In the Age of AI, Is Nostalgia the Answer for Elevating the Attendee Experience?

As ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini continue to make head-spinning advancements, meeting planners are focused on helping audiences make sense of how artificial intelligence will reshape conferences, business events, and daily life. 

In the midst of all that talk about AI, however, many attendees are craving something more familiar. Research from group travel firm Contiki shows that 78 percent of Gen Zers and millennials have recreated a trip from their childhood or are planning to do so. 

For meeting planners competing for attention in an increasingly crowded, tech-saturated events landscape, that emotional pull can go beyond sentimentality — it can translate into stronger attendance, deeper engagement, and longer-lasting brand recall.

When Shared Memory Becomes a Competitive Advantage

That longing for yesterday is top of mind for the convention leaders in Atlantic City — a destination that has shaped traveler memories and hosted major meetings and conventions for generations. 

More than a mid-Atlantic getaway, the iconic New Jersey resort town’s streets and landmarks inspired MONOPOLY, the highest-selling board game of all time. 

Earlier this year, Visit Atlantic City tapped into that shared cultural reference at PCMA’s Convening Leaders, featuring a life-sized game board that organically brought the destination to life and stood apart from more transactional convention sales efforts. 

In a sea of LED screens and high-tech demos, a unifying cultural reference created an immediate emotional entry point.

“The white of the board was very striking when you looked at all the other colors in the room, and the full buy-in to the theme — dice and all — made it the kind of experience I'd love to share with my attendees,” Darryl A. Diamond, CMP, HMCC, and chief experience officer of Big White Dog Events, said. “The only thing that was missing was a small metallic racecar zooming around the aisles.”

The activation signaled something larger to planners: Atlantic City understands how to translate destination storytelling into memorable experiences.

Immersive Iconic Attractions That Increase Engagement

Planners can easily weave in the MONOPOLY connection to elevate the attendee experience. For example, when MEDCO, a wholesale automotive aftermarket company, used the board game to inspire decor for its trade show environment and branded the aisles as street names from the game. 

But the MONOPOLY moment is just one example of how planners can weave Atlantic City’s cultural legacy into conference programming and corporate events. 

“Atlantic City has always led cultural shifts in entertainment and leisure, and we can package unconventional meeting experiences and integrate entertainment into business events,” Karina Anthony, Visit Atlantic City’s executive director of marketing, said. “We want you to host your ‘first-of-its-kind’ meeting here.”

Meeting Professionals International (MPI) did exactly that when it hosted its annual World Education Congress (WEC) in Atlantic City. Attendees strolled the oldest boardwalk in the country and explored more than 20 pop-up restaurants on the beach. Jitneys transported attendees to Steel Pier, an amusement park that first opened before 1900. 

The experience reflected what Anthony describes as the city’s “timeless, not trendy” personality.

In an era when personalization is increasingly driven by algorithms, Atlantic City is betting shared cultural memory can be just as powerful by creating built-in storytelling moments and natural networking touchpoints.

“Our destination services team includes plenty of Atlantic City history lovers,” Gary Musich, president and CEO of Visit Atlantic City, said. “We are always thrilled to help meeting planners incorporate our past into their programming. A connection to our city’s roots can turn a meeting into an unforgettable immersive experience.” 

For planners coming to Atlantic City, there are easy ways to lean into nostalgia, including:

Turn Up the Bright Lights in Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall

Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, and Elton John are just a few of the acts who have appeared at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall. 

However, the 14,700-seat entertainment venue was originally built as one of the first convention centers in the country. The city has taken care to restore and refine the National Historic Landmark, which houses the largest musical instrument on Earth: a pipe organ. 

For planners, hosting in a venue with that kind of legacy adds narrative depth, transforming a space into part of the program’s story rather than just its backdrop.

Host a Golf Tournament in the Home of the Birdie

For planners looking to give golf enthusiasts a chance to immerse themselves in the history of the game, Atlantic City holds a unique claim to fame: The term “birdie” originated at the Atlantic City Country Club. 

There’s a connection to conventions, too. During an organized crime convention in the city in 1929, Al Capone hid at the country club to avoid law enforcement. 

In addition to the country club, which is available for private corporate gatherings, the area is home to another dozen courses ideal for networking outings. Experiences rooted in authentic local lore can make off-site networking feel less manufactured and more memorable.

A Convention Community That Continues to Raise the Bar

As Atlantic City honors its past, the hospitality community continues to upgrade the core infrastructure to support the future of large-scale conventions and meetings.

Over the past three years, more than $400 million has been invested in renovations to three Caesars Entertainment properties, the opening of The Seahaus Hotel (a Marriott Tribute property), and the debut of a Nobu Hotel tower within Caesars Atlantic City. 

In 2026, improvements will continue with the opening of the newly renovated Solana Tower at Tropicana Atlantic City and $50 million of improvements at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City.

For planners, those investments translate into modernized guest rooms, refreshed meeting spaces, upgraded technology, and expanded options across price points, all within a compact, walkable footprint that simplifies logistics for large groups.

Expanding Partnerships and Experiences for Meeting Attendees

Visit Atlantic City is also expanding its collaborative reach, including a new partnership with Live Nation to bring beach concerts back to Atlantic City and the reimagining of a traditional restaurant week into the Taste Atlantic City month-long culinary celebration. 

“We have seen true collaboration from our destination partners,” Musich said. “Planners should know that Visit Atlantic City is a one-stop shop, and we are here to support them from beginning to end.”

In a competitive meetings landscape, infrastructure may get planners in the door, but emotional connection is what keeps attendees engaged. Atlantic City is building on both.

To learn more about how Atlantic City’s iconic status can enhance your next meeting, go to https://www.visitatlanticcity.com/meetings/.

This content was created collaboratively by Visit Atlantic City and Skift’s branded content studio, SkiftX.