CT  |  Returns in time for Conference Opening Party

For those who want to begin the conference experience with something truly extraordinary, we are organizing an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of one of America’s most celebrated cultural institutions: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.

The tour departs Kansas City at 7:30 AM for the three-hour drive south to Bentonville, and returns in time for the SEGD Conference opening party Wednesday evening.

Space is limited. We are currently taking names as we finalize costs — add your name to the interest list today.

What the Day Includes

• A tour of Crystal Bridges with an orientation led by staff who designed and implemented the museum’s stunning 114,000-square-foot expansion by Safdie Architects, which opened in June 2026
• Lunch at the museum overlooking beautiful Ozark landscape and gardens
• The special exhibition Keith Haring in 3D — the first exhibition to highlight the iconic artist’s work in three dimensions, featuring sculptures, paintings, video, performance, murals and more
•  A tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright house, preserved and relocated to the museum grounds
• A visit to the Momentary, Crystal Bridges’ sister museum in downtown Bentonville, featuring current exhibitions by Lucy Sparrow and Chuck Ramirez

Crystal Bridges is a singular destination — a museum where architecture, nature, and American art converge across a 134-acre campus. Since opening in 2011, it has welcomed more than 15 million visitors. The 2026 expansion adds new contemporary galleries, a dedicated creative learning hub, artist-in-residence studios, and a new Contemporary American Art Gallery featuring works by Yayoi Kusama and Teresita Fernández.

For experiential designers, fabricators, and anyone who works at the intersection of environment and story, this is a rare opportunity to see exceptional exhibition, environmental graphics, architecture, and curation at work and to hear directly from the people who brought it to life.

Pre-Conference Registration and Details

All three pre-conference offerings take place on Wednesday, October 21, 2026 and are open to both SEGD Conference registrants and non-conference participants.

• Bootcamps run from 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM CT (check-in at 12:30 PM). Each Bootcamp requires separate registration.
• Crystal Bridges Tour departs at 7:30 AM CT. Costs are being finalized — add your name to the interest list today to reserve your spot.

Space is limited for all three offerings. We look forward to seeing you in Kansas City — and in Bentonville.