WXO

Inside Shiva Immersive: How the First Immersive Show on Indian Mythology Came to Life
2026-03-11 09:55 - 11:30 (Europe/London) | Zoom
What makes an experience linger in memory long after the lights fade?

At this WXO Campfire, we unpack SHIVA – a 20,000 sq ft multisensory, 360-degree immersive environment that blends projection architecture, spatial sound, atmospheric effects and VR into a spiritually charged narrative journey.More than spectacle, it was designed as scalable cultural infrastructure – commercially operational, modular and export-ready.

This session explores how myth, technology and audience psychology converge to create strong emotional impact, and why the future of immersive storytelling lies not in scale alone, but in what stays with you once you step outside the door.

And above all, this is a story of collaboration, belief, and courage – of how conviction and faith can transcend international boundaries, unite diverse minds, and bring people together to create something that may not be culturally central to both, yet profoundly meaningful to one.

What you’ll learn:

How to design immersive experiences that create lasting emotional residue
How to merge cultural depth with cutting-edge technology seamlessly
How to structure scalable, commercially viable immersive IP
Practical frameworks to elevate your own large-format experience design

Who should attend:

Immersive creators & experience designers
Festival programmers & venue operators
Brand leaders building large-format experiential IP
Producers seeking location-based entertainment projects
Cultural and Heritage Enthusiasts
Production Partners for Global Expansion
Anyone shaping experiences that aim to move people, not just impress them

About Samit Garg:
Samit Garg is the Managing Director & Co-Founder of E-Factor Experiences Ltd, a global experiential firm known for crafting transformative, large-scale environments.
A pioneer in organizing India’s luxury events sector, he has helped shape it into a structured creative industry.He is the creator of distinctive IPs including Shiva Immersive, The Bridal Retreat, ICWF (International Congress For Wedding Futures), and I AM GAME, each reimagining culture, celebration, and sport through immersive design.
As President of EEMA and a member of the World Experience Organization, Samit champions sustainable heritage tourism and living cultural ecosystems that transform static spaces into dynamic experiential marketplaces.

About Ludovica Arci:
Ludovica Arci is the Co-Founder of SARAVÁ Immersive Content Studio, an award-winning creative and production studio developing cinematic heritage immersive exhibitions and large-scale cultural experiences presented internationally.
With a career at the forefront of global experiences, she has led landmark projects for Milan Design Week, Fashion Week, Art Basel, NFT Paris, Asia Now, and the 36th America’s Cup, where she directed Branding and Experiential Marketing.
She previously led the Strategy & Experiential division for the leading Luxury agency Karla Otto and collaborates with CEOs and Creative Directors of leading global brands including Bottega Veneta, Moncler, BMW, Maserati, Sky, Belmond, shaping culture-defining experiences at the intersection of storytelling, technology, and cultural events.

How to watch this Campfire:

Campfires are available for WXO members only
To join the WXO, please head to our Application page
The WXO is a global home for the leaders, shapers and doers in the Experience Economy
As a member, you’ll get live access to Campfires like this one plus unlock an on demand library of over 100 Campfire recordings

Timings:
Campfire #1 is suitable for those in the APAC region or Europe, but everyone is welcome! Here’s when we kick off in your time zone:

London: 9:55 – 11:25 (BST)
Paris: 10:55 – 12:25 (CEST)
Dubai: 12:55 – 14:25 (GST)
Mumbai: 14:25 – 15:55 (IST)
Shanghai / Singapore: 16:55 – 18:25 (CST/SGT)
Tokyo: 17:55 – 19:25 (JST)
Sydney: 18:55 – 20:25 (AEST)
Auckland: 20:55 – 22:25 (NZST)

Designing Anticipation: The Hidden Half of Experience Design
2026-03-11 17:55 - 19:30 | Zoom
Most experience designers focus on what happens during the experience itself. But neuroscience and tourism research suggest that the emotional journey actually begins long before arrival.
In this Campfire, Joseph Franklyn McElroy (Galileo Tech Media) will explore how anticipation shapes memory, meaning, and loyalty – and how experience creators can intentionally design the before phase of an experience.
Drawing from research on Memorable Tourism Experiences (MTEs), destination marketing frameworks, and real-world experiments from my hospitality and tourism work, he will look at how storytelling, sensory cues, and digital discovery influence how guests imagine an experience before it happens.
Jospeh will also discuss how emerging AI-enabled operational systems — what he’s been experimenting with as a Sovereign Operational System — can help organizations listen to anticipation signals and adapt experiences in more responsive ways, while keeping the human story at the center.
Participants will leave with practical ideas for designing pre-arrival touchpoints that deepen engagement, strengthen loyalty, and make experiences more memorable.

——–
About Joseph Franklyn McElroy:
Joseph is a hospitality innovator, marketer, and storyteller whose career bridges data, tech, psychology, and art. As founder of Galileo Tech Media and owner of the Meadowlark Motel in the Great Smoky Mountains, he studies how anticipation shapes memorable experiences and deepens brand loyalty.
Joseph’s “Experience Architecture” framework combines SEO strategy, behavioral insight, and narrative design to help organizations craft journeys people revisit, re-buy, and retell. He speaks on how marketing, done consciously, can make memory itself the ultimate ROI.

How to watch this Campfire:

Campfires are available for WXO members only
To join the WXO, please head to our Application page
The WXO is a global home for the leaders, shapers and doers in the Experience Economy
As a member, you’ll get live access to Campfires like this one plus unlock an on demand library of over 100 Campfire recordings

Timings:
Campfire #2 is suitable for those in the US or Europe, but everyone is welcome! Here’s when we kick off in your time zone:

London: 17:55 – 19:25
Paris: 18:55 – 20:25
Los Angeles: 09:55 – 11:25
Santa Fe: 10:55 – 12:25
Chicago: 11:55 – 13:25
New York: 12:55 – 14:25
São Paulo, Santiago & Buenos Aires: 13:55 – 15:25

Inspiration to Innovation: How China's Immersive Entertainment is Finding Its Own Voice
2026-03-18 09:55 - 11:30 | Zoom
Ever wondered how the world’s largest consumer market is reinventing immersive entertainment?
Starting her career in LA and working across Disney, AI companies, and her own studio in China, Changting Lu has witnessed an evolution few international creators understand.
From martial arts theme parks drawing millions visitors to AI companies building theatrical experiences, China isn’t following Western models – it’s writing entirely new rules.
Join us for insights on three game-changing trends, cautionary tales of cross-cultural collaborations, and why “foreign monks chant better” no longer holds true in China’s maturing immersive landscape.

Who should attend:

Anyone interested in Immersive Entertainment in China
Creative directors & producers seeking international collaboration opportunities
Immersive experience creators looking to understand or enter the Chinese market

What you’ll learn:

How China’s immersive market evolved from copying the Sleep No More model to creating entirely new formats — and what this means for international creators
Three breakthrough trends: heritage-at-scale, virtual-to-physical IPs, and bold tech adoption reshaping the industry
Why some international collaborations thrive while others spectacularly fail — through real case studies including a $100M+ project that closed in 6 months
The new rules for cross-cultural creative partnerships

About Changting Lu
As creative director and producer, Changting creates immersive worlds across media.
She was the creative director for Three Body Problem: Beyond Gravity, an experience that brings guests into the world of Three Body Problem with performance, interactive media and AI.
Her career began at Walt Disney Imagineering, where she was a bilingual show writer on Zootopia at Shanghai Disneyland.
Changting holds a B.Mgmt from Tsinghua University and an MFA in Creative Producing from California Institute of the Arts. In 2025 she founded Get Dreams Done Co., a Shanghai-based multidisciplinary design and production company that imagines transcendent worlds and build them into reality.

How to watch this Campfire:

Campfires are available for WXO members only
To join the WXO, please head to our Application page
The WXO is a global home for the leaders, shapers and doers in the Experience Economy
As a member, you’ll get live access to Campfires like this one plus unlock an on demand library of over 100 Campfire recordings

Timings:
Campfire #1 is suitable for those in the APAC region or Europe, but everyone is welcome! Here’s when we kick off in your time zone:

London: 9:55 – 11:25 (BST)
Paris: 10:55 – 12:25 (CEST)
Dubai: 12:55 – 14:25 (GST)
Mumbai: 14:25 – 15:55 (IST)
Shanghai / Singapore: 16:55 – 18:25 (CST/SGT)
Tokyo: 17:55 – 19:25 (JST)
Sydney: 18:55 – 20:25 (AEST)
Auckland: 20:55 – 22:25 (NZST)

How to Make Your Event More Accessible
2026-03-18 17:55 - 19:30 | Zoom
Are you designing experiences that truly include everyone or unintentionally leaving audiences behind?
Join Christopher Morrison for a powerful online session that redefines what accessibility can (and should) look like in live and digital events. From the most accessible metaverse musical ever built to a paradigm-shifting new way of thinking about storytelling, this session will equip you with both practical tools and big-picture perspective.
You’ll discover:
✅ The bare minimum every event should offer for accessibility + how to go far beyond it
✅ A case study of Vita Nova: building the most inclusive digital experience on the web
✅ A rundown of tools to make live and digital events truly accessible
Who should attend?
🎟️ Experience designers & producers
🎟️ Marketers & brand leads
🎟️ Accessibility advocates
🎟️ Anyone committed to designing work that reaches everyone it should
Featuring:
🎤 Christopher Morrison – award-winning narrative designer (Cirque du Soleil, AAA games, Vita Nova), digital storytelling advocate, and recent UK Parliament speaker
Don’t miss this chance to expand your understanding of what access really means, and how to design for it with intention and imagination.
Note: This is an updated repeat of the July 2025 session that Christopher unfortunately was not able to make. Come along for new insights on this essential topic!
This later Campfire is suitable for those in the US or Europe, but everyone is welcome! Here’s when we kick off in your time zone:

London: 17:55 – 19:25
Paris: 18:55 – 20:25
Los Angeles: 09:55 – 11:25
Santa Fe: 10:55 – 12:25
Chicago: 11:55 – 13:25
New York: 12:55 – 14:25
São Paulo, Santiago & Buenos Aires: 13:55 – 15:25

How to watch this Campfire:

Campfires are available for WXO members only
To join the WXO, please head to our Application page
The WXO is a global home for the leaders, shapers and doers in the Experience Economy
As a member, you’ll get live access to Campfires like this one plus unlock an on demand library of over 100 Campfire recordings

Timings:
Campfire #2 is suitable for those in the US or Europe, but everyone is welcome! Here’s when we kick off in your time zone:

London: 17:55 – 19:25
Paris: 18:55 – 20:25
Los Angeles: 09:55 – 11:25
Santa Fe: 10:55 – 12:25
Chicago: 11:55 – 13:25
New York: 12:55 – 14:25
São Paulo, Santiago & Buenos Aires: 13:55 – 15:25

Kinetic Power: Turning Motion Into Storytelling
2026-03-25 09:55 - 11:30 | Zoom
How do kinetic installations and immersive experiences create such lasting impressions?
Matteo Mosca, Leva’s CEO, explores how kinetic movement goes beyond decoration to become a powerful storytelling tool.
Drawing from projects ranging from exclusive Experience Briefing Centers to spectacular theme parks, he shows how physical motion can appeal to both reason and emotion.
The real impact?
Genuine participation: these installations invite people to explore and engage, disrupting passive observation and awakening curiosity. Join us for a journey inside what truly makes experiences memorable, in a world of constant distraction.
What you’ll learn:

What Matteo learned from 10+ years of creative engineering
All about kinetic technology as a language
Why you should stop selling and start storytelling
Takeaways for making spaces & experiences memorable

Who should attend?

Experience Briefing Center Managers & Program Leaders
Experience Designers
Strategy & Creative directors
Anyone shaping experiences that move people

About Matteo Mosca (he/him):
Matteo is a founder and media engineer obsessed with creative technologies, design and communication – and how they all work together to foster human connections.
As CEO of Leva, he leads an extraordinary team of explorers crafting kinetic and immersive experiences that blend mechanical movement, motion content and spatial storytelling – designed in Italy and deployed worldwide.
This unique blend of creativity, engineering and storytelling has earned the trust of global brands such as Aramco, Cartier, Puy du Fou, Seat and more.
Matteo’s focus is on building solid company foundations while leading business development, financial strategy, team growth, and marketing.

How to watch this Campfire:

Campfires are available for WXO members only
To join the WXO, please head to our Application page
The WXO is a global home for the leaders, shapers and doers in the Experience Economy
As a member, you’ll get live access to Campfires like this one plus unlock an on demand library of over 100 Campfire recordings

Timings:
Campfire #1 is suitable for those in the APAC region or Europe, but everyone is welcome! Here’s when we kick off in your time zone:

London: 9:55 – 11:25 (BST)
Paris: 10:55 – 12:25 (CEST)
Dubai: 12:55 – 14:25 (GST)
Mumbai: 14:25 – 15:55 (IST)
Shanghai / Singapore: 16:55 – 18:25 (CST/SGT)
Tokyo: 17:55 – 19:25 (JST)
Sydney: 18:55 – 20:25 (AEST)
Auckland: 20:55 – 22:25 (NZST)

How to Diagnose What Your Experience Is Actually Built to Produce
2026-03-25 17:55 - 19:30
“Transformational” has become the most overused word in experience design.
Immersive art walks use it. Brand activations use it. Festival websites use it. Certification courses use it. And almost none of them mean the same thing by it, because almost none of them have a structural definition for what transformation actually requires.
After fifteen years producing TEDxNaperville, testing, observing, and rebuilding what actually changes people versus what simply impresses them, Arthur Zards (Lab Z) developed a diagnostic framework that helps experience designers see exactly where their architecture has gaps, and what to do about it.
In this Campfire, you’ll walk away with a tool you can apply to your current work immediately: to name what your experience is actually built to produce, spot where the design falls short of your claims, and identify the structural changes that close that gap.

Three Questions:

Think about an experience you’ve designed that you called transformational. Using the two axes, where does it actually land? What was the real success condition you were designing for?
What is one element of your current or upcoming project you could redesign to transfer meaning-authorship from the system to the participant?
When a client asks you to “create a transformational experience,” what are they actually asking for? And how does your answer change after today?

About Arthur Zards:
Arthur is an original Internet entrepreneur founding an Internet company before the web browser even existed. He wasn’t learning about digital marketing, branding, innovation, and development; he was creating it. He is a self-described TED fanatic and is the founder and executive director of TEDxNaperville.
Arthur founded Lab Z, an Innovation Experience Agency that focuses on a new approach to speaking and conference production. His speaker clients get standing ovations and his clients conferences transform into memorable and engaging experiences.
In his spare time he carves Tiki Moai, jumps off cliffs in his paraglider and grills a mean Picanha on his home-built 850 lb wood-fired grill.
His mantra is to “create an idea, get people excited, do it, repeat.”

How to watch this Campfire:

Campfires are available for WXO members only
To join the WXO, please head to our Application page
The WXO is a global home for the leaders, shapers and doers in the Experience Economy
As a member, you’ll get live access to Campfires like this one plus unlock an on demand library of over 100 Campfire recordings

Timings:
Campfire #2 is suitable for those in the US or Europe, but everyone is welcome! Here’s when we kick off in your time zone:

London: 17:55 – 19:25
Paris: 18:55 – 20:25
Los Angeles: 09:55 – 11:25
Santa Fe: 10:55 – 12:25
Chicago: 11:55 – 13:25
New York: 12:55 – 14:25
São Paulo, Santiago & Buenos Aires: 13:55 – 15:25

The Transformation Code: 7 Years of Research Into What Makes Change Happen (Early)
2026-04-01 09:55 - 11:30 | Zoom
Transformation is strange: We naturally transform every day, yet when we plan it, it falls apart. Especially in organisations where change is mandated from the top, and quietly rejected by the people doing the job.
In this Campfire, Alain Thys introduces The Transformation Code: 𝚫 = S x R x F.
A formula shaped by 7 years of deep-dive research into what makes change actually happen. For customers, for organisations, and even for leaders themselves.
Story reframes what’s true. Resonance creates wanting. Flow removes friction.
It’s a session for anyone who wants to guide transformation for organisations or customers (as an economic offering). Once you see the code, you can even apply it to yourself.

What you’ll learn:
✅ Why transformation stalls even when the plan is “right”
✅ How to use Δ = S × R × F as a simple diagnostic for stuck change
✅ What shifts when you treat customer transformation as the real value you sell

About Alain Thys:
Alain Thys is an Experience & Transformation Architect who helps leaders build momentum: differentiate for premium profit and make transformation stick.
Over three decades he has worked internationally with organisations including Lexus, Grant Thornton and Generali, shaping experiences for 500+ million customers and enabling change across complex teams.
He developed The Transformation Code to diagnose why strategies stall and to design the conditions that create pull—with customers and internal teams.
As founder of The Transformation Architects, he joined forces with Joe Pine, Pigalle Tavakkoli, Katherine Templar-Lewis, Sheena Patel and others to help organisations profit from The Transformation Economy.

How to watch this Campfire:

Campfires are available for WXO members only
To join the WXO, please head to our Application page
The WXO is a global home for the leaders, shapers and doers in the Experience Economy
As a member, you’ll get live access to Campfires like this one plus unlock an on demand library of over 100 Campfire recordings

Timings:
Campfire #1 is suitable for those in the APAC region or Europe, but everyone is welcome! Here’s when we kick off in your time zone:

London: 9:55 – 11:25 (BST)
Paris: 10:55 – 12:25 (CEST)
Dubai: 12:55 – 14:25 (GST)
Mumbai: 14:25 – 15:55 (IST)
Shanghai / Singapore: 16:55 – 18:25 (CST/SGT)
Tokyo: 17:55 – 19:25 (JST)
Sydney: 18:55 – 20:25 (AEST)
Auckland: 20:55 – 22:25 (NZST)

The Transformation Code: 7 Years of Research Into What Makes Change Happen (Late)
2026-04-01 17:55 - 19:30 | Zoom
Transformation is strange: We naturally transform every day, yet when we plan it, it falls apart. Especially in organisations where change is mandated from the top, and quietly rejected by the people doing the job.
In this Campfire, Alain Thys introduces The Transformation Code: 𝚫 = S x R x F.
A formula shaped by 7 years of deep-dive research into what makes change actually happen. For customers, for organisations, and even for leaders themselves.
Story reframes what’s true. Resonance creates wanting. Flow removes friction.
It’s a session for anyone who wants to guide transformation for organisations or customers (as an economic offering). Once you see the code, you can even apply it to yourself.

What you’ll learn:
✅ Why transformation stalls even when the plan is “right”
✅ How to use Δ = S × R × F as a simple diagnostic for stuck change
✅ What shifts when you treat customer transformation as the real value you sell

About Alain Thys:
Alain Thys is an Experience & Transformation Architect who helps leaders build momentum: differentiate for premium profit and make transformation stick.
Over three decades he has worked internationally with organisations including Lexus, Grant Thornton and Generali, shaping experiences for 500+ million customers and enabling change across complex teams.
He developed The Transformation Code to diagnose why strategies stall and to design the conditions that create pull—with customers and internal teams.
As founder of The Transformation Architects, he joined forces with Joe Pine, Pigalle Tavakkoli, Katherine Templar-Lewis, Sheena Patel and others to help organisations profit from The Transformation Economy.

How to watch this Campfire:

Campfires are available for WXO members only
To join the WXO, please head to our Application page
The WXO is a global home for the leaders, shapers and doers in the Experience Economy
As a member, you’ll get live access to Campfires like this one plus unlock an on demand library of over 100 Campfire recordings

Timings:
Campfire #2 is suitable for those in the US or Europe, but everyone is welcome! Here’s when we kick off in your time zone:

London: 17:55 – 19:25
Paris: 18:55 – 20:25
Los Angeles: 09:55 – 11:25
Santa Fe: 10:55 – 12:25
Chicago: 11:55 – 13:25
New York: 12:55 – 14:25
São Paulo, Santiago & Buenos Aires: 13:55 – 15:25
