Events · Participation · Experience

From planned experience to lived reality.

I help event organisers anticipate where participant experience may fall short before event day, and understand how the event was actually experienced once it's delivered.

Focused on real-world participant behaviour, not just operational delivery.

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Cycling events· Running & endurance· Community sport· Volunteer-led· Participation· Experience· Cycling events· Running & endurance· Community sport· Volunteer-led· Participation· Experience· Cycling events· Running & endurance· Community sport· Volunteer-led· Participation· Experience·

What I do

Experience & Participation Framework

Independent review of participant experience, before and after your event. Two focused services, one clear lens: how the experience is actually felt by the people taking part.

Who this is for

Organisations delivering events where participant experience is shaped in real time, and where, once you're deep in the planning, it becomes surprisingly hard to see it through a participant's eyes.

You've read the brief so many times it all feels super clear and obvious, but that doesn't always reflect how it works on the day.

What feels straightforward internally can be experienced very differently by someone arriving for the very first time.

Typical events

Annual and repeat events

Where improving each edition depends on understanding what participants actually experienced the last time.

Cycling events

Where navigation, timing, safety and flow shape the experience moment by moment.

Running and mass participation sport

Where thousands of people move through the same journey, but each experience is slightly different.

Established festivals and outdoor events

Where atmosphere, logistics and participant journey all need to work together under pressure.

Example client

You're an event lead responsible for a repeat or large-scale event where participant experience is critical to success.

Your event has over 1,000+ participants, and complexity comes in the form of participant flow, communications, and real-time delivery rather than size alone.

You've probably delivered it before, or inherited it from someone else, and the operation is stable.

On paper, everything works. But you know participant experience is harder to fully see than operational delivery.

You need an independent view to understand:

  • where confidence may be lost in the journey
  • what participants actually experience, not just what's planned
  • where small improvements could meaningfully improve engagement and return participation
Before your event

Pre-Event Experience Scan

£750 Fixed fee

An independent review of your event before it goes live. I assess the full participant journey and identify where experience typically loses clarity, gaps, and what would strengthen the experience ahead of event day.

Best time: 4 to 8 weeks before the event, when core systems and communications are in place and there is still time to make meaningful improvements.

See what's included
What I review
  • Registration and booking journey
  • Event website and information clarity
  • Participant communications
  • Pre-event touchpoints
  • Event-day guidance and information flow
  • End-to-end participant journey
What you receive
  • Participant Journey Map
  • Readiness Findings Report
  • Prioritised recommendations: Now / Next / Later
  • 60-minute review session
  • 30-day action plan

Confidence that your participant experience has been reviewed independently, with clear, actionable insight to improve clarity, flow and engagement before event day.

For a full one-pager, email me.

Explore the process
During and After your event

Live Experience & Participation Review

From £1,500 + travel and accommodation if required

An independent review of your event from a participant perspective, captured during and immediately after delivery. I build a clear picture of how the experience actually landed, not just how it was intended.

Works best: During live delivery, within 1 to 2 weeks post-event, or for multi-day and high-footfall events where flow and engagement are key.

See what's included
What I review
  • Arrival and welcome experience
  • Registration and check-in flow
  • Signage, navigation and clarity
  • Participant movement and flow
  • Staff and volunteer interactions
  • Engagement peaks and drop-off points
  • Overall experience design and atmosphere
What you receive
  • Participant Journey Review (actual experience)
  • Event Observation Report
  • Experience Reality Check
  • Prioritised recommendations: Now / Next / Later
  • 90-minute review session
  • Experience Improvement Action Plan

A clear, independent understanding of how your event was actually experienced, and where focused improvements could significantly enhance future engagement, satisfaction and return rates.

For a full one-pager, email me.

Explore the process

How it works

1

Review Scope

We agree what you need: the event, the timing, and what you most want to understand about the participant experience. No prep required.

2

Participant Journey Analysis

I review materials, systems and communications, or observe on the ground, mapping the experience as a participant would encounter it.

3

Findings + Action Plan

A clear report covering what works, where experience typically loses clarity, and a prioritised set of improvements structured as Now / Next / Later.

Also available

Freelance Event Operations

Alongside the Experience & Participation Framework, I'm available as a freelance event operations specialist. Whether you need an extra pair of hands for a one-off event or ongoing operational support across a season, I work behind the scenes to make things run smoothly.

Let's Talk

What I can help with

  • Event planning
  • Operational delivery
  • Logistics coordination
  • Volunteer coordination
  • Stakeholder management
  • Event-day support
  • Risk and contingency planning

Track record

15+

years

Years spent making complicated things look easy.

From the Stonehenge Summer Solstice to national resilience exercises, I've spent over fifteen years bringing together people, logistics and operations when the pressure is on, and the stakes are real.

  • Managed Stonehenge Summer Solstice for 10,000+ attendees
  • Coordinated UK deployment to a NATO exercise in France
  • Delivered national resilience exercises for emergency services
  • At home in cycling, running and community sport

Out in the wild

Work in the real world

Crowds gathered with event staff at sunrise for the Stonehenge Summer Solstice

Stonehenge Summer Solstice

I delivered one of the UK's most iconic mass gatherings. Working together with multiple stakeholders from highways to local campsites and counter terrorist officers, to welcome over 10,000 people to celebrate sunrise safely and joyfully at the stones.

Multi-agency emergency responders and ambulances during Exercise Amber

National Ambulance Resilience Exercise

I organised Exercise Amber 2, a major national multi-agency interoperability exercise delivered with the National Ambulance Resilience Unit, bringing police, fire and ambulance commanders together to test their joint response. Read about Exercise Amber.

Riders with medals at a community trail cycling event

Volunteering at Cycling & Running Events

From the Clarendon Marathon to local cyclocross races, I volunteer across grassroots cycling and running events, seeing first hand what makes them work.

A group of runners lined up together before a social run in Salisbury

Silent Runs Salisbury

Building community through social running, creating the conditions for people to connect, take part and keep showing up.

Young riders racing cyclocross on a muddy course Research in progress

Cyclocross Participation Study

Independent research into participation drop-off in youth cyclocross, finding the small things that keep young riders coming back.

Riders racing across the sand at Battle on the Beach gravel race Took part 2026

Battle on the Beach

I lined up for this iconic gravel race on the sand in March 2026, getting stuck into the events I care about as a participant, not just behind the scenes.

Nicola Harrington
15+
Years
experience

About Nicola

From Stonehenge to start lines.

I help organisations create experiences people want to be part of. Over 15+ years I've worked across major public events, national resilience programmes, healthcare, technology and security, bringing together people, logistics and operations to make complex things happen.

These days I'm most interested in participation and experience: why people get involved, what keeps them coming back, and where organisations quietly lose participants, volunteers and communities along the way.

Through my son's national and international cycling journey, and my own love of running and community participation, I've found my home in sporting events, mass-participation programmes and community-led experiences.

Work with me

Let's create something people want to be part of.

Planning an event, trying to grow participation, or want to make the experience better? I'd love to hear about it.

Get in touch