The Atlantic Launches 'Happiness' Festival

The Atlantic announced the launch of its newest flagship event on Tuesday, a two-and-a-half-day hybrid festival beginning May 1 in Half Moon Bay, California, called In Pursuit of Happiness. The event, whose tickets cost $700, will be the first in-person experience the publisher has hosted since early 2020 and the first at a higher price point, said Candace Montgomery, gm and svp of Atlantic Live. On the grounds of the Ritz Carlton, 200 attendees will be able to participate in 30 live conversations, workshops, guided yoga sessions and networking opportunities, all amid the presence of Atlantic voices like Arthur C. Brooks, Kate Julian and Derek Thompson. Remote viewers, whose admission is free, can attend select sessions where they can interact with the speakers in interactive workshops. The event coincides with a larger editorial focus on the science, practice and politics of happiness, an emphasis reflected in the three feature stories on the cover of the March issue. The concept of exploring happiness expanded from the popularity of the weekly column and podcast from Arthur C. Brooks, called How to Build a Life, which launched in April 2020. Last year alone, Atlantic readers consumed more than 100 million minutes of happiness-related content, according to Montgomery. The March cover of The Atlantic has three feature stories exploring happiness. “In Pursuit of Happiness event is about a scientific and practical understanding of happiness, as well as its application,” Montgomery said. “It is not a surface-level or overly optimistic understanding of the idea, but rather about putting in the work and supplying the audience with the tools to be able to build a more meaningful life for themselves.” Last year, a completely virtual version of the event drew 11,000 free attendees and, this year, In Pursuit of Happiness hopes to attract 20,000 remote viewers. The festival will be sponsored, though the publisher declined to name the participating brands or any financial benchmarks. The Atlantic hosted 21 virtual events in 2021 and revenue from the business grew 40% year over year, according to the publisher. Bringing The Atlantic brand to the Pacific The Atlantic has hosted events on the West Coast before––the publisher has more subscribers in California than any other state––but In Pursuit of Happiness will be its first annual festival. “Being in California feels like a proper place to think and live and talk about the theme of happiness,” said Greg Privett, cofounder and creative director of production company Makeout. “It will feel very presence-oriented: the climate, environment and landscape will prime the conversations.” Logistical challenges persist, like facilitating access to journalists and giving equal attention to the experience of remote viewers, said Privett. Plus, comparable events that cost $700 either have far more attendees or occur far more often. The Atlantic based the cost on a variety of factors, including operational expenses, the value of the experience and the location, according to Montgomery. How a Bet on Virtual Events Is Paying Off for TechCrunch How events feed subscriptions The Atlantic, like many publishers, has used the pandemic as an opportunity to reassess its events business, especially as it relates to the larger goal of attracting and retaining subscribers, said editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg. While events like In Pursuit of Happiness do not directly boost these efforts––tickets are available to anyone, and subscribers get no early access––they play a part in a larger flywheel that centers subscriptions as its primary goal. The publisher launched its paywall in 2019 and experienced a windfall of acquisition in 2020. In 2021, it aimed to retain those subscribers and inch up its revenue per user, both goals the publisher has met: the average value of each subscription has grown 45% since the first half of 2019. It now has 750,000 total subscribers, with 450,000 receiving the print magazine. Add in Apple News+ and newsstand sales, and total circulation per its most recent report reaches 880,000 paying readers. “We can seek a oneness that has proven elusive in the past," said Goldberg, "where our print journalism feeds our digital journalism, which feeds our live events, which feeds our subscriber loyalty programs, which come back and feed our ability to do the massive stories written by the biggest writers that then produce more subscribers. It creates a virtuous circle, where everything we do is helping advance the cause of our journalism.”

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The Atlantic Returns to In-Person Events With In Pursuit of Happiness

Last year, Atlantic readers consumed more than 100 million minutes of happiness-related content

Mark Stenberg

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Mark Stenberg