When I was 17 years old I had the opportunity to visit Expo 92 Sevilla. At the time I wasn’t aware of the magnitude of that event. I was there as a musician, playing drums in a local band that went to perform at the Pavilion of Puerto Rico. The show became popular and we were hired to perform at a bigger stage of the expo for a few additional weeks. It was an unforgettable summer. Since then I became a fan of world expositions.

Recently, I visited Expo 2020 Dubai, the World Expo currently hosted by Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. This time I went to the expo with a different mindset, and with the mission of learning as much as I could from the infinite knowledge presented at what is now known as The World’s Greatest Show. In simple words, it was a mind-blowing experience. With 192 pavilions representing all the countries recognized by the United Nations, there was no limit for creativity, culture, technology, and imagination. Every corner of this expo had an incredible magnetism that could connect with your mind, body, and soul. It should have been obvious that this expo would be amazing if you look at how the city of Dubai has been developed in recent years as a global point of convergence. Besides, you may not know this, but many of the things you use every day were invented or discovered in the Middle East a long time ago: coffee, algebra, algorithm, cheques, clocks, crankshaft, combination locks, soap, and windmills.

I will share some of the lessons I learned at Expo 2020 Dubai that I think every business, organization, and government should adopt to be on the path to help create a better future for humanity. No group alone can define the future, but we all, as a collective, can develop new ways of conducting our human activities in tune with our planet and fellow human beings, to be co-producers of the future.

CONNECTING MINDS, CREATING THE FUTURE

This was the main theme of the exhibition and it was omnipresent through the Expo 2020 Dubai. Everywhere I looked I found collaboration, connection, imagination, creation, and diversity. People from all around the world have built this expo together. The best talent was brought from wherever it was in the world because the expo organizers wanted to create the best possible experiences.

For example, Al Wasl Plaza, the dome at the center of the expo that had a unique projection system that amazed every visitor, is a building from the future. The organizers traveled the world looking for people that could design and build it. They imagined it, but they needed help to make it a reality. So they hired architecture firm Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill from Chicago to design the building, Brogan Group from the UK to help build it, and Creative Technology Middle East to install the audiovisual system. These connected minds created the immersive experience that became the beating heart of Expo 2020 Dubai.

The lesson: Let your imagination fly, connect minds, and create your future.

OPPORTUNITY, MOBILITY, AND SUSTAINABILITY

These were the three sub-themes of Expo 2020 Dubai and the three main districts where the pavilions were organized. Each of these themes had a featured pavilion with an incredible never-seen-before futuristic architecture. Inside each pavilion, there was a message. Mission Possible – The Opportunity Pavilion was about how our lives and actions are interconnected, and how we can transform dreams and aspirations into the realities of tomorrow being an agent of change. Alif – The Mobility Pavilion was about human progress, mobility as an element of the transformation of the way we live and understand other cultures, and exchange of knowledge and ideas to move the world forward. Terra – The Sustainability Pavilion was about taking a sustainable path towards the future and living in balance with our only home, the Earth. Even in a high-tech future, we can live in harmony with nature.

Besides these main pavilions, each district had country pavilions related to the themes. One of the most memorable pavilions was the Netherlands. They had one simple message: let’s take care of the oceans before it’s too late, and by the way, we have the technology. I was impressed about how they presented this unique positive message and at the same time showed off their technology as the solution. Brilliant! Another impressive pavilion was the United Kingdom. Also with one direct message: the UK is focused on Artificial Intelligence. Every visitor had to choose a word, and their AI system was creating a poem for each person. At the end of the expo, it would become the biggest AI-generated poem in the world. The other pavilion rated as one of the best by every measure was Germany. They were focused on education, knowledge, research, and human interaction as the key to innovation in the field of sustainability. Each person got a personalized electronic badge that registered each person’s activity to collect data about behavior and preferences related to sustainability. Since the expo had visitors from many countries it’s fair to say that Germany will have a good set of data for research.

The lesson: Everything is possible. If each country puts the best of its talents to work towards a sustainable future, we can develop a high-tech world both physical and digital, and at the same time live in harmony with nature.

BRANDS

At Expo 2020 Dubai I witnessed a festival of brands making waves. Some brands were in competition, others were simply way ahead of their competitors and looked as if they were the only brand in their category.

Emirates, the largest airline in the UAE, was the biggest brand of Expo 2020 Dubai. First, because almost everyone coming from other countries to visit the expo flew in one of their airplanes, with many of us lucky to fly their iconic A380. The Emirates brand was ubiquitous. At the airport, or in the sky, you could see the airplanes painted with both Emirates and Expo 2020 Dubai brand styles. The A380 toy models were displayed at every store. Their TV commercial with the flight attendant at the top of Burj Khalifa left everyone speechless. They had a brand pavilion where you could experience the future of commercial aviation, and it was fully booked in advance for weeks. But, most importantly, the Emirates brand is true to its customers and is providing a superior flying experience that can’t be matched by any other airline. Just imagine the glory days of TWA or Pan Am, that’s Emirates today. Even better.

Aquafina, the official water of Expo 2020 Dubai, was the other iconic brand. It was present in every store, every kiosk, every restaurant, and even had its own brand pavilion. The brand made a genius move by combining the Aquafina water can design with the Expo 2020 Dubai brand. The result was a beautiful and memorable water can that will become a souvenir of the event. Of course, if you went to the expo then whenever you see the Aquafina brand in the future, you will remember Dubai.

The lesson: Brands can become omnipresent using paid media, but when that powerful presence is combined with great customer experiences and authentic connections with people, the brand becomes unforgettable.

From what I experienced at Expo 2020 Dubai the future looks amazing. We need to rethink what’s possible in order to overthrow the walls of mental limits. The people of UAE built Dubai, the city of the future, in the desert where others would have thought it would be impossible. That’s why UAE is known as the “Land of Dreamers Who Do”… literally, they dream it, and they do it.