That's Interesting — May '26
The Participation Shift
Welcome to That’s Interesting, our monthly round-up of the ideas, formats and live experiences shaping how audiences are engaging.
One theme kept surfacing this month: people increasingly want to step into experiences, not just observe them. Whether through participation, physical immersion or shared moments, the experiences leaving the strongest impression are the ones asking audiences to do something, feel something or shape something themselves.
That thinking sat at the heart of our recent breakfast event, The Great Audience Experiment, where we explored what happens when audiences move from passive attendees to active participants. Rather than simply talking about engagement, we tested it live through an escape room, a conversation lab and a multisensory space designed to shift how people interacted with each other and the room around them.
Thank you again to everyone who joined us, especially those who navigated the TFL strikes to make it along. If you'd like to explore the findings from the morning, we’d love to share more.
Here are a few other things that caught our attention this month.
The Formats Shift the Room
(2min read)One of the strongest takeaways from The Great Audience Experiment was how quickly format changes behaviour.
When people were given something to solve together, energy levels lifted almost immediately. When they were invited to build on each other’s thinking, conversations deepened. And when familiar conference structures disappeared, attention sharpened.
Why interesting
- Participation creates momentum
- Small format shifts can completely change the atmosphere of a room
- Engagement is often designed through interaction, not information
Olafur Eliasson and the Role of Participation
(7min read)Olafur Eliasson’s installations continue to blur the line between audience and artwork. His spaces rely on movement, perception and interaction, asking visitors to complete the experience themselves rather than passively consume it. What makes the work powerful is that people leave feeling personally connected to it. The audience is not separate from the experience; they become part of it.
Why interesting
- Participation creates emotional ownership
- Audiences remember what they actively shape
- Experiences become more impactful when people feel physically present within them
Pinterest Goes Offline
(5min explore)Pinterest recently launched campaigns encouraging audiences to step away from screens and reconnect with offline creativity. Their Coachella activation extended the idea further, creating phone-free spaces designed around presence rather than documentation.
There’s something interesting in seeing digital-first brands advocate for disconnection. In a culture built around constant capture and sharing, experiences that allow people to feel immersed in the moment can feel surprisingly refreshing.
Why interesting
- Presence itself is becoming valuable
- Restricting technology can heighten engagement
- Audiences increasingly crave tactile, real-world experiences
Little Moons Miniature Pop-Up
(3min read)Little Moons recently opened a 1/6th scale mochi shop in Shoreditch, turning a simple retail pop-up into something people instinctively wanted to stop, look at and interact with. What makes it interesting is how such a small shift in perspective completely changes audience behaviour. By playing with scale, the experience becomes more tactile, curious and emotionally engaging.
At a time when audiences are increasingly difficult to surprise, playful physical experiences like this remind us that participation does not always need to be high-tech or complex. Sometimes a simple change in perspective is enough to make people feel present and involved.
Why interesting
- Playful design naturally invites interaction
- Small physical details can shift audience behaviour
- Simple ideas often create the most memorable experiences
The New Rules of Networking
(9min read)Across conferences and live events, traditional networking formats are starting to shift. More organisers are moving away from open-room mingling and towards structured participation formats designed to make interaction feel easier, more purposeful and more memorable.
We’re not fans of all the ones described here but it’s a useful resource nonetheless.
Why interesting
- Structured interaction lowers social friction
- Participation creates energy faster than observation
- Audiences increasingly value connection over passive attendance
