Non-Obvious Experiences
Live Experiences
People don’t gather to collect business cards. They gather to find each other. Our live experiences are designed to solve the human challenge behind every event: helping people make more real connections.
Non-Obvious Experiences
People don’t gather to collect business cards. They gather to find each other. Our live experiences are designed to solve the human challenge behind every event: helping people make more real connections.
The Signature Experience
Our signature experience. Everyone gets a pair of yellow Non-Obvious glasses, seven minutes go on the clock, and one question jumpstarts the conversations: what’s one non-obvious thing about yourself? It is technically 7 minutes, but people tend to stay, and connect.
Attendees have found new best friends, podcasting partners and more. The meetup is easy to add to any event as a bonus alongside one of Rohit’s keynotes, and you can host your own.
Part Salon, Part Clubhouse
At the world’s biggest gatherings, like SXSW, the Non-Obvious House is the community’s home base. Part salon and part clubhouse, it hosts brainstorming sessions, book signings, meetups and the kinds of conversations that keep going long after the official schedule ends.
The house exists so that in the middle of a hundred-thousand-person event, there is one place where you can walk in, put on a pair of yellow glasses, and be guaranteed a real conversation instead of a pitch.
20+ Years Of Big Ideas
The Non-Obvious Dinner started as an annual event hosted by Ben duPont and Chartline for more than 20 years, and we recently partnered to bring it into the Non-Obvious family. The idea is simple and powerful: every guest is invited to share their biggest non-obvious world changing idea.
“What is your biggest non-obvious world changing idea?”
That one prompt creates an open dialog about new perspectives and inspires new connections among everyone attending, whether the person across the table is a U.S. Senator, a Nobel laureate, an entrepreneur, a musician or a student.
First Created At SXSW
First created at SXSW, the Pajama Party is a post-event gathering in the most comfortable atmosphere imaginable. After a long day of sessions, people trade their conference outfits for pajamas, then bond over the learnings and moments they collected throughout the day.
The concept is to get people to just be themselves. It is hard to keep up a professional front in your pajamas, and that is exactly the point: what happens instead are real moments of bonding.
New For 2026
A gathering of authors who are also speakers at an event, collaborating to do a book signing and giveaway at the same time while sharing more about their books. We pioneered it in 2026 at SXSW featuring 36 authors simultaneously, and it was a huge hit that sold out.
At large conferences, we will likely do it again: it gives attendees a natural and fun way to bond with speakers, and gives the conference a chance to offer people a way to meet speakers and get great books.
Why We Gather
Finding real connection is a big reason people gather, and a big reason we do so many events. Every Non-Obvious live experience shares the same DNA: an invitation to skip the small talk and actually meet the people in the room.
Every experience is designed to break the transactional vibe of typical happy hours and stuffy business events, so people can show up as themselves.
Each gathering gives people the words to start a real conversation, beginning with one question: what’s one non-obvious thing about yourself?
The formats invite everyone in. You don’t need to be the loudest person in the room to leave with a new friend.
Bring An Experience To Your Event
Our live experiences are designed as add-ons to Rohit’s keynote appearances. Invite him to speak, then pick the experience that fits your event, or email renee@nonobvious.com to start the conversation.
Learn More & Check Availability
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