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Behind the Scenes

Behind the Scenes is an ongoing event series that skips polished narratives in favor of hearing what really happened. The stumbling block, midnight hour, sh*t hitting the fan stories behind the work that eventually made it to the real world. These are the stories we’re most tempted to edit out but we’ve found are the ones with the most to teach us.

Over 11 events in four countries, we’ve welcomed more than 2,000 attendees: designers, creators, builders, writers, investors, and more. Each session follows the Chatham House Rule and a ban on phones, photos or videos. And every event features at least one story you won’t forget.

It grew into one of the signature series of the Audience & Partnerships practice I led.

An architect admitting their award-winning museum had a major flaw.

A CIA agent walking us through a digital manhunt.

The wild story behind one of the most controversial startups in years.

A CMO confessing that a viral hit was really a Hail Mary.

Over time, something unexpected has taken shape from these seven minute stories. People come in ready to share a single story, but they end up building on each other’s experiences — comparing scars, trading approaches and realizing how much of the creative life happens in the dark, before anything is ready to be seen. The rooms at BTS become a kind of temporary guild where people leave with a few new tricks, a sharper sense of their own judgment, and the reminder that even the people you admire most are still working through the same knots.

Photography by Max Kütz