#xperiencedays

This weekend, I took a photography class from XperienceDays.com. I have used a DSLR camera for a long time but never ventured away from the auto settings. This class was a great opportunity to spend a sunny afternoon in Central Park while learning about some of the more advanced features of my camera. It was an awesome beginners class, I learned about exposure, shutter speed, and aperture though clear demonstrations. We could ask lots of questions the upside of learning in person vs via youtube. Above are some of my shots trying out the tricks I learned like using a lower number aperture to take a hyper-focused photo of a small flower or leaf.

There are a million different Xperiences on the website from food tours to painting classes in NYC and other cities. Next up Trapeze class!

         "Experiential Gift Cards," which fall under the $300 billion gift industry rather than $91 billion gift card industry, are just recently coming into existence in the U.S. Companies such as Smartbox, Cloud9 Living, Xperience Days are becoming more popular because they allow creativity for the giver and flexibility for the recipient. Smartbox offers gift-card boxes that range from $49 to $369 and can be found at stores including Duane Reade, Sam's Club, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and online at the Barnes and Noble's website. The box comes with a gift card and a book with options at the price point given to the recipient. For example, the Zagat Smartbox Table for Two has 50 choices for $99 in NYC. Some other box options include upscale getaways in the Great Lakes (35 choices for $369) and adventures like white-water rafting and surfing in California (100 choices for $69). Cloud9 Living on the other hand sells its experiences online. Both supply gift experiences to a variety of the credit-card industry's reward programs.

Why are "experiential gift cards" gaining in popularity?

People aren't looking for 'stuff' anymore, they're looking for experiences. It's the new bragging rights. Status is out, social capital is in...You can post pictures of your African-safari experience, but you can't put up a picture of your Mercedes. That's tacky. - Susan Menke, VP - behavioral analyst at Mintel

It's not the things that make you happy, but rather the experiences you have. It seems like giving gifts, no I mean experiences, will be more fun and that much more rewarding because you'll be creating an experience for the recipient which will turn into a memory and memories last a life time.

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