From Booked and Busy to Best in Show: Inside Westminster’s First Sensation Stage
Acuity is the Official Scheduling Partner of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.
Try Acuity free and get 20% off your first paid plan with code WKC20. Expires February 28, 2026. [Offer terms.]
For 150 years, the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show has been defined by precision, tradition, and impeccable timing. Every moment is choreographed. Every experience is intentional. And every year, expectations are sky‑high.
At the 2026 show, Westminster expanded that tradition beyond the ring with the debut of the Sensation Stage. For the first time, attendees could sign up for scheduled, interactive sessions alongside the main event—experiences designed to fit seamlessly into already packed show days.
These sessions needed to feel just as polished and dependable as the competition itself. Attendees had to know where to be, when to arrive, and what to expect. Staff had to manage capacity, timing, and communication across multiple venues, all without slowing the pace of the show.
That level of coordination doesn’t happen by accident. It requires the right systems behind the scenes. Here’s how Westminster made it work, and what other businesses can take from it.
Turning live moments into bookable experiences
Live events are high energy. They’re also high risk.
At the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, thousands of attendees move through the venues each day. At an event this busy, even small inefficiencies can ripple quickly. Timelines shift. Lines grow. Expectations blur. Staff are pulled away from the experience itself to manage logistics on the fly.
The Sensation Stage was designed to avoid that outcome entirely.
Rather than offering open-ended attractions, each experience was structured as a scheduled session. Attendees could view what was available, select a time, and secure a spot directly from their devices.
Sign-ups were available for a range of experiences, including Get Started in Agility; A Guide to Becoming Your Dog’s Best Friend; grooming education; Sensational Trivia competitions; Judging Insider sessions; and Paws & Pointers with Westminster’s resident veterinarian.
Additional programming extended beyond the Sensation Stage itself. Junior handlers booked run-throughs at Madison Square Garden, while competitors booked canine massages for dog sport entrants.
What appeared effortless on the surface was carefully designed underneath.
Why online booking wasn’t optional
The Sensation Stage was a complement to the main show—an opportunity for attendees to engage more closely through hands‑on, time‑bound experiences. Booking was foundational to this concept. Without it, the experience could have easily become:
Long, first‑come‑first‑served lines with no guarantee of participation
Clipboards and manual sign-ups that required constant monitoring
Frustrated attendees who missed out due to unclear availability or absent reminders
None of that aligned with the Westminster standard.
Scheduling ensured that capacity limits were respected, timing stayed on track, and attendees knew exactly what to expect before they arrived. Staff knew exactly who was coming and when, and the experience stayed front and center.
“The Sensation Stage introduced a new way for attendees to engage with the Westminster experience. With so many moving parts to coordinate, having a clear and reliable booking tool through Acuity Scheduling ensured everything ran smoothly and allowed our team to stay focused on delivering a successful dog show.”
The scheduling system behind the stage
To support the Sensation Stage and related programming across venues, Westminster trusted Acuity Scheduling, their Official Scheduling Partner, to manage the end-to-end booking flow.
The requirements were complex. Westminster needed a reliable platform that could coordinate bookings for attendees across multiple staff and venues, support both group sessions and one-on-one appointments, and deliver a polished, on-brand experience worthy of a 150-year legacy.
Using Acuity, Westminster designed custom scheduling pages tailored to the event, complete with logos, unique button colors, and imagery. Scheduling was embedded directly into the Westminster website, while direct links were easily shared across social platforms, creating a seamless experience from discovery to booking.
Each activity was configured with precise controls around appointment type, date and time allocation, and capacity. Some sessions were set with defined limits, such as a maximum of eight participants, while others allowed for higher or unlimited attendance. Certain services, including canine massage sessions, supported up to 30 appointments per day with add-on options and payment collected at booking.
Intake forms collected essential information in advance, including participant contact details, the dog being shown, and questions submitted ahead of time to help seed engaging Q&A sessions. Automated confirmation, cancellation, and rescheduling emails, along with SMS reminders, kept registrants informed as they moved throughout a busy show day.
Real-time availability and advanced calendar controls ensured that schedules stayed accurate, even as demand fluctuated. For attendees and staff alike, the technology worked quietly in the background. Which is exactly the point.
Early signals from a first-year experiment
Even in its debut year, the Sensation Stage demonstrated what’s possible when live experiences are paired with the right scheduling setup.
Strong demand for sessions across multiple days and venues
Group experiences and one-on-one appointments filling as availability went live
Smooth transitions between sessions with minimal on-site coordination required to keep things running on time
Most importantly, the experience felt intentional, not improvised. That matters when your brand is built on excellence.
A blueprint beyond Westminster
You don’t need a legacy institution or a massive event to benefit from this approach. And what happened on the Sensation Stage isn’t limited to dog shows (or even dog businesses).
Any business offering:
Limited-capacity services
High-demand time slots
Special events or workshops
Add-on options
faces the same challenge Westminster did: how to turn interest into confirmed bookings without creating more work.
The Sensation Stage showed that when booking is clear and self-serve, demand becomes manageable. And when logistics are handled ahead of time, the experience itself gets better.
Bringing the experience to your business
Westminster’s Sensation Stage was powered by the same scheduling tools that thousands of appointment-based businesses use every day.
If you’re ready to bring that same clarity and professionalism to your business—whether you’re booking one-on-one appointments, group classes, in-person workshops, or something else—you can try Acuity free. And if you like it, you can save more than a penny today.
Use code WKC20 at checkout to save 20% on your first paid plan. Offer ends February 28, 2026. [View terms.]
Because when booking works, everything else has room to shine.
