"What will bring employees back to the office?" is one of the most common questions we as architects and designers are asked on a daily basis. While there is no one-size-fits-all secret recipe when it comes to designing the best back-to-office experience, there is one thing that definitely won't have employees crawling back to the workplace: cake. During a recent meeting with a client about the importance of listening to employees, the value of acknowledging their concerns, and involving them in deciding when to make changes, Kristin Cerutti, Regional Design Leader at NELSON Worldwide was shocked when the CEO commented, "I don't get it, no one came to the office today, and we ordered cake." The response sparked a greater question and conversation: What's the magic "thing" that will bring life back into our office spaces? What will convince people to commute two hours, pay for childcare and wait until Sunday to do the laundry? It's surely not a slice of cake. This session will dive into the importance of human connection in encouraging employees to return to the office. Speakers Bevan Bloemendaal and Kristin Cerutti will unpack how to leverage what we missed most about workplaces - human connection - to create and program spaces that are flexible, agile, adaptable, and future proof.