The research, plainly
Hsee's experiments found people happier when kept busy — even with pointless tasks — than when idle, and willing to invent justifications for activity. Idleness is aversive; occupation, almost any occupation, beats it.
The receipt: Hsee et al., 2010
What it means for events
Every idle minute at your event gets filled by the attendee's phone — and their phone is your competitor's channel. Give waiting hands and transition minutes a job: a question, a build, a vote, a wall. Occupied attendees stay in your event; idle ones leave without moving.
Where to run it
Transitions & waits
A prompt on every screen during changeovers: 'Tell your neighbor the one thing you'd steal from that session.'
Registration & meals
Tasks that feed the event: write your commitment card early, vote on the closing question, add to the insight wall.
Booth design
Something to do in the first five seconds — a challenge, a control, a choice — or the visit ends as a walk-past.
Seen in the wild
Related concepts
Now use it
Score your own event against principles like this one — or make the whole vocabulary official.
Score your event Get certified