Notes from Mind Body Spirit | Return on Experience

As we escape from the heat wave into more familiar wet weather, returning from festival fields and buying new pencil cases for us or our little ones as school returns, I thought it would be a good time to provide an update on things from our world.

Last time I wrote to you we were in the final phases of our London 2026 planning. It feels like only yesterday we were back at Olympia setting up the show and I want to thank again all those who exhibited, sponsored, presented, visited and were part of the show.

A reflection on London

In some ways it was one of our best festivals. In some ways it was not, looking at you train strikes and the hottest ever bank holiday weekend in history! That is the beauty of live events, every event we run is unique, a live learning experience filled with valuable insight into how to evolve and improve.

I love being onsite and seeing the physical manifestation of the hard work of exhibitors, presenters and our team. It has always interested me, how flexible and fluid an event must be to cater for all different aspects of the visitor experience, whether that is a ticket buyer, a presenter, an exhibitor or team member.Time and space create a different perspective on things, yet we are cursed with a very modern impatience to judge whether something was successful or not. I reflect on the successes of the show, hearing all the stories from exhibitors and presenters, the hugely overwhelming visitor feedback about how fantastic an experience they all had, the post-show relationships, sales and shifts.

Any event is a living organism, consisting of thousands of different stakeholders all with different expectations, hopes, intentions and ambitions but brought together with a singular aligned purpose. Add into the mix the unique element of our gathering where we balance energies and unseen forces, not just achieve KPIs and ROIs. A shared experience, but experience individually. I can speak to one exhibitor or presenter who has had their best ever show and the next may have had the opposite experience. A conversation with an exhibitor on a Saturday who doesn’t want to return because it’s felt quieter and not been a good investment only to have that whole view shifted in 8 hours of trading on Sunday. They spoke to less but sold more. It makes you examine what is a successful show?Return on Investment is a funny one, a funny phrase, the power of language is important and the return on investment, I feel brings us into a world built around commercials and transactional relationships. Which don’t get me wrong, I run a business, we all have bills to pay and we all want to succeed and see our business grow. But does it create an unbalanced formula of success around one hyper focused metric? One that isn’t the same, because a pound isn’t always worth the same to every business. £1 to one exhibitor is actually £1.20 to a non-vat registered exhibitor, because MBS attracts both major brands and small independents, the maths is different. How do we measure something when the data point isn’t black and white, it’s technicolour. How do you calculate the full investment in attending an event? The cost of time, travel, insurance, stock, missed opportunities elsewhere. The list is long.

What about the return on the investment of visiting a show? A chance conversation that lights a spark. A presenter whose words shift something you did not know needed shifting. A connection made in a queue for a cup of tea that turns into a collaboration six months later.

Perhaps we should start thinking about things through the lens of Return on Experience? What is the Return on the Experience of Exhibiting, the Return on the Experience of Presenting instead? Lessons learned. Connections made. Moments shared. A pound to me is not the same as a pound to you, but an experience that changes the way you think about your business, your practice, your life? That feels the same for all of us.

Considering the ‘Return of Experience’

So, what can we do as organisers to enhance the return on experience of attendees, presenters and exhibitors?

Well first for visitors, keep doing what we are doing, our recent survey and research piece this summer show:

• 90% would attend Mind Body Spirit again
• 83% rated Mind Body Spirit Festival satisfaction 4–5/5
• 65% say their local area lacks wellbeing events
• 84% say their interest in wellbeing has grown significantly over five years
• 78% purchase rate at festivals, average spend £121
• 15% of visitors are already on their fifth or more festival visit!

For exhibitors as we approach the busier time of year, we have added a dedicated exhibitor support team, so when you need us, you get a real response from a real person, not a form or an AI bot. It's a simple change, but one designed to make communication clearer and more personal in the build-up to the festival.

We have rebuilt our website, check it out here, with full accessibility tools, screen reader support, dyslexia-friendly settings, adjustable text and contrast controls, because a festival that talks about wellbeing should be genuinely accessible to everyone trying to get through the door. At Birmingham this November we are bringing back BSL interpretation and lipspeaking on the stages, because the same applies there. The new website also includes enhanced exhibitor listings, clear programming and day scheduling through our ‘Plan your Day’ to increase preshow engagement and user experience.

A hugely important element of the experience is the programming, the thought leadership and energy we see from our inspiring teachers and presenters, so to enhance this we have brought in a new programming team. I am incredibly proud to announce that Theresa Cheung, one of the world's most spiritually influential voices, bestselling author, Cambridge graduate and the 'Queen of Dreams' and Alexandra Wilby, former Deputy Editor of HELLO!, turned sound healer and Reiki Master, are now leading our programming. With a clear brief to not just honour the 50 years of history but to continue to sit at the cutting edge and set the future trends of the industry. Having them both help shape what it becomes next is something I find genuinely inspiring.

Together they will curate a new era of MBS programming, one that speaks to people navigating change, personal reinvention, first-time seekers and long-time practitioners alike.

What is the experience of Birmingham experience shaping up to be?

For our upcoming Birmingham Festival, we have ramped up the experiences with an amazing line-up of presenters and exhibitors with us. Festival favourites Paul McKenna, Thimela Garcia, Jade Shaw and Francesca Oddie all return to the NEC for headliner sessions in on our Main Stage and Wellbeing Studio. We also have a whole host of new names including Dr Helen Wall, Francesca Tigihean, Ana Otera, Matreya, Steve Tayler, Poppy Delbridge and a more to be announced soon.

New for Birmingham this year we have launched a Main Stage daily slot, ‘Founders’ where we discuss the experience of the wellness and spiritual business, a market that is now worth £160 billion (source BBC - read here) in the UK alone.

Our first three headliners for this are Hanuman Dass, spiritual teacher, author and founder of award-winning charity Go Dharmic that has distributed over 25 million meals worldwide, where he will discuss the importance of doing business with Purpose.

Gisele Boxer, founder of East Healing and Dragons Den entrepreneur who secured investment from all six Dragons, bringing ear acupressure to a global audience while still leading a value led business.

Barney Battles, founder of Crystal Clear Psychics and serial angel investor, discussing what investors are looking for and being an angel investor in a room of angels.

These sessions bring together decades of experience and we hope will help our community grow their businesses and take away wisdom to achieve more outside of the exhibition hall.

As we continue to grow our audience and think about those earliest experiences and how they influence us, we are introducing The Enchanted Corner at Birmingham, a new dedicated space for children and families, because the next generation of seekers deserve a place at the gathering too.

And coming up this autumn

Before Birmingham there is more. Vex King launches his new book Reclaim Your Power with us in London. Donna Ashworth, whose words have a habit of landing exactly where you need them to, brings The Art of Being Easily Pleased. And the legendary Deva Premal and Miten return with Singing Our Prayers, which if you have never experienced it, is one of those evenings that is very difficult to explain to someone who was not in the room.

A few experiences we’d love to share with you for free as members of our presenter and exhibitor community:

This section is only available to our festival community of exhibitors and presenters, if you'd like to be part of that club to access complimentary events tickets and added bonuses please email info@mindbodyspirit.co.uk.

Finally, thank you for reading and if you’d like to be part of any of our upcoming festivals, events or have ideas for discussion points please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Josh

Managing Director

mindbodyspirit.co.uk

Birmingham NEC 13-15 November 2026 & London Olympia 28-31 May 2027

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PS. Did you see us in the BBC? Read Here

PPS. Not booked in for Birmingham 2026, or the 50^th Anniversary London in 2027, email exhibitors@mindbodyspirit.co.uk to discuss your own Return of Exhibiting…