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An Experience is the central container for a product launch, sale event, or access-controlled offering in Fanfare. It brings together your products, timing, and access methods to orchestrate how consumers reach checkout.

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What is an Experience?

Think of an experience as a campaign for a specific launch or event. When you create an experience, you define:
  • What — Which products are available
  • When — Opening and closing times
  • How — The method consumers use to get access (queue, draw, auction, etc.)
  • Who — Which consumer groups can participate (optional)

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Experience Schedule

Experience schedule model showing experiences containing sequences, distributions, and public timing states. An experience does not have a separate public state machine. Its visible schedule is derived from the distributions attached to its sequences.
Distribution timingConsumer-facing meaning
upcomingThe distribution has not opened yet; consumers may see a launch time, countdown, or waitlist prompt.
activeThe distribution is available for its supported action, such as entering, bidding, booking, or claiming access.
endedThe distribution window has closed; consumers see closed-state messaging or their outcome.
Draw drawAt and auction settleAt can extend the derived experience schedule beyond the entry or bidding window because they represent outcome timing.

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Access Paths (Sequences)

Within an experience, you can create multiple access paths (called sequences) to give different consumer groups different experiences: Access path priority diagram showing VIP, early access, and general access paths evaluated in order.

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How Routing Works

When a consumer enters your experience:
  1. Fanfare evaluates available sequences in priority order.
  2. The response returns a public outcome such as routed, gated, or no_access.
  3. If the consumer is gated, the response tells your UI which public requirement to collect, such as authentication, an access code, or a verification step.
  4. Once routed, the current journey state exposes only the actions that are valid for that state.

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Common Patterns

VIP Early Access 
VIP Sequence (Priority: 100)
  ↳ Requires: VIP audience membership
  ↳ Distribution: Draw (lottery for fairness)

General Sequence (Priority: 10)
  ↳ Requires: Nothing (open to all)
  ↳ Distribution: Queue (first-come)
Access Code Launch 
Presale Sequence (Priority: 100)
  ↳ Requires: Access code "PRESALE2024"
  ↳ Distribution: Queue

General Sale Sequence (Priority: 10)
  ↳ Requires: Nothing
  ↳ Distribution: Queue
Waitlist Overflow 
Main Queue Sequence (Priority: 100)
  ↳ Distribution: Queue (limited capacity)

Waitlist Sequence (Priority: 10)
  ↳ Distribution: Waitlist (notified when space opens)

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Products in Experiences

You can associate one or more products with an experience:

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Single Product

Most experiences have one product — a product launch, limited edition, or exclusive item.

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Multiple Products

You can offer several products in one experience — useful for collection drops, bundle sales, or mystery boxes. Depending on the experience setup, consumers can choose a product or Fanfare can assign one from the configured product pool.

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Product Selection

You can control how products are selected:
  • Consumer-selected — Consumers pick their preferred product or variant
  • System-assigned — Fanfare assigns from the configured product pool (great for mystery boxes)
For system-assigned products, product allocation weights control the relative probability that each product is assigned. Keep those weights separate from draw odds: draw configuration decides which consumers are selected, while product allocation decides what an admitted or selected consumer receives.

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Theming and Customization

Each experience can have its own look and feel:
  • Colors — Match your brand
  • Logo — Your company logo
  • Background — Custom images or colors
  • Language — Customize text and messages
Themes can be set at the account level and overridden for specific experiences.

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Consumer Journey Phases

When consumers participate in an experience, they move through phases:

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1. Arriving

Consumer lands on the experience page. They see:
  • Product information
  • When the experience opens (if scheduled)
  • What access method is being used

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2. Joining

Consumer enters the experience:
  • May need to provide contact information
  • May need an access code
  • Gets assigned to the appropriate access path

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3. Participating

Consumer participates according to the distribution type:
  • Waiting in a queue
  • Entered in a draw
  • Placing bids in an auction
  • Booking an appointment
  • Claiming a timed release
  • Joining a waitlist when the current access path offers one

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4. Getting Access

When it’s their turn, the consumer receives access to checkout. This typically includes:
  • A time-limited window to complete their purchase
  • Real-time status updates
  • Clear next steps

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5. Completing

Consumer completes their purchase within the access window.

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Best Practices

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Plan Your Timing

  • Set opening times that work for your target audience’s timezone
  • Give yourself buffer time before high-profile launches
  • Consider closing times based on your operational capacity

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Design Access Paths Thoughtfully

  • Higher-priority paths should have stricter eligibility requirements
  • Always have a general access path as a fallback
  • Test your routing logic before launch

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Prepare Products Early

  • Associate products before the experience opens
  • Ensure inventory is accurate
  • Test the checkout flow

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Test the Consumer Flow

  • Use preview mode to see what consumers will experience
  • Test all access paths with different scenarios
  • Verify timing displays correctly in different timezones

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Next Steps