Tuesday
May 19
Day One
1:00-4:00 PM
Alchemy of Experience Registration Lounge
Events Lawn
Once you arrive to Bishop’s Lodge, meet us on the Event Lawn to both check in to your room and the event. Pick up your name badge and welcome bag and enjoy some interactive crafts and light refreshments in the lounge.
5:30-9:00 pm
A Taste of Santa Fe: Welcome Session & Opening Soiree
Events Lawn
Join us for cocktails, our opening session, and an exciting dinner party that will bring you the best that Santa Fe has to offer.
6:30-7:15 pm
From Alchemy to Legacy: Crafting Human Experiences That Last
Ryan Schulz
Executive Director
When we collaborate, we don’t just combine ideas — we transform them into something that endures. Drawing on the metaphor of pottery, the principles of alchemy, and the five elements, this session explores how creativity, technology, and human intention fuse to create experiences that outlast the moment. We’ll examine the beauty and responsibility of making things that leave a lasting imprint, and how clarity and foresight can help us shape what truly matters.
9:00-10:00 PM
Stargazing & Dessert
Chapel Lawn
Settle into the quiet expanse of the Chapel Lawn as night unveils a sky alive with stars — an elemental reminder of how wonder sparks new ways of seeing. Enjoy a spread of sweet treats as we gather under Santa Fe’s rare, unfiltered darkness to pause, connect, and let curiosity expand.
Wednesday
May 20
Day Two
8:00-9:00 am
Elixir Mixer & Breakfast
Events Lawn
Start the day with intention by choosing your preferred pour and connecting with fellow kindred sippers over a relaxed breakfast. Let your cup be the conversation starter that breaks the ice and sparks connection.
9:00-9:20 am
Welcome to The Alchemy of Experience
Lodge Hall
Gather in Lodge Hall as we open The Assembly. We’ll ground ourselves in the elemental landscape of Santa Fe and the intentions that will shape our time together. These first sessions spark focus, curiosity, and connection as we step into the next two days of meaningful exploration.
9:20-9:50 am
Creative Spark: Stoking the Creative Fire
Kevin Leahy
Senior Director, Content & Brand Strategy
Creativity isn't a quality you have; it's a way of being that you can practice and improve. And as the AI Age takes shape, human creativity will become even more important as a powerful force for progress.
This talk blends science, storytelling, and strategy to explore how individuals and teams can ignite, sustain, and channel creativity to fuel innovation and meaningful change.
Fire Session
9:50-10:20 am
The Geology of Brand
Kathy Binkley
Director, Brand Strategy
Brand experience may show up at the surface, but its power is shaped far below. Deep in the brand core, the mantle is a flexible foundation that sets direction and helps a brand adjust as conditions change. A level up in the rugged lithosphere, the forces are sharper: shifts in the market and technology collide with changing climates. Human-centered insights reveal fault lines and open new worlds. This session breaks down these layers to build resilience, strength, and direction.
Earth Session
10:50-11:20 am
The Invisible Winds of Story: A New Way to Interpret Data That Doesn't Make Sense
Ben Magnuson
Director, Data Strategy
When our data can tell us the "what happened," it rarely follows up with the "why it happened." But the why is the key to understanding how to drive change for our companies and world. Recently, the common stories for why consumers, employees, and people are acting a certain way fall short.
This session looks at data and works that illustrate how technology has reshaped our communication in consistent, predictable ways. These shifts echo the ways humans first communicated in spoken word societies.
Air Session
11:20-11:50 am
The Art of the Current: Navigating AI Literacy
Jenn Lill
Director, Technology Strategy
Water doesn't force its way — it finds the path of least resistance, adapting to every surface it touches. True AI adoption works the same: human-first, workflow-specific, facilitating discovery within teams’ existing patterns through “permission to play.”
The real transformation isn't the forced integration of tools, but the sustained iteration that follows as confident teams reshape their work streams. Success flows from working with human nature, not against it.
Water Session
12:00-1:00 pm
Networking Lunch
Mezzanine
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1:00-2:45 pm
Workshop: Alchemy in Practice
Lodge Hall & Bunk House
Zach Schloss
Senior Director, CX & UX Strategy
Joe Torres
Sr. UX Strategy Lead
This interactive workshop will help you reconnect with the human side of problem solving. Guided by One North’s UX Strategy leaders, participants will collaborate in small groups to explore real challenges they’re facing — not to arrive at “perfect” answers, but to unlock new perspective, empathy, and clarity. Through facilitated discussion and hands-on activities, attendees will put The Assembly's elemental themes into practice, learn from one another, infuse a human perspective, and leave with fresh ways of thinking about complex problems.
2:45-3:15 pm
Design: The Universal Thread
Jessica DeJong
Managing Director, Design
Across disciplines and eras, we’ve sought the force that turns disparate parts into harmony. Design is that force: a golden thread weaving strategy, technology, data, research, and brand into experiences people feel, trust, and remember.
Great design often feels inevitable, but creating it never is — especially now, in an age where making is abundant but meaning is rare. As AI multiplies our capacity to produce, human taste, judgment, and discernment are more precious than ever. The opportunity isn’t to outpace machines, but to guide their output with care, vision, and taste.
Ether Session
3:15-3:30 pm
Elements Wrap Up
4:30-5:30 pm
Group Activities
Detailed description for planned activities to come.
6:30-10:00 pm
Alchemy Immersion & The Five Senses: Cocktails & Dinner
Sky Fire
Gather at Sky Fire for an evening of cocktails and courses that awaken the palate. This chef led exploration will translate the elements into flavor, aroma, texture, and atmosphere — an intentional journey through all five senses — and invites the kind of moments that unfold only when remarkable people gather.
Thursday
May 21
Day Three
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7:00-8:00 am
Sound Bath
Optional
Chapel Lawn
Begin your morning with a grounding sound bath — an opportunity to recenter after a full day of ideas, conversation, and sensory experiences. Let resonant tones create space for clarity and renewal before stepping into the final day’s content.
8:30-9:15 am
Networking Breakfast
Lodge Hall
9:15-10:15 am
From Earth to Ether: How AI Is Reshaping Teams, Culture, and the Human Pace of Work
Panel Discussion
Kat Kollet
Senior Director, Strategy
Today, technology—especially AI—is our modern crucible, shaping and reflecting culture in ways that are deeply human, disruptive, and increasingly personal.
Join Kathryn Kollett and a panel of leaders who are actively integrating AI into their organizations as they explore what it really means to work alongside intelligent systems, from team dynamics and collaboration to pace, trust, and sustainability.
Rather than focusing on tools alone, this conversation will center on lived experience: how AI is changing the way people think, create, decide, and relate to one another at work. Together, we’ll examine the tensions, tradeoffs, and opportunities at the intersection of innovation and humanity—and how more intentional, grounded design can help organizations forge what’s next without losing what matters most.
10:40-10:50 am
Be Like Water: Fluidity over Friction
Nick Villapiano
Director, Front-End Development
Modern digital experiences work best when they behave like water. Much like how one delta can feed endless rivers, streams, and brooks, systems that focus on small, adaptable pieces (tokens, components, atomic elements) can fill massive needs and tight specific spaces alike. When our foundational elements are fluid, flexible, and adaptable, systems can scale predictably and sustainably.
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10:50-11:00 am
The Magic of Why: Invisible Forces Behind Communication
Analisa Goldblatt
Senior Content Strategist
We all write. DMs. Emails. PPTs. Well, maybe we use CoPilot to help sometimes — no judgement. But if we're going to get a little extra help, it's important to know where the weaknesses live. Where technology supports tactics, you have the power to exchange energy between you and your audience. Let's get to the why — the invisible force behind our communication — so we can inform, persuade, and compel action.
11:00-11:10 am
The Human Element: Craft in the Age of AI
Cassidy Day
Associate Creative Director
In an age shaped by artificial intelligence, the quality of our work depends less on what machines can generate and more on what humans bring to the process. Craft is the ether, a human blend of creativity, care, and curiosity that gives meaning to the tools we use.
This talk traces the origins of craft as a counterweight to the Industrial Revolution and connects it to its growing importance in this new era of automation. As AI expands what’s possible, it also invites us to reexamine why we create, reminding us that the future of creativity will be defined not by what machines can make, but by what humans choose to care about.
11:10-11:20 am
Seeing the Future Together: A Human Approach to AI Strategy
Lee Ackerman
Principal AI Strategist
AI’s promise of transformation is everywhere, but real change happens only when people understand, align, and move together — something traditional planning and communication tools often fail to inspire. Sequential art offers a more engaging way to see and participate in complex ideas. Blending structure and imagination, shared meaning emerges from the relationships between elements and sparks action.
Through the lenses of Air and Fire, this talk explores how comics help leaders communicate with clarity, deepen engagement, and turn AI-driven ambition into lasting momentum.
11:20-11:30 am
The Integrity of Input: Why Truth Needs Human Stewards in an Automated World
Min Shepherd
Director, Content Strategy
Even the most advanced AI systems can only build from the materials they’re given. Today, those materials are increasingly unstable. As automated content loops accelerate, the risk of misinformation compounds, threatening to erode the very foundation brands rely on to communicate with clarity.
This session examines why human stewardship, ethical discernment, and rigorous curation remain essential to maintaining truth in an automated world. You’ll learn why protecting the integrity of your inputs is the first, and most critical, step in crafting trustworthy experiences.
11:30 am-12:00 pm:
The Elements Wrap-Up: Top Takeaways
12:00-1:00 pm
Networking Lunch: Challenges & Opportunities
Mezzanine
1:00 pm
Airport Transfers Begin
2:00-5:00 pm
Group Excursion: Exploring Santa Fe
Optional
Extend your stay post Assembly to explore Santa Fe’s rich cultural offerings alongside new connections. Additional details around the group excursion to come.
6:00-8:00 pm
Group Dinner
Optional
Those extending their trip can join us for a group dinner post Assembly. Additional details to come.