Anatomy of the 2020 Event Audience

In recent years we’ve released Anatomy of an Event Audience reports, getting under the skin of what people really want.

As we look towards the new year, we’ve been chatting to a number of clients, hearing their thoughts on what their audiences will really value from being face-to-face in 2020.

Download your copy.


Interesting November

Welcome to November’s ‘That’s Interesting’. This month we have highlights from The Electronic Theatre who are merging live and digital experiences and The Portrait Machine who are going full circle, re-imagining the digital experience as something distinctly offline. All this, plus a new Live Union report focusing on sustainability in events.

Most Interesting

Sustainability: The Audience Imperative (10min read)
Event audiences are demanding two things: more sustainable events and more creative engagement. Our new report looks at ideas that achieve both.

Just Plain Interesting

The Portrait Machine   (1min explore)
Joyful and distinctly analogue take on a photo booth.

Immersive Adventures  (1min explore)
Making screen time social. A brilliant concept from the people who invented Tough Mudder.

LinkedIn Events is Back (3min read)
EventMB aren’t too complimentary, but the potential for marketing your events is undeniable.

Best Ever Advice for Preparing a Presentation  (2min read)
People only really learn when they’re surprised.

Incredible Mirrored Skate Installation   (1min explore)
Scroll down to the photos to explore this incredible in-store installation.

Why You Should Brief Designers Before 10.16 am (2min read)

Something to go to

Ghost Quartet at the newly opened Boulevard Theatre on the site of the famous Raymond Revuebar.

Something for Christmas

Real photos! Polaroid’s product for the mobile age.

p.s. If there’s something interesting that you’ve seen at an event, please do email us thatsinteresting@liveunion.co.uk


Sustainability: The Audience Imperative

Creative approaches to designing more sustainable experiences are driving new types of audience engagement.

In our latest report, Sustainability: The Audience Imperative, we share examples of sustainability and engagement as two sides of the same coin. From staging to catering to gifts, we explore new ideas and where to find more information.

Download your copy of the report.


Interesting October

Welcome to October’s That's Interesting. This month we share everything from an event series focused on business f#@!ups to gesture controlled holograms and disappearing straws.

Most Interesting

Experiences that Deliver Wisdom (4min read)
Wise words on designing experiences that go beyond sharing information to provide the problem-solving skills today’s high performing businesses value.

Just Plain Interesting

F#@!UP Nights (1min explore)
A global event movement to know about. Stories of failure being told in 318 cities around the world.

Gesture Controlled Holograms (2min watch)
We’ve used Hypervsn’s hologram fans before,  this takes it to the next level. We’re keeping our eyes open for an opportunity to trial it.

Take a 2D approach to your next set design (2min explore)
Our design studio is currently designing some pop-up book style sets for a client. This Tokyo café has been great inspiration.

Guest photo sculptures (2min explore)
We’re big fans of Luster’s photo experiences, these sculptures look great.

Smart looking temporary structures (2min explore)
Snoozi, Yumi, Oio – what’s right for your event?

It’s in the detail (1min look)
Great example of the power of little things and building-in charm.

Sustainably Interesting

Disappearing Straws (1min explore)
The great thing about these seaweed straws is not just that they’re biodegradable, it’s that they have an interesting product story to share with your audience.

Less environmentally harmful event badging (1min explore)
One-off lanyards and badges can often be avoided, but these ideas from Oomph are a step in the right direction.

Plane shame (1min explore)
A simple tool for calculating the impact of flying over more sustainable travel. Not always possible but sobering to understand the impact.

Venue to Checkout 

Exhibition London

p.s. If there’s something interesting that you’ve seen at an event, please do email us thatsinteresting@liveunion.co.uk


Interesting September

Welcome to September’s That’s Interesting. This month we share a cracking mix of inspiration from across the live experience universe, from multiplayer video games for events to an Ideas Island and some helpful sustainability tips.

Most interesting

Multi-player games on the big screen (2min explore)
Something we’ve been wanting to do for ages and now the tech exists to make it possible. Simple, fun, engaging event interaction

Just plain interesting

Tips from the presentation frontline (4min read)
Ten things that make for a successful presentation

Making your event more sustainable (2min explore)
Sensible, concise advice for creating more sustainable events. And, a helpful infographic

Plastic not fantastic (3min read)
Useful, practical tips sheet on eliminating plastic from your live experiences

Sli.do brainstorming feature (1min explore)
Clever extension of the ever popular Sli.do platform. The perfect way to kickstart introvert friendly brainstorming

Basecamps for exploration (3min read)
Inspiration from the experience economy – The North Face evolves its retail strategy

Ideas Island (1min read)
Need to get away and work on your big idea?

Something to go to

Pebble Pop-Ups - St James's Market

Open house London

Venue to checkout 

Printworks London

p.s. If there’s something interesting that you’ve seen at an event, please do email us thatsinteresting@liveunion.co.uk


Interesting August

Welcome to August’s That’s Interesting. A joyful high summer smorgasbord of inspiration from the far corners of the live experience universe. There was much excitement at Live Union HQ this week with the news that Visa Payments Forum Europe has been shortlisted for a C&IT Award.

Most interesting

Why joy matters at events (5min read)
Boost engagement by designing moments of surprise and charm

Just plain interesting

Joyful idea #1 - a self-drawing robot for your next event (2min watch)
Perhaps you could even use it for a presentation?

Joyful idea #2 – marshmallow clouds (2min explore)
A whimsical way to design a more intimate environment

Joyful idea #3 – neon prop hire (1min explore)
Flamingos, zebras, guitars – you name it…

Ocean plastic furniture (2min explore)
Furniture hire with a great sustainability story
If you like that you’ll also like this.

Fortnite World Cup Finals (4min explore)
One day we’ll look back on this as a landmark moment in the history of events. This video gives a good insight into the experience – scroll to the end to get a good feel for the set design

Designing networking for introverts (4min read)
Five useful tactics that sit alongside our Super Connectors reports

Samsung’s Unpacked Event (3min read)
A live and virtual audience 1.5x the size of the Oscars – can that be right? Either way an awesome experience

Something to go to:

RA Summer Exhibition

p.s. If there’s something interesting that you’ve seen at an event, please do email us thatsinteresting@liveunion.co.uk


Interesting July

Welcome to July’s That’s Interesting, a roundup of the most exciting and innovative things that have inspired us at Live Union this month. Before we dive in, we hosted our latest Interesting Breakfast a couple of weeks ago and for those who couldn’t join us we have included a write up of the event just 

Most interesting

The Secret Power of Secret Cinema (5min read)
Behind the scenes of a cultural phenomenon

Just plain interesting

Super Connectors (5 min read)
Issue 2 of our Super Connectors series focuses on how smart event technology can lead to increasingly valuable networking. We explore which techs are right for which audience and how best to put them into action.

Cruelty-Free Circus (2 min read)
Shunning an outdated tradition in favour of spectacular animal holograms

20 inspirational blogs focused on events (10 min explore)
Essential bookmarks!

Human or robot? (3 min read)
Sony exhibition exploring relationships across the tech divide

Vestaboard (2 min explore)
Marvellous mechanical displays

Nike's LED running track (1 min read)
Race against your own avatar

Welcome to the new cool (4 min read)
Wine tasting, Tough Mudders, Candle making workshops - Is the experience economy killing youth culture?

The world's most instagrammable catwalk (1 min read)
Beautiful fashion in an even more beautiful setting

A venue to know about

Magazine London

Something to go to:

Beyond the Road

p.s. If there’s something interesting that you’ve seen at an event, please do email us thatsinteresting@liveunion.co.uk


4 Cool Ways We've Seen Holograms Used At Events

A View from Emma Wood


With the amplification of technology and the ability to make the impossible possible, it’s not surprising that the music industry are capitalising on the use of holograms in live concerts.

Only last month, Whitney Houston has become the latest performer to be morphed into a hologram for a series of concerts despite her passing away in 2012. Houston will appear on stage as a 3D hologram on a digital tour, supported by a live band, bringing fans the globally-renowned icon and recordings of her songs which make her seemingly appear “live” in concert.

As hologram technology gets ever more sophisticated,we can expect to see holograms continue to appear across the events world in different and exciting ways. Here’s some other innovative ways we’ve seen holograms used at events recently:

Cruelty-Free but Spectacular Circus

By shunning tradition and opting to use holographic images rather than live animals, this German Circus has created an ethical circus that still offers dancing horses, elephants and rings of fire but all through a cleverly pulled-together set of holograms. Despite taking this brave and unusual stance, the shows are now just as popular and perhaps even more magical than they were before.

Bringing Music Stars Back to LIfe: Holographic Digital Music Tours

High-Tech concerts are becoming a trend set to stay with audiences being able to experience landmark concerts and high-profile artists even if its from beyond the grave! With holographic images becoming more and more realistic, this is a trend that is set to revolutionise the experience for concert crowds globally. 

War of the Worlds: Holographic Theatre Performance

Through the use of holograms, motion simulators and audio, this immersive theatrical experience allows the actors and creators to guide the audience through the maze of intricately designed sets and tell the story in a whole new way. A unique way of merging a big story in an intimate way.

Imperial College: Business Lectures by Holographic Professors

For the first time in the world, business students at Imperial College in London are going to be offered lectures by holographic professors. The holograms will be able to engage in real-time conversations and take questions via camera link as if they were really in the room.


#Issue 2 Super Connectors - Creating smarter networking at events: Technology

Event tech is heralding a new era of intelligent connections.

Welcome to #Issue 2 of our Super Connectors series.

The first issue explored the event formats that drive better networking. This time we focus on how smart event technology can produce more precise and valuable networking. Where previously networking relied in large part on who you bumped into, today it’s possible to identify and arrange your most valuable connections.

Read the Super Connectors #Issue Two: Technology flipbook online here

Download your copy of Super Connectors #Issue Two: Technology


Take a Walk on the Wild Side

A View from Harriette Wight


We've all been on the dance floor when 'that ' song comes on. You know the one! The song that the artist wrote specifically for you, that makes your confidence soar. Speakers deliver their best work when they are confident and comfortable in their settings and surely their dancing song is going to put them in the right head space to deliver their best work. So, here's a little bit more about the importance of 'walk-up' music and the effect it can have on the speaker, the audience and the content at a live experience.

First of all, why does music make us feel good? A new branch of research called neuromusicology studies how music affects the brain with recent experiments revealing that listening to upbeat music releases dopamine. Other studies have shown that music with a heavy baseline can make people feel more authoritative and in control. The bleach report ‘The Art of the Walk-Up Song’ looking at walk-up songs for professional Baseball Players says the best songs ‘combine a variety of factors, including reflecting the player's personality, pleasing the crowd, showcasing good taste, amping up the home team, encouraging focus at the plate, intimidating the opposing pitcher and producing favourable results.’ And I believe it's similar for any live experience. The song should show the presenters personality, give the presenter confidence, lift the audience’s mood, make a statement and leave a lasting memory. Let’s look at some tips and examples from the wider world of events:

Adding Personality

Why not use music to show off your presenters personality and make them more personable. Everyone has an opinion about our Prime Minister Teresa May and of course her great dancing. Her walk-up song ‘Dancing Queen’ by Abba at the Conservative Party Conference in October 2018 showed she is not afraid to make fun of herself. Our tip here is to think how you show something about your personality through a killer song. 

Adding Confidence

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Kanye West's ‘Stronger’ and ‘Power’ pop up on many ‘Music to get you pumped’ articles. With confident boosting lyrics and heavy beats his music may not be everyone’s cup of tea but it will build a bit of energy in many. Think about asking your speaker what song would make them feel powerful and use that as their walk-up sting.

Making a Statement

Politicians know how to make a statement with music, take Barack Obama’s use of Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change is Gonna Come’ at his inauguration or Tony Blair’s Campaign song ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ by D:Ream. These songs made a statement not only about the person but also what they stood for. Get your speaker to think about what statement they want to make and see if you can make a song work with that. 

Lifting the Audience

Now it’s not all about your presenter, the music you choose will also affect the audience, so think carefully. An upbeat song that your audience knows will lift their mood. Make sure it’s not one that’s been overplayed in the charts (unless that’s the statement you’re making) play it loud to get them to sit up in their seats and listen to you. 

Making an Impact

Last music tip from us, pick an event anthem that the audience will remember, use it for walks ins and walk outs. Your audience will not only remember how great your event was but also dance in and out of sessions…. A warning…. Your production crew will definitely not like the anthem by the end of the event!  And finally, here are what a few members of the Live Union team would choose as their walk-up music:

Conor Howell-Harte: ‘Finally by Ce Ce Peniston because it has incredible beat to strut onto stage to’

Katarina Poznickova: ‘Firestarter by Prodigy because I love their music and it would get me pumped to speak’

Anthony Henry: Now Ant has already used his walk up sting in a recent white collar boxing match. The team wanted him to use ‘I’ve got ants in my pants’ (and I want to dance) by James Brown but instead the chosen song was ‘Let me Clear My Throat’ by DJ Cool. Ant used this not only to focus him but also to hype up the crowd.

And for me.... it would be ‘1,2,1,2’ by George The Poet. It’s a real feel good song/ piece of spoken word that would focus me and the audience.